Childrens Community School

I am a very grateful member of the staff at CCS. I am credentialed and have been a teacher for several years in both public and private schools. CCS is a true community where each member, child and adult alike, is supported. Children at CCS are taught HOW to learn and not simply WHAT to learn. This is a lifelong set of skills that I am excited to continue nurturing. I just want to share about how powerful it is to see a child beyond labels and test scores. The administration of the school supports professional development in a way that is truly rare. Each year I have been able to attend conferences of my choosing to help me learn and grow as a professional. The most important ones include progressive education conferences and workshops. The last very special thing I want to mention about my experience as a staff member is that I have been mentored by several experienced progressive educators who have retired from CCS. They don’t want to leave! A school has to be very special for a teacher to want to continue working past retirement to support the newer staff! The wisdom and guidance of these teachers have been invaluable to me and to the children I have the pleasure of teaching.

This person (and I say person because both of these reviews are written by the same author) is not interested in giving a real and true account of Children's Community School, only to go on as many sites as they can and bash it for reasons that go far beyond the school disappointing them with unaccredited staff. Now, with that said, I won't negate the fact that every school has issues, complaints and frustrations attached to it, but come on! Every lead teacher at the school is not only accredited, but has been there for many years! Bullying? Yes, the kids get into it - like kids everywhere get into it, but unlike most schools, the teachers at CCS are on it in seconds - deal with it on the spot. I've seen this first hand on several occasions.
Here's the truth, this school is amazing! For MY kids - it's amazing. In depth, socially conscious, child centered learning. But that's what I wanted for them. A true progressive education, and I promise you if that's what you're looking for, you will absolutely get it here. On the flip side, if progressive is not your bag, then CCS will probably disappoint.

p.s. After I read the 'kid's' review here, I asked 10 kids after an All School Meeting if they thought those meetings were boring. Every one - EVERY one said no, and looked at me like I was crazy.

this school was the worst school i have ever gone to i went there for 5 years and studied the same thing 4 years in a row never really learned about American history well. i also suffered through and witnessed a HUGE amount of bullying with no consequences the teachers turned there backs on it all. the school is obsessed with money and has multiple fundraisers throughout the year. they say they are a community it feels like the teachers say once you are out of my class your not my problem. if you think that shoving kids into an auditorium once a week and making them sing for an hour you are dead wrong it makes them miserable its uncomfortable and boring. you are making a huge mistake at sending your kid here. it is over priced and unpleasant. its your choice if you want to ruin your kids child hood

If you are planning on touring this school you should know, most of the teachers are really nice people, but some are not trained for the tasks they are given. We found that even though the school's own materials say that the teachers are all credentialed, our first grade teacher was not, nor was she trained to teach. By the end of that school year 5 families and the teacher left the school.
They say the assistants are either credentialed or getting credentialed, some of them are not. If they didn't have credentials but had several years of experience in progressive ELEMENTARY school level education that would be understandable.
We found that most of the younger teachers are not trained in progressive education at all, they are doing on the job training with our kids.
Because it is such a small community most people just look the other way. We even did for a few years, but for what the school charges we feel that they should have the best trained progressive teachers in town, not just really nice people. Especially with the number of wonderful teachers who need jobs these days, it is hard to understand why they don't hire experienced progressive elementary school teachers. The kids deserve better than they are getting. The parents deserve what they were promised.