Kids who don't speak Spanish attending Bancroft as a 2nd and 3rd grader?? good idea?

[Anonymous]

Hi!

Military family here moving to DC, Bancroft stood out for both neightborhood and school.
I have a 2nd grader with an IEP that would qualify him for the ELS restricted classroom and a 3rd grader w/o an IEP.

Im curious for both learning and social concerns- would my non-spanish speaking kids struggle at Bancroft to jump in mid way through elementary?

I am sure they would pick things up, but would they be excluded socially?
What is the community like for native/non-native speakers?

Anyone have experience for a kiddo with an IEP at Bancroft that is a non-native speaker?

Any advice is great! We are also considering John Lewis, Murch, and Lafayette

[Anonymous]

If you are not at the expected Spanish speaking level per class instruction, they place you at another local school (I think Tubman is the choice but have not looked at this recently).
If I was in your shoes, I would try and land in bounds for Murch.
Lafayette is getting a new Principal next year- and it is a really big school. For a child in an ELS classroom, you may want a smaller school.
Important: If your child is going to be placed in a self-contained classroom, it is not 100% based on what is your neighborhood school. You can live in-bounds for Murch, but if there is not a spot for you, they will bus you to the next closest ELS school that has a spot. They try and keep you in the same "feeder plan" as your local neighborhood school - but this is not always the case.
Here is a link to the feeder patterns for special ed self-contained classrooms: https://dcpsspecialed.wixsite.com/home/self-contained-feeder-patterns

[Anonymous]

Socially they would be fine. Academically I would be hesitant to put a third grader in a 50/50 bilingual program if they don't know the language. That's a lot of class time to miss, and a lot of extra work for the teacher (and Bancroft classes are BIG) to accommodate.

How long do you plan on being in DC? Is your third grader academically advanced and/or have a high frustration tolerance? Do you want your kids to learn Spanish or are you leaning Bancroft because of the neighborhood? One thing to know is that bilingual schools have an English only alternative. For Bancroft the English only alternative school is Tubman Elementary.

Have you considered Hyde Addison? It has a lot of military and OOB families and the school culture is very welcoming to new kids as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi!

Military family here moving to DC, Bancroft stood out for both neightborhood and school.
I have a 2nd grader with an IEP that would qualify him for the ELS restricted classroom and a 3rd grader w/o an IEP.

Im curious for both learning and social concerns- would my non-spanish speaking kids struggle at Bancroft to jump in mid way through elementary?

I am sure they would pick things up, but would they be excluded socially?
What is the community like for native/non-native speakers?

Anyone have experience for a kiddo with an IEP at Bancroft that is a non-native speaker?

Any advice is great! We are also considering John Lewis, Murch, and Lafayette

Talk to the school and make sure they can actually enroll.

I asked Bancroft this question years ago, and the principal said they don't accept anyone who isn't a Spanish speaker after 1st grade (because they will be so far behind -- all their classmates will be reading and taking instruction in Spanish.) They may make you enroll at a different (nonimmersion) DCPS school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi!

Military family here moving to DC, Bancroft stood out for both neightborhood and school.
I have a 2nd grader with an IEP that would qualify him for the ELS restricted classroom and a 3rd grader w/o an IEP.

Im curious for both learning and social concerns- would my non-spanish speaking kids struggle at Bancroft to jump in mid way through elementary?

I am sure they would pick things up, but would they be excluded socially?
What is the community like for native/non-native speakers?

Anyone have experience for a kiddo with an IEP at Bancroft that is a non-native speaker?

Any advice is great! We are also considering John Lewis, Murch, and Lafayette

Our son jumped into a 50/50 bilingual program in 2nd grade. At the time we thought it was fine, but in retrospect is was very, very hard for DS, including socially. He basically thought he was a bad student until middle school when his Spanish caught up. In high school, he was kinda shocked to be academically advanced.

[Anonymous]

I'm not experienced with Hyde Addison to know about the IEP kiddo, but I second that it's a great school and worth checking out as there are a lot of military families there. There's even a bus of kids from JBAB that is sent there and back each day. I am sure some of them have IEPs but not sure if they have a self contained classroom. They may have you placed somewhere else.

My friend with a child who has ADHD and autism is getting tons of support at Janney which is near Murch. But it's also a HUGE school and not sure if that's the best environment for your family.

I don't think Bancroft is an option for you, for the reasons others have said. I have a first grader and my dream of dual-language for her died when we didnt get in to any programs this year. I wouldn't put her in a 50/50 classroom after this point unless we magically got the means to put her in an immersive language program over a summer or something.

[Anonymous]

Tubman is also moving for two years this August and will be a little farther away. So if they can’t go to Bancroft you’ll be stuck going to the old Banneker building at Euclid and Sherman.