Dayton View Academy

Also as a former teacher of DVA I totally agree with everything you have said about the environment of the school and the administrator. It’s sad when the administrator is nowhere to be found most of the time and the behaviors in the class take over the teaching day because there is no support from the administrator. Over the years I have also seen a decline in great teachers. And with enrollment being one of the top proprieties of the school they have let just about all types of students in which have been removed from public schools because of their behavior. At times I felt like the school was doing an injustice to the students because the environment was not conducive to learning. All staff was aware of the problems each teacher faced in the classroom and how administration didn’t support the teachers. Teachers aren’t given a chance to implement the curriculum the way it was designed because there are too many changes throughout the year. I can truly say when Mrs. Love and Mr. Thomas were the school administrators the school was very productive and they were available throughout the day.

As a former teacher in this school I found the school to be a huge disappointment to the educational process. I was hired as a teacher but was rarely given the opportunity to do so. I handled more discipline problems than teaching requirements. The administrative staff was very lack luster in providing support to the teachers in the building when dealing with severe behavior or discipline problems. The rules or disciplinary action varied. What applied for one student may not apply for another; even if the behavior was the same. I felt extremely overwhelmed when there was constant changes in the curriculum and the demands to implement new programs with expectations that students would "get it" and be required to show improvements. Improvements cannot be made when there are constant changes and no real consistency with any programs. The administrative staff was constantly concerned with enrollment and held many recruiting sessions. It was quite obvious that enrollment was more of a priority than meeting the educational needs of each student. This school had a high turnover in it's teaching staff. Many teachers left within a few weeks of being hired; even days. The principal of the school was not visible except when there were high level visitors in the building. The principal did not take an active part in programs but expected the staff to. Many instances the principal would make an appearance but would disappear almost immediately. I always found it funny that morining announcements were only made when high level visitors were in the building. If we were not informed of these visitors we knew they were there because the principal would make her phony greeting via the morning announcements. When there were visitors coming there was always a meeting in which the principal would tell the staff "if you are not implementing a lesson or program the way it was laid out, then make sure you are on the day the visitors are in the building." Many great teachers have left this school and the main reasons were administration or the lack of administration. An internal investigation of this school should be done. However, I'm quite sure the true actions and behaviors of the administration would be clearly hidden. What a shame that so many children will miss out on a quality education and they will be at a severe disadvantage academically.