Language instruction at CMI in the upper elementary grades

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

I know about Yu Ying, Mundo Verde, Bridges, DC Bilingual, Powell and two WOTP DCPS as well as two other charters that don't get much mention here because I have friends with children at those schools and we compare notes re: evaluation and implementation of IEP.

[Anonymous]

I just think there is a disconnect between what parents say the "founders mission" which was to focus on special needs thru inclusion and how the school markets itself now. They use a curriculum that apparently based on a British curriculum. Nothing wrong with either. If Sn kids are being helped that's great but that point was never brought up or touted as a selling point during the open house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Doubt it. The school is in such demand especially driven by the baby boom in the adjacent neighborhoods. We do not have a middle school
Option and we know McFarland isn't going to cut it either. The school will evolve with the kids and demands of the parents for rigor and advanced learning to match Basis etc.

[Anonymous]

Too soon to say McFarland isn't going to cut it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just think there is a disconnect between what parents say the "founders mission" which was to focus on special needs thru inclusion and how the school markets itself now. They use a curriculum that apparently based on a British curriculum. Nothing wrong with either. If Sn kids are being helped that's great but that point was never brought up or touted as a selling point during the open house.

Using the IPY curriculum and an inclusion model are not mutually exclusive.

Any school that has invested in a sensory room is going to attract parents of SN kids without saying a word in open houses. It is interesting that even without the ability to offer a SN preference (which they tried to do) 30% of CMI children have an IEP. As for rigor, many kids with special needs are also gifted (look up 2E) and need an advanced curriculum. The question is whether in such a small school they can differentiate to the degree that will be needed.

[Anonymous]

I went to the open house in December and they definitely mentioned the special need focus. There were quite a few parents asking questions about it during the tour and I thought the answers given were pretty good.

[Anonymous]

Our OT suggested the school as a good public option, which indicates to me that in the SN community the word is out about the school. We were fortunate enough to get in and have been quite pleased with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just think there is a disconnect between what parents say the "founders mission" which was to focus on special needs thru inclusion and how the school markets itself now. They use a curriculum that apparently based on a British curriculum. Nothing wrong with either. If Sn kids are being helped that's great but that point was never brought up or touted as a selling point during the open house.

Using the IPY curriculum and an inclusion model are not mutually exclusive.

Any school that has invested in a sensory room is going to attract parents of SN kids without saying a word in open houses. It is interesting that even without the ability to offer a SN preference (which they tried to do) 30% of CMI children have an IEP. As for rigor, many kids with special needs are also gifted (look up 2E) and need an advanced curriculum. The question is whether in such a small school they can differentiate to the degree that will be needed.

Well said. My child has an IEP at CMI but functions at a high level academically. I have been happy with the differentiation so far, as this was also a concern for me. My other child does not have an IEP, is not advanced academically at this time, but both children are challenged and happily working at their own pace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Doubt it. The school is in such demand especially driven by the baby boom in the adjacent neighborhoods. We do not have a middle school
Option and we know McFarland isn't going to cut it either. The school will evolve with the kids and demands of the parents for rigor and advanced learning to match Basis etc.

So in your opinion, CMI is an option but MacFarland isn't even though CMI's scores are not much higher than the future feeders to MacFarland...? And CMI's (citywide school) success is driven by the baby boom in the adjacent neighborhoods, but MacFarland's (neighborhood school) won't be?

What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

What are you missing? A bunch of black kids. Basically.

I think CMI and MacFarland both sound great.

Regarding CMI's high IEP population: I have to wonder if it isn't a big chicken and egg. Are they just really good at submitting the paperwork and getting the extra funding? I am not saying that in a mean way--almost admiringly. We have one child who is pretty much on the line between needing intervention and not: two different school systems have evaluated and passed on giving us assistance, despite repeated issues, and requests from us, teachers, etc. Maybe CMI is really good at getting this stuff done. More power to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are you missing? A bunch of black kids. Basically.

I think CMI and MacFarland both sound great.

Regarding CMI's high IEP population: I have to wonder if it isn't a big chicken and egg. Are they just really good at submitting the paperwork and getting the extra funding? I am not saying that in a mean way--almost admiringly. We have one child who is pretty much on the line between needing intervention and not: two different school systems have evaluated and passed on giving us assistance, despite repeated issues, and requests from us, teachers, etc. Maybe CMI is really good at getting this stuff done. More power to them.

That's probably part, but not all, of it. Within the 33% IEP population (from SY 2014-15) 63.9% were Level 1, 8.2% Level 2, 4.9% Level 3 and 23% Level 4).

For those not familiar the levels correlate to the number of hours of specialized instruction the student is supposed to receive per the IEP with level 1 being the lowest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Doubt it. The school is in such demand especially driven by the baby boom in the adjacent neighborhoods. We do not have a middle school





Option and we know McFarland isn't going to cut it either. The school will evolve with the kids and demands of the parents for rigor and advanced learning to match Basis etc.

So in your opinion, CMI is an option but MacFarland isn't even though CMI's scores are not much higher than the future feeders to MacFarland...? And CMI's (citywide school) success is driven by the baby boom in the adjacent neighborhoods, but MacFarland's (neighborhood school) won't be?

What am I missing?

What your missing is that it decades to turn around a middle school. Look at Cap Hill, they have solid feeders but most of the top kids leave at 4th grade and have turned Basis into the de facto Cap Hill middle school. And these parents have been working for 15 years to make changes on the Hill and there is still not enough IB commitment. The feeders for McFarland are weak at best. Sure there are more high SES families in PS/PK but even still there is no where near a critical mass sticking through 5th grade to feed to McFarland to offer it any financial support or well supported kids. Not even in the next ten years. We are like most families in Petwroth we are fine with younger years but so far every single person we know has bailed on the IBs or moved by first grade. If Stuart Hobson is still such an underachiever after decades of concerted effort and solid feeders, what makes you think McFarland is going to open and be awesome? Just because its shiny and new doesn;t make it good. See Brookland middle of that lesson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Doubt it. The school is in such demand especially driven by the baby boom in the adjacent neighborhoods. We do not have a middle school





Option and we know McFarland isn't going to cut it either. The school will evolve with the kids and demands of the parents for rigor and advanced learning to match Basis etc.

So in your opinion, CMI is an option but MacFarland isn't even though CMI's scores are not much higher than the future feeders to MacFarland...? And CMI's (citywide school) success is driven by the baby boom in the adjacent neighborhoods, but MacFarland's (neighborhood school) won't be?

What am I missing?

What your missing is that it decades to turn around a middle school. Look at Cap Hill, they have solid feeders but most of the top kids leave at 4th grade and have turned Basis into the de facto Cap Hill middle school. And these parents have been working for 15 years to make changes on the Hill and there is still not enough IB commitment. The feeders for McFarland are weak at best. Sure there are more high SES families in PS/PK but even still there is no where near a critical mass sticking through 5th grade to feed to McFarland to offer it any financial support or well supported kids. Not even in the next ten years. We are like most families in Petwroth we are fine with younger years but so far every single person we know has bailed on the IBs or moved by first grade. If Stuart Hobson is still such an underachiever after decades of concerted effort and solid feeders, what makes you think McFarland is going to open and be awesome? Just because its shiny and new doesn;t make it good. See Brookland middle of that lesson.

But if it's shiny and new and a charter school, then it's magically awesome (or "highly regarded")?

I get why people like you are hesitant about MacFarland. I just don't get why a similarly performing charter school is suddenly "highly regarded".
It seems kind like MacFarland (and Stuart Hobson, Brookland, etc.) will be middling, but not terrible places, just like CMI, E.L. Haynes, and other Tier 2s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Doubt it. The school is in such demand especially driven by the baby boom in the adjacent neighborhoods. We do not have a middle school





Option and we know McFarland isn't going to cut it either. The school will evolve with the kids and demands of the parents for rigor and advanced learning to match Basis etc.

So in your opinion, CMI is an option but MacFarland isn't even though CMI's scores are not much higher than the future feeders to MacFarland...? And CMI's (citywide school) success is driven by the baby boom in the adjacent neighborhoods, but MacFarland's (neighborhood school) won't be?

What am I missing?

What your missing is that it decades to turn around a middle school. Look at Cap Hill, they have solid feeders but most of the top kids leave at 4th grade and have turned Basis into the de facto Cap Hill middle school. And these parents have been working for 15 years to make changes on the Hill and there is still not enough IB commitment. The feeders for McFarland are weak at best. Sure there are more high SES families in PS/PK but even still there is no where near a critical mass sticking through 5th grade to feed to McFarland to offer it any financial support or well supported kids. Not even in the next ten years. We are like most families in Petwroth we are fine with younger years but so far every single person we know has bailed on the IBs or moved by first grade. If Stuart Hobson is still such an underachiever after decades of concerted effort and solid feeders, what makes you think McFarland is going to open and be awesome? Just because its shiny and new doesn;t make it good. See Brookland middle of that lesson.

But if it's shiny and new and a charter school, then it's magically awesome (or "highly regarded")?

I get why people like you are hesitant about MacFarland. I just don't get why a similarly performing charter school is suddenly "highly regarded".
It seems kind like MacFarland (and Stuart Hobson, Brookland, etc.) will be middling, but not terrible places, just like CMI, E.L. Haynes, and other Tier 2s.

Cmi is Tier 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Cmi is Tier 1

That's not how the DCPCSB lists them on their website. They're "unrated".