Moving to Columbia, MO- Columbia Independent School or Mill Creek Elementary? (Ridgeway: elementary schools, professionals)

[hull]

I am moving to Columbia, MO with a VERY bright 5 yr old getting ready to enter KDG. I am terribly conflicted about what to do about his schooling. We have the choice between Columbia Independent School and Mill Creek Elementary. I do not feel like I know enough to REALLY know which school would be best. We qualify for assistance with tuition, so it's not too bad. I just don't know if CIS is so far above and beyond public school to definately make it worth paying tuition!! I don;t have any insiders to ask- not even anyone in the area that knows that much about either school! If you know anything please share! I have to make this choice right away!!! Thanks!

[hereboy]

Mill Creek is one of Columbia's best K-5 schools. Excellent staff, for the most part, good test scores, great PTA support, many kids go on to represent us well after graduation. That being said, there are drawbacks. Class sizes tend to be very large in most grades. It's the biggest K-5 building, so less of a real sense of community. CIS is an outstanding program academically. However, I'd try one of the elementaries out first before ponying up CIS tuition. Definitely worth going to CIS for grades 6-8; academics will be superior to any public school at that point, stronger offerings, small classes, no worries with fights or drugs inside school. If you want to try another excellent elementary, see about Paxton Keely, Ridgeway, Fairview, or Grant.

[cyrano]

My views are based on old information because our children are way past elementary school age, but we maintain contacts with education professionals in town. My impression is that CIS is the answer to a problem that exists less in Columbia than in other towns-- to answer your question, I don't perceive it as being that much better than the public elementary schools. I see lots of parents with the resources to send their kids to CIS who opt, instead, for the public schools-- not just the wealthy, but well-off MU faculty, whose kids routinely go to Ivy league/Stanford-type schools. I've sat through enough high school graduations at both Rock Bridge and Hickman to see who's going where and on what scholarships.

[Eds1102]

I went to CIS Kindergarten through 5th grade because I wasn't challenged at public schools, Mill Creek, actually. CIS is a great school for kids who are very smart, I was reading Laura Ingalls Wilder in Kindergarten. The teachers are great, and kids really learn better there. If you have the money worked out, I would definitely send your child to CIS.