Avoid At All Costs If You Value Your Self - Lead Teacher Success Academy Charter Schools Employee Review

Where To Begin.. 1.) There is absolutely NO work life balance. Working here is committing yourself to LONG hours up 11hr work days, not accounting for the work you go home and have to do. 2.) NO Breaks. Your prep periods are used for work an meetings. If you are seen not working then it will be noted and later brought up to discredit your work ethic. Be prepared to eat and work, if you eat at all. 3.) No real support or guidance. You can be easily promoted if perceived to be strong in behavior management. There is no real investment in developing your craftsmanship as a first or second year teacher. PDs are utilized to discuss and compare your school's performance across the success academy network. Often times not purposeful. You need to observe and catch onto things quickly. You will be moved around, talked about and even let go if you are unable to quickly adjust to a high stress and militarized environment. 4.) Data driven is an understatement when talking about success. This school masks a greed to produce high data with a passion for education. Children are STRESSED and filled with anxiety. I've witnessed several incidents where students BREAK DOWN in exams, even inflicting self harm because they are so stressed out about taking an exam and the consequences that result from performing poorly. I have witnessed teachers ridicule and berate scholars for not receiving high scores even if the scholar passed. Children are unhappy, but bribed to instill some sort of joy through "incentives", which are ultimately used to reward scholars who solely perform well and produce high "data". Kids are put back in the middle of the school year if they do not show signs of academic progress right away. Kids will be skipped if they perform well academically, however they do not take into account the social development of the child. I witnessed a child be skipped from kindergarten to 2nd grade, that is just NOT okay. 5.) Management and Leadership is at my location was absolutely God awful. They were cliquey and completely unsupportive if you "pushed back" on feedback, which could range from anything, from your classroom attendance or requests for additional support. E-mails are often framed in a way to discredit you work ethic and they will fabricate and embellish situations to cover their tails and further discredit you as the teacher. They have unrealistic expectations for teachers and no real measures of support to assist teachers with meeting these "expectations". The few teachers that do have attained it in underhanded ways that ultimately harms the child's perception of what education should look like. 6.) CEO is out of touch with what is going on in her schools; Or she really believes teachers are disposable just so long as whoever is employed produces the data to further success's agenda in education. 7.) This organization claims to be committed to providing quality education to the underprivileged, however, parents aren't treated with much respect. Teachers are often required to scold parents for their inability to meet every single expectations success has, not taking into account what a family may be experiencing at home. Truly out of touch with the community they serve. 8.) You will LOSE your passion to teach if you choose to work here.