Language instruction at CMI in the upper elementary grades

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a few CMI parents and they all seem very nice. They seem to do everything together - and a bit on the crunchy side. But nice.

Definitely clubby, but in an icky exlclusive way. If you're not in, you're not "in".

Maybe you are giving off a nasty vibe and other parents don't want to deal with your drama?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a few CMI parents and they all seem very nice. They seem to do everything together - and a bit on the crunchy side. But nice.

Definitely clubby, but in an icky exlclusive way. If you're not in, you're not "in".

Maybe you are giving off a nasty vibe and other parents don't want to deal with your drama?

PP, this poster is a troll. Not a CMI parent. She's hungry. Please don't feed her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a few CMI parents and they all seem very nice. They seem to do everything together - and a bit on the crunchy side. But nice.

Definitely clubby, but in an icky exlclusive way. If you're not in, you're not "in".

OMG! Clubby and exclusive? Possibly the first time I've ever been called that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IB Middle Years and IB Diploma program require 2 languages: http://www.ibo.org/programmes/middle-years-programme/curriculum/language-acquisition/

CM is not, and never will be, an IB school.

"International Primary Curriculum" is NOT IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why two different languages, that's bizarre. Have parents choose one and stick with it throughout the years at the school.

CMI parent here. I'm happy for my child to get the exposure then choose for herself what language she is interested in studying in depth.

I love PP's statement because it reminded me of one of my favorite 30 Rock quotes:

Milton: By the way, we have a tradition in my family where we let the child name itself.
Avery: Oh, yeah, that's hippie nonsense.
Jack: Absolutely not.
Milton: Well, suit yourself, but my son Spider-Man turned out just fine.

[Anonymous]

Ha - Spider Man! Really - you either have to embrace the CMI philosophy and love it or go to another school. It's not right for everyone. But, if your child has special needs they will get SO much more support and such better services than almost any other school in the city.

[Anonymous]

In my view, it's a good place for children with special needs, but mainly for reasons that are not academic.
You don't have to love the place, as you can sense from these threads, you'll find a lot
of upbeat defensive parents at CMI, who aren't helping the cause that much. The school is pretty new
and, I think, needs a stronger focus on teaching core skills, the shaky test scores are probably
here to stay unless CMI improves its teaching in reading and math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my view, it's a good place for children with special needs, but mainly for reasons that are not academic.
You don't have to love the place, as you can sense from these threads, you'll find a lot
of upbeat defensive parents at CMI, who aren't helping the cause that much. The school is pretty new
and, I think, needs a stronger focus on teaching core skills, the shaky test scores are probably
here to stay unless CMI improves its teaching in reading and math.

I didn't get the sense that special needs kids are the focus of the school and I wouldn't be surprised if fewer parents of SN Kids specifically seek the school out for that purpose. The principal made no mention of that as a focus, it was all about IYP curriculum etc. I would guess at the school continues to skew more high SES every year, the diversity in race and special needs will also likely drop but the scores will go up.

[Anonymous]

The PP knows very little about the school. What is IYP? PP probably
meant IPC (International Primary Curriculum) Special needs is a focus and special needs
funding enables the small classes seen at CMI, signed CMI parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The PP knows very little about the school. What is IYP? PP probably
meant IPC (International Primary Curriculum) Special needs is a focus and special needs
funding enables the small classes seen at CMI, signed CMI parent.

I attended the open house and there was no mention of any focus of special needs from teachers, principal or other parents. That may have been the founders mission but of the dozen or so families I know at the school or hoping to attend absolutely none of them are there for the SN. I think the school is evolving. Other than small classes I don't know if they do anything all that different from any other school implementing IEPs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP knows very little about the school. What is IYP? PP probably
meant IPC (International Primary Curriculum) Special needs is a focus and special needs
funding enables the small classes seen at CMI, signed CMI parent.

I attended the open house and there was no mention of any focus of special needs from teachers, principal or other parents. That may have been the founders mission but of the dozen or so families I know at the school or hoping to attend absolutely none of them are there for the SN. I think the school is evolving. Other than small classes I don't know if they do anything all that different from any other school implementing IEPs

Oh you have no idea what you are talking about! They go above and beyond what other similarly situated charters do in the way of evaluation etc. and implementation of IEP. The other thing to remember is that many parents of two, three and four year olds have no idea whether their children will have challenges. Our DC's challenges did not become apparent until kindergarten. Make sure you understand what "special needs" actually are. A child with sensory needs may be considered special needs as well as children with reading disabilities. They may excel perfectly in other areas and the "special need" may not be apparent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my view, it's a good place for children with special needs, but mainly for reasons that are not academic.
You don't have to love the place, as you can sense from these threads, you'll find a lot
of upbeat defensive parents at CMI, who aren't helping the cause that much. The school is pretty new
and, I think, needs a stronger focus on teaching core skills, the shaky test scores are probably
here to stay unless CMI improves its teaching in reading and math.

I didn't get the sense that special needs kids are the focus of the school and I wouldn't be surprised if fewer parents of SN Kids specifically seek the school out for that purpose. The principal made no mention of that as a focus, it was all about IYP curriculum etc. I would guess at the school continues to skew more high SES every year, the diversity in race and special needs will also likely drop but the scores will go up.

YOU may not, but every educated parent with a child on the autism spectrum knows the name Greenspan. (School founder). It's designed to serve students with special needs. Happily, those same techniques are beneficial to all children. By older ES and especially MS, they may not serve the academically higher-achieving students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP knows very little about the school. What is IYP? PP probably
meant IPC (International Primary Curriculum) Special needs is a focus and special needs
funding enables the small classes seen at CMI, signed CMI parent.

I attended the open house and there was no mention of any focus of special needs from teachers, principal or other parents. That may have been the founders mission but of the dozen or so families I know at the school or hoping to attend absolutely none of them are there for the SN. I think the school is evolving. Other than small classes I don't know if they do anything all that different from any other school implementing IEPs

Oh you have no idea what you are talking about! They go above and beyond what other similarly situated charters do in the way of evaluation etc. and implementation of IEP. The other thing to remember is that many parents of two, three and four year olds have no idea whether their children will have challenges. Our DC's challenges did not become apparent until kindergarten. Make sure you understand what "special needs" actually are. A child with sensory needs may be considered special needs as well as children with reading disabilities. They may excel perfectly in other areas and the "special need" may not be apparent.

Curious how you can compare CMI and how they deal with special needs to other "similarly situated charters", do you have experience or are you just assuming? CMI does have many teachers with little to no experience, don't they? Anyway, I just want to know how you're able to say that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP knows very little about the school. What is IYP? PP probably
meant IPC (International Primary Curriculum) Special needs is a focus and special needs
funding enables the small classes seen at CMI, signed CMI parent.

I attended the open house and there was no mention of any focus of special needs from teachers, principal or other parents. That may have been the founders mission but of the dozen or so families I know at the school or hoping to attend absolutely none of them are there for the SN. I think the school is evolving. Other than small classes I don't know if they do anything all that different from any other school implementing IEPs

Oh you have no idea what you are talking about! They go above and beyond what other similarly situated charters do in the way of evaluation etc. and implementation of IEP. The other thing to remember is that many parents of two, three and four year olds have no idea whether their children will have challenges. Our DC's challenges did not become apparent until kindergarten. Make sure you understand what "special needs" actually are. A child with sensory needs may be considered special needs as well as children with reading disabilities. They may excel perfectly in other areas and the "special need" may not be apparent.

Curious how you can compare CMI and how they deal with special needs to other "similarly situated charters", do you have experience or are you just assuming? CMI does have many teachers with little to no experience, don't they? Anyway, I just want to know how you're able to say that?

+1. How do you know that CMI is better with SNs than say Bridges or Yu Ying?

[Anonymous]

New poster.

I won't argue CMI is better for special needs - both CMI and Bridges have baked in inclusion practices from the beginning.

This essay (from one of CMI's leaders) discusses what they believe makes their inclusion approach unique. http://specialedcoop.org/coop/whats-new/unique-inclusive-practices-at-creative-minds-international-public-charter-school-cmi/