preschool teacher

child care teacher

camp counselor

lead teacher

assistant teacher

Chesterbrook-Academy

I would like to address some issues that have lead several staff members to leave. There are several areas that need attention, including:

1. **Management:** The current approach from management often comes across as rude, which can create a challenging atmosphere for staff. The Compliance Coordinator is very rude to staff and almost forces people to go home because “we aren’t paying you to do nothing”. Teachers have lost up to 8 hours a week.  Plus, management always gossiping at the front desk about employees with other members of management so you always know what going on in people’s person lives.  
2. **Expectations:** The expectations placed on teachers seem increasingly unrealistic, making it difficult to meet performance standards effectively. They are constantly moving staff from room to room yet they want to scold you like a child when your bulletin boards aren’t done one time. Most weeks you are lucky if you get to spend 1 day in your assigned room during your “Planning time”. 
3. **Communication:** There is a noticeable lack of effective communication, which hampers our ability to stay informed and coordinate effectively. In fact, the complete absence of communication has lead to a terrible staff turnover rate. Plus, teachers are not allowed to spend their lunch break with other employees unless they go into the staff room that only has 2 chairs. We even have to ask permission to go off campus to get lunch. 
4. **Planning Time:** The absence of adequate planning time is impacting our ability to prepare thoroughly for our responsibilities. As stated before, you would be lucky to spend 1 day in your classroom during your planning time. And, even if you are fortunate enough to have time to plan there is a clear lack of supplies. The admin team wants teachers to plan activities that require supplies that they refuse to buy. 
5. **Breaks:** It is concerning that staff are frequently required to work during their breaks, which affects work-life balance and overall morale. Especially if you work in a classroom by yourself. Admin REFUSES to sign incident reports until nap time. If you work in a classroom by yourself you aren’t permitted to leave a room until some comes in for your break, at which point you are supposed to clock out, wash dishes, get reports sign, print papers required for the lesson plan, transform dramatic play, and collaborate with other teachers about future lesson plans.
6. **Lack of Technology:** Lastly, I would like to raise a concern regarding the resources available for lesson planning. Currently, there are 6 ancient computer for 10 rooms; Since half of said computers don’t work this necessitates the use of personal devices. This situation not only creates inconvenience but can also affect the efficiency and security of lesson planning. The computers that do work are assigned to specific classrooms and are never available. This again affects lesson planning since personal devices are not allowed to be connected to the printers so you have to beg management to print for you. 

The children and the parents are wonderful and the teachers truly care for their students, but Chesterbrook is more interested in the optics, than they are the students or the teachers.  There is no paid leave until after a year of employment and if you call off sick, which is unpaid, you must provide a doctors note.  You can also be written up if you call off and have time deducted from what you earn for the following year.  They are so short staffed you can't even go to the bathroom until your break. They care more about appearances than they do any student or teacher. Rude notes and unappealing tones are used when they send out notes to the staff and staff meetings are nothing more than a session to tell everyone what they do wrong and what will happen if things continue.  There is no positive feedback at all.  They also promise you things, then never deliver.
Staff are constantly leaving and they may want to investigate why that occurs. 

I was on an approved medical leave over the holidays. I heard my parents left Christmas gifts for me so I contacted my principal.  I never heard back, so I contacted HR and again never heard back. I felt if the gifts were not given to me, the person intended to have them by my parents,they should be returned to the parents.  I asked if I should pick them up, or if they were properly returned to the parents and never heard back.  I was told the gifts were collected by management.  If they intended to give them back to the parent, they should have told them I was on a medical leave and they may want to hold onto them until I return.  I did resign prior to my return date and I do wonder if they did the right thing with the gifts.  Why collect them if you didn't intend to give them to the person they were intended for?  What did happen and why could no one take the time to respond?  Seems bit unethical. They were stressed due to lack of staff and all the resignations, but again, look into why so many resign.

If you love children and truly want to work with them, don't do it at Chesterbrook Academy.  They won't value you or your contributions.

This place can be great at times, however there isn't a lot of opportunity to grow- it can also get pretty stressful, as it can be understaffed at times. The pay can be decent, but only if you demand it, and the turnover of workers can be high due to all of the downsides mentioned. Unfortunately, there is room for favoritism in this environment and you may be expected to deal with it. Highly advise not trying to make many friends with people, as the staff themselves can be negative toward each other,  and you don't wanna get caught in that- don't let that bring you down. You are there to do a job, not to make friends, although it seems like a good idea. Qualifications do not matter- they will possibly take them into consideration, but don't be surprised if they do not. Some people work 10 hours, some work less- demand what works for you, and they will be fairly reasonable. The hardest part of the job is working with the younger children; almost everyone wants to work with the older ones, so you may be left to that task. Most of the parents are professionals who work important jobs, ensure that you treat their children accordingly or they may complain about you. You may also be expected to dress business casual; this is not that big of a deal, and they probably won't require it- but it may be expected. If you stay within all of these parameters, you will find success and longevity in this workplace, and despite what may sound negative in this review, I really loved working with some of the people there; you have to remember that everyone is under stress, and some people working there do not have the proper certifications or education required to manage the classrooms. Communicate with people- especially if you have questions, or else things may not get done properly- as some have issues communicating their frustrations. 

I worked there for a year and 4 months. When I first started there, things were going very well. The management seemed to apreciate me and it motivated me to succeed in their company. It would be a great stepping stone if you want to work your way up in the field or related feilds. However, as time went by There was a huge drop out of staff with in a few short months. They leave you over ratio and shrug their sholders when ever mentioned. When ever there is a serious issue with the kids or the staff they would blow you off. There is clear favoritism with certain staff members. If your a good worker they will give all the responsibility to you that the other staff dont want to do. The pay and benifits suck. 
  I became sub lead almost the whole time I was there. Teachers kept coming in and out. But they would not give me a raise or the credit for the position I was. They would swamp me with loads of work.  Than When they eventually would hire someone else to be lead, they would treat me like Im nothing to them and talk highly about the new staff members. But once they been there for awhile, they would start treating them bad too.    
I even asked them what can I do to get lead position. They said I need a Bachelor degree in Early Childhood education or elementary. But the new staff they would hire did not have the qualifications they said they needed. I would confront them about it and they would try to make excuses. I felt used. 
Over all it would be a stepping stone but poor management and poor pay. Dont waste your time giving your all. They will take advantage of you and push you to the side when ever they think they found better.

I applied to Chesterbrook at the end of February. I went in for an interview and the Principal loved me. She said I would be a great fit and really loved my answers to the questions she asked. I went in for my first day of school with my new co-teacher. That day we had five children in the classroom to help transition myself into the classroom. Next day is when everything changed. My second day we had 15 children in one classroom because a teacher called out. 15! Yes, we were in ratio but having 15 children 2 and under is terrifying. Ever since that day my co-teacher and I lived in a burning hole. After about a month of working there, I had decided that it was time to get a job. Meanwhile, as our kids in our room started to all turn 2, that's when they decided to max our classroom out with 12 kids and two teachers. It seemed impossible. It was hard. When we had an issue in our classroom, whether it was physically or behaviorally, the principal and assistant principal didn't seem to care (because they're taking on more than they can handle due to corporate standards.) I felt bad for them but if I had to follow policy and I NEED HELP then I would expect help. It also didn't help that the Principal was slow-moving so she could barely care for children if we needed help. My classroom was not the only classroom experiencing these problems, so teachers were quitting. My co-teacher quit before I did and then I felt bad for leaving as well so I gave them a very long notice. 

In summary, I don't recommend this place. Avoid it if you can. Corporate is terrible and management is poor.

I started this job with a ton of energy and wanting to make a difference in young children's lives. I quickly became worn down due to the high expectations of work to be completed, minimal help/collaboration and long hours. I was expected to do a weekly lesson plan, teach academics as well as art/music/gym/social & emotional each day, enter lessons into Tadpoles system, take a daily picture of each child, create and maintain a dramatic play center, complete monthly folders to send home to parents, report cards 3 times a year, portfolios 3 times a year and more. I was considered a lead teacher working with another lead teacher where I "didn't have a ratio" in the room and was constantly left by myself with 16-22 children at some point during the day! I also only had 1 hour to teach all academics (math, reading, writing, science, social studies and spanish) which was tricky everyday. I was not given an assistant so all the work was completed by myself on a daily, weekly and monthly basis which left me drained and exhausted each week. The management tried to be helpful, but they were so preoccupied with all the paperwork and things they had to take care of on a management level, that they never had time to put in effort to take care of their employees. I did however enjoy my children and watching them grow and learn over the course of the year as well as testing them to see how much they progressed.

Typically when I got in in the morning I would check the voice mails return calls and emails.  I then would do the deposit for that day then lock it up before bringing it to the bank.  I would give tours as needed and scheduled.  Help staff with lesson plans cover classrooms when needed.  Make sure the outside hallway area was presentable and up to date.  Call potential customers and follow up on leads. 

I learned a lot here working with and managing of over 20 employees consisting mostly of woman.  Teamwork and communication  is huge as well as positive reinforcement.  When someone is not doing a job like we expect as the manager it was my responsibility to talk to them and make sure they knew how to improve. On the flip side of that when they were doing something right I always made a point to acknowledge that as well.  

Hardest part of the job was leaving.  I loved it there but I was also excited to start a new chapter in my life and was equally excited to begin that.      

I absolutely loved working here for a very long time.  It felt like extended family and I still talk to many of my ex co-workers to this day.  I still talk to my old direct supervisor from time to time even meeting up for lunch when we can.  She is also no longer with the company anymore but it is nice to stay in touch.  I left and was able to stay home with my two young children.

For months I applied to various centers trying to find a job, always avoiding Chesterbrook Academy. Finally after being out of work for some time, I took an interview with the lead director and was hired on the spot. I had heard so many horror stories about this particular center, I was dreading my first day. Initially, it did not seem so bad. I minded my own business, came to work and left without much of a hassle but after a few weeks I started noticing a lot of red flags: the first one being countless staff that had been there quitting left and right. In my time working for this company, 12 staff quit over a 4 month period, most of them not giving their two weeks and quitting effective immediately. In addition to this, many new hires would never show up for their first day and due to such low staff numbers, no one is properly disciplined for being late, calling out, no call no shows, etc. 

I started looking for a new job at the beginning of the month after being ignored via email about needing time off and then scolded for having pneumonia and having to take a work leave with a doctors note. This place is a mess and not worth looking into; you will not be paid enough to be shifted from room to room, you will never get out on time and the staff and management is extremely catty. I do not recommend.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Children and families are the best part of working with the company.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Knowing the rules and regulations and not being able to provide feedback or take actions to improve. Walking over eggshells all the time so that other administrators wouldn’t feel a threat to their positions. It is hard to have a full respect for rules and regulations and not getting the chance to collaborate productively but only be used to cover ratios.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is hard to deal with because there are no consequences for staff members who don’t comply with policies, sanitation. Safety and professionalism. At the center at which I worked at, there was too much improvisation and total lack of long and medium term goals.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Running like a firefighter all
Day to cover absentees and keep State ratios for children’s safety. Administrative work was almost zero because the lack of organization required covering all
Other bases everyday.

- Starting almost every day with multiple employee's calls out, somebody has to either cover the missing employee's class or be overratio with extra kids from other classes.
- I learned that if you're being too nice to be helpful and understanding, especially the employees who have been working for a long time will use your good intention and try to give you their workload.
- Extremely poor management communication. No stability. No common rule for everybody. Favoritism. Every day is a different day with different work schedule.
- Employees have been working at the same school for a long time cause micro management problems, they are too relaxed to tell other employees what do to. Very negative and toxic environment. Too much gossip and talking behind of other employees. 
- The hardest part of the job is being forced to do overtime and being left with overratio. Even if you're trying to share the difficulties you've been having for a long time, the management hasn't come with a solution. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Preschool teacher 1115 salaries reported	$18.39 per hour
Child care teacher 270 salaries reported	$18.04 per hour
Camp counselor 102 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour
Lead teacher 86 salaries reported	$19.05 per hour
Assistant teacher 74 salaries reported	$17.43 per hour

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