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Uncommon Schools Reviews
258 reviews
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Approve of CEO
Brett Peiser
115 Ratings
Pros
"The leadership and professional development" (in 44 reviews)
"Their mission is to close the achievement gap and ensure that every child graduates college" (in 11 reviews)
Cons
"The work-life balance/workload/length of school day is soul crushing" (in 51 reviews)
"Expect to put in long hours and a lot of work" (in 54 reviews)
Helpful (4)
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"Opperations team"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsI have been working at Uncommon Schools part-time
Pros
Forward thinking educators. Everyone in the school wants the scholars to succeed.
Cons
Expect to put in long hours and a lot of work.
Uncommon Schools 2018-08-21 10:07 PDTHelpful (3)
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"Teacher"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Uncommon Schools (More than 5 years)
Pros
Great students and schools are organizationally run very well
Cons
The school school hours are very long. A lot of extra responsibilities are expected of teachers.
Uncommon Schools 2018-12-10 17:45 PST![Uncommon Schools Logo]()
"Great mission and a place to grow"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsNeutral OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Uncommon Schools full-time (More than 5 years)
Pros
The newest hires do not have the same focus and commitment to the mission this is leading to a big culture shift and making uncommon less “uncommon”
Cons
Long hours and poor work life balance
Advice to Management
Put the recruitment focus back on mission aligned
Uncommon Schools 2018-12-18 14:29 PSTHelpful (2)
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"Hopefully you won’t have anything else going on in your life..."
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendApproves of CEOI worked at Uncommon Schools full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros
Working with students is rewarding.
Cons
Unnecessarily long hours. No work life balance. Lack of respect for staff.
Uncommon Schools 2018-12-20 08:31 PST![Uncommon Schools Logo]()
"Pros and Cons"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
No opinion of CEOI worked at Uncommon Schools full-time
Pros
Folks there really care deeply about students and student achievement.
Cons
Home Office culture was not a strong experience. Many interactions were transactional and I didn't feel connected to people working across a variety of functions.
Uncommon Schools 2018-11-26 14:10 PSTHelpful (5)
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"I do not feel valued"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookI have been working at Uncommon Schools full-time (Less than a year)
Pros
-Operations team runs the school with a lot of resources
-Diversity among Teaching staff
-Professional DevelopmentCons
-inflexibility in terms of teaching style and execution of lessons
-questionable discipline methods that teach compliance not habits
-an expectation to work 75 hours a week
-no work life balance
-proactively expressing concerns with leadership team is met with "we all work long hours" mentatility
-"We do it for the kids" is used as an excuse to over work teachers and feels abusive
-lack of diversity of leadership teamsAdvice to Management
Teachers are in the front of the classrooms everyday. Our concerns matter. Teaching isn't a performing art that can be manufactured. Uncommon needs to work on mutual accountability and providing a platform for teachers to share (and be heard) in a open and honest place. I feel silenced, frustrated and under valued. I am looking to leave before the year finishes. If Uncommon continues the Teacher retention will continue to drop even lower. Uncommon as it is isn't sustainable or healthy for anyone who works at my school. I love my students dearly but I can't continue to work for this employer. It feels like a punishment everyday.
Uncommon Schools 2018-12-13 13:22 PSTHelpful (3)
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"No work-life balance"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Uncommon Schools full-time
Pros
Opportunity to get your certification, the kids are great, the people you work with (other teachers) are great
Cons
There is no work life balance. The atmosphere is cultish. 12-15 hour days. If you express any kind of unhappiness they say you’re weak or not committed to the kids. It’s really difficult.
Advice to Management
Stop talking about having a family atmosphere and actually create one. Give your teachers more days off and support.
Uncommon Schools 2018-11-16 09:08 PST![Uncommon Schools Logo]()
"Associate Director"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
I worked at Uncommon Schools full-time
Pros
passionate and mission driven company
Cons
hard work and low pay job
Uncommon Schools 2018-10-09 10:57 PDTHelpful (1)
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"Get Better and Burnt Out Faster"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNeutral OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Uncommon Schools full-time
Pros
You can learn very quickly through Uncommon's PD cycles and teacher-mentor model. New teachers learn how to manage classrooms quickly and get tons of hands-on experience
Cons
Teachers get burnt out very quickly and are very overworked. This network struggles to retain veteran teachers because the work is not sustainable and the network does not hire enough staff regardless of this frequent feedback
Uncommon Schools 2018-10-18 17:29 PDTHelpful (1)
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"Ok"
StarStarStarStarStarI worked at Uncommon Schools full-time
Pros
Benefits, prepare the students
Great resultsCons
Drill sergeant
Long hours
Not enough respect for teacher from administrationUncommon Schools 2018-10-11 19:22 PDT
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