Bad - Teacher TALC Academy Employee Review

I gained a true passion for working with Special Education students. When I first started my career, I felt that Special Education would be a stepping stone into a career as a teacher. After working here, I really developed a desire to advocate for students who do not have the skills to advocate for themselves.

I decided to write this review after a few of my "teacher friends" that worked at TALC with me told me about Glassdoor. I can honestly say I experienced the same thing that all these other reviewers talked about so I won't write the same thing over and over because all the examples of student issues were witnessed by me as well. One thing I do need to emphasize however, is that during my year there I worked with 3 students experiencing suicidal behaviours - which I did bring to the attention of the principal/owner. I ran into this student and their parent months later at a grocery store, and they told me that they had removed the student from the school, that they were in the public system, and that they had not had any issues with suicidal behaviour since they left. For me this was the best news a person could ask for. I wanted to emphasize this as I notice in an employer response it was mentioned that this never happened - It definitely did and they were involved in responding to the issues. Before I go on, I think I need to mention that the majority of these issues relate to the director (and owner) rather than the principal (owner - husband). David Fisher is an extremely nice man and I highly appreciated the working environment I experienced with him. He ALWAYS treated me with respect, and spoke to me on a professional level. He WAS like a mentor in the circumstances that we met. The problem is that the person you deal with most is the director and since they are married it makes it a horrible working environment as there was nobody to talk to. The scariest thing for me was that I legitimately think that the owners don't see what they do to people, which is crazy on a whole different level. One thing I would like to warn people about is that there is a huge front put on when parents are there to make everything seem happy, and don't get me wrong sometimes it is - but those times are very very rare. The other staff and I use to always say that if we could have the happy director more often we would love our jobs. And no, I am not here talking butterflies all the time - I know there are moments that are stressful and that is normal in every job. But this is not normal. Like others have said, they would frequently yell at teachers in front of students or students in front of their peers. It is simply abusive and it wasn't just one teacher or student when I was there, it was all of us. Including those children in grade 3 or 4. There has been mention about parents giving great reviews of the school. And don't get me wrong, some students may have been successful when they left, but often those were the students who didn't need to be there in the first place. Learning Disability is a completely manageable identification in the publicly funded school system. Let me say this - in the past two years I have been contacted by more than 4 parents of students who attended TALC over the years both through LinkedIn, and by obtaining my personal email from colleagues they have run into. Many of these parents thanked me for my work with their child, and told me that they had pulled their child from the school since I had left (Some of these parents were from years since I worked there, and simply noticed I worked at TALC on my profile). Many told me they were in lawsuits with TALC as a result of pulling their child from the school. They had psychologist letters discussing how much worse their child's psychological issues got after being there. These students are now in the public system, and are flourishing in a regular classroom, yet at TALC they were screamed at daily. They were contacting me to ask if I could act as a witness, and I would love to, however I am out of the country for an extended period of time. I was also contacted last week by a teacher who I don't know to talk about issues that occurred there and whether I had experienced similar things. I follow posts about TALC on Google through email notifications and came across this stream of posts a few months ago. I cannot post links on Glassdoor so please search "Just Answer - My Son was Attending TALC Academy until January of this year". I never worked with this student, but it is very similar to the stories I have experienced and heard from parents, and thought it might be helpful for an outsider reading this post rather than just hearsay from a teacher. It is written by a former student's parents. At the end of the day, this isn't personal to the directors - I am sure their hearts are in the right place. But the way they treat people isn't employer quality. I like Glassdoor in the sense that it ensures these comments are kept anonymous so that the truth is spoken. It is not that I am hiding... I just don't have a desire to go through a long battle over the past. My career has progressed and I really believe all your experiences make you a stronger person. But, I do want to help people in the future in making a decision about where to send their child. I now have a child of my own, and would hope that someone would warn me if this was something I was considering. Private elementary schools are NOT inspected by the ministry of education, and secondary schools are only inspected in terms of curriculum and assessment for credit courses. They don't inspect how teachers and students are treated. If you would like to read about the ministry's role in inspection, search: private elementary schools and secondary schools Ministry of Education Ontario and read the info from their official Gov site. The main point here is: "The Minister of Education has the sole authority to determine the courses of study that a student must complete in order to obtain the OSSD....The purpose of the inspection is to determine whether the standard of instruction in courses leading to the OSSD is being delivered in compliance with ministry requirements. The ministry does not inspect or approve items such as the condition of premises, health and safety practices or matters related to staffing." There are MANY private education centres for students with Special Education needs that are highly professional in the same area including, but not limited to: - Team School - Chisholm Academy - Blyth Academy (high school - you can have a teacher work one on one with your student and provide accomodations in the program that are completely aligned with their IEP) - Missing Links Academy - Oakwood Academy I have friends who taught at many of these schools with fantastic feedback. Please make sure you do your homework as both a potential teacher or parent!

I am writing this review as a past teacher at TALC Academy. My experience and time at TALC provided me with numerous tools that I have carried forward into my career. The students in my classes had varying needs and learning to differentiate for them was key in providing them the best educational experience during their time at TALC. TALC encouraged differentiation in many forms including use of technology, additional time given to students for testing and assignments and the TAPP (TALC Academy Program Plan) laid out each of the modifications and accommodations clearly. The teachers at TALC Academy that I worked with were the most passionate and hard working teachers I have ever met. They always put the needs of their students first and ensured that each student felt valued and appreciated. I too, made many connections with the students and I remember all of them fondly. They were a funny, sweet, curious and hard working group. The principal at TALC worked hard to help facilitate meetings with parents and helped support the teachers during parent-teacher conferences. The principal had a good knowledge of the kids and their needs and worked closely with both students and teachers ensuring that the students’ needs were being met. Overall, my experience at TALC was a good first stepping stone into the world of teaching, as it helped me to understand what it meant to “meet the kids where they are at.” Learning to provide an individualized education for small class sizes helped to develop many of the skills I use on a regular basis today.

The building itself needed updates (too hot/too cold sometimes)