Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People. Just remember that it’s just a school. It’s not like in Harvard the star professors are leaving.

There are enough talented people in dc to fill positions. Plus the people leaving might have very good reasons to leave. Smart teachers move to other jobs because simply they pay more.

This is disingenuous. Unless, you are a lifer at Holton and don’t know any better. My kid has been at two different private schools with very, very little turnover.

Maybe the teachers there are unable to find better opportunities elsewhere.

And by that logic Holton teachers are able to find better places to work, places run by true academics and visionaries, places where they are not spoken to with disdain or yelled at during meetings, places where there is not a constant fear of retaliation.

Many at Holton remember when the school WAS that type of place.

I am sorry to tell you, but good teachers also change professions. Many times they prefer to do something else all together. It’s happening all around the county and not only in Holton.

Actually, that's not happening at Holton.

That’s exactly what the teachers I talked to told me. They leave for better opportunities.

You're right: if you speak to the teachers, many of whom us parents have developed close relationships with over the years (because they are wonderful people and educators), you will find that they are mostly continuing teaching roles (except for the retirees) at other DMV schools. I only say mostly because I have spoken to the 7 we know closely that taught our DD today at commencement.

So, it is not that some of these wonderful teachers woke up this spring and decided they no longer wanted to teach. They just no longer wanted to teach at Holton.

Anonymous wrote:I would consider myself and my DD very in tune with the feelings of the other kids and parents about teachers and I cannot think of who you mean when you say teachers who families have been wanting gone. Is this the Economics teacher? My DD is due to take the Econ class next year, and that was the only person we have heard very mixed reviews about.

But in general, I agree with everyone when they say that this turnover, especially considering the individual teachers who are leaving, is unfortunate.

The turnover is unfortunate. It's just not uncommon. 70% of teachers will leave a school before they are there for 20 years. Just about 30% will leave within 10 years of being at a school. It doesn't mean people are leaving because of the administration. There are many reasons people leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People. Just remember that it’s just a school. It’s not like in Harvard the star professors are leaving.

There are enough talented people in dc to fill positions. Plus the people leaving might have very good reasons to leave. Smart teachers move to other jobs because simply they pay more.

This is disingenuous. Unless, you are a lifer at Holton and don’t know any better. My kid has been at two different private schools with very, very little turnover.

Maybe the teachers there are unable to find better opportunities elsewhere.

And by that logic Holton teachers are able to find better places to work, places run by true academics and visionaries, places where they are not spoken to with disdain or yelled at during meetings, places where there is not a constant fear of retaliation.

Many at Holton remember when the school WAS that type of place.

I am sorry to tell you, but good teachers also change professions. Many times they prefer to do something else all together. It’s happening all around the county and not only in Holton.

Actually, that's not happening at Holton.

Holton was "that kind of place" under SAJ's leadership. We chose the school because of the culture she created.
PE is cleaning house, and changing the vibe of the school completely. I don't dislike her, but the change is real. It has definitely posed challenges for faculty and students alike.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People. Just remember that it’s just a school. It’s not like in Harvard the star professors are leaving.

There are enough talented people in dc to fill positions. Plus the people leaving might have very good reasons to leave. Smart teachers move to other jobs because simply they pay more.

This is disingenuous. Unless, you are a lifer at Holton and don’t know any better. My kid has been at two different private schools with very, very little turnover.

Maybe the teachers there are unable to find better opportunities elsewhere.

And by that logic Holton teachers are able to find better places to work, places run by true academics and visionaries, places where they are not spoken to with disdain or yelled at during meetings, places where there is not a constant fear of retaliation.

Many at Holton remember when the school WAS that type of place.

I am sorry to tell you, but good teachers also change professions. Many times they prefer to do something else all together. It’s happening all around the county and not only in Holton.

I would consider myself and my DD very in tune with the feelings of the other kids and parents about teachers and I cannot think of who you mean when you say teachers who families have been wanting gone. Is this the Economics teacher? My DD is due to take the Econ class next year, and that was the only person we have heard very mixed reviews about.

But in general, I agree with everyone when they say that this turnover, especially considering the individual teachers who are leaving, is unfortunate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People. Just remember that it’s just a school. It’s not like in Harvard the star professors are leaving.

There are enough talented people in dc to fill positions. Plus the people leaving might have very good reasons to leave. Smart teachers move to other jobs because simply they pay more.

This is disingenuous. Unless, you are a lifer at Holton and don’t know any better. My kid has been at two different private schools with very, very little turnover.

Maybe the teachers there are unable to find better opportunities elsewhere.

And by that logic Holton teachers are able to find better places to work, places run by true academics and visionaries, places where they are not spoken to with disdain or yelled at during meetings, places where there is not a constant fear of retaliation.

Many at Holton remember when the school WAS that type of place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People. Just remember that it’s just a school. It’s not like in Harvard the star professors are leaving.

There are enough talented people in dc to fill positions. Plus the people leaving might have very good reasons to leave. Smart teachers move to other jobs because simply they pay more.

This is disingenuous. Unless, you are a lifer at Holton and don’t know any better. My kid has been at two different private schools with very, very little turnover.

Maybe the teachers there are unable to find better opportunities elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote:People. Just remember that it’s just a school. It’s not like in Harvard the star professors are leaving.

There are enough talented people in dc to fill positions. Plus the people leaving might have very good reasons to leave. Smart teachers move to other jobs because simply they pay more.

This is disingenuous. Unless, you are a lifer at Holton and don’t know any better. My kid has been at two different private schools with very, very little turnover.

It's not so much about whether it's 10 or 30 teachers leaving from upper school, but whom. My DD, who graduated today, was taught by 8/10 of them. It is heartbreaking! The history dept. chair is one of the most fantastic teachers we have ever met, and taught my other child too. Same with the math teacher, english teacher, computer science teacher, etc. They are those very loved teachers who always have kids hanging out in their classrooms. They had all been around for 5-8 years already. So while you can argue this is normal, it doesn't feel so. It's normal for younger teachers gaining some experience to come and go every few years, and for some stellar faculty to retire, but these are people who are in their 30s and 40s, staying in the DC area, and who truly loved the school and the kids. I am so glad my DD was fortunate enough to be taught by them.

From the Upper School, the following teachers are leaving:

2 Spanish
2 English
1 Government
1 Economics
1 math
1 math and CS
1 CS
1 biology
1 counseling

The two English teachers are absolutely phenomenal; one of them is retiring, but the choice to retire now is not a coincidence.

The government and economics teachers are fantastic too. The former is the chair of the history department.

These departures come on top of the loss of superb faculty (who had been at Holton for a long time) over the past two years.

All I can say is that I am grateful DD graduated today.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People. Just remember that it’s just a school. It’s not like in Harvard the star professors are leaving.

There are enough talented people in dc to fill positions. Plus the people leaving might have very good reasons to leave. Smart teachers move to other jobs because simply they pay more.

You don't understand private school culture, specifically around teachers. Many private schools have an average faculty tenure of 20 years or more. A generation ago it was double that. Average tenure has declined but it's still quite high in thriving private schools. High faculty turnover/low average length of tenure is the #1 sign of an unhealthy private school.

That’s not true today. Average tenure is not that high.

https://www.nais.org/careers/teaching-in-independent-schools

This link doesn't prove your point.

Using data from that link:

To find the average from grouped data, we multiply the midpoint of each experience range by its corresponding percentage. That means the average tenure is more like 14.82 years. And that within that average, 70% of faculty at a school have a tenure of less than 20 years.

Once again, you are not proving your point. You are, in fact, proving the point of the poster who you are trying to argue against. The argument is that longer teacher tenure is a sign of a healthy school. Shorter teacher tenure is the sign of an unhealthy school. This level of turnover is alarming.

I'm not arguing. I'm pointing out actual data. And I did prove my point. The poster said, "Many private schools have an average faculty tenure of 20 years or more." Data shows, which I linked to, that is not true. The average tenure is more like 14.82 years, with 70% of faculty tending to be at a school less than 20 years.

You can still be alarmed. Just don't set off false alarms based on unbacked data.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People. Just remember that it’s just a school. It’s not like in Harvard the star professors are leaving.

There are enough talented people in dc to fill positions. Plus the people leaving might have very good reasons to leave. Smart teachers move to other jobs because simply they pay more.

You don't understand private school culture, specifically around teachers. Many private schools have an average faculty tenure of 20 years or more. A generation ago it was double that. Average tenure has declined but it's still quite high in thriving private schools. High faculty turnover/low average length of tenure is the #1 sign of an unhealthy private school.

That’s not true today. Average tenure is not that high.

https://www.nais.org/careers/teaching-in-independent-schools

This link doesn't prove your point.

Using data from that link:

To find the average from grouped data, we multiply the midpoint of each experience range by its corresponding percentage. That means the average tenure is more like 14.82 years. And that within that average, 70% of faculty at a school have a tenure of less than 20 years.

Once again, you are not proving your point. You are, in fact, proving the point of the poster who you are trying to argue against. The argument is that longer teacher tenure is a sign of a healthy school. Shorter teacher tenure is the sign of an unhealthy school. This level of turnover is alarming.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People. Just remember that it’s just a school. It’s not like in Harvard the star professors are leaving.

There are enough talented people in dc to fill positions. Plus the people leaving might have very good reasons to leave. Smart teachers move to other jobs because simply they pay more.

You don't understand private school culture, specifically around teachers. Many private schools have an average faculty tenure of 20 years or more. A generation ago it was double that. Average tenure has declined but it's still quite high in thriving private schools. High faculty turnover/low average length of tenure is the #1 sign of an unhealthy private school.

That’s not true today. Average tenure is not that high.

https://www.nais.org/careers/teaching-in-independent-schools

This link doesn't prove your point.

Using data from that link:

To find the average from grouped data, we multiply the midpoint of each experience range by its corresponding percentage. That means the average tenure is more like 14.82 years. And that within that average, 70% of faculty at a school have a tenure of less than 20 years.