Old North Durham

We had heard great things about this school from families whose children joined in kindergarten or at some point during elementary school. I suspect that their experience is quite different from families who join at middle school. I truly believe that many of the folks there are doing their best and their hearts are in the right place but it feels like they are way out over their skis. Admin is not aware of what is going on in classrooms and teachers can be seen openly working on their side gigs or heard talking about how they can't wait to leave education. Unlike traditional public schools, CPSC appears to provide flexibility for their staff. This is probably great for work-life balance but the teachers are often absent with subs and little consistency in instruction. This has been the case across our entire time in the middle school. It often feels more like the kids are being babysat than receiving consistent, quality instruction. I worry that these kids are going to be ill-prepared for high school due to the amount of instruction they have missed out on this year but that will likely also be framed as an individual problem rather than a systemic issue. We were in love with the idea of outside time every day for our middle schooler and were really disappointed when we realized that it was left to the discretion of the teachers and at least one year we had a teacher who didn't like being outside if it was too hot, too cold, or too wet, resulting in more indoor time than we expected.There is a weekly update call but it comes from the head of the school who appears to be focussed on the lower school and the campus move. Communication from classroom teachers is always last-minute when it comes and incredibly spotty in general. The school is very image-focussed and marketing materials are plentiful and full-color. Parents often post concerns on social media anonymously because they don't want to be identified as critical or they don't want their children to be subject to retaliation because of it. There is a bullying problem in the middle school. It will not be openly discussed and if your child is involved, it will feel like an individual problem rather than a systemic problem. It is systemic. Whether it's because they don't know how to deal with the challenges of managing and educating adolescents or that they don't want to, the end result is the same. CPSC has such potential and there are good teachers and admin but not nearly enough of either.