[tsamprasxx]

Just recently Melanio Paredes, Secretary of Education DR*presented a national school ranking placing Carol Morgan School in position #245 among(approx)5000 schools in Dominican Republic. However, in its segment, it was ranked among the lowest.
I have no idea what criteria and measurements were used for this low ranking. But from the start, the Dominican Republic, nor any of its educational institutions is equipped, or qualified in my opinion*to rate CMS, including the Dominican Education Department.
CMS is not a Spanish curriculum school. It is totally English speaking. *In its early years it was 95% foreign student with a token Dominican roster. It was founded to serve the children of the US diplomatic corps and Americans living in DR.
Today, CMS's student body is overwhelmingly Dominican thanks to the upward mobility of Dominicans and the desire to have their children educated in an American Genvironment.*But CMS*is not a bilingual school. While Dominican students remain faithful to the Spanish language when communicating with each other, in class they must communicate in English.
It would be hard for someone from the outside to distinguish Dominican students at CMS*from U.S. or other foreign students due to their English fluency and their acquired American culture.*
A CMS Dominican student transfering to a U.S. school, college, or university would feel right at home. Most CMS graduates attend universities abroad and are readily admitted to top American schools. Some stay in DR and attend top Dominican universities*UNIBE and Madre y Maestra.
However, it would be unfair to test, or rank*CMS *students *using Dominican standards. *The Dominican curriculum is totally different. *A. CMS student *is more *comfortable with American , or world history than Dominican history.
I was CMS educated and while well versed in Dominican history, culture and customs, I am a product of American culture. *There are Spanish language, Dominican history
*geography, and Dominican social science courses at CMS, but education is geared towards the U.S. market.
I venture to say that a Dominican who learned English in a Dominican school is not qualified to teach*English at CMS. *Most teachers at CMS are American born and trained under international school standsrds.**Dominican born teachers at CMS *graduated at CMS, or in U.S. *schools.
How would a top native Dominican school *fare if given the IOWA *or College Board tests ? *Likewise, using Dominican standards on a U.S. curriculum *school would be *unfair.
I studied at La Salle Dominicana, Colegio Evangelico Central during my elementary years, CMS and Riverside Military Academy in high school. While Riverside students carry their school logo proudly forever, I consider CMS the most important educational milestone*in my overall education.
CMS is not just education, it is an experience. International schools are a different breed.
I sense that apart from the curriculum, ranking a school Pmust include facilities, technology, environment and other like criteriap
I dare say that in DR, CMS is in a class of its own. It sits perhaps in the most valuable piece of real estate in the country. The views from its football fields is breathtaking with high rises and a skycraper(Canei Tower) It has the best sports facilities in the nation with an air-conditioned gymn and huge outdoor sports fields.
CMS automated cafeteria is as large as the Plaza Central, Bella Vista or Jumbo malls food areas with a menu that meets restaurant standards.
Its most impressive site is the Library-Technology center featuring the best English libray in the Dominican Republic. You can read the Miami Herald, all Dominican newspapers and El Pais daily. Almost every important magazine is available, not to mention its huge reference library. Its comfort is five star. *
The other impressive feature at CMS is the highly computerized ambient. The very latest technology is available everywhere short of having computers in the bathrooms. Any student at CMS can reach a computer easier than their own calculator. The Wi-Fi system covers the entire campus and ironically, all students possess lap tops and the latest technological gadgets like i-Pads and smartphones.*
Students are taught the very latest computer science and are so good with computers many could easily teach computer courses. Audio visual and video conference*equipment is almost taken for granted. It has a first class conference center, The envy of any university.*
Its art department is so well equipped that a professional artist can come and produce work there. The music department has one of the best music bands of any school in the world. So good is the band that it performs at Teatro Nacional and to watch it play the tickets are as expensive as those for top MTV stars. It has won several international competitions.
*Every classroom is air-conditioned and classes are less than half the size*of most Dominican schools(tops 20 ) Every student has its own assigned secured locker.
Its Health Center is equipped to handle medical emergencies and routine situations. It has its own school store, printing center and its immaculate gardens are more an arboretum than garden. The security is first class. Students are brought to and picked up at safely guarded parking lots.
I learned my English at CMS. I studied abroad using my CMS skills and was so well prepared for the big leagues that I was not required remedial English or American history courses to meet U.S. Standards. I passed college entrance tests handily, I breezed thru my college education easily and was so well adapted to American standards of education that it was almost a natural. Yet, I was not among the best CMS students at the time.
I know hundreds of CMS students. I find them smart, technologically advanced, prepared for tghe future challenges facing youth today, marketable in tough environments and in my own personal opinion, better rounded*than I was at their age.*
I considered myself very successful, BTW thanks to my main Alma Mater CMS.

P.S. I found posting this from my IPhone very awkward. It seems DR1 software is not vey compatible with IOS5. Sorry for any mistakes in setting this post. I did not correct a mispelled word.