By Anyonymous Teacher
Dear Lake Forest,
We must advocate for the children in our community. It is not a secret in the Lake Forest community that Cherokee has serious behavior problems, and the district administrators are doing nothing about them.
The safety of your children and the safety of the staff are at risk. Many staff members have brought this to the attention of the school principal, Kate Cavanaugh, numerous times to no avail.
Worse, Dr. Cavanaugh recommended 'de-escalation training' for the staff.
What has that meant in practice?
- There are no consequences for students who destroy a classroom or threaten a staff member with scissors.
- Zero accountability for the students who cause undue stress and strain for the other 18 class members, a few of them who cry, cover their ears during the chaos, and beg to 'go home.'
- There are no consequences when the classroom is evacuated multiple times during the school day, only to allow the same child BACK INTO THE CLASSROOM mere minutes after throwing chairs at staff and students.
The icing on the cake? Kate Cavanaugh and Dr. Montgomery explicitly tell staff members not to tell parents lest they face firing!
Dr. Montgomery even took time out of his day to hold an all-staff meeting at Cherokee, where he and Dr. McHugh sat down and, in the tone of a demeaning and disappointed father, reprimanded the nearly all-female staff as "toxic." It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my entire career.
Parents, PLEASE demand transparency and accountability from Cherokee administrators and Dr. Montgomery. Your children deserve a safe and respectful learning environment, and the current situation at Cherokee School in Lake Forest is anything but that.
PLEASE call or email the principal and DEMAND to know precisely what is happening with behaviors and what is being done about them.
Again, the safety of your children is at stake. It is not a matter of if but when.
Thank you for hearing our concerns.
- Anonymous Teacher
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