Pros
The students you work with will be the light of your life, and drive you to create excellent lessons each day. The potential in the classroom is so large, it is inspiring. Professional development at all levels makes you always learn something new or master something you may already be good at. Staff works closely and holds each other accountable, which is both reassuring and motivating. We consistently outperform the district, have more kids going to college that any other school in Rochester. It's working - but it is not working sustainably.
Cons
You are expected to give up essentially all of your life to work at this place. It will come at the expense of drastic reduction in time spent with family/friends, your mental health, and job performance. It is not that you will not want to do your job, it is that there are so many demands that you cannot humanly (sanely, at least) keep up with them. Uncommon will tell you to work more efficiently when you voice concerns over this, but when you do so you become a robot who quickly burns out. Admin above the school level critique school performance and have demands that are usually unfeasible or add additional stress to school level staff. I do not think it is a coincidence that said admin are almost predominantly white men. Rochester Prep does not believe in substitute teachers. You may have 2 hours free to "plan" but at any moment you can be told you no longer have that period off and instead have to teach a class that isn't yours, in a subject that isn't yours. This again leads to loss of time and teacher burn out. Rochester Prep needs to shift how we prepare our students to become functioning adults when they leave our schools. Students are often timed on how long they spend in the bathroom, told when they can throw out their tissues, and when they can sharpen their pencils. This is not just elementary school, this happens through graduation. This creates Uncommon graduates who do not have the experience of independence and self-regulation that is ESSENTIAL to excelling in college and beyond, yet that's what we say we are doing for kids and families.