Review how organizations interact with their external environment (as open systems and complex adaptive systems). How effective was Freeman-Brown as an open system at the time of the closure? How effective was Freeman-Brown as a complex adaptive system at the time of the closure?

Answer: Organizations with open systems exchange information and resources with their external environment. However, they manage to control these interactions by generating permeable boundaries which permit necessary exchange while being shielded from external disturbances. The interaction of the FBPS and the external environment as an open system during the closure of the Hampton and Culpeper campuses was poor and ineffective. The closure was considered abrupt to the families and the surrounding communities. The school denied intending to close following the leaked email, just to protect its administration from parents' outrage. The school lacked healthy exchange of information with its external environment.

Complex adaptive systems refer to dynamic systems which are capable of evolving with and adapt in a changing environment. The FBPS system was surrounded by a number of changes shortly before its closure. The external environment was experiencing financial crisis, intense competition from public schools that are independently operated and chartered. The school was unable to keep up or to adapt to changes that were taking place. They gave in to competition, losing most of their students to their chartered public schools competitors.