Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence

This school has the makings of a Stephen King film. You go in on your first day, set up a classroom with all the hope in the world and for a while things are great. Administration (especially the "head of schools") seems to be supportive and friendly, but this only lasts for a while. Things began changing for me about a month into the school year. I noticed little things at first like how he would tell us that "teaching isn't a 9 to 5 job" or that people who were leaving (in groups, by the way) weren't doing their jobs. I was concerned because I take teaching very seriously and I know that many of the teachers who were leaving did also. I did a bit of research about this "head of schools" and realized that I had made a terrible mistake coming to this school. But I was here and determined to make it through the year. This did not happen. I was sure by the three month mark that I was going to have a nervous breakdown. Administration will pull you from your classroom in the middle of class for secret meetings and leave the receptionist in your room as the sub. They will call last minute meetings and reprimand you if you can't stay. This is really tough for those with little ones because they expect you to stay sometimes until 7 pm. This isn't possible for those of us who have to pick up children in daycare. Add to this the fact that testing is their main objective and you have a terrible environment. I have personally witnessed many teachers leave this school during the current school year, and it all began by the end of August. This place is not a healthy environment for teachers or students. Please do not apply for this place. They will hire you on the spot because they are desperate. Trust me and keep looking. I am still trying to overcome the effects of the stress related issues that I suffered and I wasn't there for very long.