Transfer into Kent Gardens French immersion?
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Anonymous
| Has anyone had luck (or know of a case) where a child was able to transfer into Kent Gardens’ French immersion program after 1st grade? We are moving to NoVa this summer and our daughter currently has daily French in Canada. We think she can keep up in the immersion program, but I read it’s at the principal’s discretion to admit. Has anyone heard of this actually happening? |
Anonymous
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Just contact the school directly, which is what is stated on the FCPS website dual language page. This is where you will get the most up-to-date and accurate information. Your child would likely be assessed by a French teacher there. The principal would need to look at class sizes.
This isn’t about “luck.” It’s about following a process. |
Anonymous
| It depends on how good your DC’s French is. |
Anonymous
| Are you moving into the pyramid? Kent Gardens is grossly overcrowded. |
Anonymous
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We are at Fox Mill with Japanese Immersion. Kids who enter the school who are fluent in the language, or at least near fluent, are admitted into the JI program regardless of their grade. We end up with kids who speak no or limited English in the JI program from time to time.
I would move into a house in the Kent Gardens Boundary so you would be a regular student at the school and talk to the Principal. I don't know how many kids are in the French program in the older grades, I know that the JI program loses a few kids every year so the classes that started at 30 in first grade are down to around 20 or fewer by 6th grade. There might be room in the French program due to attrition but given that the school is overcrowded there might be hesitancy in adding a child out of boundary. |
Anonymous
| Happens all the time, contact the school. The principal is awesome. There are quite a few French speaking families in the area. |
Anonymous
Adding that living in boundary would likely help. |
Anonymous
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We are in the same situation but with a different language at a different school. My kid will be entering 2nd grade and is fluent in the target language so I want them to continue with the language.
First off you can't register for the program until you are physically in the county unless you are military (we are govt but not military so that's frustrating). Even though my kid is fluent, the principal said the lottery from first grade goes through first semester of second grade so anyone still on that list would get preference for a seat. Then, starting second semester of second grade, that waitlist goes away and it's principal discretion but it's all highly dependent on if there's any seats open. And the student would have to be evaluated of course at that point. The principal said typically students are more likely to get a seat in grades 3-6 as the grades progress due to kids dropping out or moving. As others have suggested, I am planning to move to a home zoned for the school we want, express my interest in getting my kid enrolled or on the wait-list, then wait it out. This process described to me sounds slightly different than what someone else posted for their school, so I'd advise to email the school- the principal's email should be listed on each the bottom of each school website. |
Anonymous
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We are in KG district and the truth is the immersion program is less academic than the non-immersion track. Math and science are stronger outside of the french language track.
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Anonymous
Interesting. I have a kid in non-immersion at KG but have been thinking about it for my kindergartener. She's a natural at languages, but so far loving math so I don't want to lose that. I would love to hear more about this. |
Anonymous
If she doesn't have a strong math/aptitude and loves languages maybe the French immersion track would be better. A lot of people are leaning their kids especially girls toward STEM, in which case stay on the English track. It's a great school BTW. |
Anonymous
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OP, if your kid can qualify as a more advanced speaker, you rmight have a pretty good chance at getting in. Do call the school. Also mind where you end up living. The immediate neighborhod has a much greater chance of getting in than kids coming from outside.
Our experience -- moved in from the West Coast in 1st grade with a kid who had been taking French but was not fluent. We landed in the close neighborhood (rented) while we waited to see if she did get in. She did not. We ended up buying a new home in a different area, resigned to the fact that the kid will not be able to attend the immersion program. Last day of summer break (we were still in McLean waiting for our home to close), we received a call from the school that our kid was in. We had to turn down the space, as we had already moved away. We still attended summer swimming in the neighborhood and made friends with many local families. It is a great place to raise kids. The school itself is well run, and even if you don;t make it in, the GenEd side of the school still has French classes. There are many families that are native speakers and you will always have a steady supply of sitters who speak French. Bottom line, if your heart is set on French, go settle in the neighborhood. It is lovely. And chances are, your kid can still learn French and possibly move into the immersion side eventually. I still wish we had stayed. |
Anonymous
We are in a LI program. The math/science issue is partly because that time is also used to teach the language and are instructed in math and science in the language, although my child tells me that the Teacher uses English as well. Kids who are stronger in math/science are fine because they need less instruction. Kids who need more help in math tend to struggle a bit more in math in the language programs. That said, the language groups at our school are divide in fifth grade into Advanced Math and grade level math and it is about a 50/50 split between the classes. DS reports that none of the kids in the Advanced Math group seem to be struggling with the step up in math level. So that is half of the kids in the LI program who tested into Advanced Math (high enough SOLs and iReadys and grades). A bunch of his friends are in class with him this year and none of the parents have mentioned their kid struggling with the math. I think the math in the target language thing is a red herring. I suspect that it is more that math foundations are harder for kids to grasp in general because we don’t focus on math at home the same way most families focus on reading at home, and kids find math more challenging. I do think that kids who are not as strong in math will need some additional support in a LI program but I suspect those same kids would need support in math if they were in the regular program. Our program is one that has fewer people interested in participating (ie not Spanish or French) so we have a shorter wait list and people whose families work at that countries embassy move into our neighborhood specifically for the program. Kids who are native speakers or who lived in that country and speak the language join the class eery year. We also have space due to attrition so it is not likel the class is bursting at the seams. |
Anonymous
| As an elementary teacher it is frustrating to me that children have to prove their capability with the second language to join an immersion school, but many children with absolutely no English join my school every year and we are expected to easily accommodate them. |
Anonymous
I am very glad that you are not my child's teacher. |