Former CMI parent here, but child was in a different class than the 3rd grade described, was
in an upper grade where the teacher was dismissed after a few months and the replacement
was inexperienced but good at classroom management. It's my impression that my child's teachers
had a hard time handling both core curriculum requirements (e.g. PARCC preparation)
and the open-ended IPC projects, which require creativity and thought. My child's teachers
were usually interested in one or the other but not both and had a hard time juggling everything,
many behavioral disruptions. That was a few years ago. With the larger class sizes, I would
think that these challenges are even greater.

Real question for new parents to ask is, how many of these 4th graders will be back for 5th--how many are going into lottery for Latin and Basis, or go private. And, how many are going to stay at CMI for 6th grade vs. going to Deal (a number of these families are in bounds for Deal or are grandfathered into Deal). You will probably see quite an exodus in 5th if people are lucky enough to get into Basis or Latin, and the non-Deal feeder people will choose private or move, and then 6th will be completely a new bunch of kids at CMI as people leave for Deal or lottery in to DCI.

One third grade had a teacher who was returning from maternity leave and had previously been a star teacher for several years at CMI. The other third grade teacher had been star teacher's assistant, and became the head of her own class. Folks say star teacher's star began to fall, she was out of touch, not performing, just not "there" mentally. Teacher number 2 apparently just couldn't handle the classroom, no behaviour management, no authority with the kids, wasn't teaching well, things a mess. School said both teachers asked to leave. At any rate, by January of the school year kids came back from break with four new teachers (new lead teachers and new assistant teachers). Only person that remained was special ed teacher. The year still sucked because one of the new teachers was woefully unprepared, having just graduated from college that August. It was a mess. New teachers were using candy to incentivise positive behaviours. Rumor has it the new teacher hired for fourth grade this year is leaving and the other 4th grade teacher who has been at CMI for at least four years is also leaving. The special ed teacher is gone and was replaced by another who apparently was an assistant teacher and has no special ed experience--but got the certificate to teach special ed in a few months over the summer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So - here is my issue about 3rd grade last year. The kids suffered. A whole year was down the tubes for many kids and I never heard any acknowledgement from the school about this.

My kid was in that class and it was a complete disaster. There were meetings about it. That year is over thank God. Fourth grade has been a complete turnaround.

Can folks chime in on what exactly happened that year/class and how it was allowed to happen?

Anonymous wrote:So - here is my issue about 3rd grade last year. The kids suffered. A whole year was down the tubes for many kids and I never heard any acknowledgement from the school about this.

My kid was in that class and it was a complete disaster. There were meetings about it. That year is over thank God. Fourth grade has been a complete turnaround.

So - here is my issue about 3rd grade last year. The kids suffered. A whole year was down the tubes for many kids and I never heard any acknowledgement from the school about this.

another lower elementary parents who heard that last year's 3rd grade was really bad but also unusual. I find the school and the teachers to be fantastic and more flexible in adapting to both NT and SN kids than the school we came from which was also great, just not a good fit for my child. I am a bit bummed that they haven't replaced the drama teacher yet and I feel like the admin had their hands full with middle school and so weren't able to address the 3rd grade issue. Think the admin has learned from that and is getting better at addressing parent concerns-emailing right away re:music teacher and other staffing concerns. So far we are planning on staying put and since its the 3rd school for us, we do have experience with other schools. There are a lot of good choices in DC and CMI is definitely one of them so if it works commute wise, i'd put it on my list. I personally like having an older building even though I can understand why it is frustrating but I went to school in an old mansion and i feel like that gives it a 'homier' vibe as opposed to a more institutional one that most purpose built schools have.

I don't know who is commenting to this thread.

The problem is that a lot of parents left last year which CMI admin admitted was the worst year for 3rd grade. All 4 teachers in 3rd grade left because the violence and bullying was out of control, and the teachers felt unsafe. Kids were begging not to go to school. It was a bad year for everyone, and anyone who left at the end of the year (about 1/3 of the class left) does not have a good grasp about CMI this year, which as PP mentioned as been a really sweet and great year at CMI.

DC begs to go to school.

I have a 4th grader who is also thriving. This year has been a very good year. DC still says he/she can’t wait to go to school. DC admits that 3rd grade was the worst year at CMI due to teacher turnover and behavioral issues in the classroom, but this year has been really sweet.

To be fair, 2nd and 3rd grade is when the rubber really starts to hit the road in terms of the academic expectations and you begin to have a lot more information about the educational needs of your child. At that point, you need to determine what is the best educational environment for your particular child and between that, and the desperation for a clear middle school/high school path, movement out of schools and into others occurs. The poster is asking about PreK and there is great satisfaction at CMI at the PreK level - the “problem” is later.i never thought during PreK that we would need to leave but that is what had to happen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:can a parent tell us if they feel like their typical kid is short changed because the teachers are overwhelmed by the SN kids?

Parent who has left CMI, notice most of the parents weighing in are K and below.

Once your child gets into 2nd or 3rd grade and behavior starts being more of an issue the NT fade into the background and fall behind.

This is not true in our case. We have two children at CMI, both of whom are NT. The older child is thriving both academically and socially, and is far from falling behind. And, perhaps equally important, absolutely loves school. The younger child is thriving too, but is too young to know how academics will play out yet.

For now, we love the school, and feel very fortunate to be there.