I did hear that among the faculty that reportedly will not be returning to Cherubs this year are: the Production Manager, Dorm Director, and the Associate Directors.
After all the talk about the Director leaving and the concerns that raised, I reached out to NHSI and asked them if they could clarify the situation for me. Jennifer Avery, Director of NHSI, responded quickly and told me that the old director decided not to return this summer, so they did hire a new director, Ann Douglas. She is an actor, administrator and teacher of long-standing, and her bio is on the website. She did also say that no Northwestern faculty has left over this issue, though some of the summer faculty who have worked with the previous director for a long time decided to pursue other things. However, there are also a number of other faculty who have taken a few summers off who are returning to work with Cherubs. She said that because they hire working artists whose careers take them all over the country, some return and some don’t, depending on their schedules and current situations, and NHSI is always in the position of having to hire some new summer faculty.
The most important thing Ms. Avery said, though (and she stressed it in bold) is that there will be absolutely NO structural changes to the program this summer. The schedule and rigor will be the same, the quality of teaching and the things the students learn will be the same, and the pre-college experience will be the same.
She also said that they have had a record number of applicants to the program this summer, so she believes will make for an excellent Cherubs class of 2017, and they are looking forward to giving them an exceptional once in a lifetime experience as they have for the past 85 years. She said she is happy to answer any questions or address any concerns.
I hope this is helpful to those who are still trying to decide, or who are nervous about the situation.
Andrea
There are plenty of other precollege programs to apply to, and, of course, the deposit was due yesterday. I’m going to assume they hire great people to fill any openings, and my kid can’t wait to go and experience it.
I was typing while you posted that @GrantsMom – great info and thanks for looking into it and posting.