Dedicated, supportive teachers; lazy, corrupt, irresponsible Head of Schools/leadership.
Pros
- Some teachers are offered higher pay in comparison to other schools in NYC—both private and public/charter - There is a part private, part public playground that is attached to the school. - Parents that are invested in their child’s education are really involved in the school community. - The teachers that work at Dream are the literal backbone of the school. It’s their commitment to the work that keeps the school from collapsing. - Teachers really support teachers here. It’s the friendships made that keep teachers from quitting.
Cons
- The head of schools—the woman in charge of making all decisions related to the organization—has completely removed herself from the school/classroom environment altogether. She frequently makes decisions that are massively removed from teacher and student needs, leaving teachers angry, tired and with no avenue to voice their concerns. Additionally, while her office is 40 feet from the classrooms she is in charge of running, you will never, EVER see her in any of those classrooms. This has been the case for years. She will often hold “town hall” meetings that are supposedly designed to provide a venue for teachers to voice their concerns, but will use those meetings to simply filibuster. Zoom chats were disabled during these after teachers started to use the chat to ask difficult questions at the beginning of the year. Very typically, she will recycle the same story of the one child she is familiar with to appear as though she is involved in the groundwork of the school and to pander to board members and donors (who have more decision making power than any teacher, family, or leader will ever have) - The CEO is completely disengaged from anything related to the students and culture of the school. His one and only job is to fundraise and is only visible when donors come in to tour the school. It’s a running joke between staff members that it’s unknown how he is even able to talk about the school to donors as he is so far removed from anything that happens during the school day. He may have founded the school, but that’s where his involvement in the actual inner workings of the school end. - Teachers are at the absolute bottom of the totem poll in terms of decision making power and authority. Every staff member who isn’t a teacher is assumed to be in a leadership role over teachers. Don’t bother voicing any of your concerns or ideas to leadership as their one and only goal is to ascend higher into the organization and know that the bottom line is optics and never the reality of what is happening in the classroom. - There is ZERO support for difficult to manage classrooms. The number of instructional days that are wasted due to inability to control classrooms is astonishing. There is absolutely no system of consequences for the kids. Children will often become physical with their peers and teachers with zero consequences or next steps. - The leadership team does nothing to confront reports of neglect or abuse. There are several children who we know are encountering abuse at home and who have missed dozens and dozens of school days. Despite the pleas of teachers to intervene, nothing is done. It’s up to teachers to confront these issues, alone. - The leadership staff is very young and inexperienced which leads to a lot of adult culture issues. Almost every elementary school teacher at their 1991 location left at the end of this school year due to antagonistic and low quality management. They spend their days huddled in their offices on video calls and will wander into the classrooms for observations only a few times a year. Despite this, their opinions of what children need should never be questioned by teachers. You will be actively bullied, gossiped about, and ultimately ousted from the organization if you dare speak up. Morale was particularly low this year because of the absolute ineptitude of the leadership team who are neither qualified to coach nor to lead. - There are no clear systems for communication at the school. Leadership will often make decisions and then fail to relay any of that information to teachers. This leads to a whole lot of confusion and just general disorganization. Disorganization and lack of systems are major themes at Dream. Please don’t send your child to Dream. Teachers can only do so much without any support and the head of schools does not care about the quality of management or education the children are receiving. This place is a mess. It was poorly designed and is now poorly managed. It’s a ruse of school and it’s truly a mystery how they are even able to maintain their charter, much less expand. Every teacher is miserable and has no ability to change or improve any systems whatsoever. *Special note to donors: It’s your money that is funding the expansion of this school. This is not only irresponsible, but ultimately a genuine safety concern. Talk to teachers before making a decision about whether or not you want to give money to a school. The CEOs/head of schools/principals/leaders are not reliable sources for information about how a school is truly operating. Teachers are the heart and soul of all schools—they will tell you the truth.
