Cesar Chavez Academy Elementary

My daughter has attended CCAE for almost 2 years now, and we absolutely love it. I feel that the staff is especially helpful towards working parents. CCAE offers before and after school surround care that my daughter actually enjoys, The teachers also do a great job of keeping parents up to date by sending home notes with the children when there is an activity approaching, If I ever have any questions, I know that I can stop by the front office where the staff is always friendly and helpful. I feel that the staff here really cares about the children, and I am happy to have such a great place to send my daughter to everyday.
—Submitted by a parent

I have 3 biological boys and a 4th adopted cousin who attends cesar chavez and they love it! We are a mexican american single parent home who fell victim of a suburb school pushing my boys to becoming statistics. After a long struggle and melvindale schools failing my children again & again, i enrolled my children in cesar chavez and haven't looked back!. They went from being sent home everyday with suspensions to angels. Their grades have improved tremendously and they now have their self esteem back. The school offers many after school programs that my boys like to attend. The staff is wonderful and has supported the transition of my adopted child as well as enforced the safety of all children. I love this school and am grateful this school understands the latino struggle to help mold our children for a successful future!!!!!Si se puede!!!!
—Submitted by a parent

I work at the upper elementary campus, and I find it to be a truly wonderful experience. We use a positive behavioral support discipline system, and have incredibly low numbers of office referrals. Fights are very uncommon. The school leader is amazing, and will take the time to talk to students, and truly try to help them understand what was wrong with their behavior and how to fix it. I rarely hear yelling from any staff member. Despite poverty, immigration issues, and a host of other challenges that come from living in Southwest Detroit, our students show a tremendous amount of reslience. Most of them enjoy coming to school, and put forth a lot of effort in their learning. We have wonderful parental support, and our school allows space for the kids to be kids through a nurturing environment and fun after school activities and tutoring. We haven't lost site of children struggling in their day to day life, and there's a counselor and a social worker available for students to talk to, should the need arise. Just walk through the doors of our school, and you will feel our sense of family and welcome from every face you see.
—Submitted by a teacher

I was a student in the 1990's and it was great but honestly nowadays, the school is too demanding. The teachers are very stuck up and believe that they have the best interest in the students over the parents. The school has to many restrictions against the students and it annoys me. At the beginning of the year, the teachers take all of the supplies they wanted and the kids are left with nothing outside of the classroom.

CCAE is a wonderful elementary school. We are blessed to be surrounded by wonderful students, families, staff, and facility. A few exceptional things that always stand out in my mind as I think of CCA: -There are many opportunities for parents and family involvement at our school. -The staff at CCA (teachers, principal, para-professionals, office and maintenance staff) truly care about the students and families at our school. -There is a positive school-wide behavior program at our school. This means children have consistency throughout the grade levels and with different teachers. -We have state of the art technology in every classroom including Promethean boards (similar to a SMART board), document cameras, and computers. -The school offers MANY programs to help families including English classes for ELL parents or family members. CCA is a great school and I would encourage anyone to stop by and check it out for themselves.
—Submitted by a teacher

We have an awesome staff that teaches to the whole student!
—Submitted by a parent

We accommodate students of every level, help the community around us, and help families with medical and every day life needs. Our teachers and gentle and kind. We teach with a postive behavior. Our faculty is supportive of each other, the sudents, as well as the families. We have interventionists for both literacy and math to make sure all students learn to the best of thier ability and that they succeed. Our mission is 'to provide an opportunity for all students to learn in a safe atmosphere of academic excellence.' We teach to the motto and learn with that motto. I am proud to be a teacher at this school.
—Submitted by a teacher

My son has attended CCAE for 3 years and I am very pleased with the school principal and the staff they are absolutely the best. I appreciate that the school does so much for us. This is the first year they have expanded and moved some grades to another location, I'm only worried that they will over populate the school. I'm optimistic it works out. Next year my son will be moving to the other location,so im hoping to have the same great teachers as the Norman location.
—Submitted by a parent

This is my 7th year teaching at CCA and it honestly gets better every year! We truely care about our students and expect the best for them. Our parents are great and we work together to build a strong foundation for the children to grow. We have more technology than any urban or suburban school I know of and we stress reading and literacy in all grades, especially in early childhood. We have a long waiting list which has us expanding our elementary and opening up a 2nd building for 4th and 5th grades this year. We stress positive behavior and reward the students for their good behavior. I welcome anyone to come visit our school who has never been, because we truely are one of a kind!
—Submitted by a teacher

I have two daughters in this school and I couldn't be happier with both the school and the staff. We plan to move out of the city soon and I will continue to make the drive so my girls can finish up elementary in this school. The school leader is absolutely the best. She is such a positive influence in both of my girls lives as well as the lives of all the students. The teachers are awesome as well. The whole Cesar Chavez Staff work together to create this positive, fun and safe learning environment for these children. Parent envolvment is highly encouraged and warmly welcomed. Students are recognized for their good behavior everyday. Their positive reinforcement system really boosts up the students self-esteem as well as their character. This school is a Diamond in the Rough!
—Submitted by a parent

Students and their achievements are our number one goal. We provide a safe and nuturing environment while expecting high levles of learning.
—Submitted by a teacher

CCAE works hard to meet the needs of every child, so that they can go beyond their academic potential. It is a great school. The staff cares about the students and community.

I worked at the school for more that two years, before moving away, and I have to say that it was one of the best schools I have ever taught at. The administration makes sure that all students and parents are involved and know what is going on in the school. There were constant afterschool activities and weekend events to keep the students involved. The staff was great because they truly cared about these students. The school did a wonderful job with having weekly meetings with the parents, on Fridays, to inform the parents of the 'goings on' in the school. The school always had translators available for the parents who were spanish speaking only. The is a great school to send your child to, in urban Detroit!

I have a daughter at the school and will cry when she graduates on to middle school. The staff is extremely courteous, bends over backwards to help parents and students and the school offers many after-school activities free of charge. MEAP scores jump at a double-digit clip and the staff has no problem hanging around after school to help students. Parental involvement is high and parent association meetings can draw hundreds. The school offers sports, dance, music and art. Reading is stressed as is an interdisciplinary curriculum. A recent science fair for fourth and fifth graders attracted creative and well-planned projects along with some that were not done as well. Teachers are awesome and care about the kids as much as parents do. The staff has participated in basketball games with the kids and marched in community parades. The school is a safe and loving place.
—Submitted by Santiago Esparza, a parent

Cesar Chavez Does in fact offer Spanish and Russian as foriegn languages. It also offers ESL classes for students who mostly speak spanish. It is one of the few schools in the city that still supports the arts and I try my best to bring culture and the arts to the students who don't seem to care. It does in fact have a library, but space is limited for such a small school, so the selection is very small. The staff truely care for the students, many of us could go elsewhere but we actually like the kids.
—Submitted by Joseph Zajaczkowski, a teacher

This school has no library, does not offer any foreign languages, nor does it offer English-as-a-second-language class(es). This school places a superficial emphasis on Hispanic/Mexican culture without giving the student body anything they could not find in a non-charter school.
—Submitted by Pedro Almunecar, a parent