Rock Creek Forest Elementary School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If having a Spanish speaking administrator is important to you, find out if either the school's acting Principal or the school's new Assistant Principal (AP) speaks Spanish.

The acting principal does speak Spanish but will likely not be there next year. The AP does not. Also acting though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are other full immersion programs that are also very good, like Page ES. If you are interested in immersion my suggestion would be to apply for all the MCPS programs your child is eligible for and then decide once you get the lottery results. There are many, many more applicants than available spots.

This is good advice, although the programs are pretty far apart so commute may not be realistic for all. But agree it's better to apply than not. My daughter did not get in for K last year and I'm still pretty disappointed. Odds for first grade do not seem great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If having a Spanish speaking administrator is important to you, find out if either the school's acting Principal or the school's new Assistant Principal (AP) speaks Spanish.

The acting principal does speak Spanish but will likely not be there next year. The AP does not. Also acting though.

What makes you say she won't be there next year?

[Anonymous]

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1178324.page

[Anonymous]

The AP is not an acting. He’s a permanent hire.

[Anonymous]

OP here. My husband and I are separated and getting a divorce; he is now in MD and I am in DC, so we'll have a choice. I'm pretty partial to bilingual programs and trying to compare between the quality of the DC vs. MD programs. If that helpful to be able to compare. A few people said to stick with Oyster. Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My husband and I are separated and getting a divorce; he is now in MD and I am in DC, so we'll have a choice. I'm pretty partial to bilingual programs and trying to compare between the quality of the DC vs. MD programs. If that helpful to be able to compare. A few people said to stick with Oyster. Why?

Does your kid speak Spanish or have exposure to the language already? RCF Spanish immersion students do not need to speak or know Spanish when entering in K. It helps if they have Spanish understanding people outside school to help them. It can be difficult for students initially if they do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What can you tell me about the Spanish immersion program at Rock Creek Forest Elementary School? How does the school compare to other English-speaking schools in the area? How does it compare to the Spanish immersion elementary schools (Bancroft, Oyster) in DC? What is the environment like there?

If you are in DC, stick with Oyster. Do not move to Montgomery County for a Spanish immersion school. Advice from a friend who did just that and is regretting the decision.

It depends on the school. I would take RCF over Oyster. I would not take a TWI program over Oyster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My husband and I are separated and getting a divorce; he is now in MD and I am in DC, so we'll have a choice. I'm pretty partial to bilingual programs and trying to compare between the quality of the DC vs. MD programs. If that helpful to be able to compare. A few people said to stick with Oyster. Why?

They are referring to the two-way immersion programs in MCPS, which are not nearly as good as the full immersion programs like RCF. Play the lottery, see what choices you have, and then decide. You can always move inbounds for Oyster for K and go by right. (You could do that with TWI programs out here but would not want to.)

[Anonymous]

What is the level of English of the Spanish immersion teachers, at RCF or any other full immersion school in MCPS? For when a parent that does not speak Spanish needs to talk to the teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What can you tell me about the Spanish immersion program at Rock Creek Forest Elementary School? How does the school compare to other English-speaking schools in the area? How does it compare to the Spanish immersion elementary schools (Bancroft, Oyster) in DC? What is the environment like there?

If you are in DC, stick with Oyster. Do not move to Montgomery County for a Spanish immersion school. Advice from a friend who did just that and is regretting the decision.

Your friend must have either gone to a two-way immersion school or didn’t get selected in the lottery. No one would regret going to RCF immersion.

To the OP—to get into RCF immersion, it’s a lottery, so to move to moco to be in a lottery is pretty high stakes betting imo.

This, OP. If you live or can afford to move in-bounds for Oyster, do that. Several hundred families enter the RCF lottery each year, and they only take 52 families. Do the math!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the level of English of the Spanish immersion teachers, at RCF or any other full immersion school in MCPS? For when a parent that does not speak Spanish needs to talk to the teacher.

All of the Spanish Immersion teachers at RCF speak English. They have a strong background in education, some from Latin American countries. Most are Latin American. We have had a great experience at RCF. Our oldest is now at Westland and we have had a good experience there too.

[Anonymous]

Any Spanish immersion HS in MCPS? Once a Westland Spanish immersion student takes world history in Spanish and two Spanish immersion classes, what do they sign up for in 9th grade for History and for Spanish class if they decide to continue with a language class?

[Anonymous]

So, RCF has about 310+ students in the Spanish immersion program every year, K-5? How many students and classes in each grade on the English/neighborhood side?

[Anonymous]

Does the school organize a meet greet for rising K Spanish immersion families before August?