Spanish immersion Gunston vs HB-Woodlawn
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Anonymous
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Seems HB is a hot topic as the lottery result just came out. We are not at that age yet, but our kid is in Spanish immersion elementary and would like to see how it would be if staying with immersion program to Gunston or for a miracle chance that HB spot is offered in 5th grade.
Any parents/family struggled(?) to decide between the two middle school? We'd like to know more about how and what kind of Spanish language program is offered/organized, etc. at Gunston and HB. Any feedback is deeply appreciated. Thank you in advance. |
Anonymous
| Gunston has the Spanish Immersion program for the Middle School Years in Arlington. HB has the standard offerings in Spanish that all the other middle schools have. Which usually is an “Introduction to Spanish” and an “Introduction to Spanish for Fluent Speakers”. |
Anonymous
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So, having thru the elementary Spanish immersion, the level appropriate program (in terms of academic Spanish) are available at Gunston, and Spanish offered at HB would not match up with that?
Or, would the school shuttle students from HB to Gunston just for the spanish class (somewhere online I might read about this, but dont remember exactly)? |
Anonymous
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At gunston, kids take science, social studies, & Spanish language arts in Spanish. TA may also be in Spanish. The Spanish LA classes in 7th & 8th grade count for HS credit. I feel like continuing at gunston really solidified my kid’s Spanish— especially learning more grammar, etc. They are reading novels, writing essays, giving substantial oral presentations- in Spanish.
There is very little chance of getting in to HB, but you can always apply & see what happens. |
Anonymous
I’ve never heard of this… and HB’s school hours are very different from the other APS middle schools. |
Anonymous
There is no HB shuttle to Gunston. The regular Spanish classes at all the middle schools including HB are NOT immersion school type classes. They are language arts classes. So no, the Spanish offered at HB will not match up with the Immersion Spanish at Gunston. |
Anonymous
| FYI APS Middle Schools no longer offer 6th graders a language. They have to wait until 7th. This was new last year- a HUGE bummer. |
Anonymous
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If you want to continue immersion, your kid needs to go to Gunston.
If they go to HB, you could continue Spanish outside of school and pick a different language to learn in middle school. There won't be an appropriate Spanish language class at HB. |
Anonymous
That’s not correct; TJ and HB do start with a world language in 6th grade and it’s not optional. The other MS currently offer a short elective type-course in 6th and then truly start in 7th. |
Anonymous
The short "elective" is like 6 weeks. |
Anonymous
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HB does offer a language elective to 6th graders. So do Swanson and TJ. And Gunston if you are doing immersion has spanish language instruction.
But when HS level languages begin in 7th they start at square one so not really any issue if you have or haven't taken it in 6th grade. |
Anonymous
It is optional in 6th grade because I opted my kid out of the HB language elective. |
Anonymous
Is this changing now for rising 6th graders? We were told it was one of the courses that have to be chosen for 6th (Spanish, French, or Latin iirc). |
Anonymous
Oh yeah, that’s really short. |
Anonymous
At Kenmore, it’s a semester of Spanish in 6th grade (at least this year) not 6 weeks. |