Calexico Mission School

Calexico Mission School engaged in child labor as a form of punishment for students. Rose Re mentioned it in her review of the school and there are photographs of this in that year’s yearbook. Having children do what is essentially construction work without financial compensation in 120-degree weather is simply not morally right. So far, two faculty members have made positive reviews. To this I say, that is not morally right either. People should not be leaving reviews of their own businesses or current places of employment for conflict of interest reasons. Furthermore, Vivienne made a point that the weather only reaches 120 degrees in the summer, but anyone who has lived in this region of the United States or Mexico will easily tell you that the weather easily reaches 110 degrees for most of the year and even when it doesn’t it rarely goes below 90. Not to mention that the only reason the school seized punishing students with forced manual labor was for fear of possible legal consequences. Actions like these are simply not Christian and the faculty of the school should have shown better judgment. I graduated from CMS many years ago and my sibling transferred to other schools since then, but my youngest sibling mentioned that on his last two years at the school there was a bad problem with things getting stolen in the locker rooms. Despite this, the school did nothing to solve the issue. There were cameras in the locker rooms, yet no students were ever reprimanded for stealing. On the other hand, the school issues detention left and right for simple mistakes or unpreventable situations. Many students get detention for forgetting their No Spanish lanyard at home. Worst of all, the school even gives detention to students who come in late. While this may seem reasonable at first, one has to consider the fact that most students that come to the school live across the border in Mexicali and have to stand in line to cross the border every morning. Anyone who has ever crossed the Mexicali-Calexico border on a weekday morning can tell you that often times the lines are backed up for entire blocks with people trying to cross the border to go to work, go to school, or go shopping. This means that even with student priority, many students might have to stand in line for upwards of an hour and that is not counting the 5-10 minute walk from the border crossing to the school. The only solution the school ever offered was to tell students to line up at the border earlier. This is very callus as students are children and rely on their parents to drive them to the border so they can’t stand in line and it is not reasonable to ask of the parents to drop their children off two hours before school starts so children can get to school on time without being penalized.

This is definitely the worst private school in the Imperial Valley. The tuition is high, but parents will not see a return on investment for the school still uses old computers from the early 2000s that barely function, the library is absolutely lacking in books and the books it does have are quickly losing pages and fading, and some classrooms (specifically those dedicated to arts and crafts) are falling apart with ceilings full of disgusting yellow stains on the walls and ceiling and crusty carpets that have most likely not been washed in over a decade based on how bad the classroom smells. Despite the fact that there are many CCTV cameras all across campus, they all conveniently stop working whenever something is reported stolen. My sister had her PE uniform stolen from her locker and they school faculty never did anything about it. Which leads us to the serious problem of priorities in discipline in this school. Faculty will not do anything when something is stolen from one of the students, but will be on the lookout like vultures for students speaking Spanish or wearing incomplete uniforms in order to give them detention or send them home, respectively. Despite the high cost of tuition, the school will try anything to get more money out of parents and students. If you are running late to pick up your child (a common problem given that most families of students live across the border in Mexico), you will be hit with a $15 fee from the school. Completely outrageous. In another time, I wold say the school's redeeming quality is the few good teachers that work there, but at this point all of them have found jobs in other much better schools. Given that all the good members of staff have either retired or quit, and there are rumors going around that the school has been hemorrhaging money for several years now, it is very likely it will not be open for much longer. Once it is closed down, Calexico and the rest of Imperial County will be a much better place.

I have been connected to CMS for over 40 years, and the improvements the school has experienced are amazing. As a nonprofit private institution it offers scholarships to many students. Compared to other local private schools, CMS is something else, financially speaking. Parents are not forced to sell anything, or/and pay additional fees for a variety of causes and events. Just looking at the national tests score results, CMS students perform above other public, parochial, and public schools as they move from year to year. My two children attended CMS, and they have nothing but great memories. The school has challenges for sure. As a part of the local border communities it suffers due to the financial ups and downs. Nevertheless, after 80 years of serving students and their families, CMS continues "educating the mind, the hand, and the heart," with dedicated faculty, solid academic content, enthusiasm and lots of love.

I have been at Calexico Mission School for 6 years as an administrator. I read the review by Rose Red and felt that some things said there were inaccurate. 1: The tuition at the school is less than other private schools in the area. 2: No one has ever paid to have their grades changed. We would never allow that. 3: The temperature in Calexico does reach 120 degrees in the summer, not while school is in session. For every student that hated the school there are many more that love it. I don't care what school you go to you will never have 100% of the people love it 100% of the time. I'm sorry that he had a bad experience there, but glad that he liked a few of the teachers. Hopefully, those few teachers had a positive influence on his life that will help him through the tough times in reminding him that even though people will let you down, God never will.

This is by far the WORST school I have ever attended. Cost is through the roof, the majority of the instructors seemed unmotivated about their work, and most of all the methods of discipline were despicable. I once witnessed the Principal (at that time) cut the hair of one of my classmates because of their "No hair past the ear rule". Supposedly, hair past the ear for men looks unruly and dirty. However, behind us,above the door, was a picture of Jesus Christ. I asked our principal if she was calling Jesus Christ unruly and dirty, I mean, if Jesus had long hair and he is all loving, why couldn't my classmate and the other boys have it as well. This school is located in Calexico, a city known to reach 120 degrees of heat, very unbearable. A couple of months before summer, parts of the school were being remodeled and replaced. One project was the parking lot, they wanted to add cement bricks and what not. Well, instead of seeing construction workers...you would have seen US! The students who had detention, were FORCED to do this work in this hell of heat. If these people who ran this school were any what educated, they would know about something called CHILD LABOR LAWS. Luckily, it stopped because of a complaint that was filed, but there are pictures of this...because they are in that years YEARBOOK. No lie. I also would like to add that the secretaries at the front were very much useless, I believe that if you put a sixth grader in their place they would have done better. The words prejudice, nosy, and big mouthed would describe them at the work setting. I remember getting a my hair-cut over the weekend, and on Monday as I walked into the office one of the secretaries said out loud to me in a over exaggerated voice "How ugly your hair looks". Now, this is a woman in her mid 20's telling a 10th grader this...you may say a bit unprofessional. These 2 women were very judgmental about any gossip they heard or talked about instead of attending you. Oh and if I remember 2 people( that I know of and told me) paid money for their child to pass grades. So if that is an interest that's the right place. There is plenty more, but of course if you sign up your child there, you will find out. Oh, and not sure if this is still implemented but if your 15 min. late for pick up, there is a fee of $15. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -(I would like to add that roughly a handful of teachers I had were good therefore I would like to name these people whom I respect to this day and would like to apologize for any trouble I gave them. I was deeply disturbed by that school and usually was not happy during that time. Ms. Theresa Diaz: You gave me hope and faith to believe in myself. Mr. Lindquist: I am very sorry I never had my homework, but I did read the anecdotes and books that you assigned us, you teach an amazing English class. Mr.Robinson: We all gave you such a hard time, it was almost impossible to let you finish a religion class. But I can tell you that through the prayers we had, the songs we sang, I felt your devotion not only to the Adventist religion but to all of us. Last but not least, Mrs. Villegas: I found REFUGE in your class, a place where we could all finally breathe and take a break from the pressure.