Creative Minds Families - thoughts, comments?

[Anonymous]

Hi all-

My child recently matched to Creative Minds for prek3. We've heard a lot about how wonderful the outdoor play space is, but not much about curriculum, overall philosophy, child specific learning, parent engagement, etc. Just to note, we're not scared of the school we're actually really pleased to be attending in the fall. I've reached out directly to a few parents I loosely know and they gave me their high level assessment but we're all busy and it's hard to get substantive info in an email to someone you barely know.

SO if you're familiar with the school, the programs, the families, the aftercare, the food, the overall happiness factor of your child/someone else's child I would really love to know. Let's be honest, my kid is 3- he'll be thrilled to run outside and just BE so this is mostly for my own knowledge.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Original poster here- just a note- I really don't want to use this as an opportunity to bash teachers, or the school. EVERY school has issues, i'm mostly looking for things you've noticed and really enjoy or gave you pause not "CMI used to be a highly prized charter and now it sucks" that's not productive or in the information I'm looking for- also not concerned about test scores currently as my child is going into prek3 and parcc has little to do with him at this point. I also know about teacher turn over and have reached out to a board member whose child is also in attendance at CMI who had a lot of hopefulness about the changes they're making.

[Anonymous]

I'm really not sure why the waitlist is shorter and shorter each year (and it does seem that this year was an easier lottery year for many schools) but CMI used to have PK3 waitlists around 400, and this year has only 163. That's a large decline. So I think you're right to be kicking the tires.

[Anonymous]

It's a fair point. Who really knows, there are lots of schools desirable for families that live in upper NW, and seem to continue to grow the list, several parents who continue to want to get into a DCPS vs a charter. The waitlists of Dorthy Height, West, Powell, BM etc continue to grow. I also think the HUGE interest in dual languages attributes to this. I also know from my personal experience, that a lot of friends/families don't have cars and don't desire being in a school that they have to drive to daily- who knows really!

[Anonymous]

DS was at CMI for ECE. He absolutely loved it.

He had great teachers both years. Play based but learning was focused on themes and they had great ones. They did lots of fun stuff to make learning interesting like make a fake aquarium, created a news station and recorded themselves as forecasters, etc... Field trips were many and great. The parent community is engaged and advocates for the parents to admin. Generous and giving parent community in helping families who have less or in need. Small school field and many teachers including specials knew DS by name and said hi in the morning. Playground fantastic and they get recess 2 times a day. Communication was also frequent and excellent.

Honestly, I can’t think of 1 thing that we were not happy about. We wanted language immersion and got our top choice and the only reason we left. Otherwise we would have stayed.

Lastly, DCUM loves to bash CMI here although they don’t have a child at the school. So take that with a grain of salt. You don’t hear many families on DCUM from CMI. All the ones we knew were happy there and stayed. They don’t need to come on DCUM to boost the school or take down other schools because of insecurities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS was at CMI for ECE. He absolutely loved it.

He had great teachers both years. Play based but learning was focused on themes and they had great ones. They did lots of fun stuff to make learning interesting like make a fake aquarium, created a news station and recorded themselves as forecasters, etc... Field trips were many and great. The parent community is engaged and advocates for the parents to admin. Generous and giving parent community in helping families who have less or in need. Small school field and many teachers including specials knew DS by name and said hi in the morning. Playground fantastic and they get recess 2 times a day. Communication was also frequent and excellent.

Honestly, I can’t think of 1 thing that we were not happy about. We wanted language immersion and got our top choice and the only reason we left. Otherwise we would have stayed.

Lastly, DCUM loves to bash CMI here although they don’t have a child at the school. So take that with a grain of salt. You don’t hear many families on DCUM from CMI. All the ones we knew were happy there and stayed. They don’t need to come on DCUM to boost the school or take down other schools because of insecurities.

Typo meany small school feel

[Anonymous]

Thank you for that thoughtful and thorough overview. Honestly we're really excited- kids need play and to be happy at school, and if they foster that environment then we're luckier than most. I'm happy you got your top dual language school, and best of luck in the new school year- whenever that is!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for that thoughtful and thorough overview. Honestly we're really excited- kids need play and to be happy at school, and if they foster that environment then we're luckier than most. I'm happy you got your top dual language school, and best of luck in the new school year- whenever that is!

Indeed they do. But they also need adequate academic instruction, and CMI's test scores are pretty meh given its mostly high-income demographic. You're sending your child to a school where the majority of students are below grade level in almost every grade, even though only 16% are at-risk. That's fine for you if you see other benefits, but you might find that friends and classmates leave the school as time passes. People can tolerate the weak academics during early childhood, but in middle and upper elementary grades their tolerance reaches its end.

Compare CMI's stats with the two other high-income, non-immersion PK3-8th schools in the city, Inspired Teaching and Two Rivers, and you'll see that CMI doesn't stack up very well. Test scores, re-enrollment, various other metrics, CMI isn't terrible but tends to lag a behind those comparators. Of course, those other schools aren't convenient for a lot of CMI families. But at Inspired Teaching there are some who came over from CMI and they came for a reason.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, I'm a third year CMI parent and my kids will be returning in the fall. We have been really happy there, and I'm actually really optimistic about the positive changes the school is making. You may have heard the founder/principal left and we've had an interim principal this year. He has just been named the permanent principal (Executive Director) after an extensive search process with lots of parent/staff input and he's great. He sees the areas where the school needs to grow and has plans for how to strategically work on improving the most critical areas first and then moving to the next areas. The school is also working on a strategic plan for the next 3 years or so, led by the Board and an outside firm.

Our PK3 experiences have been awesome. I'm crazy about my preschooler's teaching team. They are so warm and patient and nurturing and excited about helping 3 year olds learn in a way that's fun. My favorite parts about the school are the families, the warm community feel, and the wonderful playground/outdoor space. I love the monthly parent coffees in the lobby. We do monthly teacher appreciation activities.

Breakfast is provided and we buy lunch, which I think is provided by the Stokes cafeteria. My child has a food allergy and receives a special allergen-free meal every day. My kids seem to really like the food. We also do aftercare, which has been mostly pretty good. I like that my younger kids get to stay in small classroom-sized groups and aren't mixed in with older kids with hardly any teachers, and it has been a nice way to get to spend time with kids in other classes. They have clubs in aftercare, which is a nice way for the kids to get to do dance or yoga once a week (different ones most days). There are 2 recesses per day for the younger kids, plus one more in aftercare.

We had a Math Night and a Literacy Night this year, which was actually really fun. There were math themed and literacy themed games and activities that were really creative. We had a movie night where the kids watched a recent movie in one room and parents could get away to socialize in another room. These types of events are really nice and have been a great way to get to know the families of my kids' friends and classmates. The auction in the spring is fun, although was cancelled this year due to the pandemic. It's a nice community.

The school certainly has issues it's working on, but the Board, the administration, the staff, and parents are all working on them in a way I haven't seen in the prior 2 years we've been there. They have significantly improved transparency and it's helping. I'm always shocked by the CMI bashers on DCUM because it's really not the experience we've had and most other families I know have had. I'm concerned about test scores as much as anyone, but I think they will improve over the next couple of years and CMI is awesome for early childhood.

Happy to have you join us in the fall!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for that thoughtful and thorough overview. Honestly we're really excited- kids need play and to be happy at school, and if they foster that environment then we're luckier than most. I'm happy you got your top dual language school, and best of luck in the new school year- whenever that is!

Indeed they do. But they also need adequate academic instruction, and CMI's test scores are pretty meh given its mostly high-income demographic. You're sending your child to a school where the majority of students are below grade level in almost every grade, even though only 16% are at-risk. That's fine for you if you see other benefits, but you might find that friends and classmates leave the school as time passes. People can tolerate the weak academics during early childhood, but in middle and upper elementary grades their tolerance reaches its end.

Compare CMI's stats with the two other high-income, non-immersion PK3-8th schools in the city, Inspired Teaching and Two Rivers, and you'll see that CMI doesn't stack up very well. Test scores, re-enrollment, various other metrics, CMI isn't terrible but tends to lag a behind those comparators. Of course, those other schools aren't convenient for a lot of CMI families. But at Inspired Teaching there are some who came over from CMI and they came for a reason.

How ironic that someone from IT is talking about low test scores when we all know that IT has a problem with test scores in at risk kids. Pot calling kettle black.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for that thoughtful and thorough overview. Honestly we're really excited- kids need play and to be happy at school, and if they foster that environment then we're luckier than most. I'm happy you got your top dual language school, and best of luck in the new school year- whenever that is!

Indeed they do. But they also need adequate academic instruction, and CMI's test scores are pretty meh given its mostly high-income demographic. You're sending your child to a school where the majority of students are below grade level in almost every grade, even though only 16% are at-risk. That's fine for you if you see other benefits, but you might find that friends and classmates leave the school as time passes. People can tolerate the weak academics during early childhood, but in middle and upper elementary grades their tolerance reaches its end.

Compare CMI's stats with the two other high-income, non-immersion PK3-8th schools in the city, Inspired Teaching and Two Rivers, and you'll see that CMI doesn't stack up very well. Test scores, re-enrollment, various other metrics, CMI isn't terrible but tends to lag a behind those comparators. Of course, those other schools aren't convenient for a lot of CMI families. But at Inspired Teaching there are some who came over from CMI and they came for a reason.

How ironic that someone from IT is talking about low test scores when we all know that IT has a problem with test scores in at risk kids. Pot calling kettle black.

ITS' test scores for at-risk kids: 17% ELA, 10% math. Whole school: 60% and 47%. So yes, that isn't great, but it's also not that different from CMI. Both schools have such a small at-risk population it's hard to generalize from one year's scores.
http://results.osse.dc.gov/school/3064

CMI's test scores for at-risk kids: 14% ELA, 16% math. Whole school: 35% and 41%. So the gap at CMI is smaller, yes, but that's because the overall school performance is lower. Not because the at-risk kids at CMI do notably better. The more interesting question is why does CMI's non-at-risk population have such low scores?
http://results.osse.dc.gov/school/3069

[Anonymous]

CMI Mom here - so I'll chime in.

I can't speak for the higher grades, but we have been there for PK3,4 and K and will be returning in the fall. We have had the BEST ECE experience. We have gotten incredibly lucky with all of our teachers. There is a lot of play based learning, an amazing campus and two recesses a day. My kiddo comes home tired and happy - and frankly, academics and scores wasn't really something I cared too much about when making a decision for where my 2.5 year old would go to school.

I honestly think CMI went through a few dark years, poor leadership (that has since been replaced) and growth too quickly under that poor leadership (middle school has been a continual issue). I think CMI is on the up and up again and you will start to see a lot of positive changes.

I think you are making a great choice!

[Anonymous]

OP here- I really appreciate the feedback given, both positive and that highlighting the schools opportunities. I'm in 100% agreement that at this point in early education, a child's ability to socialize, connect with others, play, and enjoy learning are SO important. Schools with mediocre test scores also yield gifted children, or children who work extremely hard, learn outside of school, and go on to great colleges. I highly doubt everyone in this thread/forum went to top tier schools and went on to top tier colleges. Many people go to average or below average schools, and go on to middle of the road universities. That's okay. I also think it's so important to note that in DC children are quite lucky that they even get the option of 2 years of a true pre-k program before K. Everywhere else in the country doesn't afford this option.

Also regarding test scores- if i'm follow this properly, and i'm new to this PARCC starts at 2nd or 3rd grade so essentially 4 years of children younger who haven't been tested yet. There is certainly change happening at CMI, and that change seems positive. Really happy to learn the parent community is kind and engaged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I really appreciate the feedback given, both positive and that highlighting the schools opportunities. I'm in 100% agreement that at this point in early education, a child's ability to socialize, connect with others, play, and enjoy learning are SO important. Schools with mediocre test scores also yield gifted children, or children who work extremely hard, learn outside of school, and go on to great colleges. I highly doubt everyone in this thread/forum went to top tier schools and went on to top tier colleges. Many people go to average or below average schools, and go on to middle of the road universities. That's okay. I also think it's so important to note that in DC children are quite lucky that they even get the option of 2 years of a true pre-k program before K. Everywhere else in the country doesn't afford this option.

Also regarding test scores- if i'm follow this properly, and i'm new to this PARCC starts at 2nd or 3rd grade so essentially 4 years of children younger who haven't been tested yet. There is certainly change happening at CMI, and that change seems positive. Really happy to learn the parent community is kind and engaged.

PARCC starts in 3rd, OP. But CMI's upper elementary students are mostly high-income and should be doing better than they are. This isn't the gentrification situation that so many other schools have where the ECE kids are much more high-income than the kids in 3rd-5th. The best you can say about CMI is that the test scores of kids who don't have autism are sort of okay.

If you are determined to do this, go for it. Sounds like at least you have your eyes open.

[Anonymous]

I mean- there are plenty of high income families with ding dong children- I grew up with plenty of them. So I don't know that it's all the school, and all the teachers. Would those kids be making top scores at another highly rated school? Who is to know. I wouldn't say I'm determined to make anything work- our inbound school is a truly bad DCPS that is NOT an option, and Creative Minds is the only school we met with. No one that I've ever met in DC thus far has stayed at the same schools from prek-5, 8th, 12th etc so not really a big deal.