Dear Hillcrest Board of Trustees
It came to my attention that you sent out an email yesterday stating this:
We understand that there is a parent meeting being called tomorrow night by some families to discuss the organizational changes happening at Hillcrest, under the guise that the changes are going to be harmful to the school. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Personally I find that statement troubling in many ways and I want to use this opportunity to respond to it here in public:
Open Letter to Hillcrest Academy School, Temcula
Dear Hillcrest Parents
Like many of you I was surprised to learn that Maureen was leaving the school but then I was even more surprised about its aftermath. Soon the new school year will start and so I think the School, the board, PTSL and the parents should take this as an opportunity to “reboot” our relationship with our school of choice.
Having a head of school for 15 years maybe made us all a little bit complacent and we were all thinking that it will go on like that for another 15 years. But this all came to an abrupt end leaving many of us scrambling to get the school back on track. Currently we have a new head of school and the teachers get ready for the new school year. Even though there is still a lot of work that needs to be done the most important task, that our kids can go back to a fully functional school, is accomplished and we should breath a sign of relief.
In todays world where all the information is at our fingertips doesn’t mean we get all the information. Nobody, not even the board, knows everything and so we should be careful with an early judgement. From various discussion with people I have great respect for the work the board has done so far and there is a lot that needs to be done in the future. It doesn’t help our kids if the board resigns, is forced to resign or if the structure of the school is drastically changed. When we expect our kids to behave good at school and that they can discuss an issue in a civil manner then we must show them that we are a role model and that we can iron out our differences and implement changes in the same manner.
Now I want to take the opportunity here to thank the board of trustees, the teachers, all PTSL members and involved parents for all their hard work they already put up so far and that I am looking forward to a new and exciting school year. I will be getting more involved in the school than last year and the more parents get involved the better the school will become and so the eduction of our kids.
Cheers – Andreas Schaefer Sr.