Leaving Lowell early

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Lowell parent who was there before and during the pandemic.

There were some staffing issues with the 1st grade that were unavoidable. They were among the last to return to campus, and it was a difficult time for all.

Instead of recognizing that this was an impossible situation where nobody won, some parents of first graders completely lost perspective. They let their fear, frustration, and anger cloud their judgment. Instead of trusting leadership working to make a horrible situation better, they blamed and even battered the HoS. There was ugly gossip. There were threats. I wasn't even a 1st grade parent, but I heard about it from many fronts.

YES, it was terrible. But no, it wasn't different from things happening at other schools. Lowell weathered the pandemic extremely well, especially compared with other privates. Kudos to the trustees and the head for leading with grace and respect during an impossible situation.

To the PP: go to therapy. Seriously. The anger and resentment years later isn't about the school anymore. That's yours, and I hope you can work through in, instead of trying to attack the school years later.

What was unavoidable about the staffing issues in 1st grade? What made 1st grade different from any other grade? Also I didn't hear any anger nor resentment from the PP just stating how he/she felt. If you are representative of parents at Lowell who can't take any criticism without resorting to "you need therapy", I would want nothing to do with the school.

+1 This kind of unpleasant response speaks to PP’s comment. Any questioning of or disagreement with the administration is met with defensiveness, snubs and occasionally worse. 16:22 - Why exhibit such meanness when defending the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t have a dog in this fight, but it’s clear there is a lot of bitter ax grinding on this thread.

Parents, we don’t always know what happens behind the scenes. Sometimes a beloved teacher leaves because they screwed up. Or they are having mental health, family, or kid issues. Maybe your favorite teacher is a nightmare for their colleagues.

You just don’t know—even when we are sure we do.

Those are interesting theories. Another might be that they're good, smart and competent people bullied out by a mean administration that can't handle... well, anything.

[Anonymous]

Lowell is the only school this year adding an entire class for Kindergarten —they are going from 2 to 3 this year. Yes, they struggled like other schools during the pandemic, but they are growing literally. Also, no school matches their dynamic approaches to progressive education & varied youth cultures. It’s fine to prefer another school, but Lowell continues to be a strong educational institution.

[Anonymous]

Just chiming in to say we’ve been incredibly happy with Lowell, including their approach to social emotional learning. Our experience has been that if they catch wind of a potential bullying issue they act swiftly and sensitively to address it. Best part of Lowell for us has been the teachers. We started there in fall 2020 mid-pandemic and every teacher (specials included) has been so smart, so dedicated, and so thoughtful including when things were remote but even more now that everything is back to normal.

We were more hesitant to return to normal than many other families so we were happy with Lowell’s careful transition back - I get that others can disagree on that - but it made us feel safe sending our kids back.

Our kids’ grades have lost 1-2 kids per year and gained 3-4 kids (they are both primary school aged). For the OP, I do think a few kids leave in 6th for other top privates with a high school, but in our experience most families who choose a K-8 stay through 8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lowell is the only school this year adding an entire class for Kindergarten —they are going from 2 to 3 this year. Yes, they struggled like other schools during the pandemic, but they are growing literally. Also, no school matches their dynamic approaches to progressive education & varied youth cultures. It’s fine to prefer another school, but Lowell continues to be a strong educational institution.

When we looked at Lowell for K prior to the pandemic, they had three K classes. So, they seem to be going back to that after having lower K enrollment for a period of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lowell is the only school this year adding an entire class for Kindergarten —they are going from 2 to 3 this year. Yes, they struggled like other schools during the pandemic, but they are growing literally. Also, no school matches their dynamic approaches to progressive education & varied youth cultures. It’s fine to prefer another school, but Lowell continues to be a strong educational institution.

When we looked at Lowell for K prior to the pandemic, they had three K classes. So, they seem to be going back to that after having lower K enrollment for a period of time.

That's not true, unless you were looking before 2015.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Lowell parent who was there before and during the pandemic.

There were some staffing issues with the 1st grade that were unavoidable. They were among the last to return to campus, and it was a difficult time for all.

Instead of recognizing that this was an impossible situation where nobody won, some parents of first graders completely lost perspective. They let their fear, frustration, and anger cloud their judgment. Instead of trusting leadership working to make a horrible situation better, they blamed and even battered the HoS. There was ugly gossip. There were threats. I wasn't even a 1st grade parent, but I heard about it from many fronts.

YES, it was terrible. But no, it wasn't different from things happening at other schools. Lowell weathered the pandemic extremely well, especially compared with other privates. Kudos to the trustees and the head for leading with grace and respect during an impossible situation.

To the PP: go to therapy. Seriously. The anger and resentment years later isn't about the school anymore. That's yours, and I hope you can work through in, instead of trying to attack the school years later.

What was unavoidable about the staffing issues in 1st grade? What made 1st grade different from any other grade? Also I didn't hear any anger nor resentment from the PP just stating how he/she felt. If you are representative of parents at Lowell who can't take any criticism without resorting to "you need therapy", I would want nothing to do with the school.

+1 This kind of unpleasant response speaks to PP’s comment. Any questioning of or disagreement with the administration is met with defensiveness, snubs and occasionally worse. 16:22 - Why exhibit such meanness when defending the school?

That kind of unpleasantness is coming from an angry parent, not the school or administration. This is so wild.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lowell is the only school this year adding an entire class for Kindergarten —they are going from 2 to 3 this year. Yes, they struggled like other schools during the pandemic, but they are growing literally. Also, no school matches their dynamic approaches to progressive education & varied youth cultures. It’s fine to prefer another school, but Lowell continues to be a strong educational institution.

When we looked at Lowell for K prior to the pandemic, they had three K classes. So, they seem to be going back to that after having lower K enrollment for a period of time.

That's not true, unless you were looking before 2015.

It was 2015. We were shown 3 K classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Lowell parent who was there before and during the pandemic.

There were some staffing issues with the 1st grade that were unavoidable. They were among the last to return to campus, and it was a difficult time for all.

Instead of recognizing that this was an impossible situation where nobody won, some parents of first graders completely lost perspective. They let their fear, frustration, and anger cloud their judgment. Instead of trusting leadership working to make a horrible situation better, they blamed and even battered the HoS. There was ugly gossip. There were threats. I wasn't even a 1st grade parent, but I heard about it from many fronts.

YES, it was terrible. But no, it wasn't different from things happening at other schools. Lowell weathered the pandemic extremely well, especially compared with other privates. Kudos to the trustees and the head for leading with grace and respect during an impossible situation.

To the PP: go to therapy. Seriously. The anger and resentment years later isn't about the school anymore. That's yours, and I hope you can work through in, instead of trying to attack the school years later.

What was unavoidable about the staffing issues in 1st grade? What made 1st grade different from any other grade? Also I didn't hear any anger nor resentment from the PP just stating how he/she felt. If you are representative of parents at Lowell who can't take any criticism without resorting to "you need therapy", I would want nothing to do with the school.

+1 This kind of unpleasant response speaks to PP’s comment. Any questioning of or disagreement with the administration is met with defensiveness, snubs and occasionally worse. 16:22 - Why exhibit such meanness when defending the school?

That kind of unpleasantness is coming from an angry parent, not the school or administration. This is so wild.

No one said it was coming from the administration, they said if the administration was questioned or anything negative said about the school, some parents resorted to name calling and being down right mean. In our experience, this is indicative of a good number of parents- you either agree with whatever side they proclaim to support on any issue or they resort to this level of maturity. There is no space for debate or differing views on anything. Which is fairly ironic coming from a school whose parents supposedly support a progressive education- among other things- creating a less rigid learning environment where creativity and exploration are hallmarks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lowell is the only school this year adding an entire class for Kindergarten —they are going from 2 to 3 this year. Yes, they struggled like other schools during the pandemic, but they are growing literally. Also, no school matches their dynamic approaches to progressive education & varied youth cultures. It’s fine to prefer another school, but Lowell continues to be a strong educational institution.

Adding an additional class to an already stretched staff is a disservice to all of the children. There are staff members leaving this year who won’t be replaced. The financial health of the school is cause for concern.

[Anonymous]

I’m wondering if this has anything to do with the rumblings I’ve heard about some admitted Ks with late birthdays being rerouted to 1st?

[Anonymous]

[mastodon]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Lowell parent who was there before and during the pandemic.

There were some staffing issues with the 1st grade that were unavoidable. They were among the last to return to campus, and it was a difficult time for all.

Instead of recognizing that this was an impossible situation where nobody won, some parents of first graders completely lost perspective. They let their fear, frustration, and anger cloud their judgment. Instead of trusting leadership working to make a horrible situation better, they blamed and even battered the HoS. There was ugly gossip. There were threats. I wasn't even a 1st grade parent, but I heard about it from many fronts.

YES, it was terrible. But no, it wasn't different from things happening at other schools. Lowell weathered the pandemic extremely well, especially compared with other privates. Kudos to the trustees and the head for leading with grace and respect during an impossible situation.

To the PP: go to therapy. Seriously. The anger and resentment years later isn't about the school anymore. That's yours, and I hope you can work through in, instead of trying to attack the school years later.

What was unavoidable about the staffing issues in 1st grade? What made 1st grade different from any other grade? Also I didn't hear any anger nor resentment from the PP just stating how he/she felt. If you are representative of parents at Lowell who can't take any criticism without resorting to "you need therapy", I would want nothing to do with the school.

+1. This is really nasty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[mastodon]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Lowell parent who was there before and during the pandemic.

There were some staffing issues with the 1st grade that were unavoidable. They were among the last to return to campus, and it was a difficult time for all.

Instead of recognizing that this was an impossible situation where nobody won, some parents of first graders completely lost perspective. They let their fear, frustration, and anger cloud their judgment. Instead of trusting leadership working to make a horrible situation better, they blamed and even battered the HoS. There was ugly gossip. There were threats. I wasn't even a 1st grade parent, but I heard about it from many fronts.

YES, it was terrible. But no, it wasn't different from things happening at other schools. Lowell weathered the pandemic extremely well, especially compared with other privates. Kudos to the trustees and the head for leading with grace and respect during an impossible situation.

To the PP: go to therapy. Seriously. The anger and resentment years later isn't about the school anymore. That's yours, and I hope you can work through in, instead of trying to attack the school years later.

What was unavoidable about the staffing issues in 1st grade? What made 1st grade different from any other grade? Also I didn't hear any anger nor resentment from the PP just stating how he/she felt. If you are representative of parents at Lowell who can't take any criticism without resorting to "you need therapy", I would want nothing to do with the school.

+1. This is really nasty.

This is really Lowell. Peel back the showy progressive facade and what’s left is admin that is inattentive, often unkind and puts money above educational best practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[mastodon]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Lowell parent who was there before and during the pandemic.

There were some staffing issues with the 1st grade that were unavoidable. They were among the last to return to campus, and it was a difficult time for all.

Instead of recognizing that this was an impossible situation where nobody won, some parents of first graders completely lost perspective. They let their fear, frustration, and anger cloud their judgment. Instead of trusting leadership working to make a horrible situation better, they blamed and even battered the HoS. There was ugly gossip. There were threats. I wasn't even a 1st grade parent, but I heard about it from many fronts.

YES, it was terrible. But no, it wasn't different from things happening at other schools. Lowell weathered the pandemic extremely well, especially compared with other privates. Kudos to the trustees and the head for leading with grace and respect during an impossible situation.

To the PP: go to therapy. Seriously. The anger and resentment years later isn't about the school anymore. That's yours, and I hope you can work through in, instead of trying to attack the school years later.

What was unavoidable about the staffing issues in 1st grade? What made 1st grade different from any other grade? Also I didn't hear any anger nor resentment from the PP just stating how he/she felt. If you are representative of parents at Lowell who can't take any criticism without resorting to "you need therapy", I would want nothing to do with the school.

+1. This is really nasty.

This is really Lowell. Peel back the showy progressive facade and what’s left is admin that is inattentive, often unkind and puts money above educational best practices.

Jeez. That’s crazy. People put up with that for that kind of dough?

[Anonymous]

Can’t speak to how many people leave early but I wish we had…the school has gone downhill since the new HOS started a few years ago. She interviewed well but hasn’t delivered what she seemed to promise.

We loved Lowell for all its quirkiness…even with the downsides that everyone has mentioned. However, it is just a shell of its former self.