SSFS Will Stay Open

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It might not be magical for you or your child. But it is for mine, and a lot of their classmates. We’ve been in numerous public schools, as well as another private (all due to moving and shifting during pandemic) and my kid, who was bullied and treated poorly in those places is thriving at SSFS in ways I never thought possible. There is a real reason a whole bunch of people clamored to raise this money in record time. People are staying put for good reasons and reasons that are deeply personal and it’s shitty to try to paint that as delusional. What harm does it do to just move on and stop shitting on this school all goddamn day long?

Well no, not a lot of their classmates. Some, but not enough to keep the enrollment from falling drastically. Or maybe magic wasn't enough to overcome the tuition hike.

Eyes wide open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way they survive three years. Those grade levels of 10 kids are gonna self-implode sooner or later. Just too small for the social pool.

Friends Community School used to have grades that small (they've expanded since).

I don’t know much about that school. So they lost business and then had to build back up too? Or you mean they were a smaller school and expanded from there over time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know much about that school. So they lost business and then had to build back up too? Or you mean they were a smaller school and expanded from there over time?

They started with a lower school only, then added middle. But those grades were very small at the time. Just making the point it is possible to have 10 kids in a grade and it not "implode" socially. The challenge for SSFS will be doing that with such a large campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It might not be magical for you or your child. But it is for mine, and a lot of their classmates. We’ve been in numerous public schools, as well as another private (all due to moving and shifting during pandemic) and my kid, who was bullied and treated poorly in those places is thriving at SSFS in ways I never thought possible. There is a real reason a whole bunch of people clamored to raise this money in record time. People are staying put for good reasons and reasons that are deeply personal and it’s shitty to try to paint that as delusional. What harm does it do to just move on and stop shitting on this school all goddamn day long?

Well no, not a lot of their classmates. Some, but not enough to keep the enrollment from falling drastically. Or maybe magic wasn't enough to overcome the tuition hike.

Eyes wide open.

Sounds like you were ready to move on some time ago, and its good you've landed somewhere that works for you. Those of us who are choosing to stay are choosing to try to make this work - with eyes wide open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It might not be magical for you or your child. But it is for mine, and a lot of their classmates. We’ve been in numerous public schools, as well as another private (all due to moving and shifting during pandemic) and my kid, who was bullied and treated poorly in those places is thriving at SSFS in ways I never thought possible. There is a real reason a whole bunch of people clamored to raise this money in record time. People are staying put for good reasons and reasons that are deeply personal and it’s shitty to try to paint that as delusional. What harm does it do to just move on and stop shitting on this school all goddamn day long?

Well no, not a lot of their classmates. Some, but not enough to keep the enrollment from falling drastically. Or maybe magic wasn't enough to overcome the tuition hike.

Eyes wide open.

Sounds like you were ready to move on some time ago, and its good you've landed somewhere that works for you. Those of us who are choosing to stay are choosing to try to make this work - with eyes wide open.

Well, eyes wide open means not overestimating the number of children for whom it is "magical". That kind of rosy thinking is how schools get in trouble. I believe that it's been magical for your child and some others, but if that were true of "a lot of" students, SSFS wouldn't be in its current dire straits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, eyes wide open means not overestimating the number of children for whom it is "magical". That kind of rosy thinking is how schools get in trouble. I believe that it's been magical for your child and some others, but if that were true of "a lot of" students, SSFS wouldn't be in its current dire straits.

It's been magical for 232 of them anyway. Concerning that you seem to think so many kids don't deserve that?

We know the school has been in trouble and there are issues ahead. It doesn't need to be stated ad nauseum. I can tell you are not part of SSFS or else you would see the committees of qualified people doing the work. They're not just flying by the seat of their pants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, eyes wide open means not overestimating the number of children for whom it is "magical". That kind of rosy thinking is how schools get in trouble. I believe that it's been magical for your child and some others, but if that were true of "a lot of" students, SSFS wouldn't be in its current dire straits.

It's been magical for 232 of them anyway. Concerning that you seem to think so many kids don't deserve that?

We know the school has been in trouble and there are issues ahead. It doesn't need to be stated ad nauseum. I can tell you are not part of SSFS or else you would see the committees of qualified people doing the work. They're not just flying by the seat of their pants.

Not disputing ssfs is a special place to many. But those 232 aren’t all coming back because it’s magical for them. I know several who are simply using the reopening as a way to have the time to do a proper search in the fall to leave under their own terms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not disputing ssfs is a special place to many. But those 232 aren’t all coming back because it’s magical for them. I know several who are simply using the reopening as a way to have the time to do a proper search in the fall to leave under their own terms.

In other words, they were happy with it until a month ago. I also hope the school is looking ahead to a year from now and what to do if enrollment drops even more. But there is no need to shame those parents whose kids have thrived there and hope to continue by saying their "eyes are not open."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It might not be magical for you or your child. But it is for mine, and a lot of their classmates. We’ve been in numerous public schools, as well as another private (all due to moving and shifting during pandemic) and my kid, who was bullied and treated poorly in those places is thriving at SSFS in ways I never thought possible. There is a real reason a whole bunch of people clamored to raise this money in record time. People are staying put for good reasons and reasons that are deeply personal and it’s shitty to try to paint that as delusional. What harm does it do to just move on and stop shitting on this school all goddamn day long?

Take a breath and reread my OP. FIRST, I am a current parent and not one that has left...yet! Second, the whole theme of my post is bewilderment...being perplexed. For you to be this defensive only raises my suspicions that people are trying to convince themselves to stay. Yep, as I said, things just aren't adding up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, eyes wide open means not overestimating the number of children for whom it is "magical". That kind of rosy thinking is how schools get in trouble. I believe that it's been magical for your child and some others, but if that were true of "a lot of" students, SSFS wouldn't be in its current dire straits.

It's been magical for 232 of them anyway. Concerning that you seem to think so many kids don't deserve that?

We know the school has been in trouble and there are issues ahead. It doesn't need to be stated ad nauseum. I can tell you are not part of SSFS or else you would see the committees of qualified people doing the work. They're not just flying by the seat of their pants.

Well no. Not everyone thinks their school is magical. Lots of people think their school is nice, fine, okay, a good fit, just good enough that they aren't trying to leave, good for one of their kids so they're having the others go too, whatever. Every school has some people who love it, some who merely like it, and some who are on the fence. That's okay!

It's important not to pretend that everyone who is staying is committed. They might just be lacking other options. They might apply out more broadly next year. Maybe they liked it when it was bigger and don't like its current size. Eyes wide open means *not* saying that 232 students think it is magical. Because that is a very hard thing to believe.

[Anonymous]

Whether you think the school is magical or not, I find it rather odd that families are willing to fork out the same amount of money next year as they did this year KNOWING it will be vastly different. Further, I find it rather unconscionable that the school is going to charge the same for next year's experience as they did for this year KNOWING they will be offering less. And to quote an emotional PP, I find it "shitty" the way people are treating families like ours - the ones who HAVE stayed for the past few years with all the turmoil but how decided that the shutdown a month ago was ENOUGH! We gave the school MORE than enough chances already and we feel absolutely duped by the school and dumped on by the fairy tale families that are staying but clearly KNOW that they need families like ours to stay.

[Anonymous]

Part of why people are upset is the name calling: "fairy tale," "magical thinking," etc. That kind of language is condescending and smug. It gives a tone of "Look at these fools. Clearly I'm so much smarter than them." I don't think anyone has rose-colored glasses on anymore (some probably did last year when the 100+ families left). Families and teachers who are staying know there will be a hard road ahead. Everyone has been through the same stress and trauma this past month. They don't need to be kicked further when they are down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Part of why people are upset is the name calling: "fairy tale," "magical thinking," etc. That kind of language is condescending and smug. It gives a tone of "Look at these fools. Clearly I'm so much smarter than them." I don't think anyone has rose-colored glasses on anymore (some probably did last year when the 100+ families left). Families and teachers who are staying know there will be a hard road ahead. Everyone has been through the same stress and trauma this past month. They don't need to be kicked further when they are down.

Dude PP said 232 kids think SSFS is magical. Not true!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not disputing ssfs is a special place to many. But those 232 aren’t all coming back because it’s magical for them. I know several who are simply using the reopening as a way to have the time to do a proper search in the fall to leave under their own terms.

In other words, they were happy with it until a month ago. I also hope the school is looking ahead to a year from now and what to do if enrollment drops even more. But there is no need to shame those parents whose kids have thrived there and hope to continue by saying their "eyes are not open."

Before a month ago we were unaware that the school would shut down. All schools have pros and cons. We all know no school is perfect so we don’t jump ship because of one bad teacher or experience. But what happened a month ago goes beyond a typical “plus and minus” trade so that made us re evaluate all the prior pros and why we are leaving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Part of why people are upset is the name calling: "fairy tale," "magical thinking," etc. That kind of language is condescending and smug. It gives a tone of "Look at these fools. Clearly I'm so much smarter than them." I don't think anyone has rose-colored glasses on anymore (some probably did last year when the 100+ families left). Families and teachers who are staying know there will be a hard road ahead. Everyone has been through the same stress and trauma this past month. They don't need to be kicked further when they are down.

The word "magical" has been used on slack and in various zoom meetings by the parents who are staying. In other words, it's *your* word, not mine. I added the word "fairy tale". And yes, everyone has been through the same stress and trauma and those of us who are choosing to leave or are still on the fence with just 2 days to go before our decision has to be made feel that we are being kicked further down by the constant toxic positivity. You have decided to stay - good for you. I'm not going to apologize of feel sorry for you that the undecideds are somehow hurting your feelings. Are you kidding me?!