Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 17:28     Subject: Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Anonymous wrote:But I think Bridge's preference is only for kids with more significant special needs (as measured by hours of services in their IEPs). If CMI's SN kids get an hour of OT a week and preferential seating, and Bridge's kids need 1:1 aides, assistive communications devices, and PT daily then even having a smaller % of SN kids could still require a lot more effort and money.


Yes - you are right about the Bridges preferences.

In 2014-15 CMI had 181 students, and 33% (~60 students) had IEPs.

Of those 60 students, 25% (~15) were categorized as "Level 4" which requires 15+ hours of specialized instruction per week. That's the usual breakdown of hours needed to trigger discussion of a self-contained classroom. Y

In their application, CMI referenced wanted to be able to have a self-contained classroom for students with Downs or sensory disorders. That -- and the service levels documented by OSSE - means that they do have kdis who are getting just as much support, on an hourly basis as Bridges. means more than a handful of students are getting significantly more than an hour of OT a week.

If you didn't realize that there were students receiving this much support, that just means that CMI is doing inclusion well. But what they wrote up, and what Bridges is doing for its students in need of the most support, is very similar. And the challenge for a school is once you set up that classroom for even a few students, you need a few more to make the financial piece of it work.
Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 16:40     Subject: Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
But I think Bridge's preference is only for kids with more significant special needs (as measured by hours of services in their IEPs). If CMI's SN kids get an hour of OT a week and preferential seating, and Bridge's kids need 1:1 aides, assistive communications devices, and PT daily then even having a smaller % of SN kids could still require a lot more effort and money.
Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 16:06     Subject: Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Anonymous wrote:CMI wants inclusion not preference. It's not a SN needs school (like bridges) but a school that works with it's SN population in a specific way.


Not true.

Bridges has a slightly lower percentage of special needs students than CMI actually --

Bridges 30.9%
CMI 33.7

Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 16:00     Subject: Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
CMI wants inclusion not preference. It's not a SN needs school (like bridges) but a school that works with it's SN population in a specific way.
Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 14:54     Subject: Re:Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Anonymous wrote:Huh, that's interesting.


Here's the information about the preference and how a school has to apply. http://www.dcpcsb.org/report/special-education
Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 14:48     Subject: Re:Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Huh, that's interesting.
Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 12:45     Subject: Re:Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Anonymous wrote:I'm not upset that my sensory kid didn't get into CMI, but I am also not sure that a full on randomized lottery is the best way for a charter school to serve those populations.


I'm 12:14 and I agree with you re the randomized lottery.

What I wonder is why CMI hasn't yet sought permission from the PCSB to offer a special needs preference. Basically they put forward X many seats for students with IEPs with at least X many service hours in it.

It's a new preference that can be offered - but so far only Bridges has gone through the process to do so and 2016-17 is the first year it's in place there.



Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 12:42     Subject: Re:Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
I'm not upset that my sensory kid didn't get into CMI, but I am also not sure that a full on randomized lottery is the best way for a charter school to serve those populations.
Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 12:14     Subject: Re:Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Anonymous wrote:Wow, you CMI parents are a mess. I don't see anywhere (except in one poster's imagination) that it is a special needs school. It is brand new. Give it a couple years. It could be a fantastic thing for your school. If you want a deal-like middle school, this isn't for you, but it certainly could become a small, academically rigorous middle school. It certainly sounds like that is the admin's intention.



The CMI proposal to amend its charter to include grades 6-8 (which is linked above) explicitly said that part of the rationale to expand to middle school was to continue to support children with sensory integration disorders and down syndrome, and that they have a higher than typical number of those students than other charter schools due to their expertise with these populations. It also said that, in addition to serving typical kids, they had interest in potentially creating a self-contained MS classroom for those kids.

This isn't really news to anyone who has been at the school or listened to its leaders.

What CMI is, and has always been, is a school committed to a high level of inclusion possible and support for children with special needs. That is NOT in conflict with wanting to be a school that is small and academically rigorous.

All charters have to include different learners and special needs kids - it comes with being a public school. But CMI has designed for their needs from the ground up, not tacked it on later when they had to because of who enrolled. They shoudl be commended for this, IMO.

-Parent of a kid with SN who doesn't attend CMI

Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 12:04     Subject: Re:Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Wow, you CMI parents are a mess. I don't see anywhere (except in one poster's imagination) that it is a special needs school. It is brand new. Give it a couple years. It could be a fantastic thing for your school. If you want a deal-like middle school, this isn't for you, but it certainly could become a small, academically rigorous middle school. It certainly sounds like that is the admin's intention.

Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 09:59     Subject: Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:CMI parent here. What new lab? What IB program? What academic rigor?

CMI uses an IPC program. I know of a science room that is being used as a main 6th grade room, but I would hardly call it a science lab. Golnar said that she was expanding the MS because CMI families in older grades approached her and said that their children need CMI for MS. I read between the lines that it meant that she was creating specifically to offer a non-academic MS for those students who needed a CMI type of place for MS.

ES follows an inclusionary model but the MS is tailored For SN students. As the parent of a SN child, I understand that creating something that works for my child with lots of stability, flexibility, and support, but few transitions (no class changes), low academic expectations, and no new challenges means that it's a terrible fit for college-bound students. I hope CMI MS will have an inclusionary model for MS, too, but it will need significant more finances to attract potential students (or keep current ones). It would need a science lab (not a regularly used 6th grade classroom that just uses tall tables and stools). It would help if our $300,000 could be re-directed towards actual academics instead of our aesthetically pleasing playground.[/quote

Hey, that "science room" has Bunsen burners, microscopes and other science equipment.

And your "reading between the lines" is completely false. What she meant, and what she has said many times", is that CMI wanted its elementary students to continue in a strong academic environment, which as we all know is lacking at many DC MS.

Why would you circulate erroneous information about your child's school??


Because she didn't get the mascot she wanted and now she sad.


Lol!!!!
Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 09:23     Subject: Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:CMI parent here. What new lab? What IB program? What academic rigor?

CMI uses an IPC program. I know of a science room that is being used as a main 6th grade room, but I would hardly call it a science lab. Golnar said that she was expanding the MS because CMI families in older grades approached her and said that their children need CMI for MS. I read between the lines that it meant that she was creating specifically to offer a non-academic MS for those students who needed a CMI type of place for MS.

ES follows an inclusionary model but the MS is tailored For SN students. As the parent of a SN child, I understand that creating something that works for my child with lots of stability, flexibility, and support, but few transitions (no class changes), low academic expectations, and no new challenges means that it's a terrible fit for college-bound students. I hope CMI MS will have an inclusionary model for MS, too, but it will need significant more finances to attract potential students (or keep current ones). It would need a science lab (not a regularly used 6th grade classroom that just uses tall tables and stools). It would help if our $300,000 could be re-directed towards actual academics instead of our aesthetically pleasing playground.[/quote

Hey, that "science room" has Bunsen burners, microscopes and other science equipment.

And your "reading between the lines" is completely false. What she meant, and what she has said many times", is that CMI wanted its elementary students to continue in a strong academic environment, which as we all know is lacking at many DC MS.

Why would you circulate erroneous information about your child's school??




I was just about to say this... there is only ONE 6th grade class of 29 kids...That is the current MS. It is not a disaster and is going quite well. There is already science equipment with microscopes, Bunsen burners, and a maker space. An actual "laboratory" will be built out when you have more middle schoolers.


There is only one 6th grade class of 29 kids? Was that in the charter? I thought CMI was going to limit class size to 20 kids, and that there were going to be 2 classes of 20 kids each. I heard 55 new students had applied on top of the approximately 15 students already there. 30 kids decided not to go?


As of last week they were still looking for kids-- they had gone through the whole waitlist.
Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 09:19     Subject: Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:CMI parent here. What new lab? What IB program? What academic rigor?

CMI uses an IPC program. I know of a science room that is being used as a main 6th grade room, but I would hardly call it a science lab. Golnar said that she was expanding the MS because CMI families in older grades approached her and said that their children need CMI for MS. I read between the lines that it meant that she was creating specifically to offer a non-academic MS for those students who needed a CMI type of place for MS.

ES follows an inclusionary model but the MS is tailored For SN students. As the parent of a SN child, I understand that creating something that works for my child with lots of stability, flexibility, and support, but few transitions (no class changes), low academic expectations, and no new challenges means that it's a terrible fit for college-bound students. I hope CMI MS will have an inclusionary model for MS, too, but it will need significant more finances to attract potential students (or keep current ones). It would need a science lab (not a regularly used 6th grade classroom that just uses tall tables and stools). It would help if our $300,000 could be re-directed towards actual academics instead of our aesthetically pleasing playground.[/quote

Hey, that "science room" has Bunsen burners, microscopes and other science equipment.

And your "reading between the lines" is completely false. What she meant, and what she has said many times", is that CMI wanted its elementary students to continue in a strong academic environment, which as we all know is lacking at many DC MS.

Why would you circulate erroneous information about your child's school??


Because she didn't get the mascot she wanted and now she sad.
Anonymous
Post 09/20/2016 09:01     Subject: Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:CMI parent here. What new lab? What IB program? What academic rigor?

CMI uses an IPC program. I know of a science room that is being used as a main 6th grade room, but I would hardly call it a science lab. Golnar said that she was expanding the MS because CMI families in older grades approached her and said that their children need CMI for MS. I read between the lines that it meant that she was creating specifically to offer a non-academic MS for those students who needed a CMI type of place for MS.

ES follows an inclusionary model but the MS is tailored For SN students. As the parent of a SN child, I understand that creating something that works for my child with lots of stability, flexibility, and support, but few transitions (no class changes), low academic expectations, and no new challenges means that it's a terrible fit for college-bound students. I hope CMI MS will have an inclusionary model for MS, too, but it will need significant more finances to attract potential students (or keep current ones). It would need a science lab (not a regularly used 6th grade classroom that just uses tall tables and stools). It would help if our $300,000 could be re-directed towards actual academics instead of our aesthetically pleasing playground.[/quote

Hey, that "science room" has Bunsen burners, microscopes and other science equipment.

And your "reading between the lines" is completely false. What she meant, and what she has said many times", is that CMI wanted its elementary students to continue in a strong academic environment, which as we all know is lacking at many DC MS.

Why would you circulate erroneous information about your child's school??




I was just about to say this... there is only ONE 6th grade class of 29 kids...That is the current MS. It is not a disaster and is going quite well. There is already science equipment with microscopes, Bunsen burners, and a maker space. An actual "laboratory" will be built out when you have more middle schoolers.


There is only one 6th grade class of 29 kids? Was that in the charter? I thought CMI was going to limit class size to 20 kids, and that there were going to be 2 classes of 20 kids each. I heard 55 new students had applied on top of the approximately 15 students already there. 30 kids decided not to go?
Anonymous
Post 09/19/2016 23:39     Subject: Why are HRCS so popular? Test scores stink.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:CMI parent here. What new lab? What IB program? What academic rigor?

CMI uses an IPC program. I know of a science room that is being used as a main 6th grade room, but I would hardly call it a science lab. Golnar said that she was expanding the MS because CMI families in older grades approached her and said that their children need CMI for MS. I read between the lines that it meant that she was creating specifically to offer a non-academic MS for those students who needed a CMI type of place for MS.

ES follows an inclusionary model but the MS is tailored For SN students. As the parent of a SN child, I understand that creating something that works for my child with lots of stability, flexibility, and support, but few transitions (no class changes), low academic expectations, and no new challenges means that it's a terrible fit for college-bound students. I hope CMI MS will have an inclusionary model for MS, too, but it will need significant more finances to attract potential students (or keep current ones). It would need a science lab (not a regularly used 6th grade classroom that just uses tall tables and stools). It would help if our $300,000 could be re-directed towards actual academics instead of our aesthetically pleasing playground.[/quote

Hey, that "science room" has Bunsen burners, microscopes and other science equipment.

And your "reading between the lines" is completely false. What she meant, and what she has said many times", is that CMI wanted its elementary students to continue in a strong academic environment, which as we all know is lacking at many DC MS.

Why would you circulate erroneous information about your child's school??




I was just about to say this... there is only ONE 6th grade class of 29 kids...That is the current MS. It is not a disaster and is going quite well. There is already science equipment with microscopes, Bunsen burners, and a maker space. An actual "laboratory" will be built out when you have more middle schoolers.