I had to laugh when I found the consumer complaintss on this website about the Pingry School.
A member of my family tells a very funny story about the hiring practices of the "prestigious" Pingry School. Years ago she went over to Pingry to be
interviewed about a summer school teaching position. It was a summer job teaching fourth grade math to kids who had flunked, or barely passed, their fourth grade math course at Pingry.
The headmaster said to the young teacher, "Oh, don't worry so much about teaching them math. It doesn't really matter if they improve all that much in math or not. Some of them just aren't math geniuses and never will be. What matters to us is that you make absolutely certain that their HANDWRITING improves."
"Their handwriting?" My relative gasped. "Why should I neglect to improve their math skills, if they're spending their summer vacation in a summer school math class, in favor of working on their penmanship? What does penmanship have to do with math?"
"Nothing, " laughed the jocular headmaster. "Absolutely nothing! But the kids" parents pay a lot of money for them to go to Pingry. When the parents
pay, they like to see evidence of an improvement. Handwriting is something the parents can actually see. So, you just keep the kids busy and make them work extra hard on their penmanship, and the parents will see it improve, and be pleased. Then they'll think they're getting their money's worth and all's right with the world."
This, from the headmaster of a school whose motto is, "Maxima Reverentia Pueris Debetur, " which is the Latin equivalent of, "Maximum respect is due
to the students!"
Maximum RESPECT?
"You'll need to find someone else for this position, " my relative said. "I won't be taking this unethical job."
All things being equal, I was totally not surprised to find consumer complaintss on this site about Pingry. I'm only surprised that it took so long for somebody to start blowing the whistle.
Maxima Reverentia THIS, Pingry!
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