Crystal Cathedral Schools

13280 Chapman Ave., [ccacademy@crystalcathedral.org]
Garden Grove, CA 92840

Phone: (714) 971-4141

Hours: Call for hours
Services: Preschools & Childcare
 
2 Reviews for Crystal Cathedral Schools
Armegrrrl
2 reviews
 
Review added 5/16/2008
 
QuoteWe chose the Crystal Cathedral Preschool based upon excellent recomendations from friends and family. Our son had just turned 3 years old, and has never been exposed to playing with other children without parent supervision. We thought that the Crystal Cathedral Preschool would be a great place to introduce him to not only social skills, but a little religion, too. He already knows his ABCs, colors, shapes, can count from 1-20, and speaks well for his age. Basically, he knows more than your average 3 year old. I addressed my concerns with the administrator about him being lost in the shuffle if he's ahead of his peergroup. They reassured me by telling me that all factors would be considered (intelligence, social and emotional maturity), and that things would be fine. After one month, we are extremely disappointed with the Administration of the Preschool. The vibe we felt during our acceptance interview was that they were only interested in accepting our money (how fast can we get him potty trained, how soon would we want to bring him in to five days a week). Our child was not potty trained, and the only spot they had for potty training involved attending 2x/week. Nothing else was open. After six class sessions, my husband and I were told that he was "ready" to go to either 3 or 5 days a week based on his potty training. We thought it was a little quick to move him to an older class (3 year olds turning 4 this year)that didn't accomodate potty training, but figured that the administrators were the experts. Without thinking about his emotional and social maturity (and only thinking about monetary), they moved him over. The following week, my husband and I found ourselves sitting in the office because our son is exhibiting aggressive behavior to students and teachers. After listening to the teachers and observing the class without our son's knowledge, we quickly noticed that the teachers were not taking a proactive approach to teach him how to be social with the other children, and introduce to him skills necessary for getting along with his peers. Our son was getting reprimanded for moving a child's wagging finger away from his face. The teacher did not see what the little girl did, and physically removed our son away from the little girl and then wagged her own finger in his face to reprimand him. I told my husband to wait and see how this incident would be documented on our "daily note home" of our son's "good choices and poor choices". Sure enough, the incident was listed ("he hit with his hands during AM gym") but it was obvious the teacher only saw our son reacting to what the girl did. No mention of the girl's actions were in the note. When this was brought to the administrator's attention the following day, the administrator told us that she did not find that action offensive and kept interrupting my husband to "control" the conversation. Rather than discuss the issue at hand (one-sided reprimands and obvious lack of staff unity) she kept insisting that she was more concerned about red flag behaviors. I thought parent/teacher or administrator conferences were supposed to be productive discussions where parents and staff work together for the best interest of the child, not an hour of "I have been in this business for many years and know better than you". I think the Preschool is great for children who have been exposed to regular playdates, played with other children their age on a playground or park (not just independent play). The curriculum is great, and the atmosphere appears nice. But for kids who have had minimal to no exposure...I highly recommend that you spend the extra money and take them to a Montessori school. It will be well worth it because their administrators have successfully acclimated children and taught them a variety of skills necessary to succeed in school and life. That's what we're going to do, and I truly believe that our son will have a better chance at success learning and mastering those skills from teachers and administrators who take the time to teach instead of concerning themselves over how many kids they can fill a classroom.

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OCMom
110 reviews
 
Review added 1/26/2008
 
QuoteThey also offer preschool along with the K-12 program and after school programs.

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