SSFS HOS leaving

[Anonymous]

The third grade teacher is a dream. My daughter who is going into high school now had her when she was in lower school. it is the only time my reserved daughter was moved to write a thank you note on her own to a teacher and the note captured how much she felt seen and supported and understood by her teacher. We still talk about her fondly - she is truly a gifted educator and a wonderful human. Your kids are in for a great year with GA!

[Anonymous]

Third grade parent here and new to SSFS as well! Great hearing all the positive feedback about the teacher (and really hoping that the parents in the class are not all stressballs). We are excited to join and feel reassurance about all of the work going into the new school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking forward to the school year ahead and are choosing to remain optimistic.

Same!

Same here as well. But unfortunately, we just found out that third grade only has 1 teacher for 16 students! No teacher's aid, no other teacher support. What if the teacher has an emergency and needs to leave the classroom... what then?... just leave the children alone, unsupervised? What if a child needs extra explanation for something but there are so many students that the teacher can not provide the individual support the student needs, all because the class size is so large with no relief for the teacher? I'm starting to get upset.

A third grade class size of 16 is not "so large". And if the teacher needs to use the bathroom they will do what public school teachers do- ask the teacher next door to stand in the hall between both classrooms to keep an eye on things for 5 minutes, or call the front office to send someone to the room to keep an eye on things. And if parents are worried about not having an aid then stop up and be a classroom volunteer for a few hours each week.

This will be fine.

Okay, the ratio is not "large" by pubic school standards but really "they will do what public school teachers do" - because.....we are paying what we would at public school? the whole point of going to a 30K school is that it does not have to be like public school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a public elementary school second grade teacher who has never had a classroom less than 24 students with many on IEPs.or 504s, along with ELLs, I can assure you that if this teacher is capable, this year will be fine. SSFS has wonderful teachers and support faculty.

I hope once the school year is under way we can all relax a bit - stay assertive about concerns without catastrophizing.

I don't understand why everyone says it will be fine because "it's fine in public school". SSFS is not the price of public school. If we're getting what we'd get in the average MCPS school, then why are we here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking forward to the school year ahead and are choosing to remain optimistic.

Same!

Same here as well. But unfortunately, we just found out that third grade only has 1 teacher for 16 students! No teacher's aid, no other teacher support. What if the teacher has an emergency and needs to leave the classroom... what then?... just leave the children alone, unsupervised? What if a child needs extra explanation for something but there are so many students that the teacher can not provide the individual support the student needs, all because the class size is so large with no relief for the teacher? I'm starting to get upset.

A third grade class size of 16 is not "so large". And if the teacher needs to use the bathroom they will do what public school teachers do- ask the teacher next door to stand in the hall between both classrooms to keep an eye on things for 5 minutes, or call the front office to send someone to the room to keep an eye on things. And if parents are worried about not having an aid then stop up and be a classroom volunteer for a few hours each week.

This will be fine.

I wish I could volunteer for a few hours each week, but I have to work five, 8 hour days to pay for this school.

Oh, and you missed the part about "What if a child needs extra explanation for something but there are so many students that the teacher can not provide the individual support the student needs, all because the class size is so large with no relief for the teacher?"

Breathe, OP. You are panicking and losing perspective. A class size of 16 is objectively small. MCPS has class sizes upwards of 27+. Furthermore, the 3rd grade teacher is very experienced (and an amazing human). Your kid is in capable hands. The lower school also has a dedicated learning specialist who does pull-outs for kids who need extra attention.
And there are experienced support staff who can be pulled in as needed. You really don't need to worry about this part.

But SSFS advertises their teacher to student ratio at 8 to 1. It's double that, they should update their website and advertising materials... it's misleading.

The website literally does not say this. Even if you Google ssfs it says FACULTY to student ratio. That's not the same and average number of kids in a class. I will also say as a teacher of many years, classes can be too small also. 16 is a great number, especially at third grade and up. There are concerns at the school for sure, but this is simply not one of mine.

Yes it does, see here: https://www.ssfs.org/admission/tuition-value

It literally says average class size is 16 here.

Yes but class size 16 and student to teacher ratio 8:1 can go together it would mean in a class of 16 you should have 2 teachers (ie teacher and teacher aide). however i doubt any class has 8:1 really. Is it a problem? I dont know. But the argument that it will be fine because MCPS does this and more is not relevant, this isn't meant to compete with public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a public elementary school second grade teacher who has never had a classroom less than 24 students with many on IEPs.or 504s, along with ELLs, I can assure you that if this teacher is capable, this year will be fine. SSFS has wonderful teachers and support faculty.

I hope once the school year is under way we can all relax a bit - stay assertive about concerns without catastrophizing.

I don't understand why everyone says it will be fine because "it's fine in public school". SSFS is not the price of public school. If we're getting what we'd get in the average MCPS school, then why are we here?

You're not getting what you would get in public school. That's the point. You're getting better. Sixteen in a class is better. Such catastrophic thinking isn't useful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a public elementary school second grade teacher who has never had a classroom less than 24 students with many on IEPs.or 504s, along with ELLs, I can assure you that if this teacher is capable, this year will be fine. SSFS has wonderful teachers and support faculty.

I hope once the school year is under way we can all relax a bit - stay assertive about concerns without catastrophizing.

I don't understand why everyone says it will be fine because "it's fine in public school". SSFS is not the price of public school. If we're getting what we'd get in the average MCPS school, then why are we here?

You're not getting what you would get in public school. That's the point. You're getting better. Sixteen in a class is better. Such catastrophic thinking isn't useful.

Our kid in MCPS had 27 kids in their kindergarten class, one teacher, and it only goes up from there. Title I and Focus schools have fewer kids per class, but there's a reason for that. Private HS has been great with very small classes, but a larger number of kids in the classroom doesn't mean it will be worse and teaches different skills. But 16 isn't a large number of kids for a classroom, and if those kids spend most of the day with their classroom, I wouldn't want it smaller.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think the class sizes are smaller than 16 in general. They’d only have two classes if they were over 20 at least

[Anonymous]

Too small isn't good either. Our student found that classrooms that were too small - were harder socially to feel like they belonged - there was a very small group of people to connect with - and if you didn't you felt like an outsider. 32+ students in an elementary classroom is too many, 16 is a good balance and with a talented teacher, your student will accomplish what they need academically.

[Anonymous]

I just hope they fix the discipline problems. Some of my kids classes were absolute chaos. My kid couldn’t even hear what the teacher was saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just hope they fix the discipline problems. Some of my kids classes were absolute chaos. My kid couldn’t even hear what the teacher was saying.

Which division? (lower, middle, upper)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just hope they fix the discipline problems. Some of my kids classes were absolute chaos. My kid couldn’t even hear what the teacher was saying.

Which division? (lower, middle, upper)

My kids were MS and US, but classroom discipline issues were across the board. Some classes worse than others. Nothing violent but just unruly kids who made it hard for kids wanting to hear the teacher. And then it slowed down progress because of the need to repeat constantly. This was very noticeable in my kids US classes, where often my kid would only have something to do for 10 minutes of the period while the teacher was trying to settle everyone else during the rest of the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just hope they fix the discipline problems. Some of my kids classes were absolute chaos. My kid couldn’t even hear what the teacher was saying.

Which division? (lower, middle, upper)

My kids were MS and US, but classroom discipline issues were across the board. Some classes worse than others. Nothing violent but just unruly kids who made it hard for kids wanting to hear the teacher. And then it slowed down progress because of the need to repeat constantly. This was very noticeable in my kids US classes, where often my kid would only have something to do for 10 minutes of the period while the teacher was trying to settle everyone else during the rest of the time.

Interesting - I haven't heard that from my US kid, at least not to that extent, and he's pretty sensitive to class disruptions. When he did mention it, the issues seemed limited to a very small number of kids, and it sounded like most teachers got things under control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does the HR department do? It would seem employees would file complaints about personnel before departing… so many great teachers left.

It was such a cult of personality that probably would not have done any good.

I’m pretty sure they had at least 3 different HR Directors through that position during RG’s tenure. That is also a red flag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does the HR department do? It would seem employees would file complaints about personnel before departing… so many great teachers left.

It was such a cult of personality that probably would not have done any good.

I’m pretty sure they had at least 3 different HR Directors through that position during RG’s tenure. That is also a red flag.

At this point I don’t think anyone was missing all the red flags over the years, the bot just wouldn’t (or couldn’t) do anything about it.