Revolving Door at Holton

[Anonymous]

Still. What people are saying that makes penny toxic are how most managers in private corporations work. So not sure what is the issue. Everyone knows that in my organization anyone can be replaced. It’s true that experience matters, but also performance matters and there are many competent teachers outside holton. So unless people can say something that is different from any regular company, then I cannot really tell there is any anomaly with penny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1 (from another Holton parent)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still. What people are saying that makes penny toxic are how most managers in private corporations work. So not sure what is the issue. Everyone knows that in my organization anyone can be replaced. It’s true that experience matters, but also performance matters and there are many competent teachers outside holton. So unless people can say something that is different from any regular company, then I cannot really tell there is any anomaly with penny.

You realize that Holton is a non-profit school, right? The biggest (intangible) asset of a school is its teachers. Treating them badly is a recipe for disaster (eventually).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Nice idea, but a few points to consider:

- She's not a new leader; she's been a head for more than a decade. Coaching will not do much to change a person so experienced.
- A board-commissioned 360 report on the HOS would be seen (fairly) as a message of no-confidence. That'd be a provocation to get her to quit, not improve.
- If the board has doubts so early in her tenure, all interests would be served by a graceful ushering her out. But unhappy teachers are common in independent schools, and trustees probably realize that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still. What people are saying that makes penny toxic are how most managers in private corporations work. So not sure what is the issue. Everyone knows that in my organization anyone can be replaced. It’s true that experience matters, but also performance matters and there are many competent teachers outside holton. So unless people can say something that is different from any regular company, then I cannot really tell there is any anomaly with penny.

You realize that Holton is a non-profit school, right? The biggest (intangible) asset of a school is its teachers. Treating them badly is a recipe for disaster (eventually).

What exactly is treating them badly ? To tell them they are replaceable or there is something more concrete ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still. What people are saying that makes penny toxic are how most managers in private corporations work. So not sure what is the issue. Everyone knows that in my organization anyone can be replaced. It’s true that experience matters, but also performance matters and there are many competent teachers outside holton. So unless people can say something that is different from any regular company, then I cannot really tell there is any anomaly with penny.

You realize that Holton is a non-profit school, right? The biggest (intangible) asset of a school is its teachers. Treating them badly is a recipe for disaster (eventually).

What exactly is treating them badly ? To tell them they are replaceable or there is something more concrete ?

There are obviously many reasons related to leadership that faculty and staff are leaving. Just because people don't list them here doesn't mean they don't exist. But people have said repeatedly on and offline that Penny is rude, dismissive, and abusive toward her employees. People have also reported yelling and humiliating employees. They've also noted her poor qualifications as an academic leader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still. What people are saying that makes penny toxic are how most managers in private corporations work. So not sure what is the issue. Everyone knows that in my organization anyone can be replaced. It’s true that experience matters, but also performance matters and there are many competent teachers outside holton. So unless people can say something that is different from any regular company, then I cannot really tell there is any anomaly with penny.

You realize that Holton is a non-profit school, right? The biggest (intangible) asset of a school is its teachers. Treating them badly is a recipe for disaster (eventually).

What exactly is treating them badly ? To tell them they are replaceable or there is something more concrete ?

There are obviously many reasons related to leadership that faculty and staff are leaving. Just because people don't list them here doesn't mean they don't exist. But people have said repeatedly on and offline that Penny is rude, dismissive, and abusive toward her employees. People have also reported yelling and humiliating employees. They've also noted her poor qualifications as an academic leader.

Might or might not be true, but I am sorry to say this but welcome to the adult world. Unless there is harassment there is nothing you can really do except resign. Disrespectful managers exist in all organizations I have seen.

How was the previous HOS? I heard the same type of comments about her. So maybe the problem is related to teachers complaining about the HOS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still. What people are saying that makes penny toxic are how most managers in private corporations work. So not sure what is the issue. Everyone knows that in my organization anyone can be replaced. It’s true that experience matters, but also performance matters and there are many competent teachers outside holton. So unless people can say something that is different from any regular company, then I cannot really tell there is any anomaly with penny.

You realize that Holton is a non-profit school, right? The biggest (intangible) asset of a school is its teachers. Treating them badly is a recipe for disaster (eventually).

What exactly is treating them badly ? To tell them they are replaceable or there is something more concrete ?

There are obviously many reasons related to leadership that faculty and staff are leaving. Just because people don't list them here doesn't mean they don't exist. But people have said repeatedly on and offline that Penny is rude, dismissive, and abusive toward her employees. People have also reported yelling and humiliating employees. They've also noted her poor qualifications as an academic leader.

Might or might not be true, but I am sorry to say this but welcome to the adult world. Unless there is harassment there is nothing you can really do except resign. Disrespectful managers exist in all organizations I have seen.

How was the previous HOS? I heard the same type of comments about her. So maybe the problem is related to teachers complaining about the HOS.

Ok, sure. That's true. But what organizations are you talking about? Large non-profits that don't have daily interactions with students? Schools are an entirely different beast. People choose schools because of the education, the fit, the vibe, the culture. A new head of school coming in and enacting changes that negatively impact the culture (and in turn, eroding the trust in the school and the reasons why people chose the school in the first place) is worth having conversations about. It's not the same thing as 'all organizations.'

Holton isn't Bank of America, or the IMF, where a bad manager may largely go unseen and not impact anyone outside of the organization on a daily basis. Schools, however, don't have that luxury. It's the daily interactions, the slide of morale, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still. What people are saying that makes penny toxic are how most managers in private corporations work. So not sure what is the issue. Everyone knows that in my organization anyone can be replaced. It’s true that experience matters, but also performance matters and there are many competent teachers outside holton. So unless people can say something that is different from any regular company, then I cannot really tell there is any anomaly with penny.

You realize that Holton is a non-profit school, right? The biggest (intangible) asset of a school is its teachers. Treating them badly is a recipe for disaster (eventually).

What exactly is treating them badly ? To tell them they are replaceable or there is something more concrete ?

There are obviously many reasons related to leadership that faculty and staff are leaving. Just because people don't list them here doesn't mean they don't exist. But people have said repeatedly on and offline that Penny is rude, dismissive, and abusive toward her employees. People have also reported yelling and humiliating employees. They've also noted her poor qualifications as an academic leader.

Might or might not be true, but I am sorry to say this but welcome to the adult world. Unless there is harassment there is nothing you can really do except resign. Disrespectful managers exist in all organizations I have seen.

How was the previous HOS? I heard the same type of comments about her. So maybe the problem is related to teachers complaining about the HOS.

Right. And they have been, in unprecedented numbers

The issue is how that will impact students in and out of the classroom

Penny has significantly remade a school that many of us thought didn’t need remaking, and in fact chose specifically because of the culture that existed before her arrival

She now owns all the new hires. My fingers are crossed that all will be as good as before, I feel like this year will be pivotal in revealing whether or not all the changes have hurt students’ experiences

[Anonymous]

And it's not just the morale and mass exodus of experienced teachers. The program is changing too. I do not want to provide identifying details but there have been major slashes to the World Language and Arts programs. More to come.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still. What people are saying that makes penny toxic are how most managers in private corporations work. So not sure what is the issue. Everyone knows that in my organization anyone can be replaced. It’s true that experience matters, but also performance matters and there are many competent teachers outside holton. So unless people can say something that is different from any regular company, then I cannot really tell there is any anomaly with penny.

You realize that Holton is a non-profit school, right? The biggest (intangible) asset of a school is its teachers. Treating them badly is a recipe for disaster (eventually).

What exactly is treating them badly ? To tell them they are replaceable or there is something more concrete ?

There are obviously many reasons related to leadership that faculty and staff are leaving. Just because people don't list them here doesn't mean they don't exist. But people have said repeatedly on and offline that Penny is rude, dismissive, and abusive toward her employees. People have also reported yelling and humiliating employees. They've also noted her poor qualifications as an academic leader.

Might or might not be true, but I am sorry to say this but welcome to the adult world. Unless there is harassment there is nothing you can really do except resign. Disrespectful managers exist in all organizations I have seen.

How was the previous HOS? I heard the same type of comments about her. So maybe the problem is related to teachers complaining about the HOS.

Right. And they have been, in unprecedented numbers

The issue is how that will impact students in and out of the classroom

Penny has significantly remade a school that many of us thought didn’t need remaking, and in fact chose specifically because of the culture that existed before her arrival

She now owns all the new hires. My fingers are crossed that all will be as good as before, I feel like this year will be pivotal in revealing whether or not all the changes have hurt students’ experiences

And if the kids are doing well, happy and thriving, because of the professionalism, talents, and skills of the teachers and staff that interact with them the most, it's okay to let those teachers and staff members be continuously maligned and mistreated by a HoS that costs a great deal and brings little of value???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still. What people are saying that makes penny toxic are how most managers in private corporations work. So not sure what is the issue. Everyone knows that in my organization anyone can be replaced. It’s true that experience matters, but also performance matters and there are many competent teachers outside holton. So unless people can say something that is different from any regular company, then I cannot really tell there is any anomaly with penny.

You realize that Holton is a non-profit school, right? The biggest (intangible) asset of a school is its teachers. Treating them badly is a recipe for disaster (eventually).

What exactly is treating them badly ? To tell them they are replaceable or there is something more concrete ?

There are obviously many reasons related to leadership that faculty and staff are leaving. Just because people don't list them here doesn't mean they don't exist. But people have said repeatedly on and offline that Penny is rude, dismissive, and abusive toward her employees. People have also reported yelling and humiliating employees. They've also noted her poor qualifications as an academic leader.

Might or might not be true, but I am sorry to say this but welcome to the adult world. Unless there is harassment there is nothing you can really do except resign. Disrespectful managers exist in all organizations I have seen.

How was the previous HOS? I heard the same type of comments about her. So maybe the problem is related to teachers complaining about the HOS.

Right. And they have been, in unprecedented numbers

The issue is how that will impact students in and out of the classroom

Penny has significantly remade a school that many of us thought didn’t need remaking, and in fact chose specifically because of the culture that existed before her arrival

She now owns all the new hires. My fingers are crossed that all will be as good as before, I feel like this year will be pivotal in revealing whether or not all the changes have hurt students’ experiences

And if the kids are doing well, happy and thriving, because of the professionalism, talents, and skills of the teachers and staff that interact with them the most, it's okay to let those teachers and staff members be continuously maligned and mistreated by a HoS that costs a great deal and brings little of value???

PP here - I think it's pretty clear that I am very skeptical of the HOS and sympathetic to the teachers but I am not in those internal meetings and cannot comment on her management style. I can only judge the Head's performance on the experience of my child.

If it turns out the Head has weeded out a lot of dead weight and brought in superlative replacements who enhance my child's experience, then a reasonable case could be made that her management has brought significant value to the school. If, as I expect, she has chased away talented, valuable educators who shaped and sustained the school's culture and replaced them with whomever she could find, and midway through the year parents are noticing that things in their kids' classrooms have gone downhill significantly, that too will provide the basis for me to evaluate the Head's management results.

[Anonymous]

I guess what I'm saying is that lots of great teachers and staff have left, but a lot more are staying (for now). Those people are largely experienced and knowledgeable and will make sure your child gets a great education. But they are on edge, scared, and dismissed as insignificant. As you can see from others posters here, teachers and staff are spoken of with disdain and disrespect by a certain type of person. The HoS is one of them. She's not intellectual or an academic, nor is she loyal to the school or its heritage. Despite the lip service about appreciation on social media, there's little appreciation directed to her employees.

[Anonymous]

Was the previous HOS better ? I heard she was really bad and she was kicked out. Is that true?

[Anonymous]

But can we unequivocally link the departures to penny or there is something else like salaries or better opportunities etc.? If my salary is high enough I can build in more tolerance for an obnoxious boss.