Pros
Motivated, passionate, and dedicated colleagues. Many faculty are masterful educators at the top of the game who care deeply about their work and students. Wonderful, mindful students who generally appreciate their faculty and staff Beautiful campus Jewish holidays off
Cons
Recent leadership change and resulting institutional changes have caused significant negative shift in work culture and plummeting staff morale. While the pandemic may have exacerbated issues, it is not the reason faculty and staff are so unhappy - these are issues with senior administration that predated the pandemic. Many talented faculty and staff have left or are leaving the school - this should be a big red flag. Used to be an amazing place to work but culture has done a 180 in the two years since leadership changed. Issues include: decision-making consolidated to the very top of the organization (representing significant shift from former leadership models) lack of transparency from leadership regarding decisions that directly effect faculty and staff. Decisions seemingly made haphazardly and without care for how they will effect the people who have to implement those decisions. Loss of previously strong culture of feedback and faculty engagement in decision making Lots of toxic positivity from the top - forced cheer and talk of "community" with little demonstrated action reflecting stated values that actually supports well-being Loss of COLA, scheduled raises, and stipends in 2020, hiring freeze resulted in overextended faculty with increased workload and reduced pay (through loss of stipends and in some cases salary cuts) Cuts to professional development opportunities New teaching schedule is significantly less humane than previous schedule - lack of consideration for teacher needs in scheduling and planning time, lack of opportunity for collaboration and meaningful connection with colleagues and students