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As many of you know, I retired from owning my own school to have more time with family and take some stress out of my life. I am very happy teaching at a new school, about 40 minutes from my home, nice owners, nice students, nice parents, nice location. They have been in business about 10 years and had this one teacher with them for most of the time. She is very talented but was starting to slowly become more troublesome and high-maintenance, over-demanding, wanting things her own way, no matter what was best and going against their wishes. They hesitated to let her go, even though other staff members mentioned it might be a good idea. This past year she got very demanding and just plain weird and it came to a head when and she is gone. I cannot say she was fired or she quit, it was sort of a given at that point. She is now working for another school, not far. She used to run the competition team and did a good job, the owners giving her full reign and she ran it like it was her own without including them. They learned a lesson from this. They are quite happy with her gone, the kids are happy, as she was a gossip monger and would act unprofessional, many times. Now, competition season starts and she shows up at the first competition and sits right in the front row when the kids perform, sort of freaking them out. Now this is after other stuff, on line and with emails (by her) have gone on, bashing people, etc. She did not approach them and say, "I am sorry that all did not work out but I am here to watch you dance, support you and root you on," or even approach the owners and say, "I just want to watch the kids and support them." They would have gladly accepted and it would have been the adult, mature and professional way to do it. No, she sits down, says not a word and center front and watches. Some of the kids were intimidated and were crying and did not want to dance in front of her. Come the next competition, it happens again and one more competition, once again. That was this weekend. She came in at this comp and sat in the teacher's seats, got a wrist band from someone from another school whom she knows and does the same thing. This one is on the same level as the seats so she is right in their face. Once again upset kids. The teacher in charge of the team asked her a few times to please not do it and she says, "I can do whatever I want! It's my right!" She said that it is upsetting the kids and if she wants to watch, please sit in the back. I was so upset with it yesterday I went over and confronted her. I said, "If you cared for the kids you would do what it right," and of course she blew up at me, told me it was NONE of my business as I did not teach the team (they are in my other classes so I do teach many of them). I told her it was not about HER rights but about what was right and the competition should be a fun and exciting time for them and she is taking that away. If she had just sat in the back and then congarulated them later on, this would not be the case. This girl can be a bee-atch, too. When I confronted her I could see in her eyes that this was all about getting back at the owners, who honestly, did nothing but support her over the years when she had health and other issues and always backed her and she slaps them in the face. It is obvious that she is selfish, immature and could care less about the kids and more about her vendetta. She did not get her own way and now she is the angry 2-year old who did not get her way and is having her tantrum. They have one more competition and since she set up the schedule before she was gone, she knows where they will be and I am sure will show up again. I told the kids that they cannot control others, only their reaction and the best thing they can do is be a success to prove to this teacher that it is all about dance and they love dance, with their new teachers, (who, by the way, are more talented than their former teacher). I will not be there but next year I will be working with the team next season and will try to make sure she does not know what comps they will attend, but I am sure we will run into each other again and I am more concerned with getting the kids to get past it. We really can't control her and where she goes. The owner of the competition did try to get her to move but her friend lied and said that she was now on her staff so she had the right to sit there and how do you prove otherwise? I just would like your thoughts on this. This may just be a vent as I doubt that there is any solution that will work with this woman, other than contacting the Mafia, lol.