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SSFS Will Stay Open
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Anonymous
The assumption that people have been blocking out information and perspectives.  And the continued theme of finally people will see what I see and then I will be validated.
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Anonymous
DP here - Are you a current parent trying to decide to stay or leave? And to the OP - happy for your kid and happy that the upper school (particularly rising 10th, 11th, and 12th grade) seem to be on track to retain their enrollment and teachers!! |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Okay I hope I don’t get shut down for being a troll or man-splainer, but these are just a few reasons why I hesitate to re enroll.
1. We still know NOTHING of how the school got here. Why did RG get fired/quit? Why did the CFO get fired? Why did CL quit? How do the finances get this bad and BOT didn’t know? I am no more understanding why any of this happened now as a year ago and I’ve been asking these questions the whole time 2. The same BoT that hired RG, promoted CL, hired SG (none of whom really worked out for the school) hired SH. Why should I think he is any better a leader? Because the BOT says he is? What track record would prove to me that the school has found an effective leader hired by the same ppl with a disastrous track record in everything they have done? 3. The coalition seems to be made of a group of (well meaning) people who want to save the school they went to TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO. This is NOT the ssfs of today. They are nostalgic about the school they loved (clearly not involved enough to have donated millions to the schools bottom line before this) and want to save their memories version of the school. But that does not mean they have my child’s best interest as a goal. This is why enticing ppl to reenroll is important to them and so uncovering the truth no more helps their cause as it did the BOTs and why we have learned nothing more through them then from the board! Their goal is to convince people to stay not to ensure my child will get a good education. So our goals don’t align so I don’t really trust what they’re selling either. And then add to that the uncertainty of which teachers will stay (and why should they after being thrown under the bus cause we get them ice cream trucks?), can the school stay open long term, will programs drop- on the balance sheet for my family I have a much longer list on the con side. [/quote] +1 I share your same reasons for our own hesitation. And for the record, I don't think your post comes off as man-splaining. You re offering your personal reasons why you are reluctant. To me, the man-splaining are the posts telling us what we should be aware of or looking out for or implying that those of us that stayed this long have our heads in the sand. As your post demonstrates, those of us that are still here (hesitating now or not hesitating) are fully aware of the red flags and what to look for. Anyway, thanks for your post. I share all of your concerns as well as more which is why have not re-enrolled and are leaning towards not re-enrolling. [/quote] Well, if some people noticed a problem and some people didn't, and it turned out to be a quite serious problem, wouldn't you be at least slightly interested in how they perceived it, what they understand that you don't, and their ideas going forward? I just don't agree that everyone was aware of the red flags. *Now* they're aware. But some people were picking up on this 3-4 years ago, and others were rejecting the idea that anything was wrong. Don't you think you have anything to learn from others? Do you think you already know everything? How's that working out? What's happening at SSFS didn't have to happen. The ship could have been righted if more people had been willing to acknowledge the problem. [/quote] What is it you need from this SSFS forum (as you're clearly not a current parent) to feel satisfied and move to a different forum? Do you need validation for picking up on something 3-4 years before others? Ok - good for you for picking up on the red flags that you perceived as red flags. You moved on from SSFS, perhaps moving on from this forum is best as well. [/quote] Well, I think ideally I'd like the whole school community to become more informed about institutional governance and finance, to make the rescue mission a success and prevent this from ever happening again. It's not really about validation, it's about this being an opportunity [b]for people to finally choose to hear the information and perspectives[/b] that they've been blocking out for so long. People pounce on the "I told you so" thing because they think it's a window of opportunity for them to finally be heard. Not necessarily validated or agreed with. Just heard. [/quote] The assumption that people have been blocking out information and perspectives. And the continued theme of [i]finally people will see what I see and then I will be validated[/i]. [/quote]
Well yes, I definitely do think some people have been blocking out information and perspectives. Maybe not you. But definitely some people. Casting this as a quest for validation is dismissive and missed the point. It's an attempt to make use of an opportunity for the community to learn, so that the school can return to financial strength. You can take that opportunity, or you can believe that a rescue donor will bail you out the next time, and the next time, and the time after that. When you're hostile to people with a different perspective, you miss the opportunity to learn from them. Saving this school requires a realistic perspective and the ability to predict what people will do *in real life*. There aren't enough true believers to support SSFS and it's infrastructure and debt. It has to be a school with adequate academics and adequately competent management or it won't have enough students to exist. That's the bottom line here. So if you can't wrap your head around other people's perspectives and hear them out, it's going to be a very bumpy ride. Because you need those people to make the math work out. |
Anonymous
Why don't you explain to us how, if nobody had their head in the sand and nobody blocked anything out, the school ended up in sudden failure. Go on, I would sincerely find your thoughts extremely interesting and relevant. |
Anonymous
With a senior the trades are different. if i had a senior I'd want to stick it out also. however, even for your senior you have to realize that next year's SSFS might look vastly different from his prior experience here. It will not be the same under any circumstance. You're in denial if you think it will be the same. But again, as a senior I can see why you'd want to stick it out anyway. But if you're not in 5th/8th/12th, what would bring you back to a school that (with 300 projected students) will be nothing like what we experienced even this current year. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Okay I hope I don’t get shut down for being a troll or man-splainer, but these are just a few reasons why I hesitate to re enroll.
1. We still know NOTHING of how the school got here. Why did RG get fired/quit? Why did the CFO get fired? Why did CL quit? How do the finances get this bad and BOT didn’t know? I am no more understanding why any of this happened now as a year ago and I’ve been asking these questions the whole time 2. The same BoT that hired RG, promoted CL, hired SG (none of whom really worked out for the school) hired SH. Why should I think he is any better a leader? Because the BOT says he is? What track record would prove to me that the school has found an effective leader hired by the same ppl with a disastrous track record in everything they have done? 3. The coalition seems to be made of a group of (well meaning) people who want to save the school they went to TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO. This is NOT the ssfs of today. They are nostalgic about the school they loved (clearly not involved enough to have donated millions to the schools bottom line before this) and want to save their memories version of the school. But that does not mean they have my child’s best interest as a goal. This is why enticing ppl to reenroll is important to them and so uncovering the truth no more helps their cause as it did the BOTs and why we have learned nothing more through them then from the board! Their goal is to convince people to stay not to ensure my child will get a good education. So our goals don’t align so I don’t really trust what they’re selling either. And then add to that the uncertainty of which teachers will stay (and why should they after being thrown under the bus cause we get them ice cream trucks?), can the school stay open long term, will programs drop- on the balance sheet for my family I have a much longer list on the con side. [/quote] +1 I share your same reasons for our own hesitation. And for the record, I don't think your post comes off as man-splaining. You re offering your personal reasons why you are reluctant. To me, the man-splaining are the posts telling us what we should be aware of or looking out for or implying that those of us that stayed this long have our heads in the sand. As your post demonstrates, those of us that are still here (hesitating now or not hesitating) are fully aware of the red flags and what to look for. Anyway, thanks for your post. I share all of your concerns as well as more which is why have not re-enrolled and are leaning towards not re-enrolling. [/quote] Well, if some people noticed a problem and some people didn't, and it turned out to be a quite serious problem, wouldn't you be at least slightly interested in how they perceived it, what they understand that you don't, and their ideas going forward? I just don't agree that everyone was aware of the red flags. *Now* they're aware. But some people were picking up on this 3-4 years ago, and others were rejecting the idea that anything was wrong. Don't you think you have anything to learn from others? Do you think you already know everything? How's that working out? What's happening at SSFS didn't have to happen. The ship could have been righted if more people had been willing to acknowledge the problem. [/quote] What is it you need from this SSFS forum (as you're clearly not a current parent) to feel satisfied and move to a different forum? Do you need validation for picking up on something 3-4 years before others? Ok - good for you for picking up on the red flags that you perceived as red flags. You moved on from SSFS, perhaps moving on from this forum is best as well. [/quote] Well, I think ideally I'd like the whole school community to become more informed about institutional governance and finance, to make the rescue mission a success and prevent this from ever happening again. It's not really about validation, it's about this being an opportunity [b]for people to finally choose to hear the information and perspectives[/b] that they've been blocking out for so long. People pounce on the "I told you so" thing because they think it's a window of opportunity for them to finally be heard. Not necessarily validated or agreed with. Just heard. [/quote] The assumption that people have been blocking out information and perspectives. And the continued theme of [i]finally people will see what I see and then I will be validated[/i]. [/quote]
Well yes, I definitely do think some people have been blocking out information and perspectives. Maybe not you. But definitely some people. Casting this as a quest for validation is dismissive and missed the point. It's an attempt to make use of an opportunity for the community to learn, so that the school can return to financial strength. You can take that opportunity, or you can believe that a rescue donor will bail you out the next time, and the next time, and the time after that. When you're hostile to people with a different perspective, you miss the opportunity to learn from them. Saving this school requires a realistic perspective and the ability to predict what people will do *in real life*. There aren't enough true believers to support SSFS and it's infrastructure and debt. It has to be a school with adequate academics and adequately competent management or it won't have enough students to exist. That's the bottom line here. So if you can't wrap your head around other people's perspectives and hear them out, it's going to be a very bumpy ride. Because you need those people to make the math work out.[/quote] Since you're clearly invested in SSFS fixing things, feel free to join the coalition. All are welcome. |
Anonymous
Not the OP of this exchange, but are you saying the drop in enrollment, and possible loss of teachers/reduction in programs can't have an effect on the student? or that asking if this was taking into account is somehow....rude? |
Anonymous
I don't share your perspective. I think you have to look at the projected students within each division to decide if you need to be concerned about things looking vastly different. If the US enrollment for 10th, 11th, and 12th stays relatively stable to what it was this year, then what's important to my kid won't change all that much even though the larger campus could look and feel very different. It's all personal and relative. Nobody is in denial. |
Anonymous
Wow because the OP explained why they were staying yet at least one person on here seems intent on pushing back on those very personal reasons either with the assumption that the parent of the kid who is staying somehow hasn't thought of everything or because the person that seems to be pushing back on everything won't be satisfied until they feel validated for some reason. It's been quite stunning to watch. So yeah ...."Wow"! |
Anonymous
| If nobody was ever in denial and nobody missed or ignored anything, how did SSFS go from stability to sudden closure? |
Anonymous
Are you a current parent? |
Anonymous
Does that change the answer you would give? If I admit I'm a bad, bad, validation-seeker and general meanie, does that change your hypothetical response to my questions? |
Anonymous
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We are also re-enrolling for middle school along with a great many current classmates and several new families. We are doing so because we love and cherish what the school is NOW and what it has provided for our child over the last few years.
This school can’t exist without families and kids to fill it and it needs to exist. It is an irreplaceable home base for so many. We all know that not everything is perfect right now and not everything is fixed. There’s an open wound that is going to need major healing. But why are so many acting like healing and change are impossible? There is so much enthusiasm and will right now to save this school. It’s been incredible to witness. We are hanging in because we want to be a part of that. A weakened and healing SSFS is preferable to us than any other school in the immediate area. |
Anonymous
You are engaging aggressively on an anonymous forum intended for current parents or people that have some invested interest in the school. You are posting with the assumption that parents have been in denial otherwise the sudden closure wouldn't have happened. Yet the key word in your assumption is "sudden". You very much seem like someone hell bent on proving a point. As such, engaging with you is useless. So, the only other thing I will offer you is this - being in denial and being denied important information are two completely different things. Stop badgering the well meaning parents on here who are still in the midst of important decision making while also experiencing grief and sadness. |
Anonymous
I think it's totally possible, but only with an honest and transparent turnaround plan. And I would suggest to you that what people say to your face about staying versus what they are planning in private may be two different things. I just can't take people at face value when they say they will stay. |