Creative Minds K-3?

[Anonymous]

Happy CMI parent here with kids in "upper grades."

For us, the school has done a great job of differentiating and ensuring challenging instruction. We have an appropriate amount of weekly homework, thoughtful projects, and weekly spelling tests, along with regular assessment in math and reading. While I believe the school needs to do better RE: teacher salaries - and it's my impression that's underway, if you dig into the teacher data, you also see that for lead classroom teachers (not aides, student support techs, or those leading arts/language/PE classes, 85% have masters degrees. We have been at the school since it's inception and have been pleased every year with the balance of developmentally appropriate rigor (Yes, there is IPC - for which the school is now accredited! - and there is also Common Core, which drives the standards being taught for ELA and Math.) and an instructional approach that is hands-on, and fun.

Also fair to say that it is not a year of performances. There are twice-a-year performances (Winter and Spring) for the arts classes and exit points throughout the year. But not every unit has a parents-invited exit point. Between reviewing homework, conferences, and academic work that comes home, I have a strong sense of the teaching and learning content and approach, apart from what I experience during an exit point.

My two cents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another CMI parent here with a kid in an upper grade. Congrats to you, OP. Your DC will love school! As far as academics are concerned, it has become more rigorous in recent years. Remember there is still Common Core, so all kids have to learn the same basic things. Fractions, multiplication, and division are taught in all schools...CMI is no different. My child is challenged and loves school. Your child will too!

What grade? My child is in 3rd and bored and when we look at what our friends are doing in their schools, CMI is way behind. Of course, this year has been difficult.

Hello friend! My child is in 3rd too, so we likely know one another well. We do supplement at home, but we'd be doing that wherever DC might attend. How can your child be bored with everything they're doing at school? Are they picking up on your parental angst? Do they overhear you complaining? None of the kids look bored when I've been in their classroom. This is elementary school after all. I think we all need to save some of this stress for middle school and high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids at CMI. I know 2 1st grade families in 1st are moving away (1 out of the country) and a 3rd is house hunting. I know a 3rd grade family bought a house in Maryland.

I am laughing at the comments that CMI doesn't place a priority on academics. That's so not true. There are so many type A parents at the school (including me) who are obsessed with this issue. We would not be here if the academics were not up to par.

Many of us feel incredibly lucky to be at this school. OP if you decide to come, welcome and I look forward to meeting you!

Ps I take leave from my job to attend school performances, or make the time up later, like most parents in the US. I am extremely fortunate that I can do so, but PP your snarky comment about parents making time for their kids was unnecessary.

Such the typical rich CMI parent. No, most parents in the US can't take leave from their jobs to attend performances or make up the time later. Nice bubble you live in.

Hi! Wow you sound like a happy person. . I work for the federal government and use my vacation leave. . I took huge pay cut but love that I have better hours and can take time off for my kids when I need to. I know I'm incredibly lucky, as some of my fellow parents could not take time off work for these school events, even though they wanted to be there. However, I see lots of different parents from all backgrounds at the performances and I love it. We have the best school community ???

[Anonymous]

Ha! This is pp. I guess the web site didn't recognize my emoticon and put question marks at the end instead! Lol!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another CMI parent here with a kid in an upper grade. Congrats to you, OP. Your DC will love school! As far as academics are concerned, it has become more rigorous in recent years. Remember there is still Common Core, so all kids have to learn the same basic things. Fractions, multiplication, and division are taught in all schools...CMI is no different. My child is challenged and loves school. Your child will too!

What grade? My child is in 3rd and bored and when we look at what our friends are doing in their schools, CMI is way behind. Of course, this year has been difficult.

Hello friend! My child is in 3rd too, so we likely know one another well. We do supplement at home, but we'd be doing that wherever DC might attend. How can your child be bored with everything they're doing at school? Are they picking up on your parental angst? Do they overhear you complaining? None of the kids look bored when I've been in their classroom. This is elementary school after all. I think we all need to save some of this stress for middle school and high school.

Hello to both of you! And to the top PP, I know who you are and cannot understand why you constantly put down your children's school on DCUM, and spread false information, yet continue to come back year after year. PS. Your children are lovely.

Also, I feel like posters are conflating different concepts when they talk about academics. CMI does follow common core, but in contrast to other schools, does not have a heavy homework program for early elementary and also has a strong focus on the arts. My DC complained about being bored in math at the beginning of the year, but after the kids were assessed was given more challenging work, and now at the end of 2nd grade is working on multiplication. The class has a lot of enthusiastic readers, and many of them have each read the ENTIRE set of Harry Potter books (although the teacher mentioned to me that the class has an unusually large size of advanced readers).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Happy CMI parent here.

I know families in 1st grade leaving and lots of families in 3rd and 5th leaving next year, some are taking younger siblings with them. I choose CMI because it was light on academics. Our prior school had homework for their 4-year olds and I knew it was a bad fit for our family. I bought into that idea that we focus too much on academics and not enough on being outside (CMI has a garden and great play space) and letting kids be kids.

Maybe my kids are bored in class? I never asked but they do seem to have lots of fun with their friends and teachers, which I care about. They like going to school. I wish there was less academics (CMI's weakness anyway) and a place to escape from a traditional school. CMI is never going to complete with the JKLM schools anyway on that level.

My only issue with CMI is the behavioral issues. I'm not sure how that became a part of CMI's culture, but I have seen behavioral issues get worse in various classes over the years, and whenever I bring them up to the administration, they ignore them. Kids are consistently being physically hurt (including requiring emergency vehicles) and they do not seem to have any system to stop it. There are no consequences and students literally learn that it is acceptable in that school. Again, I think the answer is less academics (CMI's weakness) and more activities where these kids can be outside, running around, getting out excess energy. I also noticed that the families that leave are the families whose kids do not have any behavioral issues, and that each year, new kids join and there seems to be more issues, not less. I am a very happy CMI parent, but if the behavioral issues do not improve this year, it will sadly be our last with CMI.

Agree. I expect behavioral issues in school. You put that many children in one place - there are bound to be issues. What I am surprised, is the extreme type of issues and the lack of follow up from the administration and the head of school. I understand that pushing and cursing are not cause for disciplinary action, but assault? Come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another CMI parent here with a kid in an upper grade. Congrats to you, OP. Your DC will love school! As far as academics are concerned, it has become more rigorous in recent years. Remember there is still Common Core, so all kids have to learn the same basic things. Fractions, multiplication, and division are taught in all schools...CMI is no different. My child is challenged and loves school. Your child will too!

What grade? My child is in 3rd and bored and when we look at what our friends are doing in their schools, CMI is way behind. Of course, this year has been difficult.

Why don't you leave? Everyone knows how you feel about CMI. Just GO already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happy CMI parent here.

I know families in 1st grade leaving and lots of families in 3rd and 5th leaving next year, some are taking younger siblings with them. I choose CMI because it was light on academics. Our prior school had homework for their 4-year olds and I knew it was a bad fit for our family. I bought into that idea that we focus too much on academics and not enough on being outside (CMI has a garden and great play space) and letting kids be kids.

Maybe my kids are bored in class? I never asked but they do seem to have lots of fun with their friends and teachers, which I care about. They like going to school. I wish there was less academics (CMI's weakness anyway) and a place to escape from a traditional school. CMI is never going to complete with the JKLM schools anyway on that level.

My only issue with CMI is the behavioral issues. I'm not sure how that became a part of CMI's culture, but I have seen behavioral issues get worse in various classes over the years, and whenever I bring them up to the administration, they ignore them. Kids are consistently being physically hurt (including requiring emergency vehicles) and they do not seem to have any system to stop it. There are no consequences and students literally learn that it is acceptable in that school. Again, I think the answer is less academics (CMI's weakness) and more activities where these kids can be outside, running around, getting out excess energy. I also noticed that the families that leave are the families whose kids do not have any behavioral issues, and that each year, new kids join and there seems to be more issues, not less. I am a very happy CMI parent, but if the behavioral issues do not improve this year, it will sadly be our last with CMI.

Agree. I expect behavioral issues in school. You put that many children in one place - there are bound to be issues. What I am surprised, is the extreme type of issues and the lack of follow up from the administration and the head of school. I understand that pushing and cursing are not cause for disciplinary action, but assault? Come on.

Are you certain that the school is ignoring these issues? Or are they declining to discuss with you out of respect for that student's privacy? Also, I would expect disciplinary issues to increase as the school moves to higher grades. Also, the upper grades currently have a higher % of special needs students.
If your DC is neurotypical and in one of those upper grades, I can sympathize with your frustration.

[Anonymous]

At what age does "declining to discuss because of privacy" become no longer ok.

When is it "it's just a kid" and no longer ok for that kid to punch my kid? When is no longer ok for a kid to touch my kid inappropriately?

I'm ok with not discussing it with me, as long as you can keep my child safe. If you can't, we are going to leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At what age does "declining to discuss because of privacy" become no longer ok.

When is it "it's just a kid" and no longer ok for that kid to punch my kid? When is no longer ok for a kid to touch my kid inappropriately?

I'm ok with not discussing it with me, as long as you can keep my child safe. If you can't, we are going to leave.

The drama is strong with this one. Your IB is calling you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At what age does "declining to discuss because of privacy" become no longer ok.

When is it "it's just a kid" and no longer ok for that kid to punch my kid? When is no longer ok for a kid to touch my kid inappropriately?

I'm ok with not discussing it with me, as long as you can keep my child safe. If you can't, we are going to leave.

NP.

I assume you know that FERPA, a federal law, precludes a school administrator from discussing other children's issues or grades or anything else with you. https://ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

But yes, your child certainly has the right to be safe. I hope it gets better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids at CMI. I know 2 1st grade families in 1st are moving away (1 out of the country) and a 3rd is house hunting. I know a 3rd grade family bought a house in Maryland.

I am laughing at the comments that CMI doesn't place a priority on academics. That's so not true. There are so many type A parents at the school (including me) who are obsessed with this issue. We would not be here if the academics were not up to par.

Many of us feel incredibly lucky to be at this school. OP if you decide to come, welcome and I look forward to meeting you!

Ps I take leave from my job to attend school performances, or make the time up later, like most parents in the US. I am extremely fortunate that I can do so, but PP your snarky comment about parents making time for their kids was unnecessary.

I'm happy to see this post. My son is entering CMI PK3 this year and I definitely feel lucky!! I look forward to meeting you. So far I've met with his teachers and they visited his current daycare to meet him this week. I feel as if I've won the real lottery with this school.

Btw-- I have a ridiculously busy job (like many in DC), and I plan to make it to as many school events as possible. I can't see how that is somehow a bad thing. Only on DCuM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At what age does "declining to discuss because of privacy" become no longer ok.

When is it "it's just a kid" and no longer ok for that kid to punch my kid? When is no longer ok for a kid to touch my kid inappropriately?

I'm ok with not discussing it with me, as long as you can keep my child safe. If you can't, we are going to leave.

I don't understand why parents don't sue? If my kid was assualted at school and the admins ignored it, you bet your ass I would call a lawyer and the police. I wouldn't even set foot in the pro cips
Office for a meeting about the incident without a low yet present. I know what a Custer fuck of protectionism dc schools are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At what age does "declining to discuss because of privacy" become no longer ok.

When is it "it's just a kid" and no longer ok for that kid to punch my kid? When is no longer ok for a kid to touch my kid inappropriately?

I'm ok with not discussing it with me, as long as you can keep my child safe. If you can't, we are going to leave.

The drama is strong with this one. Your IB is calling you.

Let me guess, your child is 1st grade or younger?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At what age does "declining to discuss because of privacy" become no longer ok.

When is it "it's just a kid" and no longer ok for that kid to punch my kid? When is no longer ok for a kid to touch my kid inappropriately?

I'm ok with not discussing it with me, as long as you can keep my child safe. If you can't, we are going to leave.

The drama is strong with this one. Your IB is calling you.

Let me guess, your child is 1st grade or younger?

No ma'am. 3rd grade.