Spirit of Knowledge Charter School


WORCESTER —  The founder of the city’s newest charter school has submitted her resignation, the second time she has parted ways with a school she created.

Julia Sigalovsky, executive director of the Spirit of Knowledge Charter School, submitted her resignation Friday, effective July 10, according to Richard Langevin, chairman of the school’s board of trustees. The resignation came just before the board was due to meet and discuss her evaluation, he said.

Parents said yesterday that the school had not lived up to its academic promises and that their children had felt bullied by staff. Shawn Yates of Worcester, who with his wife, Tess, leads the school’s Parent Action Team, said he hopes Ms. Sigalovsky’s resignation will be “a positive change.” The couple has not decided whether their daughters will return in the fall and will be looking for changes in how the school communicates and collaborates with families. He said the small class sizes, interactive learning and enrichments promised had not been fulfilled.

Maydee Morales of Worcester pulled her daughter out of the school before April vacation. “She was having anxiety attacks,” Ms. Morales said. “It wasn’t that the work was hard, because they can all do the work.” She said she had expected advanced curriculum and encouragement for her daughter to go to college, and instead found staff members skeptical of her daughter’s ability to get there.

“It was not tough love. They were not encouraging,” Ms. Morales said. “They actually put a lot of kids down.”

She and two other parents are writing a letter to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which granted the school its charter, to inform them of their concerns, which include mistreatment and safety issues...

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