Highly regarded charter schools - name them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, that thread is hilarious! (Still want to know what the favorites are - any help?)

Perennial favorites seem to be:

LAMB
YY
MV
Stokes
Lee Montessori
Inspired Teaching
Two Rivers - both campuses
Washington Latin

However, each of these has a cadre of detractors and the favorites shift from year to year. With a couple of exceptions, these are the schools with the highest percentage of white students / lowest percentage of at-risk kids.

I would add Creative Minds.

signed,
CMI parent

That place is a sinking ship, key leadership is heading out the door.

What does this mean? Is there actually reality to this comment or a troll?

A couple positions were announced to leave today- the head of school culture and the middle school director. My kid is in an early grade and I don't feel like that will affect me, but we will see.

FWIW, we love the school and are so glad to be there. I'm not sure how we will feel when it gets to late elementary/middle school time for our kids, but for now, we couldn't ask for a better school. My kid had some special needs and the school has been beyond supportive (I.e. Suggesting extra in-school therapies and then implementing those suggestions). The staff is really loving and teaches to the individual kid.

Isn't the middle school director the much lauded Garrison principal? Oif. Middle school options for those of us EOTP are depressing.

I have heard mixed reviews from Garrison parents. But in my family's experience at CMI, we are close with a middle school teacher there and this teacher believed that he was nothing but a great asset and supporter of the staff.

Leaving after one month? Wow.

I take it as sign of things to come that a lot of founding families left after last year. The 2nd Grade and 4th Grade specifically seemed to have had large turnover.

Unfortunately I think you are correct. The old middle school director departed in June, now this? Two middle school directors leaving in the span of 4 months? I think the leadership is in over their heads. I would not be surprised to see more departures throughout the school year.

[Anonymous]

They really shouldn't have expanded to middle school. They had a pretty good thing going with ECE and elementary.

Middle school is a whole other ball game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They really shouldn't have expanded to middle school. They had a pretty good thing going with ECE and elementary.

Middle school is a whole other ball game.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really shouldn't have expanded to middle school. They had a pretty good thing going with ECE and elementary.

Middle school is a whole other ball game.

+1

as long as it doesn't impact the elementary, no harm done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really shouldn't have expanded to middle school. They had a pretty good thing going with ECE and elementary.

Middle school is a whole other ball game.

+1

CMI parent, agreed. They expanded to quickly to pay for the building (like MV) changed the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, that thread is hilarious! (Still want to know what the favorites are - any help?)

Perennial favorites seem to be:

LAMB
YY
MV
Stokes
Lee Montessori
Inspired Teaching
Two Rivers - both campuses
Washington Latin

However, each of these has a cadre of detractors and the favorites shift from year to year. With a couple of exceptions, these are the schools with the highest percentage of white students / lowest percentage of at-risk kids.

I would add Creative Minds.

signed,
CMI parent

That place is a sinking ship, key leadership is heading out the door.

What does this mean? Is there actually reality to this comment or a troll?

A couple positions were announced to leave today- the head of school culture and the middle school director. My kid is in an early grade and I don't feel like that will affect me, but we will see.

FWIW, we love the school and are so glad to be there. I'm not sure how we will feel when it gets to late elementary/middle school time for our kids, but for now, we couldn't ask for a better school. My kid had some special needs and the school has been beyond supportive (I.e. Suggesting extra in-school therapies and then implementing those suggestions). The staff is really loving and teaches to the individual kid.

Isn't the middle school director the much lauded Garrison principal? Oif. Middle school options for those of us EOTP are depressing.

I have heard mixed reviews from Garrison parents. But in my family's experience at CMI, we are close with a middle school teacher there and this teacher believed that he was nothing but a great asset and supporter of the staff.

Leaving after one month? Wow.

I take it as sign of things to come that a lot of founding families left after last year. The 2nd Grade and 4th Grade specifically seemed to have had large turnover.

Charter drama. You parents are far too involved. Step back. Scott Pearson and PCSB know what they're doing (not that they have any public accountability).

They would have forgotten about CMI had a CMI parent not been on the parent leadership board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really shouldn't have expanded to middle school. They had a pretty good thing going with ECE and elementary.

Middle school is a whole other ball game.

+1

as long as it doesn't impact the elementary, no harm done.

Plenty of harm done by having poor performing upper grades..

Low PARCC scores and student retention rates are important elements of the PCSB Tier rating.

Tier ratings may not mean much to ECE parents, but it hurts schools financially. Private donors have been intrigued by CMI's model, but won't invest if the results aren't there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really shouldn't have expanded to middle school. They had a pretty good thing going with ECE and elementary.

Middle school is a whole other ball game.

+1

as long as it doesn't impact the elementary, no harm done.

Plenty of harm done by having poor performing upper grades..

Low PARCC scores and student retention rates are important elements of the PCSB Tier rating.

Tier ratings may not mean much to ECE parents, but it hurts schools financially. Private donors have been intrigued by CMI's model, but won't invest if the results aren't there.

Or if the leaders at the top don't figure out how to retain talent... look at the reviews from this school year.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Creative-Minds-International-PCS-Reviews-E665562.htm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really shouldn't have expanded to middle school. They had a pretty good thing going with ECE and elementary.

Middle school is a whole other ball game.

+1

as long as it doesn't impact the elementary, no harm done.

Plenty of harm done by having poor performing upper grades..

Low PARCC scores and student retention rates are important elements of the PCSB Tier rating.

Tier ratings may not mean much to ECE parents, but it hurts schools financially. Private donors have been intrigued by CMI's model, but won't invest if the results aren't there.

I thought PCSB tier ratings went away and ther will be new ratings this year, citywide?

[Anonymous]

The CMI model is to pay teachers less, which is they way they maintain small class sizes. Until that changes, staff retention will always be an issue.

For similar (PK3-8 schools), here's the most recent available (15-16 report) teacher salary data from http://www.dcpcsb.org/report/evaluating/charter-school-annual-reports:

CMI:
Minimum teacher salary: $42,000
Maximum teacher salary: $56,500
Average teacher salary: $46,700

Two Rivers:
Minimum teacher salary: $53,000
Maximum teacher salary: $80,000
Average teacher salary: $66,000

ITS:
Minimum teacher salary: $42,000
Maximum teacher salary: $88,000
Average teacher salary: $63,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really shouldn't have expanded to middle school. They had a pretty good thing going with ECE and elementary.

Middle school is a whole other ball game.

+1

as long as it doesn't impact the elementary, no harm done.

Plenty of harm done by having poor performing upper grades..

Low PARCC scores and student retention rates are important elements of the PCSB Tier rating.

Tier ratings may not mean much to ECE parents, but it hurts schools financially. Private donors have been intrigued by CMI's model, but won't invest if the results aren't there.

I thought PCSB tier ratings went away and there will be new ratings this year, citywide?

The inputs will be essentially the same in the new system; it's a much bigger change for DCPS than charters. Rather than 1, 2, 3 there will now be 5 levels and DCPS and charters will be compared.

The challenges CMI is having with test scores (even controlling for students with SN) and retention won't go away.

[Anonymous]

I think a little perspective on CMI's test scores would be helpful.

When CMI started, the current 5th-7th grades had only one class each with 13-15 kids. 7th grade expanded last year to add a second class and 5th and 6th grades added a second class this year. Class sizes also increased at CMI last year to 20 kids per class. Therefore, the majority of 5th-7th graders are brand new to CMI. I wouldn't really expect great test scores under those circumstances.

For me, it's the current 3rd and 4th graders who will provide a better picture of how things are going at CMI. These are the first grades that started in ECE and the first grades that started with two classes each. 3rd grade will test for the first time this year so we'll see how that goes, but last year's 3rd grade (current 4th grade) did pretty well on the PARCC. Looking at the combined Math and ELA scores for 3rd grade charters, only three charters (all KIPPs) scored better than CMI. There's a lot of chatter on this board about CMI's low test scores, but if last year is any indication, scores are on the upswing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really shouldn't have expanded to middle school. They had a pretty good thing going with ECE and elementary.

Middle school is a whole other ball game.

+1

as long as it doesn't impact the elementary, no harm done.

Plenty of harm done by having poor performing upper grades..

Low PARCC scores and student retention rates are important elements of the PCSB Tier rating.

Tier ratings may not mean much to ECE parents, but it hurts schools financially. Private donors have been intrigued by CMI's model, but won't invest if the results aren't there.

I thought PCSB tier ratings went away and there will be new ratings this year, citywide?

The inputs will be essentially the same in the new system; it's a much bigger change for DCPS than charters. Rather than 1, 2, 3 there will now be 5 levels and DCPS and charters will be compared.

The challenges CMI is having with test scores (even controlling for students with SN) and retention won't go away.

I predict the data will show that "HRCSs" are no better than middling DCPS.

I also predict people will ignore that data and focus on whiteness.

[Anonymous]

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They really shouldn't have expanded to middle school. They had a pretty good thing going with ECE and elementary.

Middle school is a whole other ball game.

+1

as long as it doesn't impact the elementary, no harm done.

Plenty of harm done by having poor performing upper grades..

Low PARCC scores and student retention rates are important elements of the PCSB Tier rating.

Tier ratings may not mean much to ECE parents, but it hurts schools financially. Private donors have been intrigued by CMI's model, but won't invest if the results aren't there.

Or if the leaders at the top don't figure out how to retain talent... look at the reviews from this school year.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Creative-Minds-International-PCS-Reviews-E665562.htm

Yikes! That is really bad. I can attest to the fact that one fantastic teacher was let go supposedly because the Head of School did not like the discipline teacher instilled in the (often out of control) kids and parents loved this teacher.