Creative Minds or Stokes?
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Anonymous
I am poster 17:05 and I am AA. Our DC has been at CMI since it's inception and I think you are sadly misjudging a hardworking woman who has put her heart and soul into this school and is all about being inclusive. |
Anonymous
Yes I'm aware of that. I don't think you're following the conversation - the "I wonder if it would be different if she was blond" poster doesn't understand that getting a bad feel from her at open houses is not about her NOT being blond. |
Anonymous
That's great that that it your experience. Unfortunately, all those who are not yet enrolled in a school have to go on when making those precious 12 choices are open houses, school expos, and any other contact directly with the school. And for me and the parents I spoke to, that's how she came off. I'm quite sure in my work I've rubbed people the wrong way at some point on a first mtg. It may not reflect who I really am, but it matters and I can't be mad at someone else's reaction. (Not saying you're mad; speaking to the "Its mean to her" crowd") |
Anonymous
Are people really choosing a school based on a 5 minute conversation with a person who has to speak to literally several hundred people that day? All asking the same questions which can easily be found on the website on DCUM? That seems weird to me. |
Anonymous
I definitely base my picks primarily on what I see at open houses, so I don't think that that's unusual. I also went to a CMI open house and found the principal to be off-putting. It's not on our list. I think it's great that so many current families like it and that the school gets lots of applications from people who are excited about the school; my family's priorities are different. CMI and a few other popular charters are not on our list based on what we saw at the open house. |
Anonymous
I totally agree, and will add that no one is saying they had a 5 min conversation with the Principal and that's all they're judging on. I had a few interactions, 2 at the open house, one at another event, and there were other "impressions" that made CMI not a choice for us either. That said, I join the previous poster in being glad it's working for families who are there. For me, Stokes would be a far far better choice if I was choosing between the two, which is what OP asked us to weigh in on. |
Anonymous
1. No open houses are only 5 min long 2. What other major source of info about the school are you saying should weigh as heavily as open houses? Most schools look good or great on paper; you're acting like there is some other much more obvious place/source that we should be gathering our information about what the schools are actually like? What are these other sources? |
Anonymous
| I would really encourage posters to speak with as many parents as possible about CMI. Prior to applying to CMI two years ago and last year, I heard bad things about the school from an AA family with an AA boy who pulled their kid out and enrolled him in private because of what they said was the treatment treatment he received at CMI. At the DC Schools fair I found the people at the booth to be extremely off-putting. There were clearly not interested in speaking with me. I now know those people were the secretary and some admin person. I then got into the whole discussion regarding how come there are no Black kids on the website. I applied to the school anyway because of the small classes, emphasis on the whole child, the Floortime Method and the arts and foreign languages. That and the international curriculum seemed like a good fit for my kid. I figured my kid wouldnt get in anyway, and they weren't in the common lottery, so whatever. Well, the kid did get in, and I quickly scurried to speak with parents, all of whom had great things to say about the school. We are there now and it has been a great experience. I met privately with Golnar before deciding to attend and asked her candid questions, about the treatment of diverse students, teacher retention, and a myriad of other things. I also gave Golnar the chance to discourage me from attending, by the way I asked questions and shared info about my child. She did just the opposite. It is a great school, I have found Golnar to be warm one on one and I highly recommend it. I am glad I took the chance and did not rely on the impressions I had from a variety of what I consider to be reliable sources. The only thing I don't like is the math curriculum. The secretary continues to be blah and not very interested in connecting, it seems (some parents told me she is like that with everyone), and that admin person smiles pleasantly whenever I (rarely) encounter her. Good luck! |
Anonymous
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1. No open houses are only 5 min long 2. What other major source of info about the school are you saying should weigh as heavily as open houses? Most schools look good or great on paper; you're acting like there is some other much more obvious place/source that we should be gathering our information about what the schools are actually like? What are these other sources? Parents at the school, people here, friends should be sources. The admin don't make the community, the parents do. |
Anonymous
I'm sure you mean well, so I'll check my incredulousness and just say this: most parents (including stay at home parents, but ESPECIALLY working out of the home parents) barely have time to even get to open houses for all the schools they are considering. It is just about impossible to expect that a parent trying to narrow their choice of 12 schools is not only going to go to open houses... research the commutes... research test scores... and research on DCUM for threads about the school and chances to get in... AND track down: parents at each school, "people here" (whatever that means - seriously, I have no idea what that means), and "friends" (whose friends? Pretty much goes without saying that any parent who knows other parents at a school will ask them their opinion). To say it shorter: most people don't get to 12 open houses, and we'd need to go to more than 12 to feel good about narrowing down the list to 12. Thinking you can find and engage parents at a school you know no one at is incredibly unrealistic and uninformed. |
Anonymous
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I would be happy to meet offline, in person or by phone with anyone who is interested in talking about CMI.
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Anonymous
| I don't know much about CMI. My friends have their kids at Stokes, their older kid speaks French and has been kicking ass at competiton chess so I have a good impression of the school. |
Anonymous
| My child goes to Stokes and loves it (and so do we). We have friends at CM who love it. Figure out your commute and your interest in immersion. |
Anonymous
| I am new to CMI this year with three children there. I did not go to the Open Houses -- only checked out the school when one of our children was offered a spot from the lottery. I had hoped to continue them in an immersion program, since they already had two years of Spanish classroom but my children all were expressing strong feelings against it. Think hard about whether it is you interested in immersion, or your child. Afterall, they are the ones going to school every day. Are they motivated to speak in another language? Do they have speech therapy or other needs? CMI is a great place to get any services your child might require. As far as the principal goes, I'm very impressed. She is a really serious and dedicated person whose primary focus is curriculum and the psychology of learning. This is the fifth school I've experienced as a parent, all of them good experiences, but this one is so far among the best -- for the vision of the leadership, organization, teaching, enthusiasm. |
Anonymous
You got 3 kids into Creative Minds in one year??  How is that even possible?
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