Transfiguration Preschool temporary closure

3/1/2019

This week saw some momentous news from our church on a hill. We have announced that, during building work planned for the next academic year, we won't be having a preschool on our site.

This was a difficult choice to make, and flowed from acknowledgement that the site wouldn't be safe for children while we work on it.

It has also made me reflect on the importance of preschool education in our culture, and on our site in general. I love early childhood learning, I love our family ministry at Transfiguration. It has also been great to hear the noise of children playing drifting up into my office as I work.

We have a strong tradition of preparing children for school through our preschool at Transfiguration. Karen and her staff have been great at taking children from aged 3 and helping them to develop in a way that will make school less of a challenge. This tradition has been a part of our parish almost since its founding. It is hard to contemplate not having this go on here for the coming year.

But we do hope that refurbishing our buildings will prepare us for a future in which we can build on the strong foundations of our current preschool. As we refurbish the building we hope to build some new concepts into our future preschool. We hope to build it around the strong core of the current program, and also provide extended care throughout the day. We hope to take younger children, and to offer flexible choices for parents about the number of days they can attend. But we don't know exactly how that will all be constructed. Join in the conversation about what we need in a future preschool in the comments below.

Also watch out for notices of a celebration of the life of our preschool over the last five decades. We want to have a party to acknowledge the great work that has been done here.

If you have any questions or comments write them in below. I would love to hear what you have to say.

Love

Matthew+

29 Comments

Allison Poggetti

3/2/2019 03:01:36 pm

’s very frustrating you want us to communicate via the website, then you don’t share a contact. You tell us this news when you knew full well this closing was a possibility for months. We needed to know in November to see schools and be in control of this for our kids. All the spots are taken everywhere. Don’t you get that? All the moms are all talking all over Social media and everywhere. We’re all sad and pretty upset. We’re last priority for any spots that are open and we’ve got up to $500 we need to spend to be able to secure applications at multiple places for a chance to get in. None of us have security or extra funds for this. There’s not enough slots at Holy Cross and Hope for our kids. Did you even call them to secure us places? It’s unbelievable the spot you’ve left us all in. This is a critical year before kindergarten. My son Just got a hearing aid and to have to go to a whole new environment.

Don’t you realize this will lower the morale with our current teachers teaching our kids!? What if they all quit?! They’re obviously not happy with the news no matter how much they love our kiddos. It’s not the same program without our amazing teachers so the selling us on the whole new format in 2 years that sounds like a daycare at best is shady.

I get it you gotta do what’s best for your church but you’re handling of it was absolutely horrible.

Matthew Woodward

3/3/2019 09:38:09 am

Dear Allison

Thank you for sharing your thoughts here. Thank you also for your email. My address is matthew@transfig-sm.org if people want to correspond directly with me there.

We were really hoping to be able to work around preschool, even as we were planning rebuild work. The realization that building would be going on while Preschool was on site, and cause a safety risk only became apparent in the last few weeks, and when we realized what the impact would be we wanted to tell parents and teachers as soon as possible.

We are aware this is difficult, Michele Maia and I are happy to call around schools to help people find places.

Please do continue to correspond with me via email.

We also want to celebrate the heritage of our preschool so we hope to hold an event towards the end of the year that does that. Thank you for your support of the school and environment the teachers have created.

Ruby Mosquera

3/3/2019 09:24:43 am

I can't begin to explain all that I am feeling right now. The way you and the church have handled this situation is outrageous. Not only did you lie to the teachers and the preschool committee about your plans, but you then lied to the parents this past week at the meetings. You knew the closing would be happening earlier and instead of telling everyone as soon as you knew, you waited until right after all the registration would be closed. You did not think about how this would affect all the parents that are now scrambling to find a new school for their children after they have loved and bonded with the teachers at Transfiguration. You also very blatantly did not consider the livelihood of the teachers who rely on these jobs and who have given everything to the school and to our children. We do not care about the facilities, we brought our children to this preschool for the teachers. The teachers who have made the school thrive and kept it running for 40+ years. The fact that you then are allowing them to REAPPLY for their jobs is disgraceful. They should have been your first priority in this decision. They should have been included in the process of the new school planning and they should have been offered their jobs when it reopens. It should have been their choice to be a part of it since they are the ones who have built and nurtured it for so many years. I will not recommend anyone to come to this new school and I will do my part to make sure the community knows what this church is doing.

3/3/2019 09:53:52 am

Dear Ruby

Thank you for making your feelings known here. It is good to get all comments from all parents, and I appreciate and hear the feeling in this post. Please do email me at matthew@transfig-sm.org if you want to keep corresponding.

I do want to correct some impressions that may be inaccurate here. We have been planning building works for some time, but did not have a clear sense of how impactful they would be to the site and how many safety concerns that this would create for children being onsite at the same time. This has only become apparent in the last few weeks, and so we did want to communicate with parents and teachers about this as soon as possible.

We are aware that this creates inconvenience for parents looking for places and Michele Maia and I are happy to assist in any way we can in finding places.

Thank you so much for your concern about teachers, and I hope you will join me in celebrating their contributions over the years at the end of this school year.

It was hard to decide what to do about bringing the school to a close and start a new school. We do not have specific plans for the new school yet. I hope to get input from a wide range of people as we make those plans. Your input would be invaluable, as would the input of current teachers, and particularly Karen.

But not having specific plans for exactly what that school will be like we didn’t feel we could hold open positions, and that to make sure everyone had clarity we should bring this program to a close and then work on what a new program might look like.

I hope to have ongoing conversations with current parents, teachers and Karen about what that program will be. So please do speak to me about it.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts here.

Best wishes.

Matthew

Bernice Tsai

3/3/2019 01:50:29 pm

The teachers are great and I wonder why are they NOT included in the decision process and were blindsided?

I also agree that now I am worried about the quality of the school will be in the next few months as all the teachers know they are losing their jobs? How will this be addressed?

3/3/2019 06:41:09 pm

Dear Bernice

Thank you for your comments. It is really helpful to hear them. Thank you also for your concern for and praise of the teachers. Please consider emailing me directly at matthew@transfig-sm.org to continue the conversation if you wish.

It isn't possible to discuss private conversations with the teachers, but the church Vestry has always sought to maintain a generous compensation policy toward our Director and she has always sought to make sure her staff are compensated appropriately as well. In line with this history the board is certainly doing its best to make sure their time through the rest of this year is valued appropriately.

I also know they are very committed to the children of the school.

Please do look out for plans celebrate the heritage of our school, and the teachers contribution to it, towards the end of the school year.

Nicole Roberts

3/3/2019 02:29:12 pm

Based on everything that is happening, I do not think that the decision makers at the church have any idea how valuable these teachers are! We’ve lived in this area for almost 8 years and our 3 children have attended many different preschools. I finally felt like with our last child we found the best preschool, BECAUSE of the teachers at Transfiguration. THE TEACHERS are what make the school the gem that it is. I am thankful that my child will be able to finish the year with (hopefully) her current exceptional teachers. I’m heartbroken for the families that will never experiment this gem of a school because it won’t be the same when it reopens. I’m heartbroken for the teachers being blindsided after being so loyal and dedicated to this school. I’m heartbroken for the families that have to scramble to find a new school so late in the game. Obviously the decision makers did not think things through on all accounts. So disappointing. Just as we learned that church is not a building, I feel the same about preschool, that it’s not the preschool building, it’s the teachers that make the school and Karen, Karen, and Kara are outstanding.

3/3/2019 06:48:26 pm

Dear Nicole

Thank you for your comments. It is good to hear them and note your feelings about what has happened. I would happily continue in conversation over email if you would like. It is good to read your comments here.

We do have great teachers, and we are so glad that you have found them for your Childs preschool experience. We do struggle with an aging building however, and find ourselves with an opportunity to update it to serve our community for decades to come.

This was a difficult decision, and one that we had hoped we wouldn't have to make, as we believed it would be possible to work around our preschool. But when we reviewed our timeline for building just a few weeks ago we realized that having children on site would be unsafe for them. It is with regret that we have taken this decision therefore, but we wanted to communicate clarity, rather than having people believe they could return to a place in September only to discover that building work was still going on at that point.

Please do come and celebrate the heritage of our preschool as the year continues, and join us in honoring the teachers also.

Sandra

3/3/2019 08:08:54 pm

I follow suit with the other parents that have commented regarding the renovation plans. It’s not about the renovations or even the building, the reason why we are disappointed is how the it was all handled. I don’t believe the value of the preschool and the wonderful women who built it to what it is was given much value, and for that I’m extremely disappointed. Parents are left scrambling to find a suitable school and teachers are left without a job. I find it hard to believe that nothing could be done to avoid the state that you have left the school and everyone who has been a part of it.

3/3/2019 09:43:34 pm

100 % agree. We have nowhere to go. They could find another location for these teachers and our kids they’re collecting $40,000+ a month from us. It’s greedy behavior. Nobody should support this church or school in the future if they don’t make this right. This needs to be put out to all media outlets and community.

Roijal Abigail Evangelista

3/3/2019 09:26:43 pm

Matthew,

My children have become better kids because of the teachers at Transfiguration. We chose this preschool because of how warm and comfortable Teacher Karen and the rest of the teachers have made me feel. I felt safe leaving my kids in a place where I know they will grow and be happy. Teacher Karen has created a loving environment for the children in Transfiguration. This whole renovation does nothing for me. A meeting could have been held PRIOR to obtain opinions, options, thoughts, recommendations from families and teachers. But instead the meeting that was held is a meeting to tell families and teachers they have to leave the school and their jobs. You have left us all in a bad situation. Our lives are affected by this and this does not show any appreciation to the years of dedication Teacher Karen has provided Transfiguration. This is not the way to show any consideration on her hard work over the years. You threw us all out. This is an easy way out and this was not a hard decision for you. How are we all being compensated for this loss? Are the teachers being compensated for this? And why do the teachers have to REAPPLY? They know the school and what it offers the best. These teachers that you have let go are the foundation of this preschool. Without them you are rolling the dice. The community has been affected by all this. This does not show that Transfiguration Church support and appreciate the families, teachers and community.

Mercedes

3/4/2019 08:54:43 am

Hi.

I'm still coming to terms with some of the reasons Father Matthew and and Michele gave to us in the meeting held on Friday.

1-Father Matthew's reason: "The construction cost will go up next year"
2-Michele's reasons: "I know the teachers, I worked with them in the preschool for a long time. The teachers are in such an age, they have children, a family to care for. They will also finds jobs and won't come back to Transfiguration"

I've also noticed the teachers are not free to talk about the situation with the parents. Why is that?

1-Construction works are expensive but you have done such a good job to get all that funding. You could carry on doing so for another year, just until next school year finishes in June 2020. We can all help you in that process as much as we can. Construction costs could also go down. Also, your project is for the community, maybe there's a way to secure the cost so that they don't go up. Communication is the key.
2-Teacher Michele, you know the teachers, as you told us in the meeting. So you know one of them will retire next year and another one might be saving up money for her children to help them with college fees. Even though you know this, because you know them, you are still agreeing with the construction works to start this year. You have secured a job in the church but you are also in that same age as some of the preschool teachers, and you also have children, a family to take care of. How would you like it if they said to you, we're letting you go and one the reasons is that you are in that age and you have a family to take care of.

Please could you reconsider this decision? Can you please start the building works in June 2020? It is not too late to reconsider. The building is not falling apart, is not a risk to anyone to carry on being there for another school year. That way there will be closure for teachers and closure for the 3 year old class to finish next school year. There will be time for the teachers that want to carry on working to have a plan and find new jobs or be happily retired and there will be time for the new parents that have signed up their children to the 3 year old class to find a new school. That year would also give you a chance to build a relationship with the parents, get to know them and their children. That way they would come back in the future and have good things to say about the new project first hand. People won't leave with an aftertaste. A little re-thinking would make such a big difference to everyone's future. I also want your plans to succeed but don't rush into them like this please. I'm sure parents would open up to you if you come closer to them. It is a natural defense for people to be angry at things that are not fair but it is also in human nature to forgive an give each other another chance.

Please lets build relationships, not buildings.

I know is not your decision only. Please pass on this petition to the church Vestry.

Thank you.

Jennifer

3/4/2019 10:58:25 am

Dear Matthew,

My son LOVES Transfiguration - he has been attending for 2 years now. Both my husband and I work and our parents take care of our little boy while we are at the office. It was really difficult (and stressful) for me to pick a preschool because I'm one of those worrying millennial moms who has never left my son with anybody but family. The teachers at Transfiguration have been the only ones I have ever trusted enough. If we are blessed with another child, I would love to be able to give our next baby the same experience with the same wonderful teachers. The teachers are so caring, fun and very trustworthy. I hope they will be part of the new school!

Sincerely,
Jen

Sarah

3/4/2019 12:03:07 pm

I am very thankful for the way you are handling this!

Carol

3/4/2019 02:14:33 pm

Is this the same Sarah from Facebook who works for Sherwood Communications and was hired by the church to reply to all the parents comments?

3/4/2019 02:34:26 pm

Hi Carol: For the record, I have not been hired by the church. I am a former parent of the preschool and I attend the church. My daughter attended the nursery school in 2011-2012. I commented because I have been learning about the upgrades to the preschool. This is an example of the mis-information that is being spread by you and others and it is just plain wrong. I am a publicist professionally, yes, but I have never been hired by the church. I work with scientists. And so I appreciate facts. Please stop spreading these rumors; it doesn't serve anyone. I wish you well. --Sarah

3/4/2019 03:11:37 pm

If you are not working for the school why would you reply to parents Facebook comments that they should see you at Transfiguration Episcopal Church & Nursery School and that you would love their feedback? You also wrote you are doing all you can and you must renovate the preschool for many reasons.
It sounds to me that you do work for the church, no?

3/4/2019 03:30:26 pm

Hi again, Carol. I do not work for the church. I am a former parent. I am answering posts because this is a natural role for me and I care about the church. Because I am a publicist, I know the importance of telling the truth and being sure about what I am saying. I have been a member of the church for about 5 years. I also just joined the Vestry, but having just joined I am careful about saying what I know because I was not involved in the planning of the renovation. I do know that Karen was told of the new plans early on. I also know we have gone above and beyond what any school would do for transitioning staff. I feel a need to answer questions where I can for the parents sake--as I have been a parent in the school. Last, I just love Karen!! She was an amazing teacher for my child. We share that love, I'm sure. God Bless.

Michele C.

3/4/2019 12:42:36 pm

Thank you for putting the safety of our children first. I understand what a difficult decision this must have been for the parish and preschool. My heart goes out to those who are looking for a new preschool.

I am excited to see how beautiful the new preschool and site will look in a few months. The improvements are much needed. Best wishes!

Michelle M

3/4/2019 01:04:25 pm

This situation is really tough, and the challenge for continuing children is significant. I've watched these building plans with a lot of excitement and want to comment on the implications that Fr. Matthew or anyone on staff at Transfiguration lied to the teachers or families at the school. Because I missed a whole-church meeting in January on the plans, I got a private tour and update from one of the leading architects in late January. At the point, the understanding was that the school would be impacted for just the summer months and could re-open with the school year. Then in early February, as I understand it, the construction firm came back with revised timelines that made clear far too much construction would still be going on outside and around the preschool, beyond those summer months, that would create a risky environment for the children. Anyone who has done even a modest home remodel has experienced the growing timelines, and here the contractor was trying to give us those updates ahead of the construction starting. Please know that the Transfig staff shared the news just as soon as the reality of the safety issues became clear. What joy could the team possibly take in disrupting these families? None at all. It's simply a case of terrible timing that couldn't be controlled.

Brian

3/4/2019 03:49:55 pm

I have spent the last few days reading through these comments and gathering my thoughts about the situation.

To Karen and her staff:
Nothing but love from our family. You have made our family better through your hard work and dedication to our child.

To the decisionmakers at Transfiguration:
It is 100% reasonable that the parish would like to update the facilities to “prepare us for a future in which we can build on the strong foundations of our current preschool.” This is an important consideration and decision that will allow the community to flourish in the long run. It is clear based on the passionate conversation that is occurring that Transfiguration Preschool has very special place in our hearts and lives.

However, the method of communication and lack of consideration given to the teachers, students, and families that are involved with the preschool is astounding. Both my wife and I attended Transfiguration as children. Karen was our teacher. I am proud to say that our child is a 2nd generation Transfiguration student and truly believe that the time we have spent with this school will continue to leave a long-lasting impact on our lives.

I grew up in and around the construction industry. Huge projects jobs like these do not happen overnight. All parties involved are given appropriate time to plan for the interruption/inconvenience that this level of renovation causes. Construction is expensive, contractors in the area are booked way in advance, and the permitting process on big jobs is extremely difficult. If I remodel my home and need to move out in order to do so, I will find a place to live well before start of construction because I care about my family and want a roof over our heads. If I remodel my building at work, I will plan appropriately to ensure continuity of the business for my employee and for my customers because I care about those impacted by my plans.

I find it interesting that you have verbalized your plan for the future of the school as “we hope to build some new concepts into our future preschool. We hope to build it around the strong core of the current program, and also provide extended care throughout the day. We hope to take younger children, and to offer flexible choices for parents about the number of days they can attend. But we don't know exactly how that will all be constructed.” Without the current staff, how could you expect to build on the strong core of the current program? That core ceases to exist should the staff not retain their jobs. How can you say that you are going to make it better than it is without know what that better version looks like?

If you truly knew about this earlier in the year (as one of the previous posts mentioned), then the decision to withhold the information from the families that send their children to the school until this point in the year was irresponsible.

All of us in the preschool community are running the gamut of extreme disappointment, anger, and ultimately sadness. You finalized your decision late February, then called a last-minute meeting with the parents on Thursday to share “some momentous news” (your words). Forgive me, but I find no comfort in the fact that you let us know right after deciding. My focus right now is on my child. The tone of this conversation would be totally different if you told us in December that there was even a remote chance that the school would be closing for the 2019-2020 school year. Personally, we would not have pulled our child from the school mid-year because we love the teachers and the program. We would have done our homework, looked at all the schools in the area, and then made the best decision for our child. Instead, we paid the 2019-2020 registration fee and operated with blind faith, that our child had a spot in school next year. You have taken our opportunity to do our best as parents.

To be clear, you are welcome to do as you see fit with your institution. That is your call and you need to do what’s best long term. But if you afforded us with the appropriate amount of time to react, my response (and hopefully others expressing their thoughts in this forum) would only be based in disappointment and sadness and would lack the anger that a lot of us currently feel. Now we (parents) are scrambling to make phone calls, book tours, fill out applications, pay multiple application fees (normal & late), prepay a month tuition to a new school (as this is a requirement that a lot have), and ultimately make a rushed decision on where to send our kids. Thank you for offering to make phone calls on our behalf to other schools. This doesn’t take away the worry when we go to sleep each night hoping that we will have our child in a good program next year or the work needed to fight for a spot.

Luke 6:31, “do to other as you would have them do to you”. Put yourself in our shoes and consider how you would feel right now.

Best of luck i

3/4/2019 04:10:03 pm

Dear Brian

Thank you for taking the time to write. It has been moving to read all of these posts and to see how much love and community has been generated over the years in our preschool and church community. It is also good to feel the strong emotion from people, that has been important for me to hear.

I appreciate your comments acknowledging it is a good idea to update our site, as you can probably see looking around, it needs it.

As someone in the building trade I appreciate your comments about the process. It is difficult, and one thing that is particularly difficult is making tough decisions about the space we are in. It was hard to determine what to do. I wish we had been able to communicate sooner, and you are right, this project has been in planning for some time, but we are only just at the point of planning out our specific timeline and realizing that it was overly ambitious. My worst fear was going ahead with work in the summer and having to tell families that the work was not done on time, and preschool would not reopen in September. It was hard to discern what to do, and we decided that clarity for parents and for staff was the best approach.

This puts you in the position of looking for a preschool, and I am sorry as I know it isn't easy. We have been calling around local preschools asking if they have places available. I have copied them here on our website:

http://www.transfig-sm.org/pre-school-closed-during-building-work.html

I hope this list might be helpful. We have been sharing a paper form with parents as they pick up children today and tomorrow also.

Please do come and celebrate the heritage of our school, we are planning to do so before the end of the year. Please also email me if you want to carry on this conversation - I am at matthew@transfig-sm.org and I appreciate hearing from everyone, and will be sharing feedback with our Church Vestry (board).

Kim

3/4/2019 10:31:02 pm

I will miss this school so much, and am saddened by how poorly the communication has been handled and believe there is a lot to learn and room for improvement. I wish the best of luck to the teachers who have made a huge impact on my child

3/5/2019 09:39:11 am

Dear Kim: Thank you for your feedback. Please know that the church has made every effort to go above and beyond in providing for its teachers. I'm so glad you have had a good experience! God Bless. --Sarah

3/5/2019 09:38:07 am

Ruby

3/5/2019 12:26:06 pm

Sarah, While I appreciate you saying the same thing to every comment, I still am unaware of how the church has 'made every effort to go above and beyond in providing for its teachers.' They were fired, their jobs were not held although they are able to reapply which is insulting after everything they have done, and the timeline was moved up an entire year so they have no time to plan. What am I missing?

3/5/2019 12:33:59 pm

Hi Ruby, You are missing a lot, and unfortunately we cannot talk about it. We are responding to each person as much as we can. I see your posts everywhere on social media (which I'm on for work). Do you want to go in and talk with Father Matthew? How can we help?

3/5/2019 12:41:53 pm

The only thing I am missing is what you are doing for the teachers to "go above and beyond.'

3/5/2019 12:52:56 pm

Hi again, Ruby. We cannot talk about that, I'm sorry. It's out of respect for their privacy. I'm sure Rev. Matthew would enjoy talking with you!

The Rector's Blog: Unfinished

Transfiguration Preschool temporary closure

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