Reply to St. Ann Catholic School or Cardinal Elementary

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People have mixed feelings about the principal, but most of the teachers are wonderful at Cardinal.  To me the biggest difference is the sheer size.  St Ann is small.  That works if your kid finds a friend group, but a lot harder if they don't fit in because there aren't a ton of kids.  Because it's small[b] it also doesn't have a lot of differentiation[/b] so if you have a child who needs extra supports or is advanced, you may not get the same types of extensions that public school[b] in theory[/b] offers.
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That's exactly the issue with Cardinal's principal, theory vs. practice. He's terrific if you're just a regular kid looking for a fine education. He does a terrific job in recruiting teachers; that as well as guiding the school through two renovations and a move represent his greatest achievements (and they're substantial to be sure). Cardinal used to be McKinley, but moved and renamed itself when they vacated the building so ATS could go in there (post-renovation, natch).

But woe is the kid who needs special services of any kind, on any end of the spectrum. And especially woe is the parent who asks questions about whether such services are being well-delivered. See, he'll tell you he's an open guy, he'll tell you he listens, he'll tell you he gets it, as he shuts down your question in the PTA meeting and responds at the legal bare minimum to your request that the IEP be established, be followed, etc. St. Ann's won't provide the differentiation that you're entitled to in theory in public school, but they'll tell you they won't provide it.[/quote]

I'm not this poster but I could have written it. I know a couple of non-SN kids who transferred to St. Ann from Cardinal b/c of this dude. Anyway, while this dude was saying my child was "on grade level" and their particular disability didn't exist, I transferred, along with about 6 other families. Turns out my child was 2 grades behind. So yes, if your child has SN, I think the administration is not going to be supportive. The teachers are great and they fought for my kid but usually lost. It's a brand new physical plant though so looks pretty....The AP is not much better. She doesn't have a dark soul but she doesnt stand up for what's right.[/quote]

Both of these posters are spot on.  If you have an average kid Cardinal is fine.  [/quote]

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