Pros
Many teachers are mission-driven and doing their best. Families and community are very supportive. Specialists (eg. science, art, PE, dance, Spanish) at DTES are highly skilled and passionate about their fields of practice.
Cons
*Principal is warm and well-intentioned...but is overwhelmed, poorly supervises the other school leaders, behaves impulsively (eg. sends all-staff e-mails without thinking them through, makes comments that shame and humiliate staff), and lacks conflict resolution skills (heavily biased and hardly follows through). *Members of the leadership team are cruel. Some have been known to lie, emotionally manipulate and gaslight staff. *DEI finger-pointing is OUT OF CONTROL! No sincere investment in developing staff. LOTS of calling people racist, naming white supremacist behaviors as they perceive them, but no real action or education for teachers. *Most students with "behavior issues" are black students with IEPs. Leadership does not name this or work to unpack why this is the case. They meet to make plans for these students often, but don't know what they are doing, communication/follow-through is terrible. *Teachers fear getting in trouble or doing the wrong thing because admin will fire you before they do anything restorative. Many teachers were not honest about their intent to return. I was warned by a veteran colleague not to let my coach know that I was not planning on returning bc she would be more hostile and treat me poorly for the remainder of the school year (she was right!)