Halfway there – Eximius to phase out middle school
Earlier this month the principal of Eximius wrote to middle school parents.
She announced the phase out of grades 6 - 8. About time!
There was discussion on this blog: Not closing? -- Rumor lives on.
Eximius remains one of the worst - even with just 9-12 - Do Not Apply schools in NYC Here is the text of that letter:
June 2009
Dear Parents and Guardians:
As you know the Morrisania Educational Complex where we are housed has limited space. Currently BCMS has 15 classrooms and we have 17 classrooms. In order for us to have a full middle school/ high school program we need a minimum of 21 classrooms. When our school and BCSM moved into this complex four years ago we anticipated that extensions to the building would be built as both schools started to get closer to full capacity. However, as our population expanded no corresponding increase in the space materialized. Now that we are near capacity the space problem has become acute.
I met with a team of my teachers and administrators and we have decided to slowly phase out our middle school and become a full grade 9-12 high school in three years. Hence, we will not be taking in a 6th grade cohort in the coming school year. But, we will keep our 7th and 8th graders until they move into Eximius’ high school. In addition to solving the space problem this will also enable us to focus all of our energies and resources to one school instead of two. The space that is freed by the slow phase out of the middle school will allow us to have a plethora of resources. These resources include 1) our own Science lab which will be completed August 2009, 2) a library in the building which will be completed January 2009, 3) a college office which will be completed August 2009 and 4) a SAVE room which will be completed August 2009.
Please rest assured that the gradual middle school phase out will enable us to bring our vision to full fruitition. I am excited about the additional resources this change will afford our students! If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me or the parent coordinator, Ms. Gil.
Sincerely,
Principal Smith
JD2718 
These changes are a step in the right direction. But eliminating the MS will only prolong the evitable–the eventual complete shutdown. That is, unless there is an extreme change in administrative philosophy, a more restrictive admissions process and a dramatic improvement in academic performance.
what about the teachers getting U ratings? definitely a career ender. so the school goes down and its staff but not the principal. too abd, every captain must go down with its ship.
The sad thing about this situation is that if a teacher was shown to be ineffective for 3 or 4 years in a row, that teacher would be U-rated and gone–end of story. Why does the NYCDOE not use an evaluation system that addresses inadequacies in their principals? Watching this woman get away with her nonsense, I have to say, is painful and unfair.
little letter that the principal wrote is a joke. she never met with anyone to discuss the fate of the middle school. the only meeting that took place was when tweed told her that they would be stripping her of this school. rather than fire her ass they fire the kids. its sad
why not make this public, the community has the right to know.
Please see my comment noted below. Obviously, those who know me know I did not write this comment. First of all, the grammar and punctuation is horrible :)
I do suggest that whomever wrote it do so under their own name. I have begun an investigation to discover who the author is and, once discovered, appropriate steps will be taken.
There’s few steps, unfortunately, anyone can take here.
I marked the comment as spoofed, which may be all we can do.
Thanks jd, appreciate your help :)
well the school’s web page seems nice but there is no information on it other than the empty tabs linked to it. interesting how the parent coordinator never mentioned in her email blasts that the school had a web page. ????????
Something that gets lost in this is the fact that the middle school teachers will be out of jobs. There is of course a silver lining in this, especially if/when they wind up at better schools.
From what I understand, the middle school teachers were the most vocal in their discontent and were also often victims of her evaluations.
It sounds Machiavellian, but I wonder if this is what she wanted. Even if I am be too cynical, she may view the loss of the MS as a blessing in disguise.
In a twisted way, it may turn out to be “win-win” for the parties involved.
I doubt that this is what she wanted.
Eximius loses a large number of teachers every year. The difference here may be that some of it is involuntary.
it is a win win for the principal, and if the people at Tweed accept this, they are just as guilty for the failed situation of the school. does anyone know what the parents think of this?
did you know that her principal’s certification is temporary, it expires 1/2010 go to TEACH online services and click on public resources. type in her name, she lives in manhattan and you will see.
yet doe requiers top certification status for its teachers, disgusting isn’t it?
Thank you for pointing this out. Can you supply the direct link?
Can anything be done about her principal status? Is there a way to contact NYS about her tenure as a principal?
yes and no, whatever complaint you have will be kicked back to nyc doe “for appropriate action”. there is however a formal complaint process that anyone can initiate. you would have to go to the nysed website and find the forms. it is under one of the chancellor’s regulations section. good luck
http://eservices.nysed.gov/teach/certhelp/CpPersonSearchExternal.jsp?trgAction=INQUIRY
did anyone check out the school survey results on eximius? it did very poorly, yet most of the teachers rave about the school. can anyone say intimidation?
http://www.nysed.gov/office of teaching initiatives/teach
type in smith tammy L for the one that lives in manhattan, the other tammies don’t have a certification status.
Copsmart,
That link is not working for me. This link:
http://eservices.nysed.gov/teach/certhelp/CpPersonSearchExternal.jsp?trgAction=INQUIRY
will take you to the page where anyone can be checked out.
sorry about that i don’t use that link to get there, i usually go to google and key in teach online and it takes me right there. either way you have the info. thanks
Principal Smith is lying as usual. She lost the MS due to low scores and nothing more. When you constantly micro manage and do not support the teaching staff they leave. When they leave you bring in new (fresh meat for the kill) and inexperienced staff and Ms. Smith has another reason for her incompetence. The school will never thrive as long as Ms. Smith is there.
Why does it take four years of high teacher turnover to get attention and unfortunately that is still not working. No one wants to work under neath her but they enjoy working with the students. The other unfortunate event is the economy so some teachers may not have the flexibility to leave.
I don’t know what is going on, but the statement made on 6/29 was NOT made by me. Things at Eximius have changed drastically. Ms. Smith is working hard with her staff and faculty to make Eximius one of the best schools in the city. She has asked us for our opinions on faculty PD and courses for the students. In fact, I will be teaching a new Theatre Arts class come September.
I’ve noticed that the majority of the negative comments about Eximius are being written by either disgruntled former employees, or disgruntled parents. I suggest that rather than being part of the problem, you might want to become part of the solution. What can YOU do to actually HELP the school? What can YOU do to effect better learning conditions? Rather than badmouthing the school, and its staff, why not come to the school, meet with some of the teachers and/or Ms. Smith, and find out what is REALLY happening?
And to the person who wrote that comment using my name, thank you. It made me more of a champion for the school than ever!
I’m sorry Harvey. The solution, shutting this bad school, is obvious.
I’ve seen good, great, mediocre, indifferent. But Eximius is among the worst. Let’s not prolong the mistake.
harvey zuckerman, are you kidding with this comment?
To Harvey Zuckerman:
You know that you are not telling the truth about Ms. Smith and Exmius; you are a bald-faced liar. And as far as people not working to support the school or failing to effect positive change there, you are, once again, a liar. I know for a fact that virtually every teacher and staff member at Eximius did everything that they could to make sure that Eximius was and is as successful as possible. In fact, the dirty little secret about Eximius is that you can be U-rated by Tammy, despite the fact that you gave her and the school your absolute best, despite the fact that you have worked harder there than you have worked anywhere else. Such is life at Eximius.
Additionally, I hope that you are not singing Tammy’s praises because you believe that she is going to all of a sudden give you the Assistant Principal position that you have been lusting for over the past 2 years; you should know, by now, that Tammy is one of the most disloyal of persons around, and that she neither respects nor appreciates all of the things that people have done for her or the school. Once again, such is life at Eximius!
P.S. Harvey, I hope that you appreciate the effort that I put in to correct and improve my last sentence from the previous posting of these comments.
You are coming very close to the line. You can disagree without the personal attacks on the teacher (no matter how wrong)
this is all amusing to a certain extent… we are all complaining about the same thing but neither one of us can come up with a way to resolve the issues with the principal or the school. is there anything else that we can talk about?
look at what this school adminstration has done to all of us. we are fighting with each other, people are taking sides but in the end the result is the same.
Jd:
I apologize if I offended you or if you feel that I almost came across the line, but this is exactly why I made sure that I got out of Eximius because this school has the unfortunate tendency of bringing out the worse, or rather the ugly, within a person. This school pushes individuals so far over the edge that you become a person that you don’t even know, and worse yet, you may even become someone that you don’t even like. Thus, I hope that you don’t judge me too harshly, and yes, I am honestly sorry if I offended you. However, you have never had the great misfortune of working at Eximius, so you just don’t know how dishonest, hurtful and hateful Mr. Zuckerman’s comments were; you would have to actually work at Eximius to understand and to feel the hurt and hate contained in his carefully worded post.
P.S. I will never again, in this liftime or the next, post anything on your blog (or elsewhere)about Eximius.
Harvey,
You said that most of the comments are being written by “either disgruntled former employees, or disgruntled parents.” If the majority of comments made about a school are written by “disgruntled” (which means dissatisfied) employees or parents, what does this imply?
Does it imply that the majority of parents or teachers affiliated with this school are or will be dissatisfied? Maybe.
When I read the reviews about a product or service I intend to buy, I read the positive and negative reviews. When the reviews are almost ALL negative, it tells me something. When the reviews are backed up with objective data, it tells me something more.
If you feel that your school is being misrepresented, why don’t you ask your satisfied colleagues to post their thoughts about the school? I understand that you are satisfied with the progress of the school. There must be more like you.
This topic has been on this blog for quite some time. I know that your colleagues know about this blog. Why haven’t we seen more people standing up for your school? Ironically, some of the positive statements I have seen were written by people who no longer teach at the school.
If I thought that a blog had the ability to keep good, qualified individuals from applying to my school, I would do everything I could to refute the claims made on such a blog.
Maybe I am wrong, but the silence of your staff speaks volumes.
I am happy to have spurred such interest in what I have said so far. Understand that I am only speaking positively about Eximius because I fear what would happen if I were to speak otherwise. Of course I have deep seeded contempt for the leadership of the school more times than not but I would be stupid to voice those opinions here. I am sure you can appreciate that. As for keeping things honest and open, I do enough of that throughout the school year by making myself look like a fool when I open my mouth. All kidding aside, as many of you know, I am an aspiring Assistant Principal and I would love nothing more than to find a home for myself doing just that. Eximius for me is simply a stepping stone to what I really want so if I want to get there then I will do what it takes to make myself look great so I can reach that place.
harvey zuckerman you just said everything you wanted to say so what is the difference? we are aware that the school knows about this blog and they know about most of the people who blog here. why would you come here and say what you did and now take it back.
if you want to be an assistant principal then just apply to the doe directly like everyone else does, it appears that smith has her hooks into you too. i feel sorry for you and for everyone else who stays there for the “purpose” of stepping up in their careers.
Yeah, it’s definitely not Harvey Zuckerman writing that…
JD,
Then how can we engage on this blog if people keep impersonating others?
Well, it’s one person, and I’ve told you when I catch them.
yeah you do…
When I catch them, yes. Can’t guarantee they won’t slip by. But once they get caught once, it’s a bit easier to catch the same person again.
I saw a very good segment on the news this morning regarding the other school (Bronx Center for Science and Math) in the same building as Eximius. I knew the school was being managed well (from where I was standing) and this story adds some weight to my assumptions.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/26/eveningnews/main5189771.shtml
I think it’s interesting that the principal chose to call it a “Center” rather than an “Academy”. Was it a calculated move on his part? I don’t know but from all of the “Academies” I have seen, most seem to be pretty crummy.
Any one know for sure what is happening with the middle school at Eximius. Is it open for September?
the school seems to be slated to open unfortunately for the kids and for the staff. I think the real question should be, is that woman still going to be running the school into the ground starting in September?
Yes she is still the principal, and I understand that the first day did not go so well for the kids. A lot of mayhem and disorganization still….. she claims a 100% graduation rate but many of those kids did not have all the credits to graduate.
Well, the chickens have come home to roost. Ms. Tammy has now been accused of fraud and will probably be fired.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bronx/grades_scam_KPq2XYFl53IFIXNzwRLl3H
JD, put this on your 1st page
WELL I AM GLAD TO HAVE HAD THE EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SCHOOL. THIS IS MS. YNDIA . MY . DAUGHTER QUAASIA IS DOING VERY WELL IN COLLEGE. SHE IS IN HER JUNIOR YEAR AND SHE IS THE GO -GETTER I TAUGHT HER TO BE ESPECIALLY AFTER EXIMUIS AND THE WHOLE DRAMA EXPERIENCE WITH TAMMY AND HER SIDE KICKS. WE STOOD OUR GROUND AND WE MADE IT AS A TEAM DESPITE OF ALL THE NEGATIVE NAMES I WAS CALLED BE CAUSE I TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT EXIMUIS. I HAVE MET SOME INCREDIBLE PEOPLE HERE AND I LOVE YOU ALL. TO ALL MY KIDS I WISH YOU WELL WITH LOVE. IF YOU GOT THRU EXIMUIS, YOU WILL SURVIVE THE WORLD . YOU CAN BECOME WORLD CHANGERS BECAUSE OF YOUR FLIGHT HERE. WE ALL WERE AT EXIMUIS TO MAKE A CHANGE.I BELIEVED IN TAMMY DREAM,BUT I JUST READ IN THE POST NEWS PAPER TODAY THAT TAMMY AND TRILLINA JUST GOT CAUGHT. WHAT IS DONE IN THE DARK WILL COME TO LIGHT. WHAT YOU REAP YOU WILL SOW ONE DAY.I AM SORRY FOR ALL THE MISHAP AT THIS SCHOOL AND THE BAD HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE THE CHILDREN AND TEACHERS, PARENTS HAD AT THIS PLACE CALL A SCHOOL. I HOPE EVERYONE CAN RECOVER FROM THE POST TRAUMATIC STRESS AND HAVE A GREAT LIFE. JUST BECAUSE NEGATIVITY IS THROWN YOUR WAY IN LIFE LIKE A ROCK, DUCK AND STAND UP EVEN TALLER AND WALK IN TO YOUR DESTINY. PEACE BE. MS YNDIA
We all knew QuaAsia would do fine. The cream always rises to the top. She was one of the reasons people stayed at Eximius.
We couldn’t be as vocal as we needed to be at Eximius for fear of retaliation. But in our silence, “the rocks spoke” so to speak–to expose the abuse and fraud at this school.
And let this serve as an example to all administrators: When you abuse your authority, eventually your fall will come at the hands of the people you abused. And make no mistake about it, the postings on this site and letters undoubtedly sent to the DOE, raised some flags at the DOE which most likely led to the investigation.