ITS v CMI waitlist decision
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Anonymous
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OP here. To answer 20:46, ITS's PS3 classes have 23 and 24 students, respectively. They also have three adults each (two teachers and an experienced assistant) and always seem perfectly organized and run when I'm there. Plus things happen in smaller groups, eg the art teacher takes the kids out for art class in three groups. So while in theory "small class size" does sound better, I think that experienced teachers can run larger classes fine.
To 21:09, thank you, that is helpful advice. I had sort of assumed the opposite - that "enrichment" is fine but not super important at ages 3-4 (and really more for the parents' interests), but that later in elementary school it could start to reflect what kids are really into. As we all know, it's so hard to imagine your kids at older ages, so it's helpful to have your perspective with older kids - thanks! |
Anonymous
Any movement OP? Good luck to you. 2 great schools. Location not too far from each other so I imagine commutes are similar. We are in older grade at ITS. PK3 teachers (well all teachers we've had) are out of this world. Quite literally the best teachers ever 
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Anonymous
| Thanks 13:43. We're still at #4, but definitely leaning toward staying. Any thoughts about afterschool enrichment at ITS? |
Anonymous
I would just talk to the Y about your concerns. Like mentioned up thread they actually did pretty well with enrichment before the move. Honestly, my DC does most of the enrichment via Stoddert soccer (teams on every grade K+ and PK in spring I think) and outside/weekends. We find that its cheaper and actually enriching when done on its own rather than 30-45 mins at school. My kid does theater, baseball, horseback riding, and swimming. Swimming and horseback riding is enriching enough that it's being done competitively. Of course this means mostly done on weekends but hey that's what our lives become after kids right?
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Anonymous
| I think the aftercare question is really reasonable. I have no experience at either school, but switched from a school where most kids had 2 working parents and were at aftercare, to a school with a lot of SAHMs and very few kids at aftercare. The aftercare program at the first was more robust and my sense was that it offered more for the older kids in terms of "enrichment," providing a win-win for working parents who would rather do some of those activities (violin lessons, for example) during aftercare than on the weekends. At our current school I know working parents work out carpools to take kids to enrichment activities outside the school but it is much more hassle, and requires carseats and a fairly flexible work schedule. Anyhow, everything else being equal, I would take the school with better aftercare. But first find out if, culturally, most of the kids at CMI do take advantage of these activities or, as your kids get older, you'll be pressured into finding ways to cart them to the "off-campus" after-school activities anyhow. |
Anonymous
| Thanks, 14:48. Do any CMI parents have thoughts on the issue of whether having "clubs," etc really fades in importance for kids as they move through elementary? |
Anonymous
I would have to disagree, with my fellow CMI parent (sorry!) but I think it also depends on the child. I know some of the more athletic kids do outside sports (however, we still do many of those as groups) some of the clubs like language, arts and music are still pretty popular. |
Anonymous
| Another CMI parent here...my 2nd grader is doing modern dance, Discovery, and drama after school this year. She did math club and cooking club last year and thoroughly enjoyed them. She was waitlisted for cooking club this year. Chinese club for the little ones is another favorite. Most of the kids we know do clubs and love them. She does soccer with the CMI team through Stoddert. |
Anonymous
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My second grader at CMI also does outside soccer through Stoddert, and this year is doing Drama and guitar. She was sadly shut out again from cooking club. I think the aftercare offerings are important because, for one thing, it is nice for the child to receive enrichment without the parent having to run them around to a bunch of classes outside of school. I actually have no time to run her around. She loves the clubs and looks forward with anticipation each year to what the new offerings are. I have to say, however, that she also loves the plain vanilla aftercare and is often distressed when I show up early to pick her up because she doesn't want to leave aftercare.
I would choose CMI over any public school JKLM, IT or otherwise, because of the small class size, arts and foreign language offerings. As children get older, their needs change and they become so different from each other in a way that is not as obvious when the kids are pre-K. It is in these later grades that, I believe, smaller class sizes are paramount. |
Anonymous
| No dog in this fight. With older children, the activities outside of school start around 6 PM, i.e. soccer, tennis, dance, so your kid still needs aftercare if you go this route. |
Anonymous
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From an outsider that is desperately on both WLs, here is my 2 cents. While CMI does have smaller classes, the adult ratio is the same, 8:1. I think they do this so they can afford to pay the tenured teachers a better salary. I can appreciate this especially if said teacher is experienced and can manage a classroom. I am very impressed with the tenure and experience of the average ITS teacher. Further, I think it's a testament that CMI hires so many residents from ITS.
That said, we still struggled with ranking CMI and ITS. Mostly due to the semi-mixed reviews we heard and read about older grades at ITS. However, ITS does have older students than CMI so there's no guarantees CMI won't endure growing pains with that. It was a very rough ranking, but we ultimately ranked ITS ahead of CMI. I will share that even though we plan to do aftercare, the club offerings were probably one of the last of 10 other things we considered. It looks like the income demographics match at both schools, I can see ITS offering clubs at a cost just like CMI. They are quite expensive for my blood so I wouldn't partake. Good luck. You are very lucky. |
Anonymous
That is SOOOOOOO not a thing. Seriously. You people make me sad. |
Anonymous
| I'm the previous post answering the HYP question. I too agree! I don't know anyone at CMI who talks like that. |
Anonymous
| OP here - I just want to thank everyone for the very helpful feedback! |
Anonymous
What did you decide? |