Field School is selling itself well but has little real substance once you are on the inside. Many good teachers have left because of the HOA's treatment of staff, she is a wolf in cheap sheep clothing. Then there is the excessive salary of those that have worked there forever in spite of a lack of credentials and the excess spent on the building as it falls apart. Yes, I am former faculty for those who may be suspect of my motive for writing - there are some very hard working colleagues I left that are doing good work but the administration is full of money grubbers and snakes that do not have student academics at the top of their list. They want your money and will say what they need to say to get it, at the expense of your child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we were only at Siena for two years, but there was a huge turnover of teachers both years. extremely frustrating and disappointing. The reading support is phenomenal, but the lack of social emotional support for the kiddos was not. being such a small school, makes it very limiting.

Sadly, the gigantic turnover will definitely just continue if changes aren't made to the experience employees describe after leaving there.

Care to share more? From what I’ve observed Siena tends to bring in excellent, younger faculty who then move on to higher paying positions at larger, more established private schools.

Anonymous wrote:we were only at Siena for two years, but there was a huge turnover of teachers both years. extremely frustrating and disappointing. The reading support is phenomenal, but the lack of social emotional support for the kiddos was not. being such a small school, makes it very limiting.

Sadly, the gigantic turnover will definitely just continue if changes aren't made to the experience employees describe after leaving there.

Anonymous wrote:Late to the conversation, but I fully agree that Field is not going through any "rocky times." In fact, it's the opposite. Field received a record number of applications; its leadership is unrivaled--brilliant, organized, committed to students; the education is top-notch--sophisticated and challenging; and the educational method (pedagogy) is astoundingly good--combining theory and practice, using universal design, and integrating learning outcome matrices consistently. The teachers, without exception, are experts in their field, and they are a cohesive group. They also go through regular professional development. Field has been "perfect" for my child who is excelling academically. Just go to Field's Open House, and I think you'll understand a little more why I and the last two posters have aggressively countered the naysayers. Go Falcons! Go Field!

They just have no financial aid.

A member of the Field School community actually knows in detail whether or not a waitlist moves and how much it moves.....wow.. Someone please teach this poor junior pr/admissions person how to fake it better.

re -" impressive budget surpluses" here are some actual budget surpluses as reported:--

WIS 9.6M
Bullis 5.9M
Holton 4.3M
Maret 3M
Burke 950k
Field 750k

Late to the conversation, but I fully agree that Field is not going through any "rocky times." In fact, it's the opposite. Field received a record number of applications; its leadership is unrivaled--brilliant, organized, committed to students; the education is top-notch--sophisticated and challenging; and the educational method (pedagogy) is astoundingly good--combining theory and practice, using universal design, and integrating learning outcome matrices consistently. The teachers, without exception, are experts in their field, and they are a cohesive group. They also go through regular professional development. Field has been "perfect" for my child who is excelling academically. Just go to Field's Open House, and I think you'll understand a little more why I and the last two posters have aggressively countered the naysayers. Go Falcons! Go Field!

Both PPs appear to have an agenda on Field. Field is not going through "significantly rocky times," as much as you may want it to be, and college acceptances were certainly not meh. Applications have been up in the past year. No school is perfect, of course, but it has been a great fit for my child.

Don't listen to any of the crap here - visit it yourself and see what you think!

Anonymous wrote:PP is wrong on Field. Number of students is down from prior years. Many got in off wait list. College acceptances were meh this year and there is a prior thread on the recent turnover issues. Some families are very happy. Others not so. As is the case with any school. They are going through significantly rocky times. And have been. Not exactly a a secret.

No, I'm not wrong. And the only thing you said that is fair is that every school has unhappy families. But your characterization that "some at Field are very happy- others not so" is either insincere or uninformed. Field is in excellent shape. Staff turnover was minuscule last summer and this summer, and the previous thread you have referenced on this is complete BS. The school is fully enrolled. The wait list did not move this year. In fact, last year and this year over 90% of the 8th graders are choosing to stay for the high school, and the middle school is expanding. The school runs impressive budget surpluses each year. They are clearly not having enrollment issues. Meanwhile, tuition increases have been low to moderate compared to other DMV schools since the no-longer-new HoS took over four years ago. College results were terrific (not meh) again this year. Columbia, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Tulane, and Rice to lead the way, with many other wonderful "right fit" and prestigious universities on the list. The kids, their parents, and the whole school community has a lot to be proud of. The new science classrooms of last summer are state of the art and this summer's total refurbishment of an entire building is another exciting step forward for the school. This doesn't feel like rocky times to me.

PP is wrong on Field. Number of students is down from prior years. Many got in off wait list. College acceptances were meh this year and there is a prior thread on the recent turnover issues. Some families are very happy. Others not so. As is the case with any school. They are going through significantly rocky times. And have been. Not exactly a a secret.

I had one child with dyslexia at Siena and one child without any diagnosed language learning issues at Field. I liked Siena a lot for the academic program but it was not a great social environment for my child and we left. Field has been a fantastic environment socially for my other kid and in hindsight, it might have been better to have stuck with after-school tutoring for the dyslexic child and tried to get them accepted at Field. If the social piece is not right for your kid, they will be miserable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were told my child would have wonderful accommodations at Field (during the admissions and acceptance process). It was awful. It took months for them to provide an accommodations document and my DS had to almost argue with every teacher when he needed to use them (extra time on tests, chunking assignments). Field says they'll do it then don't (we aren't the only ones who had this experience). This was three years ago. We only stayed a year.

We also had that experience (in MS). Extra time wasn't a problem, but getting any other accommodation, or even just a basic understanding of executive function needs, was over promised and underdelivered.

Field is known to overpromise and underdeliver, and they are internally aware of the problem (look at the faculty AND staff turnover these past years) but the HOS won't stop until families pull their tuition, and sadly many don't. Field is more business than school.

The past two years turnover has been practically nonexistent. The school is full and the waitlist doesn’t move. College outcomes are fantastic and the vast majority of families are beyond satisfied.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were told my child would have wonderful accommodations at Field (during the admissions and acceptance process). It was awful. It took months for them to provide an accommodations document and my DS had to almost argue with every teacher when he needed to use them (extra time on tests, chunking assignments). Field says they'll do it then don't (we aren't the only ones who had this experience). This was three years ago. We only stayed a year.

We also had that experience (in MS). Extra time wasn't a problem, but getting any other accommodation, or even just a basic understanding of executive function needs, was over promised and underdelivered.

Field is known to overpromise and underdeliver, and they are internally aware of the problem (look at the faculty AND staff turnover these past years) but the HOS won't stop until families pull their tuition, and sadly many don't. Field is more business than school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maret has a 10% admissions rate for 6th. Where does the next 10% go? Not Sidwell, GDS, or NCS. They go to Field.

It is not a school where Sienna students would thrive. That misconception leads to many students being weeded out during admissions.

Kids leaving Siena with remediated dyslexia can thrive in lots of places, including Field (and Maret). When my child was at Field (several years ago), there were a number of kids who had come from Lab after they no longer needed the intensive support.

Kids with remediated dyslexia can thrive anywhere. However Field does not offer the remediation.

+1

Anonymous wrote:we were only at Siena for two years, but there was a huge turnover of teachers both years. extremely frustrating and disappointing. The reading support is phenomenal, but the lack of social emotional support for the kiddos was not. being such a small school, makes it very limiting.

I'm curious where your child went after Siena? We are considering leaving the school but unsure where to go. I don't think public school would be a great fit for my child.