Why is everyone at Holton-Arms leaving?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y'all still have Penny? They put a Trumper in charge and then wonder why the school is falling apart.

Is she a Trump supporter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet another poster here to corroborate this. We shared a conversation with one of our favorite teachers for our girls just yesterday. She doesn't have anything lined up, and quietly shared that she will figure that next job out this summer; just needed to get out of this one. It's a shame. She has been here for a long time, and is an integral part of the Holton community. She's been our daughter's advisor, teacher x3, and even chaperoned multiple years of Junior Journeys. To leave a school so abruptly with no plans afterwards even though she has dedicated her life to educating... says something about the place she is leaving.

And before you come for us, we like Penny. We have no idea what goes on in her meetings. It's probably not all her fault. But something is going on in the upper echelons of the school, and even if it isn't "Penny's fault", she is the HOS and it is her job to take care of it. We are not seeing her do that.

+1. I am "meh" on Penny, but agree wholeheartedly that it's her job to take care of issues and we're also not seeing that happen. While the school runs well on its own, we still need a HOS who shows true leadership skills, and Penny is not meeting the mark.

Would like to see some of these anonymous posters come out of the shadows and run a private school. Such a wealth of knowledge and experience on here.

Please correct your last sentence. You mean "here," not "on here."

I meant “on here.”

Then perhaps you need to go back to high school English class yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet another poster here to corroborate this. We shared a conversation with one of our favorite teachers for our girls just yesterday. She doesn't have anything lined up, and quietly shared that she will figure that next job out this summer; just needed to get out of this one. It's a shame. She has been here for a long time, and is an integral part of the Holton community. She's been our daughter's advisor, teacher x3, and even chaperoned multiple years of Junior Journeys. To leave a school so abruptly with no plans afterwards even though she has dedicated her life to educating... says something about the place she is leaving.

And before you come for us, we like Penny. We have no idea what goes on in her meetings. It's probably not all her fault. But something is going on in the upper echelons of the school, and even if it isn't "Penny's fault", she is the HOS and it is her job to take care of it. We are not seeing her do that.

+1. I am "meh" on Penny, but agree wholeheartedly that it's her job to take care of issues and we're also not seeing that happen. While the school runs well on its own, we still need a HOS who shows true leadership skills, and Penny is not meeting the mark.

Would like to see some of these anonymous posters come out of the shadows and run a private school. Such a wealth of knowledge and experience on here.

Please correct your last sentence. You mean "here," not "on here."

I meant “on here.”

Then perhaps you need to go back to high school English class yourself.

You mean to say, “Then perhaps you need to back to high school English class.”

“Yourself” is redundant and unnecessary.

[Anonymous]

Neither of you would be a good fit for the school.

[Anonymous]

just catching up - penny got into a fight with a chef? what restaurant?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know... the entire calendar is messed up this year. They had a two week senior project (usually a month, until last year); not enough time to do anything meaningful. Graduation was early, ring day was late, and Junior Rising Up is next week even though it is supposed to be the first day of senior projects. Confusion all around.

Two weeks for senior projects? That’s a joke. They are four weeks at most schools.

[Anonymous]

Proud Holton Arms parent here.

We are big fan of Penny. She has pushed out several of the left leaning / woke teachers who weren't particularly strong at their jobs.

Holton is moving back to the center and its about time as it had moved far to the left under the previous headmaster and it pissed of a lot of donors with deep pockets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Proud Holton Arms parent here.

We are big fan of Penny. She has pushed out several of the left leaning / woke teachers who weren't particularly strong at their jobs.

Holton is moving back to the center and its about time as it had moved far to the left under the previous headmaster and it pissed of a lot of donors with deep pockets.

Yes, it’s wonderful! Penny has Made Holton-Arms Great Again (MHAGA).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Proud Holton Arms parent here.

We are big fan of Penny. She has pushed out several of the left leaning / woke teachers who weren't particularly strong at their jobs.

Holton is moving back to the center and its about time as it had moved far to the left under the previous headmaster and it pissed of a lot of donors with deep pockets.

Clearly a troll. There is no political activism at school. I don't care how the HoS or teachers think about politics as long as they teach and work properly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the Upper School, the following teachers are leaving:

2 Spanish
2 English
1 Government
1 Economics
1 math
1 math and CS
1 CS
1 biology
1 counseling

The two English teachers are absolutely phenomenal; one of them is retiring, but the choice to retire now is not a coincidence.

The government and economics teachers are fantastic too. The former is the chair of the history department.

These departures come on top of the loss of superb faculty (who had been at Holton for a long time) over the past two years.

All I can say is that I am grateful DD graduated today.

Spanish teacher often moves school after a couple of years. The second one had been training for a new career for a while.

One English teacher is retiring and had been planning to for a while. The other wants to continue in administration because her administrative position became redundant with the hiring of the associate head of school.

The econ teacher was part time

The goverment teacher preferred the openly political environment of the previous administration and did not like the idea that teachers are supposed to be politically neutral.

The math teacher is moving because of a spouse

The math and CS teacher has been looking for jobs elsewhere since the previous administration

The CS teacher is moving because of a spouse

The biology teacher is young and wants to try a new school.

The counselors move on often and they hired a great person who is an alumn and has worked at the school for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the Upper School, the following teachers are leaving:

2 Spanish
2 English
1 Government
1 Economics
1 math
1 math and CS
1 CS
1 biology
1 counseling

The two English teachers are absolutely phenomenal; one of them is retiring, but the choice to retire now is not a coincidence.

The government and economics teachers are fantastic too. The former is the chair of the history department.

These departures come on top of the loss of superb faculty (who had been at Holton for a long time) over the past two years.

All I can say is that I am grateful DD graduated today.

Spanish teacher often moves school after a couple of years. The second one had been training for a new career for a while.

One English teacher is retiring and had been planning to for a while. The other wants to continue in administration because her administrative position became redundant with the hiring of the associate head of school.

The econ teacher was part time

The goverment teacher preferred the openly political environment of the previous administration and did not like the idea that teachers are supposed to be politically neutral.

The math teacher is moving because of a spouse

The math and CS teacher has been looking for jobs elsewhere since the previous administration

The CS teacher is moving because of a spouse

The biology teacher is young and wants to try a new school.

The counselors move on often and they hired a great person who is an alumn and has worked at the school for years.

I just looked at the faculty and staff directory and noticed that it now includes a PR person. Are you that person?

I am a parent of a senior who just graduated. My daughter knows well most of the teachers mentioned above. The narrative that you are spinning above is not quite right at least in a few cases (based on what she has heard directly from the teachers).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They did exit interviews for the students until recently, I don’t see why they can’t do it for the faculty too?

Penny:
-ended exit interviews for seniors
-ended the faculty-staff committee
-ended feedback forms for administrators

What was the benefit of ending these?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the Upper School, the following teachers are leaving:

2 Spanish
2 English
1 Government
1 Economics
1 math
1 math and CS
1 CS
1 biology
1 counseling

The two English teachers are absolutely phenomenal; one of them is retiring, but the choice to retire now is not a coincidence.

The government and economics teachers are fantastic too. The former is the chair of the history department.

These departures come on top of the loss of superb faculty (who had been at Holton for a long time) over the past two years.

All I can say is that I am grateful DD graduated today.

Spanish teacher often moves school after a couple of years. The second one had been training for a new career for a while.

One English teacher is retiring and had been planning to for a while. The other wants to continue in administration because her administrative position became redundant with the hiring of the associate head of school.

The econ teacher was part time

The goverment teacher preferred the openly political environment of the previous administration and did not like the idea that teachers are supposed to be politically neutral.

The math teacher is moving because of a spouse

The math and CS teacher has been looking for jobs elsewhere since the previous administration

The CS teacher is moving because of a spouse

The biology teacher is young and wants to try a new school.

The counselors move on often and they hired a great person who is an alumn and has worked at the school for years.

I just looked at the faculty and staff directory and noticed that it now includes a PR person. Are you that person?

I am a parent of a senior who just graduated. My daughter knows well most of the teachers mentioned above. The narrative that you are spinning above is not quite right at least in a few cases (based on what she has heard directly from the teachers).

No, a parent like you. Trying to give people more information about the reality of the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the Upper School, the following teachers are leaving:

2 Spanish
2 English
1 Government
1 Economics
1 math
1 math and CS
1 CS
1 biology
1 counseling

The two English teachers are absolutely phenomenal; one of them is retiring, but the choice to retire now is not a coincidence.

The government and economics teachers are fantastic too. The former is the chair of the history department.

These departures come on top of the loss of superb faculty (who had been at Holton for a long time) over the past two years.

All I can say is that I am grateful DD graduated today.

Spanish teacher often moves school after a couple of years. The second one had been training for a new career for a while.

One English teacher is retiring and had been planning to for a while. The other wants to continue in administration because her administrative position became redundant with the hiring of the associate head of school.

The econ teacher was part time

The goverment teacher preferred the openly political environment of the previous administration and did not like the idea that teachers are supposed to be politically neutral.

The math teacher is moving because of a spouse

The math and CS teacher has been looking for jobs elsewhere since the previous administration

The CS teacher is moving because of a spouse

The biology teacher is young and wants to try a new school.

The counselors move on often and they hired a great person who is an alumn and has worked at the school for years.

You are wrong. All teachers are as obsessed as me about Penny, and they are leaving just because of her. It’s not possible that teachers leave because of their spouse or because they want to try a new school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They did exit interviews for the students until recently, I don’t see why they can’t do it for the faculty too?

Penny:
-ended exit interviews for seniors
-ended the faculty-staff committee
-ended feedback forms for administrators

What was the benefit of ending these?

No record of complaints and concerns.