My eldest is graduating tomorrow. I am confident this is a good school. While the district may be a bit sketchy, and some teachers will have flaws, the over arching reflection of the last 4 years has been good, for me as a parent, and pretty wonderful for my daughter, an athlete and a strong student.
1) we are not wealthy, the school is in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods. I feel this needs to be said because it is one of the few "urban" high schools around, and because your middle income high schooler will suddenly be hobnobbing with people with more money than you will make in your whole career, but kids are kids.
2) our daughter was heavily involved in sports and was in the Visual and Performing Arts program for all 4 years, even during COVID years.
3) If you have a problem getting into the class you want, speak directly to the teacher. My kid took three years of Spanish because she didn't get placed into German. Her Spanish 3 teacher was questionable, but her other teachers were wonderful. Math 2 she got in to freshman year after a bit of an argument over her placement in Math 1, but only because the counselor said there was no room in Math 2+, and she had the most wonderful math teacher for Math 2, they were excellent. Her follow up years of math (all 4 years) were also wonderful. She took regular bio her first year because they did not put her in molecular bio and her counselor was not helpful (she did not have a good counselor those first two years. The other counselors she has had have been great, for the record.)
4) There have been some students with issues that affected my kid once in awhile, but there are kids and parents with mental health and SUD issues in every school. It is hard to complain about when it's a fact of life. When people get treatment, they get better, but those folks who fly under the radar are really problematic. Teach your kid to recognize them for what they are and to not be too disappointed. Humans have foibles, your kid can rise above the bad news other people bring into their lives. Yes, my kid had some weird interactions with adults and kids. Yes, she has some insecurities that we worked on to build her up. Yes, I think a lot of stuff is still around jealousy and other insecurities other people have. Yes, I am a confident and outspoken parent and will protect my child. I had to do that with a sport, I had to do that with Spanish, and recently, I had to do that with a grad night pick up that went awry (I filed a police report on that last one.) Do I think this is outrageous? Yes, for the individual events. But if your kid has nothing happen to them to challenge them during their years of High School, and to have them come out feeling supported and getting ahead, what are they equipped for later when life throws a series of challenges at them, sometimes all at once? Who do they go to for help or support? Who do they turn to?
things I have learned as a parent: the school cannot assist you if you don't let them know there is an issue.
The teachers tend to be really accommodating. I have read/seen a lot of comments that they are not very helpful, and this has NOT been my experience or my kid's experience, minus one or two flawed individuals out of the many, many teachers who are working hard at CKM.
Now, here are my opinions on their programs:
-VAPA is a great art, performance program. It is fabulous. Highly recommend!
-HISP is a very intense program and many kids drop out, however, if your child needs to be challenged and enjoys doing a LOT of homework, this is your landing spot for humanities/history/english. Lots of opportunities to really learn deep dives. That said, my child opted for VAPA only (kids can do both) and to take AP classes and honors classes because of the boost in GPA as well as because she was heavily involved in sports. As a parent, I actually preferred this over the feeling that my kid was in HISP, and she probably would have been fine. However, they do not get extra GPA from HISP classes. To me, all the work is not worth it unless they weight it.
-The Law and Public Policy program is not well known, and it is WONDERFUL. It is an option for "getting in" to CKM if you are outside of the school zone. I hope my second daughter does this program.
-I really enjoyed the Athletic program as a volunteer parent and driver. The Athletic Director is very involved, and the coaches have been wonderful and supportive.
So overall? I give this lovely school a 4.0 Where could they improve? Maybe the parking lot.
They have been very supportive of the kids and parents, the school feels fairly welcoming when you walk into the front, but it is a little cold, there are security guards and a long hallway. But I think that may just be the day and age we are in. The current Principal, Andrea Egan, is truly a good person and tries to accomplish a lot with very little time. I do not know if she hears that often enough.
Thank you, CKM. read more