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Um, wow. Blown away by snarky email from hs educational provider


prim*rose
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Just need to get this off my chest, so pardon the vent:

 

Last year, 13 yr old dd took a class from an online provider. It was labeled as an "honors bio" class, and after about 6 weeks of dealing with a disorganized teacher who did not get videos up when promised, did not grade papers when she said she would, the class was not rigorous enough, and lots of other issues etc., we decided to drop the class and figured it just wasn't a good fit for us. The school asked us for detailed info, which we provided (explaining in detail the issues we had with the teacher, but never once being rude or mean about it). 

 

Well, this past week, my daughter decided she wanted to take a foreign language from this provider, after hearing rave reviews about the foreign language teacher from several sources. I went to register her, and got an error saying I had to contact an admin. I emailed to find out why I couldn't register, and received a snarky response saying that my daughter "wasn't willing to do the work" for this first class, and I was deemed too much a risk for future classes. Mind you, this was the first and only class we ever took from them, and I was never rude or snarky in my emails to them, just stated the facts. I responded that I thought their assessment was inaccurate based on my thread of emails from six months ago. I received another snarky email back saying that, "The course is taught at a rigorous AP-prep level, and if your student was "under-challenged" and could not find it in herself to dig deeper and add to her own challenge/interest, then she will have the same problem with other courses."  

 

I was slightly shocked at this response. My daughter has taken AP classes, and has never had an issue. I think I must be the first person ever banned from this school. 

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I think you should name the provider and the classes. I wouldn't want to give them our meager funds to end up in the same boat and don't even get me started about not paying people to treat me like poo. I don't need to pay for that.

I would like to know, too. We will doing some online classes in the near future. I don't want to deal with a company like that.

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Why would you want to take courses from a place that hires disorganized teachers?  I agree that their response is rude and certainly not good marketing but I would look for another online school.  

 

The OP mentioned that they had heard rave reviews about the foreign language teacher, so I'm guessing the disorganized teacher issue is confined to this one bio teacher.

 

I'm surprised at the response, honestly. It sounds like a very personal and defensive reply. I'm wondering if the bio teacher and the administrator are related in some way? I, too, would be blown away by this response.

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Thanks, everyone. I was so upset and needed some validation. And Jean ,we were hoping that the bio teacher was an exception since we'd heard such great things about the foreign language classes.

 

I was trying not to mention the name, but I will say the name rhymes with the hotter school.

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Doesn't sound like a school I'd want to do business with. I bet you thought they asked for feedback on the first course to see how they could improve. I guess that wasn't really what they wanted. Boo on them for unprofessional behavior. :thumbdown:

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Oh ugh.

 

Even if they harbored uncertainty about your daughter's motivations for dropping the class, there are a million ways to deal with that other than being rude and making assumptions.

 

So sorry that happened to them.

 

This is my experience with a certain class of private (especially for-profit) schools. They validate themselves not by student performance--because that creates a barrier to being their customer--but by customer loyalty. So once you opt out and show a desire to get your kid anything other than praise, the deal's off. Blech.

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Wow, yuck. I mean, they asked you for info about why you dropped the course, you provided it, and then this?!  :thumbdown:

 

I agree that there's something else going on behind the scenes. Maybe the email writer is friends or related to the bio teacher.

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My money is on the bio teacher's having lied about your daughter.  "People lie" is my mantra.  It kills me, because I am honest to a fault; but more and more, I find that people lie more often than not.  The administration is still handling it badly, but administrators believe their own peeps over students or parents any day.  All of the hard evidence in the world, e.g., your email exchange doesn't change the deference they give to the person they hired because if you're right, it means they screwed up.  Sucks, I know.  But thanks for the for heads' up on the provider.  Good to know.

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Just need to get this off my chest, so pardon the vent:

 

Last year, 13 yr old dd took a class from an online provider. It was labeled as an "honors bio" class, and after about 6 weeks of dealing with a disorganized teacher who did not get videos up when promised, did not grade papers when she said she would, the class was not rigorous enough, and lots of other issues etc., we decided to drop the class and figured it just wasn't a good fit for us. The school asked us for detailed info, which we provided (explaining in detail the issues we had with the teacher, but never once being rude or mean about it).

 

Well, this past week, my daughter decided she wanted to take a foreign language from this provider, after hearing rave reviews about the foreign language teacher from several sources. I went to register her, and got an error saying I had to contact an admin. I emailed to find out why I couldn't register, and received a snarky response saying that my daughter "wasn't willing to do the work" for this first class, and I was deemed too much a risk for future classes. Mind you, this was the first and only class we ever took from them, and I was never rude or snarky in my emails to them, just stated the facts. I responded that I thought their assessment was inaccurate based on my thread of emails from six months ago. I received another snarky email back saying that, "The course is taught at a rigorous AP-prep level, and if your student was "under-challenged" and could not find it in herself to dig deeper and add to her own challenge/interest, then she will have the same problem with other courses."

 

I was slightly shocked at this response. My daughter has taken AP classes, and has never had an issue. I think I must be the first person ever banned from this school.

Yikes! That's bad business.

 

I'm not very "techy" so I'm wondering how you got the error message? Like did/could they block your email account from registering? If so, they must have done it soon after you dropped the last class, which seems really childish and foot-stomp-y.

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I think I must be the first person ever banned from this school. 

 

Based on the (over)reaction, I doubt you are the first.

 

I think you should name the provider and the classes. I wouldn't want to give them our meager funds to end up in the same boat and don't even get me started about not paying people to treat me like poo. I don't need to pay for that.

 

I'm glad you gave a hint as to the school.

 

What a disappointment.  I'm so sorry.

 

Other than the shock of the school doing it, it is rather amusing to think that they went so far as to block your email ahead of time to prevent you from registering.  Sheesh!!  So calculated and planned out. That's crazy.  People are crazy.  Everything I've heard about the school has been good, but people still are crazy. 

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How completely unprofessional.  And yes, the teacher probably lied about your daughter.  In all likelihood they asked her about your response and she defended her poor teaching capabilities by dumping everything on your daughter and she may have made you sound really awful, too.  Whatever happened behind the scenes, I seriously doubt you can fix this and I'm with the others, I would not send any more money to this school.  

 

On the flip side of that coin, I personally would be writing a letter, including all correspondence and the things I had concerns about, and sending it to the head of the school explaining as politely as possible how unhappy I was with the situation.  I would include details, dates, etc.  Having a written record of complaint might cause the administration to dig deeper the next time and help the next person that complains about the teacher...

 

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

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Thank you all for your support. I on my phone now, and can't respond individually, but I will when I get home.

 

I did some digging and the person who responded to me in such a rude manner is the DIRECTOR of the school. I am just shocked, and very glad we are not giving them any money!

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"wasn't willing to do the work"

 

"The course is taught at a rigorous AP-prep level, and if your student was "under-challenged" and could not find it in herself to dig deeper and add to her own challenge/interest, then she will have the same problem with other courses."

 

Their comments seem contradictory and that almost bothers more than their snarky rudeness. First it is your dd's fault because she wasn't willing to do the work, then it was her fault because she didn't add in extra to make it more challenging. Sorry you have to deal with that. Thanks for giving the rest of us a heads-up.

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Thank you all for your support. I on my phone now, and can't respond individually, but I will when I get home.

 

I did some digging and the person who responded to me in such a rude manner is the DIRECTOR of the school. I am just shocked, and very glad we are not giving them any money!

That stinks.  So sorry!!!!  

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Wow. Good to know, for future refrence.

 

Thanks, everyone. I was so upset and needed some validation. And Jean ,we were hoping that the bio teacher was an exception since we'd heard such great things about the foreign language classes.

 

I was trying not to mention the name, but I will say the name rhymes with the hotter school.

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Thanks, everyone. I was so upset and needed some validation. And Jean ,we were hoping that the bio teacher was an exception since we'd heard such great things about the foreign language classes.

 

I was trying not to mention the name, but I will say the name rhymes with the hotter school.

I have no idea why you wouldn't just say the name. The Potter School. The Potter school needs to hire teachers who do their advertised job and admin with some customer service skills and ownership of problems when it's reported.

 

My son took aviation from them many years ago and really enjoyed and we had no complaints about that class. It's a shame you had such a bad experience with a class and then unprofessional admin because of your valid concerns.

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I had some issues with the same school last year. DD used them exclusively for every subject but math, and while most of the problems that we had were on our end  were because I was working too much and there is only very crummy internet service where we live, they were far from perfect. I wouldn't use them again myself.

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First of all, thank you all so much. I feel a lot better after venting here; it was such a shock to get an email like that, and then to find out it was from the director of the school. Geez. 

 

Oh ugh.

 

This is my experience with a certain class of private (especially for-profit) schools. They validate themselves not by student performance--because that creates a barrier to being their customer--but by customer loyalty. So once you opt out and show a desire to get your kid anything other than praise, the deal's off. Blech.

 

Ugh, so much for "the customer comes first" mantra, huh? What the heck is wrong with people?

 

Wow, yuck. I mean, they asked you for info about why you dropped the course, you provided it, and then this?!  :thumbdown:

 

I agree that there's something else going on behind the scenes. Maybe the email writer is friends or related to the bio teacher.

 

My husband said the exact same thing. 

 

My money is on the bio teacher's having lied about your daughter.  "People lie" is my mantra.  It kills me, because I am honest to a fault; but more and more, I find that people lie more often than not.  The administration is still handling it badly, but administrators believe their own peeps over students or parents any day.  All of the hard evidence in the world, e.g., your email exchange doesn't change the deference they give to the person they hired because if you're right, it means they screwed up.  Sucks, I know.  But thanks for the for heads' up on the provider.  Good to know.

 

Also a good point. I guess I'm naive and tend to think the best of people, especially a school that is supposed to exemplify Christian morals.

 

Yikes! That's bad business.

I'm not very "techy" so I'm wondering how you got the error message? Like did/could they block your email account from registering? If so, they must have done it soon after you dropped the last class, which seems really childish and foot-stomp-y.

 

I got the message when I went to register, it said I needed to contact an admin to restore access to my account. And yes, as soon as I complained, they must have shut me down. 

 

How completely unprofessional.  And yes, the teacher probably lied about your daughter.  In all likelihood they asked her about your response and she defended her poor teaching capabilities by dumping everything on your daughter and she may have made you sound really awful, too.  Whatever happened behind the scenes, I seriously doubt you can fix this and I'm with the others, I would not send any more money to this school.  

 

On the flip side of that coin, I personally would be writing a letter, including all correspondence and the things I had concerns about, and sending it to the head of the school explaining as politely as possible how unhappy I was with the situation.  I would include details, dates, etc.  Having a written record of complaint might cause the administration to dig deeper the next time and help the next person that complains about the teacher...

 

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

 

Sadly, the email was from the director of the school, so there's not really anything else I can do. I did a lot of searching yesterday, and found similar snarky messages from as far back as 2006 being reported on various sites online. I guess I'm not the only one, but I certainly hope word gets out about the poor administration here.

 

Bad business. Bad manners. I wonder if the director is new. I have a couple of friends who had good experiences with TPS. Sorry yours was yucky.

 

We definitely won't be going back, and will be spreading the word as much as possible. Since the email came from the highest level, I do not have any faith that this is a one-time exception. 

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OP, I agree, since the snarky, unprofessional letter was from the actual director of the school there really is probably no point at all in trying to pursue this further.   :grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug: 

 

Which is really, really stupid on the part of administration.  Homeschoolers are still a pretty small bunch compared to the number of kids in ps.  Word gets around.  

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Thanks, everyone. I was so upset and needed some validation. And Jean ,we were hoping that the bio teacher was an exception since we'd heard such great things about the foreign language classes.

 

I was trying not to mention the name, but I will say the name rhymes with the hotter school.

 

Wow, that's discouraging. My daughter is signed up with them to do a foreign language class next year. I've had good experiences with them in the past, I'm surprised and disappointed they would be so unprofessional and rude.

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Anyone have suggestions for other online schools?

There are many.   Wasn't there an awesome thread with like a zillion links to on-line school options?  Maybe on the Gen Ed board?  It was at least a few weeks ago...

 

Landry and currclick are the only ones we have used so far, that I recall.....

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OP-My ds and I had a similar experience with same online provider school.  It left me feeling like it was my fault, which of course I know is not true. 

 

I'm so sorry to hear that. It's sad that they choose to act so unprofessional, and I hope karma kicks them in the behind. :(

 

Anyone have suggestions for other online schools?

 

We are looking at AIM, Scholars Online, and Veritas Press. I can't find many reviews for these, though. 

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There are many.   Wasn't there an awesome thread with like a zillion links to on-line school options?  Maybe on the Gen Ed board?  It was at least a few weeks ago...

 

Landry and currclick are the only ones we have used so far, that I recall.....

 

Ooh! Off to look for it. Or if anyone has the link handy, feel free to post it. :)

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Unfortunately after this post, I have heard negative reviews of every single online class provider. It seems that while some have positive experiences, others have negative. Scholars Online has some horrible reviews on this board if you search, but IRL I know homeschoolers I very much respect who had a great experience with their classes. Even the provider we used this year and were pleased with was called a "waste" by others here. I'm also starting to wonder if *anyone* does online science well, since the vast majority of the negative reviews across the board are regarding science classes. I'm thinking that every online class is somewhat of a risk at this point and so much depends on expectations and individual fit. I am sorry for that response though. That was uncalled for.

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Scholars Online has some horrible reviews on this board if you search, but IRL I know homeschoolers I very much respect who had a great experience with their classes. 

 

Uh-oh, now that has me worried. I did a search for Scholars Online for French on here, and didn't see much of anything. I'll see if I can find anything negative, but if there are some specific threads you're thinking of, please post. Thanks!

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Unfortunately after this post, I have heard negative reviews of every single online class provider. It seems that while some have positive experiences, others have negative. Scholars Online has some horrible reviews on this board if you search, but IRL I know homeschoolers I very much respect who had a great experience with their classes. Even the provider we used this year and were pleased with was called a "waste" by others here. I'm thinking that every online class is somewhat of a risk at this point and so much depends on expectations and individual fit. I am sorry for that response though. That was uncalled for.

I agree, probably every on-line school will have something or someone that went wrong.

 

What really irritates me on behalf of the OP is the apparent rudeness of the director of the school.  Teachers have bad moments or seasons.  Schools sometimes hire bad teachers.  Computer systems need updating.  Personnel need more training.  Things happen.  Doesn't mean the whole apple cart is rotten or that these problems are school wide or permanent.  I'm always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt.  

 

But if the Administration is unsupportive of parents who express concern, and the top level people are snarky and rude to concerned parents, sorry, I have a hard time dealing with that.  And I certainly wouldn't keep sending my kid there.

 

ETA:  You can be supportive of the teacher without being snarky and rude to the parent.  And  I would hope the school would be supportive of both parties as they look into any complaints or concerns.  Doing otherwise is unprofessional and immature.  Also short sighted....

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I agree, probably every on-line school will have something or someone that went wrong.

 

What really irritates me on behalf of the OP is the apparent rudeness of the director of the school.  Teachers have bad moments or seasons.  Schools sometimes hire bad teachers.  Computer systems need updating.  Personnel need more training.  Things happen.  Doesn't mean the whole apple cart is rotten or that these problems are school wide or permanent.  I'm always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt.  

 

But if the Administration is unsupportive of parents who express concern, and the top level people are snarky and rude to concerned parents, sorry, I have a hard time dealing with that.  And I certainly wouldn't keep sending my kid there.

 

I agree it was over the line, but having researched online classes extensively this week, I have seen equally rude comments or reviews about equally bad comments from the directors of multiple different providers. Maybe I'm just exhausted, but I'm starting to feel like any time you decide to outsource, you risk that something negative might occur whether from the teacher or director. If I eliminated every provider I read about this week, there would be nowhere to take classes. And honestly, I've had snarky interactions in real life in PS with teachers, principals, counselors and at co-op too. While it is disappointing and rude, this school is well known for being extremely picky about fit and denying access to their classes for various reasons. I guess I'm just not ready to throw out the entire experience for any one school yet.

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Unfortunately after this post, I have heard negative reviews of every single online class provider. It seems that while some have positive experiences, others have negative. Scholars Online has some horrible reviews on this board if you search, but IRL I know homeschoolers I very much respect who had a great experience with their classes. Even the provider we used this year and were pleased with was called a "waste" by others here. I'm also starting to wonder if *anyone* does online science well, since the vast majority of the negative reviews across the board are regarding science classes. I'm thinking that every online class is somewhat of a risk at this point and so much depends on expectations and individual fit. I am sorry for that response though. That was uncalled for.

Agree. I expect positive and negative experiences to be had with any provider or curriculum for a variety of reasons. We had a less than stellar online class with CTY, but there was no backlash and we won't rule out future classes with them. That a director would be punitive and snarky puts this in a different catagory. The misfits tell me as much about good fit as the rave reviews. Sorry this happened to you OP.

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I agree it was over the line, but having researched online classes extensively this week, I have seen equally rude comments or reviews about equally bad comments from the directors of multiple different providers. Maybe I'm just exhausted, but I'm starting to feel like any time you decide to outsource, you risk that something negative might occur whether from the teacher or director. If I eliminated every provider I read about this week, there would be nowhere to take classes. And honestly, I've had snarky interactions in real life in PS with teachers, principals, counselors and at co-op too. While it is disappointing and rude, this school is well known for being extremely picky about fit and denying access to their classes for various reasons. I guess I'm just not ready to throw out the entire experience for any one school yet.

I understand.  I agree.  Good luck.

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Agree. I expect positive and negative experiences to be had with any provider or curriculum for a variety of reasons. We had a less than stellar online class with CTY, but there was no backlash and we won't rule out future classes with them. That a director would be punitive and snarky puts this in a different catagory. The misfits tell me as much about good fit as the rave reviews. Sorry this happened to you OP.

and yes....

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I can understand why the school would stand by the teacher (and I think it's inappropriate for a PP to accuse the teacher of lying based purely on speculation), but that's a rather rude, unprofessional way for the director to handle the situation.

Wait what?  I reread the OP and she withdrew her daughter because the teacher was disorganized and not providing services when due.  That is all she had communicated with the school, not any accusations of lying.  

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Wait what?  I reread the OP and she withdrew her daughter because the teacher was disorganized and not providing services when due.  That is all she had communicated with the school, not any accusations of lying.  

I think she was referring to the fact that I and others were saying (not the OP) that the over the top response from administration to her expressed concerns may have resulted from the teacher blaming the student and possibly the parent, possibly even lying about what the issues were.  We were speculating and probably shouldn't.  The administration's reaction, by banning the student from registering for further classes and sending a snarky communique to the parent, seemed over the top if all the OP did was mention concerns about disorganization and not providing services promised.  Some of us were speculating that the teacher, to defend her poor teaching practices, may have lied.

 

Honestly, I apologize for saying so.  I do not know this teacher and should not have said that.  I made my up thread comment based on my mom's past experience with a couple of teachers of my brother's and a past experience I had with a teacher for DD.

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Wait what?  I reread the OP and she withdrew her daughter because the teacher was disorganized and not providing services when due.  That is all she had communicated with the school, not any accusations of lying.  

 

I said a PP, not the OP. See post #13.

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I can understand why the school would stand by the teacher (and I think it's inappropriate for a PP to accuse the teacher of lying based purely on speculation), but that's a rather rude, unprofessional way for the director to handle the situation.

I agree.  Although I was not the only one who said this, I retract my earlier statement.  I have no idea if she lied.  The administration's over the top response may have nothing to do with anything the teacher said behind the scenes.  I was reacting emotionally based on past experiences with 3 teachers from the past....and they very definitely lied.  It has colored my thinking.

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Uh-oh, now that has me worried. I did a search for Scholars Online for French on here, and didn't see much of anything. I'll see if I can find anything negative, but if there are some specific threads you're thinking of, please post. Thanks!

If you dig around and find a lot of positive posts, especially regarding a specific class/teacher your child wants to take, then it may be a great option irregardless of whether there are some negative reviews regarding other classes/teachers.  Even if the negative reviews were for that class/teacher, if there were still more positive than negative, it might still be an option.  It would depend on the reason for the negative review, of course, but it might still be a good fit.

 

in other words, as mentioned up thread, I wouldn't write off an on-line option just based on one or two negative reviews.  There might not ever be an on-line option, otherwise...   :)

 

:grouphug:   Good luck OP.

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