VOICE Charter School reviews

Working here caused me to have a mental breakdown and leave teaching permanently. Beyond just being bad managers, the leadership at this school personally targets vocal employees and tries to tear down careers if you don’t do what they say. I can basically guarantee that the few positive reviews mixed in with the recent upswing in negative reviews was because the head of the school forced admin to leave some positive reviews to make himself look better. For years, I loved it here. I felt cared for and supported and made huge personal sacrifices to continue working at a school I believed in. Then, after the pandemic, something deep shifted. I’m not sure why, but the management has become so defensive, mean, and petty. I saw Frank Headley scream at admin who pushed back against him. Calls for stronger curriculum, smaller classes, and stronger DEI are met with personal attacks. People are fleeing. People are breaking down. I would not wish working here on my worst enemy. Just fyi, a few years ago it took months to get hired here. Now they are offering same-day decisions for new teachers? Not a good sign. It’s 2023 - you have better options for teaching, even if you’re brand new to the field. Do yourself a favor and work somewhere else.

VOICE has been a "growing" school, with a new grade added each year. This growth has been challenging with people taking on new roles, new curriculum being built each year, and shifts from less formal policies and procedures to more formalization. 8th grade was added in the 2015-2016 year, so some of the growing pains may subside in the coming years. Administration asks a lot from teachers, including writing curriculum, holding many team meetings, and following a lot of different policies and procedures. It can be hard to keep track of everything and it can sometimes feel overwhelming. While there is a lot of informal coaching and support within grade teams, some teachers express a desire for more formal coaching.