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Classical Charter Schools

Engaged Employer

Classical Charter Schools reviews

2.7

24% would recommend to a friend

(190 total reviews)
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Lester Long

43% approve of CEO

38% positive business outlook

Classical Charter Schools has an employee rating of 2.7 out of 5 stars, based on 190 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Classical Charter Schools employee rating is 26% below average for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

190 reviews
1.0
Feb 25, 2022

This network should be shut down

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay The scholars are great Some nice co-workers (none are admin)

Cons

This charter network should change their mission statement to “when we look at scholars all we see are dollar signs from the state test” Classical is obsessed with the state test which causes the scholars so much unnecessary stress. They even use the state test to retain scholars (and they do frequently and often). Scholars don’t receive a real education here- there are no text books, no clubs, no extracurriculars, no social-emotional learning. Its all training for the state test which is so sad. A lot of white saviorism, the admin is not culturally responsive or sensitive to the needs of the population. Staff is completely overburdened and overworked Extremely long hours, meetings all the time School policies and structures are outdated and rigid The professional developments are completely pointless and a waste of time. They are all in house so your PD is from someone who is not an expert on the topic and you most likely have more experience then them. Get ready to be treated like a college student- they don’t care if you have experience. Everything is only considered valued knowledge if it’s from classical. The staff turn over is so bad- many people quit all year. However the network does not care- they devalue staff and use them. Because staff is treated so poorly, the scholars are the ones who suffer because staff is constantly leaving. Admin/ ICs are often young and inexperienced- their experience only being at classical so there are No opportunities for real mentorship or professional growth here. You will be used if you work here.

1.0
Nov 8, 2021

Never work here, ever

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Students, grad school paid for.

Cons

Do you like being gaslighted? Do you being micromanaged by incompetent leaders? Maybe you love when you apply to a job position and are met with the old bait and switch razzle dazzle? Perhaps you’re looking for a school where the needs of the whole child are ignored in favor of turning them into data points. This is, without a doubt, the most toxic environment I have ever worked in my life. South Bronx classical charter school is an abusive environment for staff and students, with a “mission” slapped on top to hide the ugliness. Do not teach here. Teach anywhere else. If you teach here, you will burnout, question your self worth, and ultimately leave. It is impossible to become a great teacher at this school- they make sure!

2.0
May 29, 2016

Strong Teacher Development, Negative School Culture

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There is a dedicated staff, strong community, and a focus on improvement. Staff responsible for professional development are consistently trying to help teachers improve within the model of the school. Great environment for beginning teachers with little to no experience as you will get more support, feedback, and constructive criticism than most other places. If you fit in the environment, you can quickly take on more responsibilities and there is opportunity for career improvement. The teachers are not competitive with each other, and tend more towards focused and collegial.

Cons

Long, long hours. Most administration lack experience in education outside of SBCCS or other charters, and teachers are primarily new to the field. There are some more experienced staff, but they aren't part of the administration making decisions. Frequently decisions are made that are not in the best interest of students due to ignorance of best practices or incorrect use of assessments/data. The no excuses model is very persistent at the school, with many teachers struggling with management often resulting in disrespectful or harsh treatment of students. There is a very narrow and negative approach to discipline school-wide, and a poorly implemented character education curriculum. Many students are retained and/or leave and there is a high staff turnover each year.

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Classical Charter Schools Response
9y
Thank you for your feedback! There is a lot to chew on here. First, thank you for highlighting our dedicated staff and strong community. It is something that we’re very proud of. We are also very proud of our ability to develop new teachers and ensure that every teacher in our school has the knowledge and support necessary to produce great results. Over the past 16 months, we have made a concerted effort to bring in more experienced staff (at all levels) and we believe that will serve us well moving forward. That being said, it is definitely our preference to promote from within which we think is helpful in building a strong, close knit community. We are sorry to read that you left us with the belief that some of our decisions were not made with the student's best interest in mind. In actuality, all of the decisions we make are made through the lens of what is best for students. That is the reason our specials staff is so robust and why we hire Speech Therapists and School Psychologists as full-time staff instead of using district services. While we do have a culture of high expectations for all students that is difficult for some of our newer teachers to manage at first, some of your characterizations are overstated. Our staff turnover rates have varied but have improved significantly over the past few years, a trend that we anticipate to continue thanks to our ClassiCorps fellowship. Student attrition is no higher than a typical school in our district and we work hard to keep all of our students until they graduate from 8th grade. Finally, our Character Curriculum is a work in progress that will undergo the same revisions and modifications that our Core Curriculum undergoes. Again, thank you for your feedback. As you mentioned, we are an organization that is focused on improvement and will continue to identify and address areas of improvement as we grow.
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Glassdoor has 196 Classical Charter Schools reviews submitted anonymously by Classical Charter Schools employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Classical Charter Schools is right for you.