Research Chicago International Charter School charter Schools in Los Angeles, California

“CICS Irving Park is very impressive (note: test scores are lumped with all CICS campuses). My son is a 2009-2010 Kindergartener. His teacher is highly qualified, motivated and experienced. The Principal and V. Principal are outstanding. Overall teacher quality is top-notch. Academics are rigorous; progress closely monitored; expectations high (especially compared with regular CPS schools). Discipline focuses on positive reinforcement. School spirit and responsible behavior is rewarded during monthly assemblies where "Green Team" kids are applauded and cheered by peers and parents who are welcome to attend and do. Every morning my son is welcomed to school with big smiles and enthusiastic Good Mornings from the staff often the Principal and/or Vice Principal. I feel my son is in a safe, supportive, positive learning environment. We are very fortunate. I highly recommend this school.”

“Red letters are for discipline problems, it is to inform the parent that your child did not follow the rules. All schools should have the kind of system.”

“My son has attended CICS-Ralph Ellison for 2 years now and I am quite pleased. He attended a catholic grammer school and the grades were not always good and he was in trouble a lot...mostly because he was not being challenged enough. Once starting at Ralph Ellison he was a totally different child. I am quite pleased with the curriculm as it does prepare the student for college. The new principal and staff are great. I think if the students come in with an open mind and positive attitudes, they will certainly learn a lot.”

“CICS-Irving Park: We have a child in K and are pleased with the tailored learning approach. Our child has made tremendous progress this past year. The school also welcomes parental involvement. The administration is involved and present. The teachers are more than qualified. It's a gem in the CPS system. CICS-IP has exceeded our expectations. I wish they published the test results for the individual CICS campuses.”

“CICS-Irving Park. I regret the decision I made sending my son to this school. The teachers are so unexperienced, it's pitiful. We are very involoved in the school and our sons education. Irving Park don't have any clue of dealing with children who might need extra help with academics or behavior. They would rather send 50 red letters, and repeat childrens grade level (which I know now is a scare tatic so that you can pull your kid out, and they can make their quota in the limited time they have). Very, very sad! I'm looking into Virtual school or our local Public school. My son deserves the best, and this school isn't it.”

“I am sorry that the previous parent feels the way that they do but I am a parent that had a K5 student enrolled. I was involved with the school and I only have great things to say about the school. The faculty is wonderful, the principal is awesome and the teachers are very well educated and care about their students. Yes, it was the first year and things had to be adjusted but that goes for anything new. It is our jobs as parents to be our children first teacher and help the school in doing their job effectively and not expect them to be the parent but a teacher is only suppose to enhance what a parent has already instilled in their child. In short the school is very good!!!”

“CICS - Loomis Primary Academy: 2008 was the first official year for this new campus and my son attended in K5. The best way to describe this school is inexperienced teachers coupled with an inexperienced staff. The school got so out of control that they called in staff from another school to come in and train the teachers on how to deal with behavior issues. I mean really this is a bunch of K5 - 2nd graders!”

“CICS-Irving Park Campus. Kudos on the academia. My children have really learned and made successful gains in reading and math. Poor follow through and communication among administration and staff. The school does not teach cursive writing and allowed the students to publish books with several grammatical errors (teachers did not help to edit???) Do not expect a quick response from either the principal or assistant principal (if you get one at all - I still do not know what the assistant looks like). However, the Dean and school secretaries do respond in a timely manner. There are no science labs or computer classes. School committees are too involved in raising funds to build a new playground (apparently the perfectly good one that exists does not meet their standards) rather than raise money to create a computer lab or science lab or even an actual library.”

“Irving Park Campus- Please note that scores are for all 11 campuses. Some are performing above and others significantly below the average posted for all CICS schools. My child previously attended the gifted program at CPS. Once he arrived at CICS-Irving Park it was a shock to see how many skills he was lacking. In the year and a half that he has attended the Irving Park campus, he has grown tremendously in both skills and confidence. I am always in awe of the positive school feel, the attentive teachers, and the helpful administrative staff. I do refer friends and family to the school. A niece now attends.”

“CICS Bucktown. I have three children at CICS Bucktown and cannot say enough about the quality education, curiculum and the helpful attitude of the teachers. I have not seen a major turnover in teachers at the Bucktown campus. Most of the teachers really care about the students they are available to discuss just about any aspect of your childs development. They have afterschool programs that help, they are strict but it really is in your childs best interest. If they notice that you care about your childs education they will do everything they can to help you help them. Another parent critisized the school Pricipal for not responding to thier inquireies, I have not had that experience on the contrary I think it is a vote of confidence that his own children are pupils at this school. The only problem I have seen is with some of the parents.”

“I entered my two children into the 4th and 6th grades and was not happy with the results. My daughter was in 4th grade and was very bored. My son was in 6th and was struggling and did not receive very help. His math teacher told me not to get any outside help like a tutor and so he did not do very well. He was failing math and was not getting any help that was badly needed. The teachers talk to the students as if they are their peers. I do not agree with their rules as well. The principal does not return your emails or phone calls he would rather you work your way up the ladder before he is bothered. Think twice before going to CICS Bucktown campus”

“In reference to CICS Longwood Academy elementary school . My first year (2005/06) was an absolute disgrace because the teacher was new to the school and straight out of college. Well, after the end of the second quarter I felt the time for change was due. My goal was to switch my child to a different teacher within the school. A teacher that showed experience, knowledge and driven to make a difference in the quality of education my child would receive. I spoke with the elementary principal who advise I could not switch to another teacher. Needless to say I was extremely upset, however my husband reassure me that not all teachers are the same. He was right, the first grade teacher Ms. Dixon-Smith is an absolute God-send. She believes in teaching, discipline, rewards and positive development from each of her students.”

“My son attends CICS Ralph Ellison Campus and I truly love the principal and the school. They are way more advanced than most magnet highschools. The principal and staff genuinely care about the students well-being. They expect for them to exceed in all that they do. I feel that CICS Ralph Ellison offers more for the students than CPS can ever. They have laptops to use and they have new books. And I especially like the fact that all of the subjects teach on one specific topic. If the topic that the students are learning about is Global Warming, then they are teaching that in Algebra, Science, Spanish, etc. I recommend the school to everyone who has a child that they want to go to college.”

“First, please checkout the individual school. These test scores are for all the schools combined. Which means the higher testing schools are pulling up the other schools. My children's school was sitting at 43% across the board. I have been very displeased with expectations of the teachers. The students were not challenged enough. In addition to, great turnover of teachers and administrators from year to year. Of the 400+ students the PTA had about 10 active members. There were no continuous or actively funded afterschool activities for the children, except for a chosen few in aftercare. The school sported a band, however, they only practiced 2x a week during lunch period so the children never became very good with the expensive instruments. Because of the discipline problem, the school turned into a mini prison; including no talking during lunch. The charter school promised much but delivered little. Signed Parent and Teacher”

“If you are looking for a quality education for your child Longwood is not the place. The administration in charge doesn't have your child's best interest at hand and they are very hard to contact and communicate with. They have set up a system that has made it hard to communicate with teachers also. The curriculum needs to be reevaluated and more extracurricular activities need to be implemented.”

“This is my daughter's 7th year at the CICS- Washington Park Campus. Since then she has been the most stable factor in her school experience. Since 4th grade this class had lost at least one teacher during the school year.When replacing the teacher it takes the school such a long time. This year the 7th grade teacher had already resigned. I wonder how long it will be before they replace this teacher. I feel that this class as been missing an extremely important piece to their learning experience. An they wonder why the children are difficult to manage.”

“My story: I came from a private school where I was performing very badly. I never had a good report card and I was always in trouble. CICS'curiculum, teachers and general desire to see kids learn and perform with”

“Longwood Campus- My experience with the administration has been horrible. You have to go through leaps and bounds to speak to the real person in charge. I was unaware of a problem that my kindergardener had at school until he just so happened to mention it at home. After numerous attempts to speak with the problem teacher. I never received a phone call back. So, I took a half day off work to go into the school office. After waiting 45 minutes which, at the time the problem had been going on for about a month due to the lack of communication from the teacher. I finally was allowed to meet with someone, only to be rushed from one office to the next, and then finally out of the shcool b/c everyone was rushing to attend a staff meeting. Now, 2mos later, and the resolution is still being shuffled among admistrators.”

“has lots of opportunities for parents to be involved.”

“My daughter was a student at this school for almost two years, at that time I was pleased with the curriculum and teachers.What I wasn't pleased with was the principals attitude, when I contacted him regarding my child being subjected to an extreme discipline measure! I don't feel like he took my complaints seriously, I think that he has his best interest at heart and not the students. I have transfered my child to another school.”

“Do not believe the hype. This school has left much to be desired. Sadly the poor leadership has placed otherwise excellent teachers in impossible situations. The class sizes have grown consistently over the past 3 years. There was a time when 24 students was considered crowded now 30-35 is perfectly normal. The discipline problems are at best swept under the table. If you call to speak with the principal do not expect a response and if you are lucky enough to catch him dont worry your concern will not be addressed. In the interest of fairness I should say that Mrs.Glore, Mrs.Feinberg, Ms Kimmelman, and Ms.Hooper are excellent teachers and they truly care about the children and they get results despite the substandard leadership. I will be pulling my children out of this school. I would rather pay tuition.”

“Chicago Int'l Charter School requires a minimum parental involvement of at least visiting the school 4 times a year to reveiw Progress Reports. However, parents are encouraged to participate more often. I am satisfied with the quality of academic programs. My daughter has had problems reading and her reading has improved with the additional support of Reading assistance and afterschool tutoring. The school has Savvy Sport Saturdays for children not yet in high school. At different times the school offers - karate, basketball, cheerleading and football. I do believe the addition of seperate principals for elementary, junior high and high school has only increased bureaucracy.”

“I am a grad student that had the opportunity to observe Mrs. Hayes' Language Arts class at the school. I was entirely and completely impressed. Her classroom is literature - rich and extremely inviting. The students were actively involved in their assignments and I witnessed first hand their genuine enthusiasm for the subject. I can say that as an objective non-parent great things are happening there and it is a top notch school. The teachers at that school really care about quality education and they have an individual concern for their students. -Cynthia Morris”

“I have two children(soon to be three)attending the Bucktown Campus right now. The academic cirriculum is extraordinary when compared with other schools on the same grade levels. The students at CICS are almost a whole typical grade level ahead of other schools. The Parents are very involved in the schools activities which creates a great atmosphere for the all involved, especially the children. I highly recommend this school to anyone who wants their child to receive a top-notch education and constructive learning experience.”