SSFS Closing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely shitty. Now I am stuck with no school for a high schooler.

Have you heard of public school? It's free for everyone!

Sure. But our zoned high school gets a 16/100 on the college readiness index. Moving isn’t free. And not getting an education sure is expensive in the long run. This isn’t simple or based in snobbery for most of us.

SSFS is special for many things, but not for having a rigorous college prep US program. Hope you know that.

Are you okay? I know people say that sarcastically, but I’m not. It’s Easter, a school community has gone through hell and has a spark of hope, and you are getting pleasure somehow by insulting us. I realize you may be part of “us,” though I do hope not. Anyway, yes, I am well aware of the quality of the education given that my kid has been there for over ten years. They are off to a great college in the fall and are grateful they are so well prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL at “parents digging up pocket change” meaning a school that needed 14-16M can suddenly stay open.

If you think that is pocket change, you are deeply unaware of your privilege.

And I say that as a white person, working to better understand how completely out of touch we are in this area. I read a statistic yesterday saying half of Americans could not come up with $400 for an emergency. That was sobering.

Are you donating your white person money to help that half of Americans? SSFS hosts events every year to raise thousands for charity. They take kids on trips to build for Habitat for Humanity. Do you do these things? You're no better than anyone else. Quit with the red herrings and pointing and laughing at a grieving community.

Ssfs did events to raise thousands for charity? And intercession?

Yeah they did some good charity stuff but I don’t think that was any more than many of us do on our own. I’m not the original poster you were going after but a school that was lying to families and throwing away money on frivolous things while going into debt will never be my moral North Star just because they did a couple things that looked good. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone involved with the Friends of SSFS speak to their intention to investigate wrong doing under previous Heads of School? Of course the current priority is fundraising and retaining students and faculty, but in the long run is there an appetite to uncover what brought us to this point? Would a new board complete a thorough audit and make that public? For some of us the choice to demonstrate transparency and accountability will impact our willingness to remain a part of the community.

They have only announced short-term goals so far. Their #1 goal is transparency, so I imagine we'll eventually get some info about the school's financial picture that led us to this point, but we have no indication they'll be focusing on misconduct from individuals (somehow I doubt it).

There are lies upon lies upon lies. They can't be transparent because they have yet to untangle all the bs. We'll never know the whole story. My only regret is not leaving last year.

[Anonymous]

Why are there so many Debbie Downers on here. I get it. I’m mad too and was heartbroken last week. Now I feel hopeful that there is a chance of DC finishing high school. Maybe I would think of leaving if DC were in elementary school, but in high school very difficult to transfer. I’ve notice how different some curriculums are at the various schools. DC would have to take biology with 9th graders at some school and other schools don’t offer the same AP classes, etc. It’s not easy to uproot at this stage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are there so many Debbie Downers on here. I get it. I’m mad too and was heartbroken last week. Now I feel hopeful that there is a chance of DC finishing high school. Maybe I would think of leaving if DC were in elementary school, but in high school very difficult to transfer. I’ve notice how different some curriculums are at the various schools. DC would have to take biology with 9th graders at some school and other schools don’t offer the same AP classes, etc. It’s not easy to uproot at this stage.

Another upper school parent here who is hopeful that the school will stay open. I also understand the naysayers, especially the employees who have left in recent years. No place is perfect, but also, my child isn't perfect, and SSFS has been terrific for him. Obviously the school can't move forward in the same way that it has been, but I've seen a school do a massive turnaround (for the better) under new leadership, and I see no reason why that couldn't happen here.

[Anonymous]

Even with all the issues, my US kid has thrived there beyond anything I could imagine. And he has been challenged by the amazing group of teachers and I hope things turn around because it is a wonderful community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah they did some good charity stuff but I don’t think that was any more than many of us do on our own. I’m not the original poster you were going after but a school that was lying to families and throwing away money on frivolous things while going into debt will never be my moral North Star just because they did a couple things that looked good. Sorry.

I didn't say the school should be anyone's moral compass. I agree things have been mismanaged over the years, and they kept families in the dark. But PP is framing the SSFS coalition as a bunch of fat cats sitting blindly in their ivory towers, which is simply not true. The school teaches kids not only about privilege, but how to use it to lift up others who have less. They require more community service to graduate than the public schools do. Books like White Fragility are required reading for faculty members. I could go on. The $15m pledge is divided among many, many people (pretty sure it's in the thousands), not just a handful who want to write big checks to keep their kids away in a bubble.

And if they really only just learned about the $400 statistic recently, that's not the flex they think it is. That info has been out there for a while. Whatever social justice/inequality talking point you want to bring up, SSFS has probably already been talking about it for years.

But, I'm not here to give more oxygen to catty comments from those not connected to the school. I'm touched by the parents who are telling how much the school means for their child (I'm an educator too, though I couldn't work at SSFS because they didn't offer my subject in the age group I wanted).

Here is a message from earlier today, from one of the coalition leaders (trimmed a bit to keep it short):
"I get that I'm asking for your trust in a situation that appears to have occurred in disconnect because of lack of trust. . . . However, our movement is about moving forward. We have to just move forward, and we have expectations for moving forward. . . . We've tried to communicate and tell everyone, just giving you something every single day. . . . I get that what I'm asking of you is going to maybe require, for some of you, to dig deep . . . and I don't take advantage of it, and no one on our team is taking advantage of it. . . . In the next few days, we're moving into a different place, and that's where we'll need your trust. . . We're just going to keep building on that."

It's Easter so I'm not expecting another update tonight. But who knows.

[Anonymous]

The coming week will be very consequential for the school. Eager to hear updates from those directly involved in efforts to save it. Less interested in all the off topic bickering on culture war issues.

To those still concerned about the SSFS leaders with certain initials who failed (and possibly defrauded) the school: I’m convinced their story will be told. If SSFS goes under presumably there will be many debts owed, land/property to be sold, and lots of lawyers and stakeholders involved in carving up assets. If it moves forward under a new BoT and $15 million in donor cash (much of which is coming from an anonymous angel investor) the board will need to ensure it’s appropriated strategically and ethically. In my opinion, that requires a detailed audit/report of the past ten years, to better understand the factors that got us here from an accounting and personnel standpoint. I think it would help the community to heal, plus SSFS may have grounds to pursue legal action and compensation from certain individuals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The coming week will be very consequential for the school. Eager to hear updates from those directly involved in efforts to save it. Less interested in all the off topic bickering on culture war issues.

To those still concerned about the SSFS leaders with certain initials who failed (and possibly defrauded) the school: I’m convinced their story will be told. If SSFS goes under presumably there will be many debts owed, land/property to be sold, and lots of lawyers and stakeholders involved in carving up assets. If it moves forward under a new BoT and $15 million in donor cash (much of which is coming from an anonymous angel investor) the board will need to ensure it’s appropriated strategically and ethically. In my opinion, that requires a detailed audit/report of the past ten years, to better understand the factors that got us here from an accounting and personnel standpoint. I think it would help the community to heal, plus SSFS may have grounds to pursue legal action and compensation from certain individuals.

And I still don’t understand why anyone would give this school another penny more until this audit result is published

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are there so many Debbie Downers on here. I get it. I’m mad too and was heartbroken last week. Now I feel hopeful that there is a chance of DC finishing high school. Maybe I would think of leaving if DC were in elementary school, but in high school very difficult to transfer. I’ve notice how different some curriculums are at the various schools. DC would have to take biology with 9th graders at some school and other schools don’t offer the same AP classes, etc. It’s not easy to uproot at this stage.

Another upper school parent here who is hopeful that the school will stay open. I also understand the naysayers, especially the employees who have left in recent years. No place is perfect, but also, my child isn't perfect, and SSFS has been terrific for him. Obviously the school can't move forward in the same way that it has been, but I've seen a school do a massive turnaround (for the better) under new leadership, and I see no reason why that couldn't happen here.

+1

[Anonymous]

Even if this school manages to stay open, I am still wondering how it is going to stay accredited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are there so many Debbie Downers on here. I get it. I’m mad too and was heartbroken last week. Now I feel hopeful that there is a chance of DC finishing high school. Maybe I would think of leaving if DC were in elementary school, but in high school very difficult to transfer. I’ve notice how different some curriculums are at the various schools. DC would have to take biology with 9th graders at some school and other schools don’t offer the same AP classes, etc. It’s not easy to uproot at this stage.

I think skeptical practical logical questioners is more what I’d call these ppl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are there so many Debbie Downers on here. I get it. I’m mad too and was heartbroken last week. Now I feel hopeful that there is a chance of DC finishing high school. Maybe I would think of leaving if DC were in elementary school, but in high school very difficult to transfer. I’ve notice how different some curriculums are at the various schools. DC would have to take biology with 9th graders at some school and other schools don’t offer the same AP classes, etc. It’s not easy to uproot at this stage.

I think skeptical practical logical questioners is more what I’d call these ppl.

Its objectivity. Not being a downer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think skeptical practical logical questioners is more what I’d call these ppl.

This is not multiple people. It’s one person who posts every day, several times a day, lauding their own objectivity and delivering variations of the same message: move on, give up, any “ppl” who might wish to stay are delusional. They do not appear to be an actual community member. Engage at your own peril.

Poster, people have asked you to stop, multiple times, especially after you took to attacking and insulting children, and you truly seem unable to. I hope you are able to find peace.

[Anonymous]

It seems at least unlikely that only one person has posted about the risks of staying here?