Revolving Door at Holton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The board selected the HOS to appeal to conservative donors and families, overlooking her lack of qualifications, poor people skills, and troubling professional history.

There aren't that many conservative families at Holton, which is no surprise given the area it draws from. Yes, it's higher than the public schools nearby, but it's not an overwhelming majority by any means.

And looking at the people at the donor reception hosted yearly at the HOS's house, a reception open only to those who give at least a certain amount, it's definitely not full of conservative familes. Your premise is entirely wrong.

[Anonymous]

No, the board's premise and motives were wrong. Their priorities were wrong. But will they take action to correct their mistakes?

[Anonymous]

Just want to chime in that we are a middle school family who is honestly really happy. We aren’t aware of any behind the scenes drama and neither is our daughter. She has a lot of friends and no drama within her group, and I have only encountered nice moms. Our daughter has needed some academic support, and the teachers have been really responsive. I’m just sharing this for anyone getting the impression that Holton is in a crisis mode. We were a new family and our first year was great! No complaints.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just want to chime in that we are a middle school family who is honestly really happy. We aren’t aware of any behind the scenes drama and neither is our daughter. She has a lot of friends and no drama within her group, and I have only encountered nice moms. Our daughter has needed some academic support, and the teachers have been really responsive. I’m just sharing this for anyone getting the impression that Holton is in a crisis mode. We were a new family and our first year was great! No complaints.

That’s nice to hear. My daughter starts this year at Holton. I am very optimistic about the school.

In general when the complaints are directed towards a person without any concrete suggestions for improvement, except the hos should resign, in fact they are not very credible.

Let the bitter teacher continue with her rant. Eventually she will exhaust her energy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just want to chime in that we are a middle school family who is honestly really happy. We aren’t aware of any behind the scenes drama and neither is our daughter. She has a lot of friends and no drama within her group, and I have only encountered nice moms. Our daughter has needed some academic support, and the teachers have been really responsive. I’m just sharing this for anyone getting the impression that Holton is in a crisis mode. We were a new family and our first year was great! No complaints.

That’s nice to hear. My daughter starts this year at Holton. I am very optimistic about the school.

In general when the complaints are directed towards a person without any concrete suggestions for improvement, except the hos should resign, in fact they are not very credible.

Let the bitter teacher continue with her rant. Eventually she will exhaust her energy.

Long time Holton family. Here is a concrete suggestion to the HOS: don’t be a bully to the teachers and staff!

Some of the best teachers left this year.

[Anonymous]

Seems like multiple parents are staff members have shared their concerns.

[Anonymous]

Parents and* staff members

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just want to chime in that we are a middle school family who is honestly really happy. We aren’t aware of any behind the scenes drama and neither is our daughter. She has a lot of friends and no drama within her group, and I have only encountered nice moms. Our daughter has needed some academic support, and the teachers have been really responsive. I’m just sharing this for anyone getting the impression that Holton is in a crisis mode. We were a new family and our first year was great! No complaints.

That’s nice to hear. My daughter starts this year at Holton. I am very optimistic about the school.

In general when the complaints are directed towards a person without any concrete suggestions for improvement, except the hos should resign, in fact they are not very credible.

Let the bitter teacher continue with her rant. Eventually she will exhaust her energy.

It's clearly not just one person. Regardless, you can't pretend the departure of 70+ faculty and staff in two years is okay or normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just want to chime in that we are a middle school family who is honestly really happy. We aren’t aware of any behind the scenes drama and neither is our daughter. She has a lot of friends and no drama within her group, and I have only encountered nice moms. Our daughter has needed some academic support, and the teachers have been really responsive. I’m just sharing this for anyone getting the impression that Holton is in a crisis mode. We were a new family and our first year was great! No complaints.

That’s nice to hear. My daughter starts this year at Holton. I am very optimistic about the school.

In general when the complaints are directed towards a person without any concrete suggestions for improvement, except the hos should resign, in fact they are not very credible.

Let the bitter teacher continue with her rant. Eventually she will exhaust her energy.

It's clearly not just one person. Regardless, you can't pretend the departure of 70+ faculty and staff in two years is okay or normal.

Is that number accurate? Did they just leave only because of the HOS or normally people leave for other reasons (higher salary somewhere else)? Honestly doesn’t sound credible that 70+ people will leave because a toxic head of school. This would be the first school that ever experienced this.

[Anonymous]

I think the OP should be more consistent with trend and also leave holton. She really dislikes the HOS but still works there. Please do yourself a favor and resign. You will be much happier in another school.

[Anonymous]

Maybe, but multiple teachers who also have children there have chosen to leave, so that's unlikely. The jobs are there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe, but multiple teachers who also have children there have chosen to leave, so that's unlikely. The jobs are there.

Also depends of the qualifications. The best federal workers left immediately when doge was enactiing the staff cuts. If you are good, it is more likely there is demand for your skills and you can go anywhere you want.

In any case. In order to improve things this type of post is not very helpful. So far the only think I heard is that a couple of teachers don’t like penny’s managerial style. Too bad !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe, but multiple teachers who also have children there have chosen to leave, so that's unlikely. The jobs are there.

Also depends of the qualifications. The best federal workers left immediately when doge was enactiing the staff cuts. If you are good, it is more likely there is demand for your skills and you can go anywhere you want.

In any case. In order to improve things this type of post is not very helpful. So far the only think I heard is that a couple of teachers don’t like penny’s managerial style. Too bad !

It must be a case of selective hearing

I posted earlier (long-time Holton family). We just stopped donating to the school.

[Anonymous]

Lol so it's the teachers' and staff members fault that Penny is an abusive and incompetent leader?

Why are you twisting yourself into knots defending Penny and insulting those expressing concerns? Just let people with concerns share what they've experienced. Let people with good experiences share theirs. No need to attack and insult them.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know about other parents on this thread, but I don’t want my DD to learn from teachers who are subject to abuse and disrespect from a supervisor. Were these one or two teachers with a reputation for whining about petty privileges, then yes, those people should move on.

But that’s not what we have. We have a critical mass of faculty who have either resigned or been pushed out because of toxic leadership. Undoubtedly, this translates into sub-par teaching in the classroom.

For those saying, “The beatings will not cease until morale improves,” consider the following: Hiring new teachers and partnering with consulting services costs time and money. Carney Sandoe and NAIS charge hefty fees for their placement services. Perhaps more concerning, new teachers are not accustomed to Holton’s norms and traditions. While this isn’t necessarily a liability, it brings a degree of risk. Veteran teachers are anchored to Holton’s history, and they are trusted figures within the school. They have weathered fads. They are versed in their curriculum. They have demonstrated professional love for our children. They are not getting rich, so why treat them as fungible commodities?

This school has enormous potential. If the Board insists on hitching their horse to Penny, then I suggest they hire an executive coach to work with her. This third party should seek input from all constituencies and present their findings to the Board (this happens a lot with new leaders at all kinds of nonprofits). Someone on the Board could use this as a launching point for deeper conversations about the school’s needs while helping Penny refine her leadership among the faculty.