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Great Hearts Academies

Engaged Employer

Worst Company I have ever Worked for in my Entire Career - Director Great Hearts Academies Employee Review

1.0
Aug 2, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

benefits seemed marketable, a few of the staff left that haven't turned over seem amicable

Cons

This does not deserve even 1 star. Unbridled dysfunction and chaos in every part of HR due to incompetent CPO; harassing abusive micromanagement, and complete ignorance about leadership, management, HRIS and people in general. Dissension, in-fighting and favoritism are created by CPO. Absolutely no awareness of situation and circumstances, refuses to adequately staff, and blatantly ignores staffing needs. Denies budget for improvement, demands what little staff there is to work through breaks, after hours and on weekends and refuses to recognize that arbitrary goals are unable to be met because she cannot vision scalable growth. The company is splitting from executive level down due to her inadequate leadership, but that intel was not provided to any new hires, and company is at-will so she dumps and replacing people at whim if they question or disagree. Do not even consider Great Hearts if you want fair treatment and adequate pay. This company does not even know the words well-being, positive culture, and you are disposable and lied to upon introduction, and once you are in its too late. There is no diversity in management, no work-life balance, all processes and systems are so dysfunctional and broken they are unusable and CPO expects others to fix and continues to replace people rather than budget and listen to those she brings in to fix things - negative culture and zero values. CPO privately meets with line-level staff after hours and discludes directors, eroding trust within teams and causes break-down in communications. CPO has no director/ leadership/ management experience and treats HR like an experiment. This is notably one of the most toxic work environments ever witnessed.

Explore other reviews about Great Hearts Academies

5.0
Jun 29, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Intentional and caring work with children.

Cons

Demanding work, but ultimately fulfilling.

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Great Hearts Academies Response
4d
Thank you for your feedback. We know our students, parents and community make our academies incredibly unique and special. We know there is always room for improvement. We are open to constructive critiques and recommendations. We value the unique and individual contributions of our teachers and staff. It is imperative to meet our standards while considering new teaching techniques. We know that this important work is at times challenging. Still, we believe the mission is worthy of our continued commitment, and Great Hearts strives to support teachers and staff through effective leadership, professional growth, and fidelity to the mission.
3.0
Apr 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1) Hard to get fired 2) Lowest monthly premiums for benefits I’ve experienced 3) There are busy and slow seasons. Some times you have far too much work to complete in 40 hours and other times you may only have 20 hours of work

Cons

1) Low pay 2) Leadership could be better mainly HR/People Ops, individuals seemingly put into higher up positions based on tenure at the company rather than job experience. 3) Little to no room for growth in HR/People Ops. 4) No annual review process formal or informal and no raises based on individual merit 5) a standard company wide increase each year is in place but it’s typically 2% so not even an amount that keeps up with the cost of living 6) it can feel cliquey

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Great Hearts Academies Response
2mo
Thank you for your feedback. We will share with our leadership your comments. We strive to set a standard of excellence for our students with a focus on a rich liberal arts curriculum and emphasis on moral formation. Great Hearts does provide excellent benefits (medical, dental, etc.), with employee premiums that are significantly below the national and regional averages. We have been engaged in ongoing work on this issue for several years despite no significant funding increases from the states in which we operate, and simultaneously we must balance the need to maintain smaller class sizes, robust network resources, and safe and welcoming campuses. Great Hearts does provide excellent benefits (medical, dental, etc.), with employee premiums that are significantly below the national and regional averages. We have increased our salary ranges in certain regions over the past year. We will continue to work to improve in these areas.
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