Vantaggi
For a few years, KLS was an innovative, exciting place to be a teacher. A place where teachers and students could design a truly student-centered program. A place where teachers were trusted as experts in their field and could shape our school’s systems. A place where student voice mattered and developmental needs mattered more than logistical ease or traditional routines. Students blossomed within our unique independence-based system.
Svantaggi
In 2018-2019, we experienced a complete turnover of our leadership. The new leadership team was largely absent from teacher view for much of the year, in spite of frequent promises to be involved and get to know what we were doing. In addition, they planned big changes to our program for the next school year without sharing them with us, which led to tension. We frequently asked to be a part of decision-making and planning, to no avail. We formally and respectfully asked for greater transparency, which was never delivered. In return, we were met with verbal and written warnings, threats of withheld contracts, and even group reprimands for anonymous Glassdoor reviews. Several teachers left in the middle of the school year on short notice because of toxic culture, poor treatment, and lack of support. Many (a majority of our teaching staff), decided to leave at the year’s end - almost all due to the toxic environment the new leadership was imposing. Over this one year, I watched the place we had carefully built and tended crumble. It was remarkable how quickly it transformed from a familial atmosphere and a place we loved to arrive to each morning to a dark and quiet place where we were afraid to speak our minds or even appear to be having conversations which might be twisted, analyzed, and punished. This caused many of us emotional trauma which we are still unpacking, over a year later. Since leaving, I have heard from students and parents that the innovative structures we built have been changed in favor of a more “traditional” setup, to their dismay. Student agency and the innovative parts of KLS are being whittled down in favor of fitting into the traditional system more easily.