Poor Leadership, Inadequate Training, An Utter Disappointment - Teacher Thales Academy Employee Review

Leadership Issues: *New leadership micromanages contract times, sending emails to staff if they leave even 3 minutes early even though most teachers aren't even able to stay in their classrooms after carpool due to various after school clubs using their rooms *Staff policies are enforced differently for different people - i.e. tattoos: some poor teachers are forced to wear long sleeves or a bandage to cover tattoos on the arms while other teachers have exposed tattoos on legs, ankles, hands, etc. that go unaddressed *Leadership is more focused on what type of shoes teachers are wearing and what time they leave the building at the end of the day rather than supporting teachers with difficult and challenging student behaviors *Only 6 days of PTO per school year, no carryovers *Senior administrators in Raleigh, who were previously incredibly helpful, left or were let go abruptly with no explanation *Unsubstantiated decisions not to renew contracts for excellent, experienced teachers *New area campus for upper grades was announced and promised for years and then completely scrapped this year. Other new campus announcements have also been made and then disappeared from the website. *Over half of the teaching staff chose not to return for the next school year which speaks volumes Support and Management: *Direct Instruction is effective for many students but is very challenging for teachers to pick up and execute naturally and effectively. Training and support is inadequate and the admin observations and coaching sessions are not productive or helpful. It would be far more beneficial for teachers to regularly observe other experienced teachers executing DI and have admin cover their classes while they do so. *New head of school provides no support to teachers, sides with parents on disciplinary issues despite telling teachers to act as the "CEOs of their classrooms" Teacher and Student Environment: *Teachers do not get a lunch break, must stay in classrooms confined with students *No dedicated spaces for art, music, or technology, limiting "specials" offerings and quality *Students are confined to classroom all day with the exception of a brief recess on an ill equipped and undersized playground *The janitorial service that our campus uses is abysmal. Bathrooms reek, floors are not cleaned well, etc. *There is very little diversity in both the staff (local and senior leadership) as well as student population *There is a lot of time spent grading Curriculum and Communication Concerns: *Direct instruction works very well for many students, it is not a one size fits all and works best with smaller groups (not the way Thales implements it). DI requires a great deal of self discipline but Thales does not take that into consideration during the student interview and selection process and teachers are left struggling to get inattentive kids to focus and participate “The Thales Way” even when it isn't developmentally appropriate for the student's age *K-5 math curriculum is outdated and inadequate and is not preparing students for middle and high school math *Staff are required to listen to a monthly Founder's webinar which would be wonderful if it included advice, best practices or insight as to what the plans are for the school's future but it usually consists of a plethora of philosophy quotes and ramblings about how efficiently the school's carpools run *Concerns about founder’s advanced age and lack of a clear succession plan