Preschool teacher resigns 2 weeks into year - should I be worried

[Anonymous]

Would you be worried? School gave a somewhat flimsy excuse for the lead teacher's resignation. Email went out today, it seems like her last day will be Friday. It is for a 2 year old class. My child already seems to love this teacher and talks about her at home daily. So beyond helping child through this transition, should I be worried about the stability at the school?

[Anonymous]

This is what happens in preschools. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

[Anonymous]

Is it a daycare center or a half day preschool program? Turnover is high in daycare centers. As long as they replace her with a caring competent teacher, I wouldn't worry. It's very common. Part day preschool teachers are less likely to leave.

[Anonymous]

It's a preschool, not a daycare center.

[Anonymous]

I'd be worried, but I'm not sure I'd take action yet. But I'd be very observant.

[Anonymous]

Was this teacher new to the school this year, or has she been there a while? Have they said anything about who will be replacing her?

[Anonymous]

I would be pretty concerned if it was a traditional few-hours-a-morning type preschool--the good ones have really low turnover and leaving two weeks into the school year is odd.

A daycare or full-day preschool-tons of turnover, she probably got a better job offer.

[Anonymous]

Maybe, but one data point isn't really enough to draw conclusions. She may have had a personal issue--a family with a medical issue or something--and it has nothing to do with the school itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be pretty concerned if it was a traditional few-hours-a-morning type preschool--the good ones have really low turnover and leaving two weeks into the school year is odd.

A daycare or full-day preschool-tons of turnover, she probably got a better job offer.

OP here.

It is a traditional few hours a morning kind of place. In Chevy Chase.

She had been on staff for a number of years and is very well liked and respected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be pretty concerned if it was a traditional few-hours-a-morning type preschool--the good ones have really low turnover and leaving two weeks into the school year is odd.

A daycare or full-day preschool-tons of turnover, she probably got a better job offer.

OP here.

It is a traditional few hours a morning kind of place. In Chevy Chase.

She had been on staff for a number of years and is very well liked and respected.

Have there been any changes into the administration coming into this year? If there aren't specific signs that this teacher left due to something going on within the school, I would assume that it's due to personal circumstances, and maybe the school is respecting her privacy by putting out a vague explanation.

During our preschool years there were a few teachers (not all out kids' teachers) who left abruptly with not much explanation given. Because I knew them well or had friends who knew them well, I heard the stories behind a couple of them -- one had a parent develop terminal cancer and moved back home to care for her (young/unmarried/no kids), one had a spouse who had to leave his job due to a medical condition and she had to find a full-time job with benefits to support them. None of them were signs of a problem within the school, it just falls into the category of "life happens." It stinks when it happens to your kid, but I think when it's their kid who is affected, some parents (not accusing you, OP, speaking generally here) lose sight of the fact that teachers are human beings with their own lives that they have to prioritize above the particular job at times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be pretty concerned if it was a traditional few-hours-a-morning type preschool--the good ones have really low turnover and leaving two weeks into the school year is odd.

A daycare or full-day preschool-tons of turnover, she probably got a better job offer.

This is so not true. All preschools good or not experience high turnover in one way or another at some time.

[Anonymous]

This happened to us last year at the end of the first week with a teacher who had been there 5 years. It took about a month to find a permanent replacement and we were thrilled with the new teacher, she was awesome and is back this year teaching in a different room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you be worried? School gave a somewhat flimsy excuse for the lead teacher's resignation. Email went out today, it seems like her last day will be Friday. It is for a 2 year old class. My child already seems to love this teacher and talks about her at home daily. So beyond helping child through this transition, should I be worried about the stability at the school?

I get so annoyed when people jump on this. Employers can not give out info on personnel! You have no idea what personal/family/whatever things might be happening in this person's life. I think you need to focus on how they handle the transition, and whatever new teacher arrives.

[Anonymous]

I would assume that her husband got transferred, that a parent got sick, that she decided that she needed to be at home full time, maybe she has something going on health wise...or maybe she finally "had it up to here" with something at work and just decided it wasn't working out there for her.

I wouldn't be worried about her leaving necessarily. I would be disappointed that child had to adjust to yet another teacher in such a short amount of time. But sometimes things like that happen.

[Anonymous]

If she got a job that paid better, she'd be a fool not to leave. Don't take it personally.