a new school opening...

[JaneDead]

so there is this school opening in my neighborhood

http://www.chandlerparkacademy.org/index.htm

this coming up school year. so far they have a few detroit locations and one in oak park i think it was. this new location would be k-6. (it is not listed on their website yet)

currently my 9 year old goes to the public school in our city.

and all though this new school is basically like a public school, it differs too. ( you can see how on the website)

it seems to offer kids who need to excel in some areas the ability to do that, but yet "catch up" if they need to in others. where as public school all kids are all doing the same thing at the same time.

they also have a dress code, which i don't really care about but over all i think can be good as well.

they have clubs (science, newspaper, youth government, etc etc) that i don't actually think public schools for his age offer.

it is free too, no tuition.

it is not limited to students in my city either, which is where the school is located. you only have to be a michigan resident to attend.

that could possible be a down side though? but i am not sure.

my son is very intelligent. but has problems in school right now. he is ahead in a lot of things but sort of having trouble too. over all i think he is bored. they wanted me to test him, because they think he has a high iq. even if i had him tested and found out he was a "genius" or whatever i dont think that would change his "issues" in his public school environment.

so i was wondering... anyone who is familiar with the public school system vs. this cpa school what are your thoughts on the benefits of either vs. the downside?

i can't afford to put him in any sort of private school, which is what i would prefer. (montessori is what i would prefer actually.) but it seems to me this cpa place is more similar to that than the public school is. but on the other hand what if putting him in this school would be worse?

[Paper Hearts]

This is one of the new charter schools...I was talking to a guy who was really a Kilpatrick man, the other day, and he was all about them...I only question who regulates the curriculum-especially in the area of science...could make a big difference to you depending on what exactly the substance of that curriculum is. Also, this might not effect you, but i personally feel that charter schools will not fix the public education problem in Detroit-the children who's parents cannot afford to put them into a charter school will still have to attend the under funded public schools and really, it is those children who we should be most concerned about...

I'm near Chandler Park as well, by the way, but i think we've talked about that before.

[JaneDead]

ok well since you are familiar with this area it is going where luthern east used to be (i didnt even know it closed) by regina and notre dame.

i was wondering that too- how much my son really would get out of this school/the curriculum or if i would sort of be "down grading" by having him there.

my son excels in all areas but has trouble with spelling/reading. and has a hard time focusing at times.

the public school he is in now is not in detroit though, we are in harper woods. so i was wondering that too- sending him to this c.p.a. school- would that be more similar to having him in a "detroit public" school? because i know that harper woods schools are better than that and i would not want to put him somewhere like that if this is really what this place is all about.

[Paper Hearts]

There are certain benifits to public schools that no private school can replicate. -Diversity goes beyond academics, wether it is economic variety or racial or sexual or whatever.

The Charter school would not be as bad as a Detroit Public school-that's why all the Detroiter's are paying so much to put their kids in it, the only question, i suppose, would be is the charter school better than your Harper Woods Public school...you'd really have to research and compare the curriculum of each, and they should be more than willing at the charter school to help you do that, they want your money.

What i refer to in saying "I only question who regulates the curriculum-especially in the area of science" is, is the place going to put some kind spin on things , that's weird to you...

[JaneDead]

is this school really a "charter school" though? i didn't think it was. but on the other hand i am really not familiar at all with charter schools and how they operate. and it says on the thing i got in the mail from them that they are a "public school". and any expenses they have are the same as how public schools have expenses (ie. field trips, sports)

[Paper Hearts]

A charter school may or may not teach the same subjects in the same way as a public school-it's entirely up to them. If you have to pay money beyond your taxes to maintain your child's enrollment in it, and it's not called St. So-and-So's finest or whatever and they do not require certain academic standards of their students, it's a charter school. there's quite a few in Grosse Pointe known as "acadamies" that people have built so that their children do not have to school around commoners like myself.

[JaneDead]

this school is free

[Paper Hearts]

-That's new on me. So what funds it, do they redirect your taxes to the academy? -if so i'd think they'd have to be regulated by the state. I obviously don't know everything...but you could learn about their program, give a visit, talk to board members, etc. but you'd probably thought of that...

[JaneDead]

yeah i am actually going up there tonight to find out more. i was just really confused on all this too since i knew it was not supposed to be a charter school, yet it is a pubic school.. but not how public schools are?? yeah i am confused for sure. thanks for discussing it with me though.

[Paper Hearts]

Yeah, I'm curious to know what the 'deal' is...Maybe you'll let me know when you find out? Brand new cost-free education with better results than our public systems...sounds like a dream...

You know what? -About reading, does your son read? -He might like comic books and they might help him...there's a new shop on Mack at Yorkshire~nearest Cadieux.

-Sorry i couldn't help you, i meant well, really.

[JaneDead]

oh yes he can read. at the beginning of his school year though he was not up to "grade level" and now he is just right on. but in most everything else he is above average. he struggles with following directions though and keeping quiet. he talks entirely too much and asks questions constantly. which can be good but he tends to talk when the teacher is trying to teach. she has said he acts as if she is talking to him, just him and he talks back to her

[Fierce Critter]

Dyno - your description of your son sounds like you're describing me at his age.

I would do the research to see if this school might benefit him. But don't compare it to a basic public school curriculum - see if it might not be possible to put him in advanced classes in the public school. Maybe he could even skip a grade with tutoring in the areas he's a little slower in?

I was a basket case in school, bored to tears and doing EXACTLY what you described - asking questions constantly, questioning EVERYTHING, giving answers before the teacher could. One teacher finally took me outside the class and, instead of getting mad at me, told me this and I'll never forget it: "I realize this stuff isn't a challenge for you. I can see that you're bored and don't even need this class. But for now, you're here, and the other students here DO need this class, and they need ME. So please, stop what you're doing and let me teach the other kids, alright?"

I'll NEVER forget that. He was the first teacher who recognized what was going on with me, and instead of treating me like a disciplinary problem, talked TO me and let me know someone recognized me situation.

After that, I took all advanced classes focusing on my talent - English/arts - and everything was fine. I ended up graduating 13th in my class with a full Merit Scholarship to Wayne State University - all this from a public school education.

From what I hear of Harper Woods, it's an excellent school system. Hopefully there are classes there that can help your son focus his intelligence so he won't be bored anymore. Gads, that's such AGONY.

I don't know if any of this helped at all.

[JaneDead]

I'll NEVER forget that. He was the first teacher who recognized what was going on with me, and instead of treating me like a disciplinary problem, talked TO me and let me know someone recognized me situation.

I don't know if any of this helped at all.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

my son is quite often treated like a disciplinary problem. i had a meeting at his school where they did however say they think he is quite brilliant and maybe bored. i am at least glad that recognize that. yes, what you have said has helped

i will be looking into the school and not comparing it to where he is now. it doesnt even seem that it would be the same as a public school or private school for that matter. i guess i won't know til i actually go and find out!

[lullaby1031]

I have a question: Is this Charter school one of those new oppertunities for families to have their children learn all their lessons on a laptop? My mom was going to to send me to a Charter school that offered that back in high school. It was very interesting and I would have loved to go but I think the tuition was a bit high since you had to buy the laptop or lease it from them. I've never heard anything bad in general about Charter schools.

[Paper Hearts]

We aren't sure if this place actually is a charter school,we aren't sure what type of school it is at all yet...

Certain charter schools are better than public education in many aspects, admittedly, but the question is charter schools in Detroit (emphasis on Detroit)-I'm opposed to them as a way to fix our crumbled public school system-I also think there's many valuable lessons to be learned in a institution of social/financial multiplicity between students-my main point is that poorer children who's parents cannot afford a charter school and children of parents who may disagree with possible religious/moral facets of a program will still have to attend our failed public system which is being neglected for these charter places. The mayor, the city are closing public schools in favor of these charters and as a result, teacher/student ratios are growing in the already terrible public system.

The difference between Canada and Detroit, i think, is this:

1. Canadians are reasonable, thinking, caring people, generally

2. If it wasn't for geography, Detroit would be a third-world city-everything always is mishandled, constantly and everything possible goes wrong where it wouldn't anywhere else...simple things.

My idea is to do things the normal and orthadox route-fix the public schools-aparently, managing an education system is too difficult for our elected city officials though-they forgot about it or something.