Escuela Key

[Anonymous]

I’ve been reading threads on Key Immersion (APS) but it seems like there are going to be changes to the program so I’m not sure how much of what I’m reading matters.

1. It looks like the school is going to change from 50/50 Spanish/English instruction in the lower grades to 80/20? For current parents, do you think this change is a good thing?

2. I’m also curious what the parent community is like and whether a family who only speaks English at home would feel left out. Are most families whether native English speaking or native Spanish speaking bilingual?

3. For middle and high school, it looks like the Immersion program moves to schools that have immersion students plus non-option school students. How does this work?

I’m sorry if some of this has been discussed, I’m trying to figure out all the options at APS and I’m overwhelmed.

[Anonymous]

You should reach out to PTA president and ask these questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should reach out to PTA president and ask these questions.

That’s a good idea. I had wanted to reach out to the school, but I didn’t because I figured that with Covid and the upheaval of the past 2 years plus the boundary change, they might be kind of busy right now. I hadn’t thought about the PTA.

[Anonymous]

For 1, I have a relative who does immersion ed and 80/20 is considered the new gold standard (bear in mind this is someone who visited Key in the 90s before starting a similar program in their own district, so they have a high opinion of APS). So this is really just modernizing the program.

For 2, the K lottery has separate lotteries for English and Spanish speakers with the goal of a 50/50 mix. All communications with parents are in both Spanish and English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been reading threads on Key Immersion (APS) but it seems like there are going to be changes to the program so I’m not sure how much of what I’m reading matters.

1. It looks like the school is going to change from 50/50 Spanish/English instruction in the lower grades to 80/20? For current parents, do you think this change is a good thing?

2. I’m also curious what the parent community is like and whether a family who only speaks English at home would feel left out. Are most families whether native English speaking or native Spanish speaking bilingual?

3. For middle and high school, it looks like the Immersion program moves to schools that have immersion students plus non-option school students. How does this work?

I’m sorry if some of this has been discussed, I’m trying to figure out all the options at APS and I’m overwhelmed.

I had two kids go through Key and Gunston (the middle school immersion program). One is in college and one is a senior in HS now, so our experiences are a little dated at this point.

Don't have an opinion about question 1. As someone upthread pointed out, this seems to be the current best practice, but I wouldn't know one way or the other.

Plenty of the parents of the English-speaking kids didn't speak much (or any) Spanish. Really was not a problem. Most, but not all, of the Spanish parents can speak decent or good English.

In middle school, the immersion kids had math, music, and PE with everyone else. Their other classes were just with immersion kids.

Overall I think it was an excellent experience for both kids, and they were well prepared academically for HS and beyond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For 1, I have a relative who does immersion ed and 80/20 is considered the new gold standard (bear in mind this is someone who visited Key in the 90s before starting a similar program in their own district, so they have a high opinion of APS). So this is really just modernizing the program.

For 2, the K lottery has separate lotteries for English and Spanish speakers with the goal of a 50/50 mix. All communications with parents are in both Spanish and English.

Thank you for the 80/20 insight!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been reading threads on Key Immersion (APS) but it seems like there are going to be changes to the program so I’m not sure how much of what I’m reading matters.

1. It looks like the school is going to change from 50/50 Spanish/English instruction in the lower grades to 80/20? For current parents, do you think this change is a good thing?

2. I’m also curious what the parent community is like and whether a family who only speaks English at home would feel left out. Are most families whether native English speaking or native Spanish speaking bilingual?

3. For middle and high school, it looks like the Immersion program moves to schools that have immersion students plus non-option school students. How does this work?

I’m sorry if some of this has been discussed, I’m trying to figure out all the options at APS and I’m overwhelmed.

I had two kids go through Key and Gunston (the middle school immersion program). One is in college and one is a senior in HS now, so our experiences are a little dated at this point.

Don't have an opinion about question 1. As someone upthread pointed out, this seems to be the current best practice, but I wouldn't know one way or the other.

Plenty of the parents of the English-speaking kids didn't speak much (or any) Spanish. Really was not a problem. Most, but not all, of the Spanish parents can speak decent or good English.

In middle school, the immersion kids had math, music, and PE with everyone else. Their other classes were just with immersion kids.

Overall I think it was an excellent experience for both kids, and they were well prepared academically for HS and beyond.

Thanks, I was curious if the immersion kids had any classes with the non-immersion kids once they reached the middle school level. Did your kids achieve native fluency or perhaps professional fluency (I’m not sure if I’m using the right words). To me it seems like immersion would be the second best way to learn a foreign language, second to having bilingual parents.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid in 5th at Key. We love the program. The kids do have some classes with non-immersion kids at Gunston so it is not strictly a "school within a school." but they do have several classes (including science) in Spanish with the other kids in the bilingual program. It seems like a nice way to make a big school seem a little smaller. That said, I don't have middle schoolers yet. One thing to be aware of is that some kids do leave the bilingual program after 5th so that can be hard if your kids close friends all leave. But that can happen with Arlington anyway - it is a transient area and there are a lot of state department families at the school who leave for overseas assignments plus a few kids go to HB Woodlawn.

[Anonymous]

Two kids now at Wakefield who went through immersion. As mentioned above, they stay with the immersion "cohort" for Spanish, science, and social studies in MS. In HS it is narrowed to two classes in 9th grade (Immersion Spanish for 9th graders, Immersion Intensified Biology) and one in 10th (chemistry). Most immersion-track students take AP Spanish Language in 10th and many keep going through AP Spanish Literature in 11th, but those are not exclusively with the immersion cohort. Overall it has been a great experience for both of our children and they have each independently expressed to us how grateful they are to have gone this path.

[Anonymous]

80/20 is much better especially at the beginning. I can’t believe they werent’t 80/20 before. The non native kids have a much better chance of learning Spanish well with 80/20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two kids now at Wakefield who went through immersion. As mentioned above, they stay with the immersion "cohort" for Spanish, science, and social studies in MS. In HS it is narrowed to two classes in 9th grade (Immersion Spanish for 9th graders, Immersion Intensified Biology) and one in 10th (chemistry). Most immersion-track students take AP Spanish Language in 10th and many keep going through AP Spanish Literature in 11th, but those are not exclusively with the immersion cohort. Overall it has been a great experience for both of our children and they have each independently expressed to us how grateful they are to have gone this path.

When did your kids start liking being in the immersion program? Mine are younger and still complain their hate Spanish.

[Anonymous]

We are in early elementary at Claremont so I can’t speak to Key. We love the program, though. I wish they were st an 80/20 model when my son started - if you read the visioning deck, the data demonstrates the validity of the switch. Overall, we feel so lucky to have this option for our kids. It’s really amazing to see them grow and learn in Spanish as well as English.

[Anonymous]

What does 80-20 mean? How is that consistent with two-way immersion?

[Anonymous]

Math. Math would be my biggest worry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math. Math would be my biggest worry.

What about math?