I am writing to you as a concerned parent of Horeb Christian School. As an educated and professional parent, I find it difficult to believe that your school would allow for an inexperienced and unprofessional administrator to lead your school. It not only reflects upon the overall climate of your school, but I am more than positive that it affects your teachers and the academic success of your students. If you are all fully aware (which I hope you are) there are certain standards that all administrators should adhere to when leading a school, its teachers, and its students. These standard are called The Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC standards) and it is in my opinion that your administrator, Ms. Cindy Montes de Oca, has not followed them as a responsible leader should.
Standard 1 clearly states that an effective leader should, "promote the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community" (http://coe.fgcu.edu/faculty/valesky/isllcstandards.htm). To clarify this standard states that in order to achieve a successful learning environment, administrators, faculty, and stakeholders should work collaboratively in order to create and implement a common vision while maintaining highly qualified educators and providing quality educational experiences for all students. It is obvious to me, that your administrator is unaware of the mission of your school and lacks interpersonal skills in order to effectively communicate with her staff. Coherence amongst administrators and educators is what holds the organization together; in fact, having a shared vision and a set of values can increase effective supervision, enhance professional development, allow for proper teacher evaluations and offer learning opportunities. More importantly, it unifies your organization and will most definitely increase student learning and instruction.
Furthermore, I am fully aware of the case of child abuse that occurred within your school; it has been brought to my attention that the principal was aware of the abuse going on within the classroom. In fact, she knew of this information three weeks prior to the media. How a Christian school can allow such a thing to happen is beyond me. It is a known fact that all forms of suspected abuse should be reported by all RESONSPIBLE and ETHICAL adults. Which leads me to Standard 3 of the ISLLC Standards, which states, "a school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment" (http://coe.fgcu.edu/faculty/valesky/isllcstandards.htm). Do these actions promote the characteristics of an effective and responsible administrator? More importantly, does this promote the vision of a Christian school as you claim to be? I believe putting students in danger shows the complete opposite (as stated by Standard 5 of the ISLLC standards, "a school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner" http://coe.fgcu.edu/faculty/valesky/isllcstandards.htm) and quite frankly, you and your administrator should be ashamed! There has also been maintenance and cleanliness issues throughout the schools such as: broken AC units, roaches, and rats which implies that your administrator does not care or have enough pride for Horeb Christian to ensure that our children are attending a school that is safe and free of rodents and insects. Negligence to issues such as these can only cause children and staff members to become sick as a result of sheer carelessness.
As a result, I have decided to take my child out of this school and will place my child in an environment that is not only caring, but can ensure that my child will receive quality education from effective teachers and be supervised by an administrator who has the characteristics of a true leader and promotes the success of all who are involved. I would seriously consider any parent to do their research prior to choosing Horeb Christian School as a school for their children and if your child is currently enrolled for the upcoming school year, I highly suggest you find another school to meet the educational, social, and emotional needs of your children.
A Concerned Parent read more
