Former Teachers
the rate of Teacher turnover isn't as as significant as the reason for the departure
Exhibit A:
On October 2015 at 3 AM, Dr. Michelle Zimmerman ("Michelle") began emailing Dawn about serious allegations against her and Renton Prep leadership by Renton Prep teachers. Michelle feared that “it wouldn’t take much to get a parent group going and riled up in support” of their disagreement of how Renton Prep “kicked out’ teachers that parents and students loved.”
She shared that, "a teacher wrote a 9 page document of 'allegations' about [Michelle] and sent it to the district. [The teacher] had two other teachers sign it. In it [the teacher] said she gathered 7 other teachers including, [another teacher] who wrote a sworn statement and already sent it to the district."
Some of the comments included how Michelle and the Renton Prep leadership are:
• “Toxic”
• “Ruthless”
• “Bull[ying] kids and terrifying them”
• “High staff turnover”
• “Manipulate staff to get them to quit”
In response to the sudden departure of 3 teachers mid-school year, David-Paul Zimmerman ("DPZ") employed the help of several people, including Dawn, to help craft a letter "to play coy with our parents." DPZ gave the following reason for the resignations of the teachers:
“…despite [the 3 teachers’] efforts to adapt to the educational and
structural approaches of our school over these past months, they
collectively reached the conclusion at this time that their personal
preferences and approaches as teachers simply are not a good fit
for Amazing Grace and Renton Prep.”
While it is understandable that damage control would be important, as not to alarm parents, this scenario is a cautionary tale to those considering the type of leadership environment that is acceptable to them.
Things aren't always what they appear.
DPZ and Michelle change narrative in order to distract from the truth. They unceasingly distort reality and spread falsehoods.
In Michelle's email she spoke about a teacher who claimed that,
"she's just wanting to do this out of good Christian transparency and to reclaim a failing school for God’s kingdom because the leadership is toxic. She claimed she's terrified to talk to any of us, which is why she had to gather people and did her research”
This same teacher told Michelle that,
"She's too scared to work here because it's so toxic she's literally felt ill the last two weeks. She said she doesn't think she can physically subject herself to teaching in a school like this."
Unfortunately, the teachers had nowhere else to turn because, as one teacher indicated,
"there was no school board" at Renton Prep.
Michelle conveyed to Dawn that she had "hoped the man from the district would just say: ok. You made your choice. Bye." This did not happen. According to Michelle, the District refused to take sides and intervene, and encouraged Michelle and Renton Prep leadership to “push through working together.”
If interested, click HERE for excerpts of the October 8, 2015, 3 AM email thread between Michelle and Dawn.
Exhibit B:
In an email interaction between a former Renton Prep teacher, who left mid-school year in 2015, to a former Renton Prep parent, the teacher expresses the reason for the sudden departure.
"You deserve an explanation for why we decided to leave. Our decision entirely had to do with the communication methods and leadership style of the administration, which created a toxic work environment. Because there was no school board, there was no one to advocate for us." - Former Teacher of Renton Prep
To read more about the Toxic Leadership of the Zimmerman's, visit the following pages: