Sligo Creek or Rock Creek Forest - lottery in older grades?

[Anonymous]

We are coming into the school district next year and planning to enter the lottery for both. Language immersion is important to us, and our child currently attends a language immersion charter in DC. That said, we would be doing lottery for 1st grade, and the chances of that working out seem near zero, from what I can tell?

Would appreciate hearing experiences of those who entered the schools in later grades - whether it’s possible, how the transition went, etc. Understand that it would require us to maintain the language at home in the meantime to keep proficiency.

[Anonymous]

First grade allows entry without any prior knowledge, although as you say it’s competitive. Competition drops a bit from second grade on but they have to pass a test after being selected. I think the two you mentioned are the most popular, although different languages — Spanish and French.

I also get the sense that the total number of applications and even vacancies varies year to year.

[Anonymous]

I think it's hard to say whether your odds get better in second grade. Vacancies occur in the later years because of seats added and also attrition. In first grade, they always add 1 seat per class plus there's a reasonable chance that someone finished the kindergarten year and decided it wasn't for them. I believe kids are also still getting counseled out during first grade (they move the waitlist during the first half of the year). In second grade, they add 0 seats, and after 2 years in the program, I think kids are more committed (unless they move). So maybe 100 people enter the lottery in first grade and 15 people enter in second grade. If there are 4 seats for first grade and 0 seats for second grade, your odds are still better for first.

That said, they do add seats to the program in the later years and they do rely on native speakers to fill those spots. I think the challenge is that if you are trying to maintain a language at home, I have heard the tests they have to pass are not easy. They want them to have grade level reading, writing, and speaking proficiency.

[Anonymous]

Do kids in immersion really get counseled out? Makes sense but didn’t know this.