Burgundy Farm is bleeding middle school teachers.

[Anonymous]

Burgundy's Middle School has always been considered the "gem" of the school. However, the school is losing teachers at an unprecedented rate. Only 2 teachers in the middle school have been teaching in the middle school for more than two years. Granted, a loss of teachers is to be expected with a new Middle School head, but the overwhelming turnover is concerning. This could change the entire nature of the Middle School. Only time will tell if this is for better or for worse.

[Anonymous]

Periodically this sort of post appears about pretty much every school. Its always something along the lines of breaking news about something terrible that is going on and so we all need to hate whatever school it is. I've read posts like this about schools my kids attend and they've contained all sorts of untrue or twisted information. I know nothing about Burgundy Farms but I would urge everyone to be skeptical. I mean, what is the point in posting this?

[Anonymous]

PP..R U the defensive Green Acres poster?

[Anonymous]

Question for the OP.

Burgndy's website lists their teachers. For the Middle School there are eight teachers listed. Three techers are noted as being at Burgundy for 2 or less years. The remaining five teachers have been at Burgundy for any where from 3 to 23 years.

Is the information on the website incorrect, or are you generalizing too much?

[Anonymous]

I don't know anything about Burgundys teachers but in the schools my kids have attended a turnover in teachers has always ended up being a good thing. There was only one I was really sorry to see retire.

[Anonymous]

Change is constant and not something to be immediately feared. Imagine being a teacher at a small private school ... your ability to grow and experience different challenges has got to be somewhat limited. And if your professional goals include taking on a higher level role, leaving the school will almost certainly be required. The key to teacher turnover is to trust that the administration will hire new folks that will align well with the school's mission and goals and culture. Based on the hiring I've seen first-hand at Burgundy over the past five years, I feel comfortable that the new teachers will likely be excellent.

[Anonymous]

Over the last two years, Burgundy middle school has seen significant changes. Last year they got a new head, a teacher swap from middle to lower school took place, and 2 middle school teachers left. This year 4 teachers are leaving. That only leaves 2 long-time MIDDLE school teachers. It is hard to see how an almost complete change in teacher staffing coupled with the a new head is not going to change the "gem" of the school. It is understandable when a few teachers leave and it was anticipated with the departure of the long-time head of the middle school, but a complete redo of the teaching staff is leaves questions in my mind about the direction of the middle school. Others clearly disagree. Although if their child(ren) do not attend Burgundy I don't see how or why their comments are relevant as Burgundy has always been a unique community. I am concerned about what this means for the children who have to weather what appears to be a clean sweep of the middle school.

[Anonymous]

Am a former Burgundy parent and I must contradict OP's assessment of the Middle School. For years, the LS was considered the gem and the MS problematic. Many kids left Burgundy at the end of fifth grade because of issues in the MS. I see the teacher changes (which have been happening now in the MS for the past 3 years) as the long-overdue overhauling of an entrenched faculty that has created concern among parents for a number of years. This can only be good news for the school.

[Anonymous]

16:50 Do you currently have children attending Burgundy? If so what years? Will the change immediately affect them or are you looking to the future?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Over the last two years, Burgundy middle school has seen significant changes. Last year they got a new head, a teacher swap from middle to lower school took place, and 2 middle school teachers left. This year 4 teachers are leaving. That only leaves 2 long-time MIDDLE school teachers. It is hard to see how an almost complete change in teacher staffing coupled with the a new head is not going to change the "gem" of the school. It is understandable when a few teachers leave and it was anticipated with the departure of the long-time head of the middle school, but a complete redo of the teaching staff is leaves questions in my mind about the direction of the middle school. Others clearly disagree. Although if their child(ren) do not attend Burgundy I don't see how or why their comments are relevant as Burgundy has always been a unique community. I am concerned about what this means for the children who have to weather what appears to be a clean sweep of the middle school.

I don't care how "gem-like" any school might be ... Change is always gonna happen and it is not necessarily a horrible thing. For example, the middle school head who left was wonderful, but her replacement seems rather exceptional as well and he brings a fresh perspective and a few new ideas. The two teachers who swapped between lower and middle school are both highly regarded ... They seem to be enjoying the challenge of new teaching challenges and neither has become any less highly regarded for having made the switch. Some of the teachers who are leaving have been at Burgundy a very long time and thus were going to leave eventually ... People are allowed to move on and do other things in life even though they have been fabulous and cherished at the school.

I guess what I'm saying is that I don't quite understand your apparent angst and alarm. Why do you feel so concerned over the changes and why do you have so little confidence that the new staff will be well chosen and contribute highly to the school? Are the middle school kids so fragile that they can't weather changes? It's not as if these changes were occurring in the middle of the school year or following some highly disruptive incident ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP..R U the defensive Green Acres poster?

I'm PPand no, I have no connection to Green Acres.

[Anonymous]

As a burgundy parent of lower school children, I honestly don't see any huge reason for concern. Agree with those who noted that the changes may actually be overdue in some cases. So far, my two kids have had, between them, 14 different teachers at Burgundy. 12 were fabulous. Two were mediocre. I was very upset about the two mediocre ones, and wish the school would jettison them, but they are, alas, still present. Still, 12 out of 14 is a pretty good ratio.

I'm not saying I never worry-- Burgundy is a small school, and sure, things could take a turn for the worse. But the claim that lots of lower school parents are freaking out about the middle school and/or don't like the new middle school head and/or don't like the head of school strikes me as very overstated. I certainly havent heard that sentiment expressed, and I think I have a reasonably good parent gossip network. On the whole, the parents I know seem pretty happy.