For the past two years, we’ve been investigating the Cristo Rey network of schools spanning from New Jersey to Boston. During that investigation, we’ve uncovered a series of very real complaints that span multiple U.S cities and various school districts. Cristo Rey has dodged and refused to comment on many of the complaints from parents and we are continuing to run them.
The following letter was obtained over the summer from two parents who say they weren’t at all pleased with the way Boston worked out. It was originally addressed to a former teacher identified as Nia Brown, who was wrongfully fired after addressing the complaints with higher-ups who openly tried to silence her.
We read the email. This letter is in response to the current academic situation at CRB regarding our children Akinyele and Chinyelu Crawford. Athough we’ve only been in the school system for two years we have witnessed three different principles, and a heavy rotation of teachers. When our son Akinyele first attended CRB he was behind and needed motivation.
The first term he struggled and didn’t do well. We met with his teachers, expressed our concerns, and set a plan for him to stay after school and do extra assignments to get the help that he needed with his transition. If their was a problem with that plan, then they were to contact Mr. Roulac or to call us. It wasn’t until mid term that we became aware that the plan was not working. This was after we contacted his Math, Chemistry, and Spanish teachers, and they all said that the plan was working.
To our surprise, he had missed a dozen or more assignments in Chemistry and Math, and no one ever reached out to us. When we asked how this could be, the Math teacher Ms Moon replied “He’s a junior. He should be self motivated”, and the Chemistry and Spanish teacher could only apologize.
The English teacher Ms. Grimaldi, was the only one who followed through with the plan, and now she is no longer there. At this point, we tried to meet with the principle, but were only able to meet with the vice principle Ms. Provanka, and the Dean of discipline Mr Roulac which worked out well for us. They set up a meeting with these teachers, held them accountable, checked in on Akinyele, and made sure that he had the support that he needed. At that point he started to improve, but it was too late so he had to repeat his junior year.
The current 2019-2020 school year started out well. Because of the curriculum, and way Ms. Provanka handled the situation the previous year with Akinyele, we decided to bring our youngest son Chinyelu to CRB. For Chinyelu the school year has gone well. Except when his math teacher was replaced. Chinyelu was disappointed with the change because he developed a rapport with her and he felt like he was learning a lot, but he does not feel the same about his new teacher. On the other hand, Akinyele hasn’t had an English or Spanish teacher all year after repeating his junior year. Although Ms. Shea was able to get Akinyele a tutor for English and has been a good liaison to our family for the school, it does not compare to having teachers in the class room throughout the school year.
Now there is no vice principle, and an effective science teacher has been let go. That doesn’t make sense. How is this a college prep school? CRB should be excited to have a science teacher, in Chinyelu’s case, who made him step out of his comfort zone and challenge himself, connect with his teacher, and have fun learning. In Akinyele’s case, you not only pushed him to pass your class, but you encouraged him to stay focused on all his studies while being a student athlete. Most importantly you made him understand that student came first, and that he should be focused on preparing for the next stage of life. It baffles us that a teacher like Mr. Kim is still teaching at CRB, and a teacher who is creative and inspires these students like yourself has been let go. Of course we’ve been told that somehow you got yourself fired, and your allegations are not true.
As you can see, CRB is not heading in the right direction. We would like to thank you for being an advocate for our children and those other students that our son’s say come to you crying wanting to talk, and you make the time to listen. We know that you were working with limited resources, because you reached out to all parents for help with supplies to enhance our children learning experience.
Our sons told us that you haven’t had heat all winter, and we also are aware of the programs that you wanted to introduce that the school did not support you on. If there is anything that we can do to give you the support that you’ve given our family throughout the school year, please feel free to reach out to us. We hope CRB realizes there mistake and brings you back. A competent, caring teacher who gave her students inspiration.
Thank you,
Mr. and Mrs Crawford
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