Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Teachers

Let's just detail out the six different teachers Audrey has had this year in her class:

Teacher #1 - Left to have a baby, not returning
Teacher #2 - Left to stay home with her daughter's baby (remember this teacher..)
Teacher #3 - Was fired for supposedly coming in late and not working well with potty training
Teacher #4 - Was transferred to another age group due to parent complaints
Teacher #5 - Walked out in the middle of the day, citing not dealing well with 2 - 3 year olds and not having parental support. How do I know this? I will explain below...
Teacher #6 - Her husband was hurt on a routine training thing for the Army and had emergency surgery, she is not returning.

GAH! That's enough to make my head spin. We have decided Audrey's room at school is cursed.

Luckily, Teacher #2 has returned, and she is fabulous. She was actually Ashley's teacher when Ashley was in that room a few years ago. Her daughter unfortunately lost her job and doesn't need her to watch her daughter.

After Teacher #3 and Teacher #4, the parents all complained (or not all of us, most of us I guess) that we would like to be more informed of the teachers and why they were leaving. This was because previously we would just receive a note in the box saying "Teacher #1 is no longer with us". So when Teacher #5 left, we all got a note describing how that teacher thought she didn't have parental support. Huh? What the Hell does that mean? I am super supportive in the class, as are the other parents I know.

Come to find out after many discussions with the director, there are 3 kids in Audrey's class who supposedly have behavioral problems, either with potty training or something else. 3 kids out of 15 who's parents don't give a rat's ass I guess.

Our thing is this: There is a wait list for this school, why not just give these parents and kids another chance, and if that doesn't work? Give their slot to someone else. That may be mean or whatever, but when Audrey was biting when she was one, we worked our butts off with the director and teachers to get it stopped.

Audrey has until June to be in this room, and then she moves up. And I am keeping all fingers and toes crossed that the lead teacher that is in there now stays for the duration. Luckily, the assistant teacher in the class has been there the whole time, and she is well liked throughout the school. She normally floats throughout the classrooms, but is fully assigned to Audrey's room now.

7 comments:

Shannon (muzbeecrazy.com) said...

My son's last class in his daycare was like that with the high turnover. As soon as we got one we really liked, she was gone. And all we get is the slip of paper in the cubby that so-and-so's last day is this date. It is really frustrating. Fortunately, he moved up in January and the teachers in this room seem to be pretty solid. I hope that June comes quickly for you and without incident!!

SJINCO said...

Ugh..this was our biggest complaint with the daycare center we were at up until yesterday. High teach turnover rate and I swear to God they just didn't have their shit together in general. Always disorganized, they always called my kids by other kids' names and the list goes on and on and on.

I have to say that our new preschool / after care that we got Keven Jr. and Isaac into (the one they just started on Monday) is already making my spirits soar. They are organized and are welcoming and warm and just overall so very pleasant. Granted it's only day two, but I'm already feeling so much better. Now why in the world we stuck with the other center for six years is beyond me....they all have their ups and downs I suppose.

I'm crossing my fingers that Audrey has stability in her classroom until she moves up!

Brandi said...

Your daughters room and my daughter in general seem to have cursed classes. Savanna has had every teacher she has had get pregnant, and leave before school year was out. Wonder if she's the stork?

Pamela said...

does the job pay enough to attract quality people? just curious.

Most day care (or similar) pays minimum wage around here.

Terri said...

OK..that is crazy! Going through that many teachers in one year? And here I am disappointed that Delaney's teacher in her 2year old class (3 years ago) my not be at the school next year for the boys!

I know we are in the same area, what school is she in?

Happy Working Mom said...

What a mess! Turnover is so hard on kids...trust me, I know!

Anonymous said...

ACK! Having the teacher's leave all the time is never a good thing . . . not for anyone. It's like the entire year starts over everytime this happens.

I hope you have a better luck keeping teacher #7/#2.