Creative Minds or Stokes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

You got 3 kids into Creative Minds in one year?? How is that even possible?

Same PP, meaning, yes I know if you get one child in, sibs rise to the top of the waitlist for their grade (unless there's an earlier admitted sib ahead of them), but how does one family manage 3 spots even with that process at a school that I thought had so very few spots??

[Anonymous]

Not the poster with 3 kids at CMI, but it's possible when you're talking about kids in older grades. The most difficult years to get in are PS through K. CMI now goes through 4th grade. So, if you have 2 kids in 1-4 and maybe one little one, the odds of getting them all in would increase.

[Anonymous]

I'd be interested to hear which grades specifically. Still seems...I believe it happened, just hard to imagine how.

[Anonymous]

PP with the three kids. Another reason not to put too much stock into everything you read on this listserv. Yes, my experience is that it is much easier to get children into later grades --none of mine were competing for preschool slots but for first and third grades. As far as I am concerned, the more kids, the greater the odds. I went into this believing it would work out somehow. I also believe it's best to put the schools you really want your kid(s) to attend at the top of the list -- and keep in touch with those schools after the initial lottery results are posted. My kids were all eventually also offered slots at MV (my first choice in DC lottery) and Marie Reed. Still I would say that lotteries are not for the faint-hearted as I was faced with very nearly having to send my twins to different schools or move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be interested to hear which grades specifically. Still seems...I believe it happened, just hard to imagine how.

No it's not, with the older grades at schools like MV, CMI, ITS it is a lot easier to get into then you think.

[Anonymous]

PP with three kids, if MV was your top choice and you got all three in, what made you go to CMI?

[Anonymous]

Her children were strongly against immersion. Re-read her post.

[Anonymous]

Not PP but also got into MV and CMI and chose CMI. I preferred the smaller class sizes, inclusion of arts and focus on the whole child. MV is a huge school to me, with four classes of 22-24 per grade. We do speak another language at home so if that were not the case it Might have made the decision harder. MV is a great school too based on my friends' accounts c

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP with three kids, if MV was your top choice and you got all three in, what made you go to CMI?

Commute and special needs of one child that could be accommodated at CMI was the deciding factor. Finding out more about Creative Minds international curriculum, arts and music and advanced Spanish class made the decision easier to make.

[Anonymous]

I choose CMI because I loved the idea of taking Spanish and Chinese for my child. The small class sizes, the music, drama and arts program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What two weird schools to put against each other. Normally Stokes and CMI are not ones you see parents debating. Interesting.

OP here. These schools work for our family commute-wise.

Not OP, and these are our 2 top choices. Third and basically last is our in-bound Title 1 immersion DCPS. Stokes because before having a second child, I was committed to driving across town to a private preschool for pricey French immersion, which never happened (commute time and $$$ look very different with two DC), and because quality food is extremely important to me. CMI because I can see its new location from my house, it has a great reputation and its programs sounds great. But ultimately none of that matters because I am realistic on our second lottery year that there are no miracle and we will be matched or called off the waitlist at our in-boundary DCPS. I'm OK with that. Spanish immersion instead of Stokes' French, neighbor classmates bonding instead of CMI's massive green space. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Bump.

[Anonymous]

Aw I wish I had seen this sooner. I am sorry that people had a negative impression of Golnar. I think her shyness can sometimes come across the wrong way in public situations. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and decisions about open houses. We CMI parents are just pointing out that first impressions can be deceiving, and that she is a very lovely person and excellent administrator.

I am outing myself with this anecdote, but feel it's necessary so people don't get the wrong idea about her. One morning my child was having a very tough time saying good bye to me and going into the classroom. Several of us (teachers and me) were trying to get DC inside with no success. Golnar happened to walk by and asked if DC would like to hang out in her office and color. DC excitedly said yes. A short time later, at work, I received a cute message from Golnar with a photo of DC coloring in the principal's office and a note saying that 10-15 minutes after I left, dc easily transitioned into class. I didn't know Golnar very well at the time, but became a huge fan. She is GREAT with kids and cares so much about them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aw I wish I had seen this sooner. I am sorry that people had a negative impression of Golnar. I think her shyness can sometimes come across the wrong way in public situations. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and decisions about open houses. We CMI parents are just pointing out that first impressions can be deceiving, and that she is a very lovely person and excellent administrator.

I am outing myself with this anecdote, but feel it's necessary so people don't get the wrong idea about her. One morning my child was having a very tough time saying good bye to me and going into the classroom. Several of us (teachers and me) were trying to get DC inside with no success. Golnar happened to walk by and asked if DC would like to hang out in her office and color. DC excitedly said yes. A short time later, at work, I received a cute message from Golnar with a photo of DC coloring in the principal's office and a note saying that 10-15 minutes after I left, dc easily transitioned into class. I didn't know Golnar very well at the time, but became a huge fan. She is GREAT with kids and cares so much about them!

Thank you for providing this! Sometimes we forget that we're talking about real people on DCUM. Such a cute story!

[Anonymous]

CMI parent here, thanks PP for sharing your personal story.