Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents of older children, how often in a week is your kid actually seeing their teachers? Are you finding classes only meet a couple times a week? Concerned about what I'm hearing.

As someone earlier said, there are a lot disruptions and often last minute changes or changes that aren't well-thought out and require last minute fixes. There are very few weeks where they actually have classes for five days straight.

What sort of disruptions are you talking about? There have been three public holidays and school conferences since the start of school. Are you saying they shouldn’t close to those?

If you've got an upper or middle schooler, just pick a class and a random two weeks in September or October. How often did that class actually meet? What I'm seeing is sometimes only 4-5 class meetings over the course of two weeks because of schedule and calendar disruptions. Their peers are getting twice that number of class meetings over two weeks. How do you think that affects your child? How do you think that affects the curriculum?

Anonymous wrote:In reading between the lines and glancing at the new HOS background and the two schools she previously ran, my guess is that the new HOS is more pragmatic and less DEI focused than the previous head, and that's rubbed off the more progressive wing of the parents who see this as a rejection of their beliefs, fitting the pattern of progressives reactions to people who aren't in lockstep with their beliefs (as Fetterman himself said a few days ago). To them, they're seeing a regression from the morally righteous path. So they're upset.

To other parents who aren't as enamored of a lot of DEI, the new head seems perfectly fine and competent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents of older children, how often in a week is your kid actually seeing their teachers? Are you finding classes only meet a couple times a week? Concerned about what I'm hearing.

As someone earlier said, there are a lot disruptions and often last minute changes or changes that aren't well-thought out and require last minute fixes. There are very few weeks where they actually have classes for five days straight.

What sort of disruptions are you talking about? There have been three public holidays and school conferences since the start of school. Are you saying they shouldn’t close to those?

If you've got an upper or middle schooler, just pick a class and a random two weeks in September or October. How often did that class actually meet? What I'm seeing is sometimes only 4-5 class meetings over the course of two weeks because of schedule and calendar disruptions. Their peers are getting twice that number of class meetings over two weeks. How do you think that affects your child? How do you think that affects the curriculum?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In reading between the lines and glancing at the new HOS background and the two schools she previously ran, my guess is that the new HOS is more pragmatic and less DEI focused than the previous head, and that's rubbed off the more progressive wing of the parents who see this as a rejection of their beliefs, fitting the pattern of progressives reactions to people who aren't in lockstep with their beliefs (as Fetterman himself said a few days ago). To them, they're seeing a regression from the morally righteous path. So they're upset.

To other parents who aren't as enamored of a lot of DEI, the new head seems perfectly fine and competent.

Seems about right.

Not quite. I am a long-time Holton parent who doesn’t care much for DEI. But I find the current HoS unimpressive and damaging to staff morale at the school. That’s just failure of leadership. A minor peeve: she cannot write/speak well. Her speeches and writing are often ridiculed by the girls.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents of older children, how often in a week is your kid actually seeing their teachers? Are you finding classes only meet a couple times a week? Concerned about what I'm hearing.

As someone earlier said, there are a lot disruptions and often last minute changes or changes that aren't well-thought out and require last minute fixes. There are very few weeks where they actually have classes for five days straight.

What sort of disruptions are you talking about? There have been three public holidays and school conferences since the start of school. Are you saying they shouldn’t close to those?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In reading between the lines and glancing at the new HOS background and the two schools she previously ran, my guess is that the new HOS is more pragmatic and less DEI focused than the previous head, and that's rubbed off the more progressive wing of the parents who see this as a rejection of their beliefs, fitting the pattern of progressives reactions to people who aren't in lockstep with their beliefs (as Fetterman himself said a few days ago). To them, they're seeing a regression from the morally righteous path. So they're upset.

To other parents who aren't as enamored of a lot of DEI, the new head seems perfectly fine and competent.

Seems about right.

Anonymous wrote:In reading between the lines and glancing at the new HOS background and the two schools she previously ran, my guess is that the new HOS is more pragmatic and less DEI focused than the previous head, and that's rubbed off the more progressive wing of the parents who see this as a rejection of their beliefs, fitting the pattern of progressives reactions to people who aren't in lockstep with their beliefs (as Fetterman himself said a few days ago). To them, they're seeing a regression from the morally righteous path. So they're upset.

To other parents who aren't as enamored of a lot of DEI, the new head seems perfectly fine and competent.

Anonymous wrote:
She is in hole financially because she has mismanaged money, her right-wing politicking didn't end up in more money for the school, so what does she do? She is increasing enrollment at the school, leading to larger class sizes and the bid to expand the school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Holton parent here. We are one of the parents who took the suggestion of many on this board and left the school because we were incredibly unhappy with how the school was being run. The school has changed drastically in the past few years. There is a lot of discussion about DEI because Penny came in guns blazing with a goal of gutting the school's DEI program. At the time, few white parents seemed bothered by that, despite some really abhorrent behavior on the part of Penny, the board and the administration. My understanding is that Penny was trying to "right-size" the school so that it would be more attractive to donors. It is also my understanding that this effort didn't work, and she failed to attract large donations. And instead, she is actually costing the school money. She hired an Assistant HOS, spent a fortune on the interior design of her school paid for home (that is what Holton parents should be livid about btw), and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on comms consultants (again, Holton parents, ask for a detailed accounting, this is all true). Part of the reason why the "what's the deal with Holton" question is so hard to acertain on DCUM is because Penny PAYS CONSULTANTS TO POST HERE.

Ok, so where were we?

She is in hole financially because she has mismanaged money, her right-wing politicking didn't end up in more money for the school, so what does she do? She is increasing enrollment at the school, leading to larger class sizes and the bid to expand the school. Many of the kids she's admitting aren't super strong academically, so the teachers have more kids to teach and more ground to cover. So sure, Holton girls currently in 11th and 12th grade will likely have strong outcomes because they were at the school Pre-Penny, but that is not going continue. Instead, Holton will be a lovely school for mid-tier students of very wealthy parents. It's such a shame.

I have no dog in this fight. We aren't there anymore, but I wanted to post so hopefully the OP sees this and understands what is being all the Holton angst here. Oh... and I could care less about the skirt length.

Penny PAYS CONSULTANTS TO POST HERE.? Nonsense, any admin or consultant can post here for free, including HOS herself.

Anonymous wrote:Former Holton parent here. We are one of the parents who took the suggestion of many on this board and left the school because we were incredibly unhappy with how the school was being run. The school has changed drastically in the past few years. There is a lot of discussion about DEI because Penny came in guns blazing with a goal of gutting the school's DEI program. At the time, few white parents seemed bothered by that, despite some really abhorrent behavior on the part of Penny, the board and the administration. My understanding is that Penny was trying to "right-size" the school so that it would be more attractive to donors. It is also my understanding that this effort didn't work, and she failed to attract large donations. And instead, she is actually costing the school money. She hired an Assistant HOS, spent a fortune on the interior design of her school paid for home (that is what Holton parents should be livid about btw), and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on comms consultants (again, Holton parents, ask for a detailed accounting, this is all true). Part of the reason why the "what's the deal with Holton" question is so hard to acertain on DCUM is because Penny PAYS CONSULTANTS TO POST HERE.

Ok, so where were we?

She is in hole financially because she has mismanaged money, her right-wing politicking didn't end up in more money for the school, so what does she do? She is increasing enrollment at the school, leading to larger class sizes and the bid to expand the school. Many of the kids she's admitting aren't super strong academically, so the teachers have more kids to teach and more ground to cover. So sure, Holton girls currently in 11th and 12th grade will likely have strong outcomes because they were at the school Pre-Penny, but that is not going continue. Instead, Holton will be a lovely school for mid-tier students of very wealthy parents. It's such a shame.

I have no dog in this fight. We aren't there anymore, but I wanted to post so hopefully the OP sees this and understands what is being all the Holton angst here. Oh... and I could care less about the skirt length.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Holton parent here. We are one of the parents who took the suggestion of many on this board and left the school because we were incredibly unhappy with how the school was being run. The school has changed drastically in the past few years. There is a lot of discussion about DEI because Penny came in guns blazing with a goal of gutting the school's DEI program. At the time, few white parents seemed bothered by that, despite some really abhorrent behavior on the part of Penny, the board and the administration. My understanding is that Penny was trying to "right-size" the school so that it would be more attractive to donors. It is also my understanding that this effort didn't work, and she failed to attract large donations. And instead, she is actually costing the school money. She hired an Assistant HOS, spent a fortune on the interior design of her school paid for home (that is what Holton parents should be livid about btw), and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on comms consultants (again, Holton parents, ask for a detailed accounting, this is all true). Part of the reason why the "what's the deal with Holton" question is so hard to acertain on DCUM is because Penny PAYS CONSULTANTS TO POST HERE.

Ok, so where were we?

She is in hole financially because she has mismanaged money, her right-wing politicking didn't end up in more money for the school, so what does she do? She is increasing enrollment at the school, leading to larger class sizes and the bid to expand the school. Many of the kids she's admitting aren't super strong academically, so the teachers have more kids to teach and more ground to cover. So sure, Holton girls currently in 11th and 12th grade will likely have strong outcomes because they were at the school Pre-Penny, but that is not going continue. Instead, Holton will be a lovely school for mid-tier students of very wealthy parents. It's such a shame.

I have no dog in this fight. We aren't there anymore, but I wanted to post so hopefully the OP sees this and understands what is being all the Holton angst here. Oh... and I could care less about the skirt length.

How on earth would you know that the newly admitted kids aren’t as strong academically? Seriously.

Anonymous wrote:Former Holton parent here. We are one of the parents who took the suggestion of many on this board and left the school because we were incredibly unhappy with how the school was being run. The school has changed drastically in the past few years. There is a lot of discussion about DEI because Penny came in guns blazing with a goal of gutting the school's DEI program. At the time, few white parents seemed bothered by that, despite some really abhorrent behavior on the part of Penny, the board and the administration. My understanding is that Penny was trying to "right-size" the school so that it would be more attractive to donors. It is also my understanding that this effort didn't work, and she failed to attract large donations. And instead, she is actually costing the school money. She hired an Assistant HOS, spent a fortune on the interior design of her school paid for home (that is what Holton parents should be livid about btw), and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on comms consultants (again, Holton parents, ask for a detailed accounting, this is all true). Part of the reason why the "what's the deal with Holton" question is so hard to acertain on DCUM is because Penny PAYS CONSULTANTS TO POST HERE.

Ok, so where were we?

She is in hole financially because she has mismanaged money, her right-wing politicking didn't end up in more money for the school, so what does she do? She is increasing enrollment at the school, leading to larger class sizes and the bid to expand the school. Many of the kids she's admitting aren't super strong academically, so the teachers have more kids to teach and more ground to cover. So sure, Holton girls currently in 11th and 12th grade will likely have strong outcomes because they were at the school Pre-Penny, but that is not going continue. Instead, Holton will be a lovely school for mid-tier students of very wealthy parents. It's such a shame.

I have no dog in this fight. We aren't there anymore, but I wanted to post so hopefully the OP sees this and understands what is being all the Holton angst here. Oh... and I could care less about the skirt length.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents of older children, how often in a week is your kid actually seeing their teachers? Are you finding classes only meet a couple times a week? Concerned about what I'm hearing.

As someone earlier said, there are a lot disruptions and often last minute changes or changes that aren't well-thought out and require last minute fixes. There are very few weeks where they actually have classes for five days straight.

This is a strange comment. We have found the Holton schedule to be similar to other schools when it comes to days off, conferences etc. religious schools sometimes get different holidays but I don’t think the PP is considering context of modern school life.

What sort of disruptions are you talking about? There have been three public holidays and school conferences since the start of school. Are you saying they shouldn’t close to those?