Escuela Key

[Anonymous]

I just think that the expectation, unofficially, would be that native English speaking kids have to have their Spanish down pretty damn well by second grade. Sink or swim, it seems, at that point. And for kids who are not at that level at that time, falling behind in subjects taught in Spanish could become a real problem. Does the county imemrsion program offer official support for kids in such circumstances? Not that I'm aware of. There was once an APS summer school program, I think, but that seems to have ended, and there does not appear to be anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math. Math would be my biggest worry.

What about math?

If a student who is a native English speaker can't keep up with Spanish, math could become tough because it's taught in Spanish. Tough bell to unring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math. Math would be my biggest worry.

What about math?

If a student who is a native English speaker can't keep up with Spanish, math could become tough because it's taught in Spanish. Tough bell to unring.

If your kid can't follow the Spanish enough to learn math, they may need to switch schools but I have never heard of that being a problem unless there is something else going on.

[Anonymous]

OP here- I really appreciate all of the posts here. This has been so helpful. We wouldn’t apply for the lottery until next year so I have time to do my homework. It’s quite competitive to get in, correct? It’s a lottery, but siblings are automatically enrolled, correct? Are there any other preferences? Thanks for all the insight- I’ll keep checking back in case there are further posts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I really appreciate all of the posts here. This has been so helpful. We wouldn’t apply for the lottery until next year so I have time to do my homework. It’s quite competitive to get in, correct? It’s a lottery, but siblings are automatically enrolled, correct? Are there any other preferences? Thanks for all the insight- I’ll keep checking back in case there are further posts.

I have never heard that the Key lottery was particularly competitive. My impression may be outdated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I really appreciate all of the posts here. This has been so helpful. We wouldn’t apply for the lottery until next year so I have time to do my homework. It’s quite competitive to get in, correct? It’s a lottery, but siblings are automatically enrolled, correct? Are there any other preferences? Thanks for all the insight- I’ll keep checking back in case there are further posts.

I don't think it's that competitive. Most, but not all, get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math. Math would be my biggest worry.

What about math?

If a student who is a native English speaker can't keep up with Spanish, math could become tough because it's taught in Spanish. Tough bell to unring.

If your kid can't follow the Spanish enough to learn math, they may need to switch schools but I have never heard of that being a problem unless there is something else going on.

Ah. My kids are good at math so having to do math in Spanish is literally the only thing that makes elementary math at all challenging.

(If they aren't learning math, maybe they're at least learning Spanish.)

[Anonymous]

I see pros and coms to the 80-20 model. The cons would lead me to pass. Not a hard pass, but a pass nonetheless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I really appreciate all of the posts here. This has been so helpful. We wouldn’t apply for the lottery until next year so I have time to do my homework. It’s quite competitive to get in, correct? It’s a lottery, but siblings are automatically enrolled, correct? Are there any other preferences? Thanks for all the insight- I’ll keep checking back in case there are further posts.

I don't think it's that competitive. Most, but not all, get in.

It’s not that competitive- words I never thought I would hear again after moving to Northern Virginia!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I really appreciate all of the posts here. This has been so helpful. We wouldn’t apply for the lottery until next year so I have time to do my homework. It’s quite competitive to get in, correct? It’s a lottery, but siblings are automatically enrolled, correct? Are there any other preferences? Thanks for all the insight- I’ll keep checking back in case there are further posts.

Sibling preference is the only preference now. A few years ago some neighborhoods got preference for historical reasons (I'm not clear on the details, was before my family joined Claremont). The district cut the number of Claremont's kindergarten classes from 6 to 4 this year. I don't recall a reason being given. This past year I think most familes who applied got in, but I also think due to COVID a lot of families went to their neighborhood school or private school. In more nomal years there are a lot that don't get in, even with 6 kindergarten classes. If you're intersted I'd try and see what happens.

I was concerned about falling behind in math also. So far it hasn't been an issue, but we're still in early ES. Kindergarten math is super simple. I think it was just counting and simple addition and subtraction, money, and maybe fractions (can't remember for sure). Uno y uno iguales dose (one and one equals two). I mean, the equations are the same in english and in spanish so I felt that really helped me as a non-Spanish speaking parent see what was going on when I saw worksheets come home. Also, there are a lot of patterns with numbers that kids start to recognize, regardless of the language. I think math classes are all in english once they get to middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I really appreciate all of the posts here. This has been so helpful. We wouldn’t apply for the lottery until next year so I have time to do my homework. It’s quite competitive to get in, correct? It’s a lottery, but siblings are automatically enrolled, correct? Are there any other preferences? Thanks for all the insight- I’ll keep checking back in case there are further posts.

I don't think it's that competitive. Most, but not all, get in.

It’s not that competitive- words I never thought I would hear again after moving to Northern Virginia!

I think ATS is the option school Arlington parents get extremely competitive about still.

[Anonymous]

Maybe Escuela Key is easier to get into that Claremont. Last year we applied to Claremont for K and were below 50 on the waitlist...so, that school, at least, is not easy to get into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does 80-20 mean? How is that consistent with two-way immersion?

80% in Spanish - 20% in English. Two way immersion refers to having native Spanish and native English speaking kids in the same program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see pros and coms to the 80-20 model. The cons would lead me to pass. Not a hard pass, but a pass nonetheless.

It is extremely hard to learn spanish in this environment (monolingual US context). If you want your native english speaking child to have any chance at learning spanish - 80-20 is essential no question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see pros and coms to the 80-20 model. The cons would lead me to pass. Not a hard pass, but a pass nonetheless.

It is extremely hard to learn spanish in this environment (monolingual US context). If you want your native english speaking child to have any chance at learning spanish - 80-20 is essential no question.

Is the 80 native Spanish or the other way around?