Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone cite an example of her being abusive to teachers and not just talking in generalities? This just seems really odd, and without any examples, this just sounds like a disgruntled employee or family.

I agree with you. Not sure we should change the HoS because of one unhappy teacher.

I don't think we should change the HoS either--at least not yet.

But I DO think the Board should exhibit tighter oversight on the HoS.

Come parent-teacher conferences, I plan to query each of my DD's teachers. What is the vibe on campus? Are you getting the support you need to develop your craft? Are you being treated with the professional respect you deserve? I know other parents are planning on doing the same.

I will be gobsmacked if you actually receive candid, negative responses to your questions to the teachers.

+1. That's not the time nor place to put a teacher on the spot with questions like that.

Please don't ask the teachers that. That is so unfair to them. What do you think they're going to tell you: "oh, thanks for asking, yes, Penny is a nightmare, I hate working here, I'm actively looking at other roles"?

Ask about your daughter and how she is doing. Be supportive of her and her teachers. If things aren't great for the teachers, don't make it worse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone made a comment earlier about high-level teachers leaving and mentioned Latin. The advanced Latin teacher left. Again: 3 division directors, 4 communications directors (they all quit because Penny is so abusive), director of diversity and global Ed, college counselor, countless teachers who loved the school and couldn’t stand to see what was happening to their wonderful work environment, two beloved varsity coaches (fired), and more.

Interest in Latin is waning. Our DD wanted to take Latin and they cancelled the class due to lack of sufficient interest. No surprise the Latin teacher left.

As for coaches, one of the coaches was using the email list to directly solicit parents for private lessons, which is against the rules of course.

Latin is still being offered at all levels, so Holton will have to hire a new Latin teacher. So that doesn’t quite work as an explanation. It certainly doesn’t apply to the great Spanish teacher who left too.

Anonymous wrote:Someone made a comment earlier about high-level teachers leaving and mentioned Latin. The advanced Latin teacher left. Again: 3 division directors, 4 communications directors (they all quit because Penny is so abusive), director of diversity and global Ed, college counselor, countless teachers who loved the school and couldn’t stand to see what was happening to their wonderful work environment, two beloved varsity coaches (fired), and more.

Interest in Latin is waning. Our DD wanted to take Latin and they cancelled the class due to lack of sufficient interest. No surprise the Latin teacher left.

As for coaches, one of the coaches was using the email list to directly solicit parents for private lessons, which is against the rules of course.

Keep an eye out for Holton’s annual “meet the new staff” story that is typically published at the end of August. It will give us a sense of how many replacements had to be made. And if they don’t publish it this year— then that should be a signal that they are trying to evade the topic entirely. Nothing to see here.

I think when the criticism is not factual and there is no feedback to improve, I don’t really take that information into account.

I don’t like a lot of people in my work but that doesn’t mean that all of them should be fired.

Another director of a major program—one of the school’s signature programs—is leaving. Not sure it has been posted yet. Someone made a comment earlier about high-level teachers leaving and mentioned Latin. The advanced Latin teacher left. Again: 3 division directors, 4 communications directors (they all quit because Penny is so abusive), director of diversity and global Ed, college counselor, countless teachers who loved the school and couldn’t stand to see what was happening to their wonderful work environment, two beloved varsity coaches (fired), and more. Holton was so proud of its educators that it started a two year teacher training program. Penny canceled it this year, leaving the teaching fellows jobless. They were promised a two year stint. rather than waiting until
Next year to end the program, they pulled
the rug out from under two aspiring teachers. Penny and the cfo are on a budget slashing spree….except when it comes to penny’s contract and compensation. And probably dog training for her anxious, annoying dog.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone cite an example of her being abusive to teachers and not just talking in generalities? This just seems really odd, and without any examples, this just sounds like a disgruntled employee or family.

I agree with you. Not sure we should change the HoS because of one unhappy teacher.

I don't think we should change the HoS either--at least not yet.

But I DO think the Board should exhibit tighter oversight on the HoS.

Come parent-teacher conferences, I plan to query each of my DD's teachers. What is the vibe on campus? Are you getting the support you need to develop your craft? Are you being treated with the professional respect you deserve? I know other parents are planning on doing the same.

I will be gobsmacked if you actually receive candid, negative responses to your questions to the teachers.

+1. That's not the time nor place to put a teacher on the spot with questions like that.

Anonymous wrote:It isn't normal. There have also been 80+ Faculty and Staff that have left, mostly because of her and the other ineffectual leaders she has brought in or retained over the past two years.

From what I found, Holton has a total of 217 faculty and staff (121 total faculty). If 80 left, that's about 37%.

I find that hard to believe. I have a DD who has been at Holton a few years. If I think back to all the teachers she's had, all her homeroom teachers are still there, and nearly all the others. One language teacher left and one math teacher left.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a new parent, these threads make me so anxious. I'm wondering what we signed up for, but I guess we will see the movie for ourselves shortly.

In all schools you have this type of postings. There might be a grain of truth on what the teachers say. At the same time I would also like to see the evaluation of the teachers that are complaining to have a balanced view. I don’t believe for a second that there is dichotomy teachers good / penny bad.

Can you point me to a single posting on this board by a teacher criticizing Holton’s previous HOS?

I’ll wait, thanks

Kind of weird how all these teachers who were quietly content for more than a decade have suddenly turned so negative, must be their fault though!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a new parent, these threads make me so anxious. I'm wondering what we signed up for, but I guess we will see the movie for ourselves shortly.

In all schools you have this type of postings. There might be a grain of truth on what the teachers say. At the same time I would also like to see the evaluation of the teachers that are complaining to have a balanced view. I don’t believe for a second that there is dichotomy teachers good / penny bad.

I am a Holton parent and know well three of the teachers who left recently. (All of them had been at Holton for a long time) I can assure you that they are incredible teachers…my daughter was beyond sad to see them go.

Anonymous wrote:As a new parent, these threads make me so anxious. I'm wondering what we signed up for, but I guess we will see the movie for ourselves shortly.

In all schools you have this type of postings. There might be a grain of truth on what the teachers say. At the same time I would also like to see the evaluation of the teachers that are complaining to have a balanced view. I don’t believe for a second that there is dichotomy teachers good / penny bad.

Anonymous wrote:It isn't normal. There have also been 80+ Faculty and Staff that have left, mostly because of her and the other ineffectual leaders she has brought in or retained over the past two years. It is a very corporate place now, where it used to be a great community of teachers, staff and administrators.

The exodus keeps increasing every day. A few days ago was 70+.

As a new parent, these threads make me so anxious. I'm wondering what we signed up for, but I guess we will see the movie for ourselves shortly.

Member of the faculty exodus here. Nobody will post details that would identify them because Penny has shown herself to be retaliatory, including giving bad references to some of the people who have left. Penny is a narcissist and will always find a way to blame others. She has disdain for the schools programs. To my knowledge, she has never visited a classroom. Instead she spends her time kissing the board’s ass—it’s a real dog and pony show for them. More teachers will leave after this year—lots of faculty are working on an exit strategy. Faculty and staff with children enrolled at the school are afraid to leave because they are afraid she will take it out on their children. That should tell
You all you need to know. There were high hopes for the associate head of school to bring some sanity, but she is a dud and sits by while Penny runs roughshod over what was a thriving school.

It isn't normal. There have also been 80+ Faculty and Staff that have left, mostly because of her and the other ineffectual leaders she has brought in or retained over the past two years. It is a very corporate place now, where it used to be a great community of teachers, staff and administrators.