College Preparatory Middle School

I have never had my children attend a school that is more focused on the success of my child. The teachers are constantly reaching out to me either via email or phone if they feel there are any issues with my child. I am sad I only had the opportunity to have one child attend, as we were new to the area this year. I cannot recommend this school highly enough. Great, great school!

My twins graduated from CPMS in 2013. This amazing school taught them how to learn, how to study, how to plan and how to execute a project from start to finish. They also learned how to write a real essay and how to research an actual paper. The program is substantive and structured. There are expectations for behavior and academic performance. There is also wonderful attentiveness and follow through on the part of the excellent staff. This is not a place for fluff or acting out or laissez faire parenting. It requires commitment. Now in high school, my children excel in academics and high-​level athletics in large part due to the influence of CPMS. I will be forever grateful to the co-​founders and co-​directors, the caring administration, and to the remarkable teaching staff. The best educational experience we received in La Mesa by far, and a shining example of how a charter school can succeed.

If you’ve read the reviews this school has on
, then you know that this school has many many happy parents. The fact is that the negative reviews are being deleted as fast as they are being posted.
I am beyond dismayed with this school. I pulled my children out of their previous school with the idea that this school would be able to give them a challenging yet nurturing environment in which to learn. The directors are not interested in hearing any concerns, even when it comes to the possible abuse of authority by certain teachers. The directors who also act as the principals of the school are on the Board of Directors??? How much of a conflict of interest is that? If you have any issues with them, there is no one to escalate to because they answer to themselves? Mountain Empire claims to have no jurisdiction over them even though they are the ones who granted their charter. The teachers at the school are forced to dole out these stupid lunch detentions for any reason like forgetting to have agenda signed. My inbox is full of notifications for lunch detentions. My daughter, who was honor roll in every year since kinder, is so stressed out that the last two reporting periods her average was barely a C. She used to cry to me every time she got a lunch detention but now her goal is to go one week without being given a lunch detention and so far she’s only accomplished that once (and she was sick 2 of those days). If your child is in need of an IEP or 504 plan, forget this school making any accommodations for your child. They are not interested in having you be a part of this school. The focus is on their glorious API score and nothing else. As one parent said, «Anyone with half a brain could extend hours of the school day, shorten recess, take away elective time, put kids in a basement, add 2 hours of homework and get better test scores. It takes qualitative research and compassion to build a school that produces happy and healthy students who actually WANT to succeed in college and beyond. Get over your egos and fix your school.» Humanity does not exist here and their claim to be a «Nurturing Environments» is a joke.
You are welcome to contact me if you want to band together to make some positive changes. All we want as parents is to stop being brushed off. Our children deserve the free and appropriate education the law states they have a right to.

College Prep nurtured my 7^th grader to high school and prepared him for success. My child maintains high grades in AP classes and CPMS started him on the correct course. My daughter now attends and loves it also. Chris and Mitch are the administraters who made this school happen and continue to lead it with integrity. You will feel great that your child is safe and learning at a high standard. :)