Stokes- the last hurrah

[Anonymous]

Lottery for 2013-2014 School Year To Be Held Thursday, April 11
Mon, 04/08/2013 - 14:30 — admin
In accordance with District of Columbia regulations, when the number of applicants exceeds the number of spaces available, Elsie Whitlow Stokes School holds a lottery to determine which students are accepted. This year, we will be holding a lottery for Kindergarten, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade spots. The lottery will be held on Thursday, April 11th, 2013 at 6:15 p.m. in the multipurpose room at Stokes.

Starting at 6:15, parents will be greeted and seated by members of the Stokes faculty. Faculty will place the names of all eligible applicants in a bowl, and draw names at random. After all available spaces have been filled, the remaining applicants will be placed on a waiting list in the order in which they submitted their applications.

The results of the lottery will be posted online by the end of the business day on Friday, April 12. Parents and guardians of accepted students will be notified by phone on April 12 as well.

If you have any questions about this process, please feel free to call us at [phone], or e-mail Fresia Cortes, our Administrative Services Manager, at [e-mail]. For more information about the admissions process at Stokes, please click here.

[Anonymous]

Anyone already know they need an upper grade and Pre-k slot?

[Anonymous]

Upper grade kids who are admitted get the preference for their sibs, right?

[Anonymous]

yes

[Anonymous]

Just out of curiosity, if new students are accepted in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grades, what does Stokes do about language proficiency? Do they give a test? Can someone who speaks zero French or Spanish get in in those grades, and if so, what happens in the classroom on their bilingual language days?

[Anonymous]

They told me the kids will be accepted with no language proficiency. When I toured a new 5th grader was being pulled out of class for special attention to get more experience with the new language. This in no way affirms or negates how feasible this is, but what I saw was disturbing. The child was singled out with all of the other kids staring. He seemed distraught. I wouldn't do it to my kid. Again, I'm not trying to make heads or tails of this because what I saw was a 10 second snap shot, but it was worrisome and something the whole tour group discussed. The guide didn't have any reassuring input. There is also help provided after school in the after care program. Don't know if it really helps or not. Can someone in an upper grade chime in. How disruptive is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They told me the kids will be accepted with no language proficiency. When I toured a new 5th grader was being pulled out of class for special attention to get more experience with the new language. This in no way affirms or negates how feasible this is, but what I saw was disturbing. The child was singled out with all of the other kids staring. He seemed distraught. I wouldn't do it to my kid. Again, I'm not trying to make heads or tails of this because what I saw was a 10 second snap shot, but it was worrisome and something the whole tour group discussed. The guide didn't have any reassuring input. There is also help provided after school in the after care program. Don't know if it really helps or not. Can someone in an upper grade chime in. How disruptive is this?

Yikes, that sounds awful! I would NOT want my child thrown into a class in 2nd, never mind 6th grade, with kids who've been speaking the language mostly since K, and trying to keep up with what happens in a bi-lingual classroom? Even if they have superstar language coaches/teachers for kids with no proficiency, that just sounds like an awful experience! I wonder if the kids, especially starting in later grades (4th 5th and 6th) ever catch up? How do they do in their both their English and French/Spanish subject classes? I can see the whole experience being so demoralizing, it could affect the subjects taught in English as well.

[Anonymous]

This is what I've always wondered about Stokes. What a terrible idea. They do it in the hopes of getting native language speakers but then if parents are dumb enough to do it for a kid who doesn't speak the language then they have to do what they can to help out the kids.

[Anonymous]

The alternative is not to take any new students after a certain grade like YY and Lamb since charter law does not allow testing for language proficiency (or anything else). Doubtful that a child who enters in 4th, 5th, etc. will ever catch up. Maybe Stokes is hoping that people who enter the lottery in the later grades self select?

That 5th graders parents are idiots for sending a child into that school if he didn't have any prior knowledge of the language.

[Anonymous]

That 5th graders parents are idiots for sending a child into that school if he didn't have any prior knowledge of the language.

But you really don't know the background do you? I mean that child could have been at the school since K but just needed more help? Or that child could come from a home where there are native speakers but he/she just needed additional help in Reading or Math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

That 5th graders parents are idiots for sending a child into that school if he didn't have any prior knowledge of the language.

But you really don't know the background do you? I mean that child could have been at the school since K but just needed more help? Or that child could come from a home where there are native speakers but he/she just needed additional help in Reading or Math.

I'm the PP who went on the tour and saw the situation with the new 5th grader. The guide didn't give any identifying info. about the child, but she did explain the situation. The kid was new to school and never had prior language instruction. Whenever that happens they try to help the child by taking them out of class and giving them special attention in the language. There was some objection from the parents in the tour group about it being potentially very distracting and punitive to the child. The guide just said that if a child needs to go to a school, it's not his/her fault if they did not have exposure to the foreign language. She offered that they try to help and left it at that. Again, we didn't get all of the details and just witnessed the situation for a few minutes. So, it wouldn't be fair to judge the whole thing against that lens, but, in all honesty, it seemed awful. It'd be nice to hear from anyone who knows about this first hand- a parent in the situation or someone at the school who has greater inside info. It'd be a big help for families looking for placement in upper grades. I know from what I saw I would not send my English-only child, but maybe it's not so bad after all. Any insiders willing to share their experience? Hope so...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just out of curiosity, if new students are accepted in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grades, what does Stokes do about language proficiency? Do they give a test? Can someone who speaks zero French or Spanish get in in those grades, and if so, what happens in the classroom on their bilingual language days?

Some children are pulled out of class for a portion of the day. The kids are also grouped in some classes. Yes, children are accepted at every grade level.

[Anonymous]

There are no test. Kids are accepted. Some grasp the language, some do not, some struggle and some do not (new and old students).

[Anonymous]

^^ Does this seem to be a distraction? How are these children performing? Are there a lot of these children. Seems like it would take away from the kids who already know the language since the teacher is stuck with the extra task of addressing the kids who need more support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are no test. Kids are accepted. Some grasp the language, some do not, some struggle and some do not (new and old students).

So with this reality, is it wise to send an English-only child? I know every child is different. WWYD if it was your child. I'm waiting on the lottery for the upper grade for my DC, but not sure if this is wise. TIA for any info.