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Will Whittle be around next year?
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Anonymous
I've always thought"Whittle School & Studios" was a pretty pompous moniker, too.....And I guess it meant basically the same thing. "Please, Children. Give Chris One Big Cool-Looking Triumph Before He Shuffles Off With Just a Resume Full of Flops." That didn't work eiither. |
Anonymous
| Sorry, I am coming to this waaaay late, and I am reluctant to read all 98 pages of posts. Can someone offer an executive summary on what happened/is happening at Whittle? |
Anonymous
Whittle either never raised as much capital as he said he did. Or he wasted most of it, the way he's done on all his previous projects. Or both. And sometime last year, the China operation -- the only "global" part of his "global" school that had yet materialized -- pulled out of his "network" (which he claimed would produce not just spectacular and revolutionary education but economic efficiencies, despite there being no evidence that such a thing happens in education). So the world's first global school started its third school year with only one school. (although the students, parents and teachers seem not to have been informed of that). And it also started this school year with a mostly new faculty (and, to a lesser extent, administration), since the original faculty and administration, made up entirely of career educators who seemed quite committed to the school's goals, virtually all had quit, some in the middle of semesters, after the school's first two years of operation. But as this new faculty started anew the process of building and shoring up a curriculum and structure for the kids, they were hit several times with late paychecks and scares about whether those paychecks would ever materialize. Also, while the new faculty weren't told this, lawsuits were being filed, claiming non-payment of invoices to the tune of some $30 million -- beginning in some cases in 2019, before the school in opened and long before Covid, which Chris Whittle has repeatedly blamed for every problem he's had. It appears he also wasn't paying his rent, or at least not his full rent, although, again, the parents and staff weren't told this. Towards the end of the first semester, the faculty-pay problem got worse. But Whittle kept asking everybody to just hang on, because more big money surely would come. (an old Whittle refrain that he's been singing for well over 30 years now, every place he goes). Then parents -- and perhaps others -- stepped in to meet some of those payrolls, in hopes that Whittle's claims of the imminent arrival of big investors were true and the school's future could be secured. Lots of lies and secrecy have ensued recently. Parents and whoever else have paid the faculty (although not yesterday's payroll, apparently). The lawsuits have moved forward. There are liens. And then recently the landlord was hit with a foreclosure notice. Whittle's not paying the rent, so the landlord isn't paying the bank......But in one of his announcements, Whittle stated that the foreclosure had nothing to do with him and the school. The foreclosure sale is scheduled for March 24. And Whittle's claiming that he, the parents and some others of his supporters will likely buy the school. But he claims a lot of stuff. Long story short -- the school's stumbling from week to week, with a new faculty, a dwindling student body, and crippling uncertainties. Some of the parents and staff, however, continue to believe the reassurances of money on the way, despite the number of times Whittle's lied and obfuscated and stalled and failed to produce much or any promised money. Kids and school teachers are being run over in this debacle. Depressing as hell. But unfortunately just a reprise of all of Whittle's previous business ventures, all of which failed in very similar ways. |
Anonymous
| 98 pages summarized perfectly in your post! |
Anonymous
| Perfect summary! |
Anonymous
It’s so easy to judge from the outside. But perhaps parents don’t want to stress their kids out by ripping them from their friends mid year. I for one am choosing to stick it out as long as I can not because I believe in the dream or CW, but because my kids genuinely LOVE their classmates. You couldn’t know unless you have witnessed it first hand. But this is a very special group of children with a bond I’ve never seen in other schools. We knew exactly what we were doing. And every day my kids get with these other children is a blessing to them. It will be hard enough to have to start over some place new next year. I’m opting to let them have this time with these children. |
Anonymous
Makes sense. Friends are important. Very sorry this happened for all of you. |
Anonymous
As a student at this school, I can tell you that everyone who is still here isn't here by choice. Not all of us are able to transfer to a good public school, due to zoning issues and bad dc public schools in general. Many of the students who have left already will have to attend summer school at their new school, because they are behind on education. This isn't anyone but CW's fault. We came to private school for a reason, and its unfair other students are being forced into bad public schools. |
Anonymous
Are students discussing CW and the school's demise among themselves? |
Anonymous
I hate to break it to you, but you can transfer to a ‘bad’ public school. Unless you can beg your way into a private school, that is what will happen if payroll doesn’t get met. |
Anonymous
| The head of school had to beg for parents to stay at the school and not pull their kids out. The school ran out of money and as a parent I am FED UP. They told us about this 2 weeks before applications closed for other schools, this was set up. I am pulling my child out of this school and sending him to a public school, because that would be better than this JOKE of a school. They emailed me a day after Christmas asking if I could pay 25% of tuition for next year, and they would guarantee my child is able to attend next year. I am not taking the chance and I am fed up. All of my childs friends have left, and there have been so many complaints about everything. There are mice, he couldn't play in his basketball game because they didnt have jerseys, the water is unfiltered and DC water is disgusting. There are open windows in the bathrooms and the 1st year they hired a pedo who did weird things to my son and his friends. They dont do background checks on their teachers. Whittle Schools and Studios is a façade. It's a smoothie of false marketing, bankruptcy, empty promises, terrible facilities(no AC, and faulty WiFi). This school tries to "globalize" but they ended up having one campus fail and another get taken away. The owner of the school, Chris Whittle has been misleading our parents for a long time. Due to lack of resources, students have buy their own books for class. The school could've been a great school, however our founder spent way too much time at the Chinese campus (which they lost), which resulted the DC campus having several foundational errors. This school sucks they gave us 1 extra weeks off break because they couldn't pay for security and food. This school required PARENTS to find investors to SAVE the school. Dont be fooled by the big building, only ONE pod is done. The school started giving students SUBWAY for lunch and they promised a FIVE STAR chef. The music classes dont even have instruments. EVERYBODY who speaks the truth about this school gets fired. To top it off this school has changed their curriculum every year. The staff never provided teachers with resources for learning therefore the learning quality was very low. Also, in the last meeting one parent who is "saving the school" really didnt enjoy the WSJ that exposes the truth-the person said that the writer isnt doing anything. THIS IS WRONG- I didn't even know that the school was schudled for foreclosure(the journal truly helped). They also sprung a suprise meeting on parents, on superbowl sunday at 4 o clock, and didnt provide a summary for parents who couldnt attend. |
Anonymous
Of course we are. We stay on this forum and discuss. We have even found out what teachers have posted what. We are the ones telling our parents most of the information |
Anonymous
Of course I could transfer into a 'bad' public school. This schools education is not that bad, and I would prefer to be here for the rest of the year instead of a public school with 2000 kids. I am definitely leaving next year though. |
Anonymous
Did you find out what the Sunday meeting was about? |
Anonymous
Yes - this reeks of Chris' tactics. Obfuscate until the last possible moment and then spring the surprise that there is no money so you don't have a chance to pivot. And this is exactly the game he is continuing to play. Promising money that is coming "within 24 hours", or in a "2-3 week grasp", or "by March 24th, pinky promise" - all designed to keep hope flickering. Anyone that gave the school a 25% advance against '23 tuition needs to write that off. The money was spent before it even hit the school's accounts.
Of course they don't enjoy honest publicity about what is going on. Having these facts exposed makes it incredibly unlikely that even the most gullible person will "invest". The WBJ has been asleep about this absolutely disgraceful school in their own backyard but at least they're finally waking up and getting the facts into the public domain where they belong |