October 7, 2011
Community Harvest Charter School Board of Directors,
It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter of disappointment. I am disappointed in the many turns of events leading to the negative shift in the culture and leadership at Community Harvest Charter School.
My name is Ashanti Johnson and I taught dance as a part-time instructor at Community Harvest from September 2005 to February 2011. It was in February of this year that I rendered my two-week notice to vacate my position.
While there were many issues leading to my decision to leave my job at Community Harvest, the commute and clear changes in the student, faculty and staff community were at the top of that list. When the school moved to Sherman Oaks in 2008, I was called by Jackie Gichohi a few weeks before the first day of school. Mrs. Gichohi advised me that school would start in a few weeks and that we had temporarily moved to Sherman Oaks. She told me the school move would be a for one school-year and asked if I were willing and able to commit to teaching there this school year. Community Harvest had become family to me, so much more than a job, so I didn’t hesitate to say yes. A part-time job in the Valley would prove to be a hardship for my family, but I was committed to teaching Dance to my students.
The first year in Sherman Oaks was an example of a team trying their best to hold it together. We attempted to stay true to all that the school held in its vision- including activities and the growing of children into the next leaders in their communities. The children were tired and the teachers were looking forward to the fictitious move back to Los Angeles. Also, sadly, the active parental support began to fade. Where parents used to visit the campus to assist, volunteer and support the school vision; we began to only see parents for disciplinary conferences or if a child fell ill. Our culture was fading.
By the second year in Sherman Oaks it seemed for many faculty members that everything Community Harvest Charter School had built, was crumbling. Parents began transferring their children to other schools in startling numbers. It appeared the acceptance standards changed drastically, as many new students were disruptive, disrespectful and non-responsive to the order and culture outlined in the Community Harvest Charter School vision and mission statements.
My classroom had existed as a place of creativity and artistic education, but it later shifted into a holding tank for students. In 2009-2010, my average student count was 38 in a room large enough to properly educate 15 dance students. I was given students who were doing poorly in music, so they were shoved into dance class. Seniors were nudged to use my class as free time to complete their college prep-work, including college essay writing. The administration made it clear to me, dance education is not as important as keeping the children occupied. This is not why I teach dance.
For almost three years in Sherman Oaks, I did my part to grow my students artistically. The school was no longer supportive of my dance class or program, made clear to me by the manner in which students were placed into my classroom. Dozens of students who elected dance were not given it as a class, leaving me to wonder what the definition of elective had become. For three years, I wanted better for Community Harvest, but I finally realized that the current administration had a new vision- a new mission.
This new vision is not a positive change for the school, for the students or for a well-rounded education. It was difficult to leave so many of the students I’d taught through the years, but very easy to leave the place clearly drowning from poor management. What has happened to Community Harvest Charter School is, simply put, a shame.
Ashanti Johnson
Community Harvest Dance Instructor
2005-2011
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