elementary school teacher

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Thales Academy

If I would have written this review 6 months ago, it would have been a glowing recommendation but on April 1st, everything changed for the worse at our campus. 

Leadership Issues:
The new leadership team has introduced several concerning practices:

Micromanagement: Emails are sent to staff if they leave even three minutes early, despite many teachers being unable to stay in their classrooms after carpool due to various after-school clubs occupying their rooms.
Inconsistent Policy Enforcement: Staff policies are applied unevenly. For example, some teachers are required to cover their tattoos with long sleeves or bandages, while others with visible tattoos on their legs, ankles, and hands face no repercussions.
Misplaced Priorities: Leadership seems more concerned with monitoring teachers' footwear and departure times rather than providing support for managing challenging student behaviors.
Limited PTO: Only six days of paid time off are available per school year, with no option to carry over unused days.
Senior Staff Turnover: Key administrators in Raleigh, who were previously very supportive, have either left or were dismissed without explanation.
Unjustified Contract Non-Renewals: Decisions to not renew contracts for experienced, excellent teachers appear to be made without substantial justification.
Broken Promises: Plans for a new campus for upper grades, announced and anticipated for years, were abruptly scrapped. Other new campus announcements have also vanished from the website.
High Staff Turnover: Over half of the teaching staff chose not to return for the next school year, indicating significant dissatisfaction.

Support and Management:
Direct Instruction Challenges: While Direct Instruction (DI) can be effective, it is difficult for teachers to master without adequate training and support. Administrative observations and coaching sessions are not helpful. It would be more beneficial for teachers to observe experienced DI practitioners, with admin covering their classes during these observations.
Lack of Support: The new head of school does not support teachers, often siding with parents on disciplinary issues despite instructing teachers to act as "CEOs of their classrooms."

Teacher and Student Environment:
No Lunch Breaks for Teachers: Teachers must stay in classrooms with students during lunch, depriving them of breaks.
Limited Facilities: There are no dedicated spaces for art, music, or technology, which limits the quality and offerings of "specials."
Restricted Student Movement: Students are confined to their classrooms all day, with only a brief recess on an inadequately equipped and undersized playground.
Poor Janitorial Services: The janitorial service is subpar, with poorly cleaned floors and bathrooms that smell bad.
Lack of Diversity: There is very little diversity among both the staff (local and senior leadership) and the student population.

Curriculum and Communication Concerns:
Inadequate Implementation of DI: Although Direct Instruction works well for many students, it is not suitable for all and is best with smaller groups, unlike the current implementation. The school does not account for the level of self-discipline required, leaving teachers to manage inattentive students struggling to meet the expectations of "The Thales Way."
Outdated Math Curriculum: The K-5 math curriculum is outdated and inadequate, failing to prepare students for middle and high school math.
Unproductive Webinars: Staff must listen to a monthly Founder's webinar, which lacks practical advice, best practices, or future plans for the school, and instead is filled with philosophical quotes and irrelevant topics like carpool efficiency.
Leadership Succession Concerns: There are concerns about the founder’s advanced age and the lack of a clear succession plan.

There are only a few positive things about this institution: 
-You will have an amazing rapport with your students and families
-You will have amazing co-workers that support you
-There is an opportunity to build skills to put on your resume for your next job, because trust me, you will come to a point where you will do almost anything to escape this school. You will be doing the job of three or more people if you work here....with no extra compensation and while being micromanaged. 

This place will break you down, piece by piece, and you will keep telling yourself "I love these kids, I cannot leave them", but for your own sake, you will have to leave. 

During my time at Thales, over 5 years, I received more than two emails that were politically charged, one asking for teachers to join in a protest at our Governor's mansion. 

Discipline is not consistent and students are given ample opportunities to re-do assignments when they plagiarize and/or cheat. 

There are many other things that I could go into, but this school deserves no more of my time. 

This is a good place to get teaching experience (salary and opportunity) but there is no real plan to resolve the majority of ongoing issues, annually. Admins are swamped with problems (2 for 7 grade levels, with 1 of the 2 admins having senior admin work to do, off campus). This work environment becomes toxic because there is no real unity. Where there is division, there is no real and effective teamwork. Working in an environment where you can not trust anyone for speaking up about real issues in hopes to find real solutions moving forward created toxicity and no one can be productive that way. Not to mention the ongoing behavior issues and lack of support given from admins when parents are out of character or line. Too many lines crossed, not enough unity to help each other or the students succeed. 

Ask about the turn over rate for students and staff. That will tell you what you need to know.

Interview and orientation were incredible, however the job atmosphere was  horrific. The principal seemed to have 2 faces: one for parents and tours and one for me. I was thrown in with no training and my 5 day of shadowing was cut short to 2. I was never observed like other teachers. My curriculum was poorly planned and I was made to feel completely stupid as a person. I think this school is cult-like and does not prefer experienced teachers. They prefer to "train" new teachers in the Thales way, without comparison. No windows in this facility and it's very robotic in routine and learning. Everything is run by people in North Carolina, that alone is extreme. Any issue has to go through them, and that seems extreme to me. I would not recommend as a school or employer.

The idea of Thales is good, but it is extremely deceitful. They want you teach the Thales Way, treat children like robots and any deviation from that, you will be ostracized. The upper admin has all recently left, and the campus administration is extremely inept. You are observed constantly and the admin plays favorites. They have no care for your wellbeing, communication is horrible, and they are grossly under qualified. They promote anyone who will follow their cult like ways. You have to clean your own room, no lunch breaks, and have to work during breaks. The parents are amazing and for the most part the students are great!  Administration will tell you one thing and do something completely opposite. The salary and benefits are tempting, but it is not worth being treated like a second rate human being. 

I was told one thing in the interview and then got the truth in the first few days of school. Much of what they say is untrue. You have to work part of the breaks. You have to bring work home every single day to stay on top of it all. The hours are longer than public school. The kids have no flexibility. They are expected to perform like robots all day long. Admin makes you feel stupid, and don’t really want an experienced teacher- they will take anyone they can train the “Thales Way” lots of round robin reading, all scripted teaching, and forced to be strict and mean to the kids even in K. Pay was ok but definitely not worth the extra hours and work and sternness of it all. Also they will go through your personal stuff so best not have anything there. 

Thales literature says that it is run like a business.  While this might sound good, it is actually deeply flawed. A school should be run properly, financially, but it’s mission is to care for and to educate children. Students aren’t little robots. 
Whole departments lack scope and sequence for educational goals. Students are given little flexibility to be creative; there are almost no team building activities. 
Administration is overworked. 
Students manipulate the system. 
It is a very stifling environment. 

Loved the families & kids. 
After School Care staff was largely treated as inferior by MOST teachers (there were definitely exceptions of very lovely and kind people). 
Admin claimed to be supportive, but proved on multiple occasions that their promises were lip-service.
The school DOES care about students and families, but I learned the hard way they care more about their image. If you don't uphold that image above all else, it doesn't matter if you do your job well and love students/families--  they'll spit you out. 

We have good administration and resources, but the parents often make it a difficult work environment. They really like to test boundaries with new teachers, making turnover rates really bad. The staff is friendly and helpful, and there’s a mostly positive workplace culture.

The kids are mostly good. The biggest behavior issues are disrespect and classroom disruption, but admin is supportive and helpful.

This school taught me a lot about parent communication and not taking things too personally.

My manager at Thales is what made teaching enjoyable. When I didn’t know if I would stick with teaching and education at all, she totally redeemed my experience once I came to work at Thales. I had a wonderful experience working at Thales and always felt supported. I rated compensation lower, but honestly that’s teaching in general. I felt fairly compensated according to the market average. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Elementary school teacher 11 salaries reported	$21.73 per hour
School program staff 45 salaries reported	$24.00 per hour
High school teacher 17 salaries reported	$53,941 per year
Substitute teacher 11 salaries reported	$23.36 per hour
Teacher 12 salaries reported	$51,817 per year

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