DSST Public Schools reviews

I worked here for over 10 years, cleaning out my classroom was among my saddest days. So many notes, student projects, old pictures, etc. I thought I would work in this very classroom until retirement. So what happened? I had a curriculum I had built myself over years---parts I inherited and parts I wrote myself. Students love it, I know the texts by heart. So: The Home Office, most of whom have been with the organization only since after the pandemic, told me I had no choice but to throw out my whole curriculum and use a canned, scripted one they were buying(. Why? "Because your grade's data is terrible." And I believe in data--I agree the data should be better. But here is the thing: it's completely unfair to just single out my grade level as the problem. ALL OF DSST's data is terrible, and getting worse every year. Facts: the network's middle school's underperform DPS middle schools significantly. The network's COSAT data has gotten worse every year for six years. So how is it specifically one subject, and one grade level that's the problem? It's not. Why should I have to trash all the materials I've created in the last dozen years? The issue is the Home Office. The new generation of HO functionaries spends all their time gossiping and cancelling people. They chased off a previous generation of HO leaders who knew teachers names and led the network to far better student results than we are currently producing. So, go ahead and mandate a cookie-cutter curriculum that causes all your experienced teachers to resign. I guarantee you: this year's COSAT will be even worse, and you will have sacrificed many seasoned instructors from the neighborhood for nothing. The current Home Office has no idea how to raise achievement--don't believe me, look at the data.

I am a knowledgeable and competent science teacher with 8 years of experience. I moved to Denver and immediately got a job with DSST in the early fall. I had only taught in regular public schools, never charters. I don't know if being a charter had to do with the negative things I experienced. But I had a very bad year and won't be back. 1. There is no set curriculum. You are expected to come up with one yourself. I did so and then was constantly criticized for how the curriculum and my lessons wasn't good. When I said , well I will just follow one if you have it, no such one existed. So they expect you to write your own excellent curriculum (differentiation, standards-based planning, culturally-responsive, supportive for mlls, etc etc). This grew exhausting and I just started using TPT every day. Which was expensive. They don't have textbooks or anything either. 2. Studnet behavior is very bad, and teachers are blamed for it. There are no consequences for cussing teachers out, or for being off task in class, or for playing on phones all day, or for skipping classes. Students have no expectations for being on task or being minimally civil. Students this year called teachers a number of slurs. There was no consequence at all. 3. Admin is very disengaged. Never in classrooms, never in hallways. There are a lot of them at my school, more than I am used to in public schools. But they ignore most issues that arise, and tend to blame teachers for students' bad behavior. You get the "build a relationship with him" thing, all the time. When students tell admin something like "this teacher is always picking on me!" admin never looks into it, they believe the student. After this year I am really questioning continuing as a teacher. I think i may change careers. But DSST has overall been a very negative experience.