Spanish immersion - middle school and high school

[Anonymous]

I would like to hear from parents with kids currently in the immersion program in middle school and high school. We have been very happy with our immersion elementary school but are unsure the best route for future years (esp high school). Our son is a high academic achiever and we have felt the stretch into Spanish has been a good way to challenge him. We have the capacity to support Spanish language at home though we don’t do a great job of speaking Spanish to our kids. (One parent is fluent). I would love to hear the positives and negatives from parents with kids actually in the program.

[Anonymous]

What school district?APS?

[Anonymous]

Sorry yes, APS

[Anonymous]

I’ve got one in MS Spanish Immersion and one in HS Spanish Immersion. They’ve had great experiences. The only negative I can think of is that you don’t have as many choices for courses as your peers. It’s worked out well for both of my kids.

[Anonymous]

I will add I can see it being tricky if the Spanish Immersion MS or HS wasn’t your neighborhood school. Some kids leave the program after MS to go to their neighborhood HS, which I totally understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got one in MS Spanish Immersion and one in HS Spanish Immersion. They’ve had great experiences. The only negative I can think of is that you don’t have as many choices for courses as your peers. It’s worked out well for both of my kids.

Not OP but I'd love to hear more about this. Like do kids not have room for fun (and very worthwhile classes) like band and art, or do they not have room for AP classes? If the later, does anyone know how college admissions boards view this? I read somewhere that its important to take the most rigorous classes your school offers. Do immersion classes count? I could see an argument for yes but not sure who to ask. Thanks for any insights.

FWIW the one family I know who had 3 kids go through immersion ES through HS loved it and thought it was a really rigorous program with solid requirements and extra projects for graduation. Their youngest child probably graduated about 3 years ago, but they had nothing but good to say about the experience. A bonus in their mind was that the program provided a nice cohesive peer group throughout K-12. As much as people move in and out of Arlington, and the feeder structure is bonkers, this sounds like a nice thing to me.

[Anonymous]

This is all encouraging. What is the size of the high school cohort? I assume there is very significant drop off into middle school and again into high school. I did see the impressive passage rate of the high school seniors on the fluency exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve got one in MS Spanish Immersion and one in HS Spanish Immersion. They’ve had great experiences. The only negative I can think of is that you don’t have as many choices for courses as your peers. It’s worked out well for both of my kids.

Not OP but I'd love to hear more about this. Like do kids not have room for fun (and very worthwhile classes) like band and art, or do they not have room for AP classes? If the later, does anyone know how college admissions boards view this? I read somewhere that its important to take the most rigorous classes your school offers. Do immersion classes count? I could see an argument for yes but not sure who to ask. Thanks for any insights.

FWIW the one family I know who had 3 kids go through immersion ES through HS loved it and thought it was a really rigorous program with solid requirements and extra projects for graduation. Their youngest child probably graduated about 3 years ago, but they had nothing but good to say about the experience. A bonus in their mind was that the program provided a nice cohesive peer group throughout K-12. As much as people move in and out of Arlington, and the feeder structure is bonkers, this sounds like a nice thing to me.

Sorry, I just meant that staying in Spanish Immersion fills some spaces in course selection and some choices are already made for you — you are taking AP Spanish Lang/Lit sophomore and junior year, for example. It absolutely doesn’t displace AP classes. I actually think it adds them because the kids are ready for AP Spanish options relatively early on in high school. Plenty of room for art and band.

[Anonymous]

My kids are only in ES but saw today that wakefield immersion seniors had a 100% pass rate on the DELE !

[Anonymous]

I have a middle schooler at gunston in the immersion program. We’ve been happy with it. In 6th grade, kids not in immersion take a reading class (separate from English) instead of Spanish LA.
My kid does immersion & band, so he doesn’t get to take other electives but is fine with that. Science, social studies, Spanish LA, & TA (kind of like homeroom) are in Spanish. It’s true that a lot of kids go to their neighborhood MS, but a fair number continue in immersion too. Only real downside has been getting up so early to catch the bus across the county. My son really wanted to continue with immersion, & so far we & he are glad he is. We haven’t decided about HS yet.
You can always leave immersion but you can’t necessarily jump back in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a middle schooler at gunston in the immersion program. We’ve been happy with it. In 6th grade, kids not in immersion take a reading class (separate from English) instead of Spanish LA.
My kid does immersion & band, so he doesn’t get to take other electives but is fine with that. Science, social studies, Spanish LA, & TA (kind of like homeroom) are in Spanish. It’s true that a lot of kids go to their neighborhood MS, but a fair number continue in immersion too. Only real downside has been getting up so early to catch the bus across the county. My son really wanted to continue with immersion, & so far we & he are glad he is. We haven’t decided about HS yet.
You can always leave immersion but you can’t necessarily jump back in.

OP, I would note that there aren't many electives in middle school; so that piece of PP's comments isn't really that significant. There are only 2 electives for 9th graders and 2 for 10th unless you take a summer course like Personal Finance online, which opens another period and opportunity for an additional elective.

HS immersion doesn't really limit you academically or socially. You're choosing immersion for a reason and obtaining the benefits of that. Choosing an option program is always a matter of advantages and disadvantages; but I really don't see any disadvantages to immersion through the high school level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would like to hear from parents with kids currently in the immersion program in middle school and high school. We have been very happy with our immersion elementary school but are unsure the best route for future years (esp high school). Our son is a high academic achiever and we have felt the stretch into Spanish has been a good way to challenge him. We have the capacity to support Spanish language at home though we don’t do a great job of speaking Spanish to our kids. (One parent is fluent). I would love to hear the positives and negatives from parents with kids actually in the program.

I think it comes do to do you want your kid to be biliterate or just bilingual? It's great that your child will be able to keep up their language skills either way at home but will they learn the grammar and read in Spanish on their own?

The MS and HS program really expands on what they learn at Claremont or Key.

[Anonymous]

NP here. Two kids at Wakefield who have gone through Immersion (Claremont-Gunston-Wakefield). Has been a great experience and they've both commented about how grateful they are to have had the opportunity. The challenge of two languages was definitely a benefit at earlier grades. TBH I did not love Gunston (it is our "home" MS), but being in the immersion cohort, both academically and socially, made it work.

I strongly agree with the comment about the cohesive peer group being a benefit. About half of the kids we know zones for other HS didn't continue for myriad reasons (sports, religious obligations, etc.) but they've stayed close with their friends from ES/MS. Would definitely do it again.

I do know a few families who have started their kids in immersion but later discovered learning challenges (particularly around reading) that led them to decide to leave the immersion program.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is all encouraging. What is the size of the high school cohort? I assume there is very significant drop off into middle school and again into high school. I did see the impressive passage rate of the high school seniors on the fluency exam.

It depends on the year but I think generally between 45-60. They aren't all BFF and of course kids make friends outside of the cohort, but having a group for 3 (MS) or 9 (ES+MS) going in to HS together - where 2 of your 9th grade classes (Bio and Spanish) are exclusively from this cohort is great.

FWIW the immersion science teacher at Wakefield (she teaches both immersion bio in 9th and immersion chem in 10th) is outstanding. Both classes are also "intensified" (APS version of "honors").

[Anonymous]

As someone with kids in K and 2nd, I love this thread! We don't often have anyone to talk to about the experience down the line. We are currently at Claremont and live across the street from Wakefield, so middle school is the only time we'd be out of the neighborhood.

My husband is Hispanic, so having the kids stay in Immersion is a huge goal of ours. But it hasn't been clear how it works in middle or high school. This thread is encouraging.