Reply to Thoughts on Grace Episcopal Day School in Kensington

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Bomb Thrower and Skitterer here:

You are right, Anonymous, I should have prefaced my lob with: Grace is a sweet school. They have good and loving teachers and staff who are happy to be there and clearly enjoy their work. We like their educational philosophy very much. The size, especially at the lower elementary level, is ideal, IMHO. The campus is big and open. The school is "normal" not pretentious, very down-to-earth. They emphasize inclusion and diversity and acceptance and they most definitely practice what they preach, though the staff and administration is overwhelmingly white.

Grace's current leadership inherited some unfortunate debt. There is no endowment. Fundraising is hampered by the fact that many of the families, past and present, don't have the financial resources to make additional contributions. Then, a plan to generate additional income and establish the much-needed endowment fell through. There was no Plan B or C. The Episcopal church has been generous and I know some parents that I talk to insist that the church will make sure the school continues. I hope that is the case. The lack of back up plan really alarmed us. Some paid positions have been eliminated or left open. Most upsetting to my family is that the PE teacher left and won't be replaced; instead Yoga and mindfulness will be taught by an existing staff member.  Without an endowment or significant scholarship fund, the school's tuition scheme places a big burden on families paying full tuition to pay for their own children and subsidize others.

The school got PPP funds, but it has had to add staff to help with making classes smaller, spend money on measures to reduce the chance of infection spread, etc. All this, coupled with the fact that the school has so many families paying less than the full tuition rate, does not bode well.  Barring financial miracles, which certainly can happen, getting the school back on more solid financial footing is going to require sharp marketing and financial skills and some ruthlessness. I have not seen those qualities in evidence in the current leadership. Empathy and compassion are essential, but no less so than a keen sense of self-preservation.

Then, despite a commitment from the HoS that Grace would do everything it could to reopen in the fall -- thanks to research and planning by staff and by parent volunteers in the medical community-- she threw in the towel. One of her justifications for this was that Sidwell Friends was going all virtual and she wanted to follow what the "big" privates were doing.  A quick email to current Sidwell parents proved that was not true. This was all before the fight between MoCo's health guy and the MD governor. Our family and others were devastated when she did this. As the HoS had stated many times, the school's small size and large campus made being able to come back in person much more feasible than at other privates and at publics. Then, out of the blue, she bails. It was the final straw for our family. Virtual learning last spring was okay-- better than what MoCo seemed to offer, but for the money we were paying, we expected a lot more. HoS really got our hopes ups about being in person for the fall. Being forced to go virtual by the county, I can accept, but the HoS caved well before that, without even polling parents first.  HoS is always offering empathy and compassion and I am actually fed up with it. Families need the services they have paid for. 
[/quote]

One word is all that is needed to re-direct to the true issue:

Teachers

Were they will to come to work? Did they have child care to enable them to do so ? [/quote]

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