New Haven Academy Co-Founder Keeps Her Job

I'm a bit confused by the insistent use of "founder". I understand that Gavrin and Baldwin started this school and that it's a well-considered school. But what is the limitation on being able to claim "founder" and therefor lay claim to the school? It's a public school and many of them had shuffling. I'm not saying the shuffling is a good idea, or that it was done for altruistic reasons, and for sure the timing was rotten... but I'd consider the term "founder" to be better assigned to the private sector where property ownership history matters. And, for what it's worth, if the leadership is so successful, why can that talent not be spread through the district?

Dr. Birks, everyone makes mistakes. A good leader knows when to reverse her decisions. It sounds like you listened to the community and let a great team stay together for another year. I only wish you talked with that community before you initially announced your intent to transfer Gavrin.

@Molly, Schools work when they support the specific needs of their students. New Haven Magnet Schools have specific themes and students apply based on those themes. Meredith and Greg designed their school to have a specific theme, curriculum, and grading system. It works really well for them and for the students who apply to go there.

Schools are not widget factories, students are not widgets, teachers are not widgets, principals are not widgets. Context matters and a great leader knows to put people where they will perform best. "Good leaders can lead any school well," is a fallacy that does not serve our students well. The leader of the Sound School has unique experience in Aquaculture. The Sound School is great and so is New Haven Academy, but swapping their principals would not be a good idea.

No coverage of the Dr. Birks Rally at Hillhouse? I heard some interesting reflections from friends.

[Chris: We're taking a break from publishing this week, but we wanted to get this update out now because Friday's article generated so much interest.]

Hey everyone, is nepotism a good thing? Or did the couple threaten to move their funding with them, should the Mrs. have to leave?

Why was this decision made in the first place and why listen to THESE parents and not the parents from CREED?!?!?! Methinks , it's the MONEY!

I wish we could move the conversation away from how exceptional some schools are and how they must be protected and toward creating less division among all schools. It seems a tall order amidst the current chaos, low morale, and the condition we inherited from those before... but this whacked exceptionalism is erosive for the long-term. I'm also disappointed that a school leader threatened resignation as if nowhere else could be valued or valuable.

Glad to hear this decision did not go through.

Turns out that kids respond well to consistency, meaningful relationships with adults, and quality public education.

Who woulda thunk it?

I'll put here a slightly revised version of the comment I left on the last article.

1.) It was a bad decision, terribly timed, with an easy fix (appoint another supervisor), given the policy. The reversal makes good sense. No need to upend things unnecessarily at the top of a successful school, in mid to late August, when there are ethical ways to handle it otherwise.

2.) Refusing to work for another school in the district is not a good look. Of course, it's her prerogative after so many years of service. But threatening to quit seems a kind of power play, and one that smacks of racialized entitlement. It also doesn't help the health of the school and its community to have its own leadership publicly state that the school will be imperiled by a single admin's reassignment, especially when much of the leadership would presumably stay constant. Of course, if she is so invaluable, he could quit or go elsewhere, too, right?

3.) Stories abound of great schools and initiatives that have tanked when their charismatic founders leave - or have to leave - for any number of reasons. A truly good school is about people, but it's also about culture. And so if this good school fails on account of a single admin transfer, that points back to the school's leadership, too. Rather than "fears that anyone else coming in won't have the same familiarity with NHA's specialized curriculum," there should be some sense that the school, after 15 years of stable admin, and a fairly steady curricular focus, should be able to weather a single admin's shift.

4.) Not all change is bad. Bringing expertise from NHA to another district school, and vice versa could have upsides. Including for NHA.

• Ultimately, this stuff - the drama, exceptionalism, focus on single "exceptional" people - distracts damagingly from deeper systemic issues and inequities that are going to hit kids (and really not NHA kids as much as others) very hard come Thursday and beyond.

I applaud one of the best decisions that Superintendent Birks has made. Over 15 years ago, I met with this young couple who had become frustrated teaching in the New York City public schools, and they shared with me their dream and vision for starting a new private charter school in New Haven. Some time later, when they met with then Superintendent Mayo, he was so impressed with their vision and dedication to high quality education that he persuaded them to establish their new school within the New Haven Public Schools.

Over these last 15 years, in turning their vision into reality and with their deep and abiding commitment to educating children in the greater New Haven area, I would guesstimate that they have worked twice as many hours as the number of hours for which they have actually been compensated.

Charlie Pillsbury

chapillsbury, helpful context to know that the original aim was to create a private charter school, not really a public one... that alone explains so much, indeed...

Still offended at the teachers resignation threats. She should resign. Nobody is irreplaceable or safe from transfer as needed.
She thinks that no other school is worthy of her vision.
I would confidently wager that if she left as well as her spouse, that this school would continue to thrive and succeed. After 15 years if it doesn't, shame on their selfish motives.
To think that they have been running a magnificent public school with the personal understanding that it's theirs. Turn off.
I hope Dr Birks revisits this arrangement.

No company in America allows this but why let normal business best practices get in the way of acceding to the demands of the well heeled and well connected. The pair never should have been allowed to work together let alone supervise one another. This is stupid.

NHPLEB: Of course, it's the money. Leaving this woman in place costs nothing, unless her position is eliminated. If you haven't noticed, the BoE and city have extremely serious financial shortfalls. Spending must be cut.

HERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT LESSON FOR PARENTS WITH CHILDREN IN THE NEW HAVEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO LEARN FROM THE NEW HAVEN ACADEMY COMMUNITY:
If you feel decisions made by the mayor, the superintendent and the Board of Education negatively affect the educational services provided to your children, ORGANIZE THE PARENTS, STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND ALUMNI TO PROTEST, CALL, WRITE, AND E-MAIL THE MAYOR, THE SUPERINTENDENT, EACH MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION and BOARD OF ALDERMEN, CONTACT THE MEDIA, AND GO VIRAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
The New Haven Academy community may have done some or all of this to prevent their administrative team from being separated.
But whatever they did, they got their desired results: their co-founding administrator kept her job and they prevented a potentially chaotic beginning of the school year!
More schools need to emulate this example and fight for their teachers, school counselors, library media specialists and other vital staff members who have been terminated or transferred to other schools.
Every school may not win, but at least put up a fight because it is possible to fight CITY HALL and win!
The people of this city must recognize the power that they possess and exercise it. When the people are determined to lead the politicians will have no other choice BUT to follow. Never be deceived into believing that there is nothing citizens can do once politicians have decided what they think must be done. The people need to know that the final word is actually theirs, not the politicians.
This is not a time for apathy, but a time for boldness, organization and action. "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
If funds can be found for City Hall raises, trips to China, a costlier school bureaucracy, redundant administrative positions, a non-essential city hall liaison to the BOE, and uniforms for staffers in the Mayor's Office, SURELY money can be found to stop these school staff cuts!

f funds can be found for City Hall raises, trips to China, a costlier school bureaucracy, redundant administrative positions, a non-essential city hall liaison to the BOE, and uniforms for staffers in the Mayor's Office, SURELY money can be found to stop these school staff cuts!

No, the fact is that the Mayor her staff, and Alder Walker thought all those silly items above were more important than your children's education. To your list, you can add the BoE recent award of a $40K contract to a former Alder to do a job others are already tasked with. Self-aggrandizing spending such as that by Harp et alia is a major reason New Haven is in the fix it is in. BTW, "finding money" is one of Harp's specialties, and she usually "finds" it by shortchanging pensions or just out-right borrowing it. Her live for today attitude is a major reason both the state and city are in the fiscal fix they are in.

to "Thomas Alfred Paine"

Right on!

Again....nepotism isn't relation, it's favoritism based upon relation. If there's none of the latter, there's no nepotism.

robn: Whenever a subordinate and a superior have a close social relationship, familiar or otherwise, it becomes very difficult to ascertain whether or not the subordinate is being favored due to the social relationship. This difficultly is why the US Navy bans unduly familiar relationships between any subordinate and superior, and between any officer and enlisted, and between senior enlisted (Chiefs, E-7-E-9) and junior enlisted (E-6 and below) assigned to the same command. As edgewooder says, Birks's decision was terribly timed, but the "solution" of having an remotely located administrator evaluated MG is far from perfect. A remotely located evaluator is not going to be able to observe in the same way that a co-located evaluator would.
To middle, yes, schools, faculty and administrators are not widgets, but the bureaucracy of the public schools systems and the employment contracts negotiated by both the teachers and administrators would argue otherwise. Surely, the "bumping" and reassignments occurring as senior people bump junior people, and as those certified for jobs they haven't done in years bump those currently doing them is not putting students first. Nonetheless, it is exactly what the teachers and administrators want. The lack of these constraints is a big part of the appeal of charter and independent schools.