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Great Hearts Academies

Engaged Employer

Great Hearts Academies reviews

3.5

51% would recommend to a friend

(496 total reviews)
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Jay Heiler

69% approve of CEO

47% positive business outlook

Great Hearts Academies has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 496 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Great Hearts Academies employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

496 reviews
1.0
Apr 6, 2024

Worst Place to Work Ever

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The students were incredible. They made me get out of bed every day motivated to try to deliver the best education I could give them.

Cons

Maryvale Prep is the worst and most toxic work environment I've ever worked in. Do NOT work here. Nobody on administration cares about you or will help you grow in a career in education. The head of school turns into a full time hiring manager and you never see her. So the purpose of keeping the school afloat because people just quit all the time isn't cause for concern? Shouldn't we be greatful that there are people who will work hard, show up to work, never call in sick and attempt to be a good employee? Shouldn't we reward those people?

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Great Hearts Academies Response
2y
We value constructive feedback which we review for consideration. We strive to have a great learning environment for our students and support our faculty and staff. We know there are areas of improvement and are working on these areas. Please feel free to share specific examples and concerns to our leadership team at HRFeedback@greathearts.org so we can work to make changes. We are sorry that this was your experience at one of our schools. We are very grateful for our hard working teachers and are working on ways to best support and honor our teachers. We appreciate your input on this issue, and we have in recent years made it our goal to eliminate the non-essential burdens on teachers. We have also recently worked to improve our compensation package for all of our hard working teachers and staff. As as a result, we have recently reviewed and increased our salary for the 2024-2025 school year. Again, thank you for your feedback and we ask you share your concerns with management.
1.0
Mar 20, 2024

HR Department in Disarray

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits Mission Growth potential Mission

Cons

Decline in HR leadership and talent and loss of top HR leaders over the past year have compelled me to provide an honest review of my experiences here, particularly regarding the state of the Human Resources department. Unfortunately, what was once a pillar of support and guidance within the company has now become a source of frustration and disappointment. Over the past year, the Human Resources team has experienced a troubling decline in both talent and leadership. The departure of our best HR leaders has left a noticeable void, and their absence has been keenly felt throughout the organization. The lack of continuity and expertise in HR matters has led to significant challenges in management support. Adding to the turmoil is the appointment of new leadership, including the Chief People Officer, who, regrettably, lacks the necessary HR knowledge and leadership experience to effectively lead the department. This deficiency has resulted in a lack of direction, inconsistent policies, and a general sense of uncertainty among employees. Furthermore, the composition of the current HR team is cause for concern. While individual introversion is not inherently problematic, the collective dynamic of the team has fostered a culture reminiscent of "mean girls" behavior. Instead of collaborating and supporting one another, there is a palpable sense of cliquishness and exclusion, which has only served to exacerbate existing tensions within the department. It is disheartening to witness the unraveling of what was once a respected and effective HR department. Without swift and decisive action to address these issues, I fear that Great Hearts will continue to struggle in attracting and retaining top talent, ultimately hindering our ability to achieve our organizational goals.

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Great Hearts Academies Response
2y
Thank you for your feedback. We believe in having a team who work together as a family. We strive to set a standard of excellence for our employees. Thank you for providing us with feedback on leadership training. We will share with our leadership and continue to work on ways to build relationships with our HR dept. and leadership team.
1.0
Dec 2, 2023

Don't apply

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The students were everything. Kind, energetic, and loved me. I hated being sick because I knew I was letting them down if I couldn't come to work. If you like warm weather, AZ is the place to be. The school summer, fall, winter, and spring breaks made for many trips around the Southwest.

Cons

The management team is awful. They are loyal to a select few and the rest of the faculty are just there as glorified babysitters. The amount of subbing and work you have to do on top of your own work is ridiculous even from a standard teacher's viewpoint.

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Great Hearts Academies Response
2y
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. Our leadership and administration teams have a lot of objectives to balance a school. As a result, we are aware in some unique cases that changes were needed to improve school operations. One area we have developed is putting in place ways to handle substitute work and adding substitutes teachers to certain campuses. We are aware that our salaries are lower than many district schools and some charter schools. 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.
Viewing 64 - 66 of 496 Reviews

Glassdoor has 508 Great Hearts Academies reviews submitted anonymously by Great Hearts Academies employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Great Hearts Academies is right for you.