Will Whittle be around next year?

[Anonymous]

I worked at whittle for a short time pre-opening, less than 6 months, until it was totally obvious that the vision (which I loved, at the beginning) was totally unachievable.

The money being spent prior to launch was insane and there was a serious lack of decision making processes and truly odd behavior from leadership (they gave us Dior lipstick for Chinese new year for example).

I am not surprised in the least to see this coming.

Also, a quick scan of the faculty and staff shows less than 3 people from the initial staff and leadership still around. the turnover is insane.

[Anonymous]

I also heard they send the leadership team on a luxury trip to Switzerland!

[Anonymous]

Whittle knows it’s the perfect time to set up their Three Card Monte table. The pandemic having so many families looking for a school, it’s the perfect time to try to grab as much money as possible. Unfortunately, the ship is sinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worked at whittle for a short time pre-opening, less than 6 months, until it was totally obvious that the vision (which I loved, at the beginning) was totally unachievable.

The money being spent prior to launch was insane and there was a serious lack of decision making processes and truly odd behavior from leadership (they gave us Dior lipstick for Chinese new year for example).

I am not surprised in the least to see this coming.

Also, a quick scan of the faculty and staff shows less than 3 people from the initial staff and leadership still around. the turnover is insane.

THIS! We were a whittle family the founding year. I’ll never forget the insane gift they gave to all the students. All high end marketing materials- basically school / desk supplies with whittle stamped all over. The amount of wasted money was clear. My child didn’t want whittle notepads and charging cords. All child wanted was an individualized, rigorous education, surrounded by like-minded students. The disappointment was almost immediate. And the departure of at least 3 key administrators/staff (an incredible admissions director, a highly regarded college counselor, and the admissions associate we initially worked with ) before the doors even opened did not go unnoticed. It was a red flag to anyone who wasn’t distracted by all the bling.

We are not sore or wishing ill will for those who chose to continue. Just want to make it clear that one’s child’s “happiness” to go to school or self-assessment presentations that seemingly appear well-developed and organized are not misconstrued as the result of a solid curriculum and education. We were sold on the philosophy and mission. The execution of it DID NOT HAPPEN in the classroom, even though child had some really great, experienced teachers (who by the way are no longer at whittle).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked at whittle for a short time pre-opening, less than 6 months, until it was totally obvious that the vision (which I loved, at the beginning) was totally unachievable.

The money being spent prior to launch was insane and there was a serious lack of decision making processes and truly odd behavior from leadership (they gave us Dior lipstick for Chinese new year for example).

I am not surprised in the least to see this coming.

Also, a quick scan of the faculty and staff shows less than 3 people from the initial staff and leadership still around. the turnover is insane.

THIS! We were a whittle family the founding year. I’ll never forget the insane gift they gave to all the students. All high end marketing materials- basically school / desk supplies with whittle stamped all over. The amount of wasted money was clear. My child didn’t want whittle notepads and charging cords. All child wanted was an individualized, rigorous education, surrounded by like-minded students. The disappointment was almost immediate. And the departure of at least 3 key administrators/staff (an incredible admissions director, a highly regarded college counselor, and the admissions associate we initially worked with ) before the doors even opened did not go unnoticed. It was a red flag to anyone who wasn’t distracted by all the bling.

We are not sore or wishing ill will for those who chose to continue. Just want to make it clear that one’s child’s “happiness” to go to school or self-assessment presentations that seemingly appear well-developed and organized are not misconstrued as the result of a solid curriculum and education. We were sold on the philosophy and mission. The execution of it DID NOT HAPPEN in the classroom, even though child had some really great, experienced teachers (who by the way are no longer at whittle).

I don't know this school, although I've read about Whittle's other messes in Class Clowns. But I'm very interested in finding out what to look for as I shop for a school in DC in the next couple years....

My own education suggested that great teachers can provide excellent learning experiences and inspire huge growth in kids even in pretty unpromising circumstances.

So can you tell us anything about what was happening at Whittle that kept even the great teachers from doing good work in their own classrooms? That seems to be a widespread observation by the folks the school disappointed. But what was the leadership doing that apparently made an apparently great faculty unable to function well and unwilling to stay? Couldn't have been just the overspending on the wrong stuff.

[Anonymous]

I can't speak for Whittle teachers, but I'm a teacher at another independent and saw that Whittle hired some great teachers who didn't stay. My guess is that they saw the inside workings of the place, which teachers tend to be aware of pretty quickly (or at least before parents) and got out. Whenever you observe a mass exodus of teachers from a school, and it isn't because that school had just hired someone new to lead who has a very different vision than the prior head, start asking questions. I suppose these teachers also might have been spooked that they'd ... not get paid? Which it sounds like did happen in the end. I feel bad for those teachers. Working in education over the past two years has been draining and difficult under the best of circumstances, and with supportive, competent leadership, so I'm sure they've been through a lot. On the positive side, they will have no trouble whatsoever landing a new position if they would like one. If I had a young child in that school and could afford it, I'd try to get a pod together with one of those teachers to a.) ensure that the teacher had a source of income for the remainder of the year and b.) ensure my child had continuity socially and academically.

[Anonymous]

That is such a great question. I was briefly involved with the school pre launch but left after being disillusioned with the gap between the stated mission and how resources were being allocated that had no bearing on it. A few examples..

1. They hired Renzo Piano (at an exorbitant architect's fee) but barely had any educational experts or $$ allocated to design curriculum pre-launch
2. The renovation of the facility ran far over budget and was ultimately in excess of $200 million - again money that should have been better spent on curriculum, resources for students, essential supplies - not Whittle's real estate vanity project
(Btw - if you read the Town & Country article that came out before the school opened, you'll see the author was similarly perplexed by Chris Whittle going on and on about the real estate and not discussing curriculum at all...)
3. Cost structure was hamstrung from the start. The initial rent expense of the school was easily in excess of $30 million. They needed 800-900 full tuition paying kids JUST to cover rent. When you added in the exorbitant salaries for "leadership", faculty pay, and other operating costs, the required number of children was about 1,500 - just to break even... And when they came miserably short of their enrollment targets, the focus became on how to scrape up enough $$ to survive another month instead of a clear headed focus on delivering quality education

The initial group of educators the school hired were all incredibly talented and inspired to deliver a great education to their students. Sadly they were never even given a fighting shot at accomplishing this

[Anonymous]

Thanks! Appreciate the helpful answers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also heard they send the leadership team on a luxury trip to Switzerland!

They also had a team based in NY in fancy offices in midtown - what Whittle called his HQ team - that was costing the organization over $30 million a year on top of the tens of millions being lost in DC! When investors first flexed their muscles after realizing how badly they were being duped, almost every last person in HQ was fired and the extravagant lease terminated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also heard they send the leadership team on a luxury trip to Switzerland!

They also had a team based in NY in fancy offices in midtown - what Whittle called his HQ team - that was costing the organization over $30 million a year on top of the tens of millions being lost in DC! When investors first flexed their muscles after realizing how badly they were being duped, almost every last person in HQ was fired and the extravagant lease terminated

Geez. From what I read in Class Clowns and elsewhere, classic Whittle is still just classic Whittle, I guess.

So the answer to my question about choosing a school is mainly -- Look carefully at the leader (and their history). And try to find out whether resources are flowing to the stated priorities...or elsewhere.

Between the book and this, it doesn't look to me as if CW has ever pushed resources toward the schools he's long said were his priority.

Education may be his priority in his own vision of himself, I guess. But in practical terms, he definitely seems to favor fancy stuff and any and all trappings of prestige. Disturbing that so many kids can be casualties of that.

[Anonymous]

what is Class Clowns?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what is Class Clowns?

https://www.amazon.com/Class-Clowns-Investors-Education-Publishing/dp/0231179286

chapter 1, "The Wizard of Ed" covers Whittle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, aren't private school applications due in mid Jan? Rather than putting more money in, spend your time and money applying out, maybe making some donations here and there where appropriate, networking your way out. Even if the school collapses, you could just re-class for whatever grade you are in now after home-schooling etc for the remainder of this year.

wouldnt need to wait. A million dollar donation would probably get you a mid-year move across the street to Burke no problem.

Not unless you’re in 11th grade. They are over booked in every other grade.

And I would contend that if you offered a million dollar donation they would be able to find you a seat even if they are “over booked”.

There isn’t any physical space for more kids. They are already over capacity as are most private schools right now. Plus they are still in the middle of a construction project. They aren’t MCPS where they put 35 kids in a room with only 30 desks.

It’s a discussion for another thread, but where there’s a will there’s a way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is such a great question. I was briefly involved with the school pre launch but left after being disillusioned with the gap between the stated mission and how resources were being allocated that had no bearing on it. A few examples..

1. They hired Renzo Piano (at an exorbitant architect's fee) but barely had any educational experts or $$ allocated to design curriculum pre-launch
2. The renovation of the facility ran far over budget and was ultimately in excess of $200 million - again money that should have been better spent on curriculum, resources for students, essential supplies - not Whittle's real estate vanity project
(Btw - if you read the Town & Country article that came out before the school opened, you'll see the author was similarly perplexed by Chris Whittle going on and on about the real estate and not discussing curriculum at all...)
3. Cost structure was hamstrung from the start. The initial rent expense of the school was easily in excess of $30 million. They needed 800-900 full tuition paying kids JUST to cover rent. When you added in the exorbitant salaries for "leadership", faculty pay, and other operating costs, the required number of children was about 1,500 - just to break even... And when they came miserably short of their enrollment targets, the focus became on how to scrape up enough $$ to survive another month instead of a clear headed focus on delivering quality education

The initial group of educators the school hired were all incredibly talented and inspired to deliver a great education to their students. Sadly they were never even given a fighting shot at accomplishing this

THANK YOU for taking the time to share this information. I’m the PP who was part of the founding year and noticed when the amazing admissions director abruptly left. I knew something was wrong right away. And I appreciate the better understanding of the inner workings during the initial months. I still blame myself for not doing my homework and blindly believing that this was going to be a great experience for DC.

I TOTALLY AGREE with PP about personal experience with great teachers who despite poor circumstances CAN deliver a great learning experience. DC had one humanities teacher in particular who genuinely tried his hardest to deliver a meaningful and engaging experience despite a flimsy curriculum from which to work from. We asked the MS Dir (at that time who has since left )numerous times to provide us with the curriculum. Anything ! A list of topics! A plan! A table of contents! NOTHING. They didn’t have anything established. And to top it off the classmates ( entire grade of less than 18 students) that founding year was a major disappointment. Certainly some were probably motivated but in general the apathy and less ambitious nature of the group was the main challenge for even the most talented of teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what is Class Clowns?

https://www.amazon.com/Class-Clowns-Investors-Education-Publishing/dp/0231179286

chapter 1, "The Wizard of Ed" covers Whittle.

This should have been required reading for any parent considering Whittle. Initial enrollment would have been zero