Previously I was able to justify keeping my children at the school by rationalizing that even though the management was abysmal, the teachers were still of high quality and the management wasn't affecting them. Unfortunately the management has made some decisions that have jeopardized the school.
The first poor decision was to try to extend the school into the middle school. It has proven very difficult to get Montessori trained teachers at that level, materials are expensive and there weren't enough students to make it financially viable. However, the most influential board members had children at that age level so the decision was made to move forward. Babek was brought in to develop a cirriculum and Derrick was hired to teach the upper levels. Developing a curriculum was nearly an impossible task since the school is a Thai school and needs to follow the Thai Ministry of Education cirriculum but the board wanted to use Montessori methodology and do so in English. Needless to say, Babek quit after 4 months with little to show. Derrick who has been frustrated with his level of support and the lack of discipline in the children who have had free reign has since turned in his resignation letter and will be leaving at the end of the school year.
The second poor decision is to hire a director who has no Montessori training and has very limited English ability. It begs the question as to how he can do his job when he needs to be working with foreign teachers, communicating with foreign parents, at least assisting in developing a Montessori curriculum for the upper grades and ensuring the children get a high quality education in a Montessori environment. Kru Anna's last day will be the 8th of October and if the school has found a replacement, we don't know about it. It seems very unlikely that the current director would know how to attract and interview foreign candidates.
The third poor decision is to continue on without solving the problems of the past. There is still no functioning board. For the past 6 months - here are the minutes of the board: http://blog.pitisuksa.org/ Wow, one meeting! But that is 100% better than the past 5 years where nothing was publish! (Notice that this blog was blamed as the reason why one of the teachers might have not taken the job! Of course it has nothing to do with the management . . . ) The sub-committees that were supposed to get parents involved never materialized. The finances are a deep dark secret (just try to take the finances out of the school so you have a record of what is going on . . .) In short, nothing has improved.
The final poor decision is to blatantly ignore the parents, the people who effectively funding the school. Although the management appears to be nice and understanding, it has become obvious to everyone who has tried to get involved, management has last say, democracy of the board is not welcome and everyone is equal but some are more equal than others.
After a while every parent who takes their children to the school says "this place has such potential" and starts to feel the unrealized dreams that make the school what it is. The quiet garden setting, the small class size, low pressure learning environment, the high quality teachers - could all be combined to make Pitisuksa the best school in Chiang Rai. Unfortunately the management has done such a poor job student numbers are down 25%, teachers are leaving, parents are disillusioned and there is no sense of community. Shame on you for being so small minded, for being unwilling to work with others and for tightly grasping onto a sense of power and in doing so squeezed the vibrancy and creativity out of what could be a beautiful school.
You can read into this blog as sour grapes and in a sense it is - all I really wanted was to get involved, create a sense of community and openness and develop Pitisuksa into a great place but I was blocked at every turn. This blog was my only outlet. I am only giving my side of the story so if you are considering enrolling your children at the school, I encourage you to visit and talk to teachers and parents and form your own opinion. Good luck!
