DISTRICT TRENDING DOWN

 The admin needs to go and the board need to realize this. They are sacrificing their employees for the admin. People are leaving at alarming rates and I am currently looking.  

Glen Rock is losing staff because the administration does NOT CARE OR VALUE us.

I am stunned with the decisions being made without any teacher input.   I find myself saying “historically, I have been part of the conversations that affect my students and class.”   I continue to email my supervisor and principal my thoughts and ideas, occasionally I will get some feedback or thanks for sharing.

 This is not the district it was when I started in 2000. Our experience and opinions are not valued. There is tremendous pressure to sugar-coat everything and not tell the whole truth. This undermines our professionalism as teachers.   

I have searched for a better position with better pay because of how my work and my life/health/well-being was disregarded by the administration (Superintendent and MS/HS Principal).

  Teachers have been asked to do more and more in the most challenging environment ever, but they are still not included in decision making or treated with respect by the BOE. Mrs. Scarpelli’s dismissal of our concerns about the condition of the buildings was an outrage. We deserved support and gratitude for coming in to unpack and rearrange our classrooms on our own time. Instead we were mocked. The decision making around the RICE notice situation also created more bad feelings and distrust. The notices were delivered on a Friday afternoon and the invalid explanation came on Monday. Steps need to be taken to repair the relationships among all sides.

  I was looking for jobs elsewhere even though I was being offered tenure. The board is out of touch with what is going on in the school and the constant gaslighting by them and the superintendent is damaging.

The key issue facing the district will be the fall-off in academic rigor and then results from policies communicated poorly, in some cases directly or tone set indirectly - no midterms or finals; focus on reducing homework, reading content, and assessments, and many others. What is being forgotten is that we must prepare students for college rigors and sometimes that means they learn how and when to apply more time and focus in and outside the classroom to succeed later on and at higher levels. 

Terrified to send my own through the district with teachers leaving left and right.  Inferior education with inexperienced, newbie teachers. 

Not sure if this district will ever earn the Blue Ribbon School Award again with all that's gone on and the loss of so many experienced administrators and teachers who helped the district with this in 2018.  

https://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/2018/high-schools.pdf

The Glen Rock School District is in danger of significant and long-lasting deterioration. The district was, in the past, revered as an outstanding district. This was "the place to be". However, due to the many unilateral decisions made by administration, in speaking with many people from other towns and districts, Glen Rock has become an undesirable district to work in, with a bad reputation. Having worked in Glen Rock with pride in our accomplishments, it is a huge disappointment that the district has taken such a negative turn....and such turn, is not the result of the teaching staff.  Teachers have built this district into the stellar district it has been. All deterioration, both in morale and in quality, lays squarely at the feet of the current administration and the poor decision making by the BOE.  Glen Rock was once a district in which teachers had a voice and played an active role in building the district. As such, there was a vested interest in ensuring the success of the Glen Rock School District. THIS IS NO LONGER SO!     A very larger percentage of administrators are new to Glen Rock and therefore, are puppets of the Superintendent who has a clear hatred and disrespect for the GREA and teachers, in general.  These new administrators must further this Superintendent's agenda of intimidation and retribution, and must support his unilateral decision-making, in order to secure their positions.  It would behoove the BOE to, with an open mind, a willingness to listen, and with no retribution, begin a dialogue with the staff, to understand what is occurring and why. Without such a discussion, the damage may be long-lasting. 

• Where are our teaching assistants in every elementary school classroom?
• Do students with IEPs have enough aides?
• Aren't substitute teachers a better value to students than going to the Auditorium so their class time can be used efficiently?

• Why can't the district offer healthier, more appetizing lunches?
• Shouldn't there be an organic option?

• How can the district maintain equity among the boys and girls sports?

• Why don't supervisors teach any classes?
• How long will the supervisors remain experts if they don't ever teach?
• Why is the district paying for outside professional training outfits when the district has a supervisor for each major subject area?

• How can Glen Rock attract and retain top teaching talent going forward?
• What is the plan to salvage the culture that made Glen Rock a Blue Ribbon District, or the plan to establish a new one with equivalent or better results?