A Talented School And A Troubled Staff - School #26

I was assigned to a school named after a famous singer and the students were only accepted by audition.  The students are highly diverse and very talented in Art, Music, and Theater.  The student body is respectful and engaged and I had a pleasant experience interacting with them.  However, I never met a more unfriendly teaching staff in my travels.  The teaching staff seem to resent the ATRs and failed to even say hello.  A school aide told me there is a high teacher turnover rate at the school as the administration is always looking to punish teachers.  She also told me that many of the teachers look at teaching as a temporary job until they get into the showbiz.

Parking is impossible and it costs $8 a day to park in the garage.  I actually took mass transit there and it took me an hour and a half to get to the school.  The school building is modern and the classrooms spacious.  However, despite the very cooperative and respectful student body many of the teachers lack classroom management skills as students walk in and out of their rooms at will.  One of the staff told me that the Chapter Leader is in the pocket of the administration and teachers refuse to confide in the person, of course this Chapter Leader never introduced herself to me or the other ATR during the week we were there.

This school has a great student body, an unfriendly teaching staff, and a "gotcha administration".  The commute is too far and there's no parking.  I wouldn't take a job there.


GRADE "D"