SELA teacher exodus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SELA parent here. I heard from a teacher this morning at drop off that almost all of the teachers plus the director of operations are leaving at the end of this year. All but one of the Hebrew teachers will be gone and all of the English speaking teachers are leaving. All gave their notice last week. I was hoping to have my child in this teacher's class next year but that hope is gone and it's too late and stressful to start another school search. Any suggestions? First year DC resident and first year involved in the whole school search/application process.

If true, this would be very sad. I'd first of all call the school to corroborate the story.

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

Why are they all leaving? The principal seems great and I would be surprised if she did not have a backup plan.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, the director of Ops job opening is prominently posted online and definitely not a secret.

I know next to nothing about Sela overall, but--as with all schools--am rooting for it to succeed.

[Anonymous]

You should hope that the school will close because the charter board and DCPS might help place the displaced students.

[Anonymous]

Um where would people go? Their neighborhood school?

[Anonymous]

I'm sure not for prek3/4. For K and above neighborhood schools are your right. But if that isn't an option what are those families going to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure not for prek3/4. For K and above neighborhood schools are your right. But if that isn't an option what are those families going to do?

There are plenty of DCPS and charters with PK 4 openings. They may not be the choices for DCUM, but there are openings throughout the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, the director of Ops job opening is prominently posted online and definitely not a secret.

I know next to nothing about Sela overall, but--as with all schools--am rooting for it to succeed.

I feel the same way, seemed like a nice group of people and really diverse group of kids I saw at a few events. That said, I was always worried about the long-term viability of the school because of it being such a niche "product". I was only really thinking about the interest of parents being pulled away by more mainstream languages. But the availability of qualified teachers is a real problem also. Good luck to the school and families, hope they can get through this.

[Anonymous]

I guess I don't understand why this is an unfortunate thing? Isn't there a lot of turnover of teachers in the school system period?

We were called off the waitlist for PK3 and they allowed us to enroll. Why would this be at risk if they are enrolling kids?

[Anonymous]

It looks like they are hiring 11 positions
Director of Operations Click here to view job description
Director of Curriculum & Instruction Click here to view job description
Hebrew Curriculum Specialist Click here to view job description
Special Education/ELL Teacher Click here to view job description
Elementary School Teacher (English-Speaking) Click here to view job description
Elementary School Teacher (Hebrew-Speaking) Click here to view job description
Early Childhood Teacher (English-Speaking) Click here to view job description
Early Childhood Teacher (Hebrew-Speaking) Click here to view job description
Instructional Assistant (English-Speaking) Click here to view job description
Instructional Assistant (Hebrew-Speaking) Click here to view job description
Earyl Childhood Instructional Assistant (Hebrew-Speaking) Click here to view job description

http://www.selapcs.org/#!employment/c14uc

[Anonymous]

As a comparison, here is Mundo Verde
Application for Teaching Positions
Solicitud (en español) para posiciones de enseñanza

SY2015-16 Lead Teacher Spanish/English ~ Maestro Líder Español/Inglés 2015-16
SY2015-16 Fellow Teacher Spanish/English ~ Maestro en Formación Español/Inglés 2015-16
Bilingual Special Education Inclusion Teacher ~ Maestro de Educación Especial y de Inclusión -Bilingüe
After School Lead Teacher ~ Maestro Líder Programa Después de la Escuela
After School Associate ~ Auxiliar del Programa Después de la Escuela
Substitute Teacher ~ Maestro suplente

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I don't understand why this is an unfortunate thing? Isn't there a lot of turnover of teachers in the school system period?

We were called off the waitlist for PK3 and they allowed us to enroll. Why would this be at risk if they are enrolling kids?

Try harder. Yes you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I don't understand why this is an unfortunate thing? Isn't there a lot of turnover of teachers in the school system period?

We were called off the waitlist for PK3 and they allowed us to enroll. Why would this be at risk if they are enrolling kids?

10-20% turnover could be considered normal. What OP reported sounded more like 60-75% of current teachers.

Finding qualified teachers to work in an immersion school is already a challenge. Doing so at this late date - is even tougher. That's why some are expressing concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a comparison, here is Mundo Verde
Application for Teaching Positions
Solicitud (en español) para posiciones de enseñanza

SY2015-16 Lead Teacher Spanish/English ~ Maestro Líder Español/Inglés 2015-16
SY2015-16 Fellow Teacher Spanish/English ~ Maestro en Formación Español/Inglés 2015-16
Bilingual Special Education Inclusion Teacher ~ Maestro de Educación Especial y de Inclusión -Bilingüe
After School Lead Teacher ~ Maestro Líder Programa Después de la Escuela
After School Associate ~ Auxiliar del Programa Después de la Escuela
Substitute Teacher ~ Maestro suplente

Mundo Verde has fewer positions to fill and many more kids than does SELA. Plus, finding teachers who are native Spanish speakers is much easier than native Hebrew teachers. I hope SELA can pull through for the sake of the families that are there, but I'm not sure that it can.