Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CMI shall soon realize: you're in the heart of DC and better get ready for the influx of diversity, the like private oasis you've gone through extreme lengths and expensive attorneys to protect is over. public means public.

Ha ha ha!! You are so off-base. I am an AA parent whose children attend CMI. The school is about as diverse as you can get. It truly is like a Benetton ad. Oh and those expensive attorneys are a figment of your imagination...the school cannot afford them. The admin is stretched to capacity trying to create a great school and has no time to protect its "private oasis". Nothing to see here. Carry on.

AA parent awesome, FARMS families need to speak up. They would never have Benetton in their lexicon. I think CMI is doing great work, but I continue to worry that they rest on their long waitlists, but don't take what I feel like the responsibilities of charter schools to be seriously via recruitment, etc -- to reach out and support ALL kids in DC. Has Creative Minds ever had a recruitment event or public information EOTR?

Yes, I'm a CMI parent and I have been working with both Ward 7 and Ward 8 to do recruitment. We also were to attend the Ward 8 education fest (which was snowed out). We have a very active group doing recruitment, especially for our middle school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CMI shall soon realize: you're in the heart of DC and better get ready for the influx of diversity, the like private oasis you've gone through extreme lengths and expensive attorneys to protect is over. public means public.

Ha ha ha!! You are so off-base. I am an AA parent whose children attend CMI. The school is about as diverse as you can get. It truly is like a Benetton ad. Oh and those expensive attorneys are a figment of your imagination...the school cannot afford them. The admin is stretched to capacity trying to create a great school and has no time to protect its "private oasis". Nothing to see here. Carry on.

AA parent awesome, FARMS families need to speak up. They would never have Benetton in their lexicon. I think CMI is doing great work, but I continue to worry that they rest on their long waitlists, but don't take what I feel like the responsibilities of charter schools to be seriously via recruitment, etc -- to reach out and support ALL kids in DC. Has Creative Minds ever had a recruitment event or public information EOTR?

Anonymous wrote:CMI shall soon realize: you're in the heart of DC and better get ready for the influx of diversity, the like private oasis you've gone through extreme lengths and expensive attorneys to protect is over. public means public.

Ha ha ha!! You are so off-base. I am an AA parent whose children attend CMI. The school is about as diverse as you can get. It truly is like a Benetton ad. Oh and those expensive attorneys are a figment of your imagination...the school cannot afford them. The admin is stretched to capacity trying to create a great school and has no time to protect its "private oasis". Nothing to see here. Carry on.

Anonymous wrote:CMI shall soon realize: you're in the heart of DC and better get ready for the influx of diversity, the like private oasis you've gone through extreme lengths and expensive attorneys to protect is over. public means public.

What?

Do you think CMI "over diagnoses" to get additional funding and keep close to their stated mission? My daughter chews her shirt when nervous-- is that age appropriate or pull-aside necessary? Would DCPS and CMI react in the same way? Money follows kids in both settings, and I would love to see a snapshot of that.

CMI shall soon realize: you're in the heart of DC and better get ready for the influx of diversity, the like private oasis you've gone through extreme lengths and expensive attorneys to protect is over. public means public.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Special needs" is a huge umbrella. My child has an IEP because of language delays and sensory issues. The language has improved significantly, and DC functions at a high level academically. No one knows my child is "SN" unless I tell them.

In my personal experience, charters do a much better job than DCPS of identifying issues that require an IEP and therefore will always have a higher SN population.

The team at our DCPS ES has been great for our child with SN. I have friends whose children with SNs were not well-served at their charters and ended up leaving. Thing is, with both DCPS and DCPCS schools, YMMV. There is such a wide range from bad to great for SN services and sometimes it a very dependent on the individual educators/counselors/etc. For those who cannot afford the very expensive private SN schools, the whole is a crapshoot - including, of course, playing the lottery for school like CM. And if your child is very bright and has SN, it's even more difficult.

This. And it can change year to year.

I am the previous poster. I was not talking about individual DCPS schools. When my child was in a private preschool, her teacher strongly recommended she get tested. I arranged for private testing of speech while I waited for the Early Stages appointment. DC tested single digit percentiles in the private test; Early Stages said DC did not qualify for speech services, but caved after I showed them the other test results. Early Stages also said DC had no sensory issues, which clearly was wrong. Later, after getting into a charter school, they recommended that DC be tested again. This test showed that DC had significant SN issues and DC qualified for services. As long as DCPS relies on Early Stages (whereas charters use 3rd party independent testers), DCPS will continue to underserve SN kids. There is currently a class action lawsuit re Early Stages (we are technically part of the plaintiff class) and hopefully this lawsuit will change things.

Sorry to hijack the thread

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Special needs" is a huge umbrella. My child has an IEP because of language delays and sensory issues. The language has improved significantly, and DC functions at a high level academically. No one knows my child is "SN" unless I tell them.

In my personal experience, charters do a much better job than DCPS of identifying issues that require an IEP and therefore will always have a higher SN population.

The team at our DCPS ES has been great for our child with SN. I have friends whose children with SNs were not well-served at their charters and ended up leaving. Thing is, with both DCPS and DCPCS schools, YMMV. There is such a wide range from bad to great for SN services and sometimes it a very dependent on the individual educators/counselors/etc. For those who cannot afford the very expensive private SN schools, the whole is a crapshoot - including, of course, playing the lottery for school like CM. And if your child is very bright and has SN, it's even more difficult.

This. And it can change year to year.

Anonymous wrote:"Special needs" is a huge umbrella. My child has an IEP because of language delays and sensory issues. The language has improved significantly, and DC functions at a high level academically. No one knows my child is "SN" unless I tell them.

In my personal experience, charters do a much better job than DCPS of identifying issues that require an IEP and therefore will always have a higher SN population.

The team at our DCPS ES has been great for our child with SN. I have friends whose children with SNs were not well-served at their charters and ended up leaving. Thing is, with both DCPS and DCPCS schools, YMMV. There is such a wide range from bad to great for SN services and sometimes it a very dependent on the individual educators/counselors/etc. For those who cannot afford the very expensive private SN schools, the whole is a crapshoot - including, of course, playing the lottery for school like CM. And if your child is very bright and has SN, it's even more difficult.

my child does not have any special needs at CMI and I feel that the extra support for the SN kids has only added and enriched my childs academic experience. not at any point have I seen it negatively impact any academic component of my childs education. if anything it has given my child a very positive, empathetic, and inclusive point of view towards persons with special needs. the curriculum at CMI is part of the reason that this works. 1/3 of the kids at CMI have an IEP but this includes very minor things as well. in my childs class several high functioning students have an IEP for things such as speech therapy 30 min a week etc..

"Special needs" is a huge umbrella. My child has an IEP because of language delays and sensory issues. The language has improved significantly, and DC functions at a high level academically. No one knows my child is "SN" unless I tell them.

In my personal experience, charters do a much better job than DCPS of identifying issues that require an IEP and therefore will always have a higher SN population.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a child who would benefit from cmi. Who is, as I said earlier, borderline. But we didn't get in. Should I go for children's children, or expect another school to accommodate?

What is children's children? A school is only required to accommodate with an IEP or 504. Different schools have different standards for granting 504s and IEPs.

Actually the standards for a 504 or IEP are mandated by federal law.

However, some schools are more creative about implementing accommodations than others, and others can be downright hostile. When you tour a school ask how they support learning differences and what kind of professional development there is for staff (some should be focused on learning disabilities or inclusion each year). If a schools percentage of students on IEPs is less than 10% be wary - that is the incidence of SN in the general population and could suggest an unwillingness to accommodate/support. Finally ask about support staff - is there a psychologist, SLP and OT on staff.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are people acting like they didn't know OP meant to write neurotypical in the subject line? A fruitful discussion can't be had if people are determined to start with their hackles up.

Equally BS. Please show us the research defining and measuring what neurotypical means exactly

What term would you prefer?

Blueberry.

Anonymous wrote:Ok, this thread is done. Put a fork in it.

thanks thread police. I have no idea why folks are so defensive about basic questions about a school.

Anonymous wrote:I have a child who would benefit from cmi. Who is, as I said earlier, borderline. But we didn't get in. Should I go for children's children, or expect another school to accommodate?

What is children's children? A school is only required to accommodate with an IEP or 504. Different schools have different standards for granting 504s and IEPs.