Anyone else got a spot in Rock Creek Forest immersion? Come decide whether to accept with me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weighing the choice. Definite pros and cons, but mainly because our elementary school is right by our house and is pretty good I hear. Anyone else? What are you considering?

I don't get this. Why did you apply to RCF then?

We applied to immersion because we wanted it for our DD - once in, we never considered the home school.

If you are that torn, why apply at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Weighing the choice. Definite pros and cons, but mainly because our elementary school is right by our house and is pretty good I hear. Anyone else? What are you considering?

I don't get this. Why did you apply to RCF then?

We applied to immersion because we wanted it for our DD - once in, we never considered the home school.

If you are that torn, why apply at all?

Well our base elementary is Sligo Creek and we desperately wanted the French immersion - we are very interested in having our child in an immersion program and it would have been perfect to have her in immersion AND at the school right by our house. We were also interested in RCF as a distant second, but given the chances of actually getting a spot, didn't spend a bunch of time researching it when we applied. Got in the 180s for Sligo Creek, so that isn't going to happen, and actually lucked out and got a spot at RCF, which was a shocker. I've been spending yesterday and today trying to get all the details so I can make a final decision, which I will do soon. Yes, we really want her in immersion, but not at the expense of our sanity in terms of getting her there and the future of where she would go to school. And if I don't end up taking the spot, it's no harm to anyone else, because it will just go to the next in line. So what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:13:11 - can you say more about it being "unlikely" that RCF immersion kids would go to Westland in the future? I've hear a few people say this, but can't seem to find any information on why or when or whether this relates to the BCC MS thing or if this is just the immersion kids or all of RCF. Thanks for any and all details and resources.

I don't have details. I'm basing that statement on what I have heard from friends and neighbors about the crowding of Westland and how kids are encouraged (*encouraged*) to go to SSIMS instead, especially if they are from the eastern part of MoCo.

This is completely untrue. I have a fifth grader and live in Silver Spring and we were never encouraged to go to SSIMS, ever. COSA forms were approved without a word.
What's more, we recently had the community superintendent come to RCF to discuss the issue and -- while he declined to promise anything -- he explicitly said that there were NO plans to disconinue Spanish immersion at Westland or take away the option for RCF families to go there if they live outside the cluster.

Once the new middle school is built in a few years, overcrowding will not be the issue it is now. They aren't going to change the articulation pattern just for a couple of years.

If you choose RCF, you have to develop a thick skin about this and look the other way when you hear negative things from neighborhood parents and rampant rumors about this sort of thing. The bottom line is, SSIMS is fine so you have that option and you will almost certainly have the Westland option as well, so it's a no-lose proposition. Choose RCF if it meets your educational goals for your child and just accept that there are these other issues running under the surface. It's a downside to the school, for sure, but shouldn't be a dealbreaker.

My neighbor has a DD at Westland and was *strongly* encouraged (pressured) to go to SSIMS. The SSIMS principal telephoned her, in fact.

Really?!? That's amazing. I have not heard of this happening and believe me, it would get around.

[Anonymous]

RCF has a great Spanish program and your DD will come out of it speaking fluent Spanish. The kids get some amazing skills and I think the program is great.

The downsides are all non-academic and mostly have to do with logistics, where the middle school will go, and the ever-present buzz of what will happen to the middle school continuation + neighborhood parents resenting you.

If you can ignore those things (and it sounds like you can) I would do it. If it's too much your DD can always go back to Sligo.

[Anonymous]

And anyways, the kid is at Westland you said. So the pressure is not insurmountable.

[Anonymous]

What exactly happens with thei neighborhood parents resenting the immersion families? Our base school is Sligo and none of the families we know that go there talk about resentment but I've heard it happens there too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What exactly happens with thei neighborhood parents resenting the immersion families? Our base school is Sligo and none of the families we know that go there talk about resentment but I've heard it happens there too.

Immersion families tend to be very involved, and have a higher SES than neighborhood families are (by and large) - which is why the program is located in that school (as opposed to say, at Burning Tree). That often translates to immersion classrooms having lots of room volunteers, donated supplies, etc. Add to that, that the program is immersion (highly desirable), and that many of the neighborhood families wanted their kids to attend but didn't win the lottery, and that's fertile ground for resentment.

Never fear, though; with the implementation of Curriculum 2.0, immersion or not, everyone will be working at the same (middling) level anyway.

[Anonymous]

A former Sligo Creek parent here. There's a ton of resentment between neighborhood and immersion at Sligo Creek.

Lots of folks in our neighborhood get into Rock Creek Forest and go there instead of Sligo Creek. I've not heard terrible things from recent SCES parents, but everyone with kids the same age as mine and older (I've got one in grade 4) have had poor experiences at SCES.

OP: If you're choosing between Rock Creek Forest immersion and Sligo Creek neighborhood, take the immersion. You can always switch to SCES if immersion ends up not working out for your child. And honestly, until SCES gets a new principal and actual resources, it's not a good school.

[Anonymous]

OP here again. Thanks for the input PP! I'm surprised to hear about your experience at Sligo Creek. I know three families that are happy, but they are all in K or 1st, so maybe it's improving? Anyway, good suggestion that this would not be 100% permanent - if RCF really isn't working, we could always go back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A former Sligo Creek parent here. There's a ton of resentment between neighborhood and immersion at Sligo Creek.

Lots of folks in our neighborhood get into Rock Creek Forest and go there instead of Sligo Creek. I've not heard terrible things from recent SCES parents, but everyone with kids the same age as mine and older (I've got one in grade 4) have had poor experiences at SCES.

OP: If you're choosing between Rock Creek Forest immersion and Sligo Creek neighborhood, take the immersion. You can always switch to SCES if immersion ends up not working out for your child. And honestly, until SCES gets a new principal and actual resources, it's not a good school.

Former SCES parent here (my kids are now in 9th and 6th) and I agree. The principal is universally well-hated, and with good reason.

If you have an alternative, grab it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again. Thanks for the input PP! I'm surprised to hear about your experience at Sligo Creek. I know three families that are happy, but they are all in K or 1st, so maybe it's improving? Anyway, good suggestion that this would not be 100% permanent - if RCF really isn't working, we could always go back.

You are welcome. Seriously doubt SCES could improve so long as that principal is there. Really, she's as bad as it gets. And then, even worse. Good teachers do anything they can to get out and not work for her. She's dismissive of parents, particularly if your child actually needs something. She once called me in to her office to talk about addressing a need of one of my sons. In an entire 20-30 min. conversation, she never once used my child's name. "YOUR son ...." (I have 2, by the way) You have an out. Take it. I don't know any SCES-zone parent who hasn't been happy with the out they found for their children, including us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly happens with thei neighborhood parents resenting the immersion families? Our base school is Sligo and none of the families we know that go there talk about resentment but I've heard it happens there too.

Immersion families tend to be very involved, and have a higher SES than neighborhood families are (by and large) - which is why the program is located in that school (as opposed to say, at Burning Tree). That often translates to immersion classrooms having lots of room volunteers, donated supplies, etc. Add to that, that the program is immersion (highly desirable), and that many of the neighborhood families wanted their kids to attend but didn't win the lottery, and that's fertile ground for resentment.

Never fear, though; with the implementation of Curriculum 2.0, immersion or not, everyone will be working at the same (middling) level anyway.

There are really a lot of very involved neighborhood families, actually.

[Anonymous]

I don't think she was saying that there aren't any involved academy parents, just that the tendency is going to be toward involved and possibly wealthier parents in the immersion program as compared to the academy program. I know that to be true at Sligo Creek - there are lots of very involved and "wealthy" for the area academy parents, but pretty much all the French parents are very involved and invested in their children. That's all she's saying.

[Anonymous]

This is how I understand it from some meetings last year: the wealthier neighborhood parents at RCF feel resentful because the immersion parents don't have to deal with:

1) the impact of lower SES and more academically needy kids that they have in the neighborhood classes;

2) the derision of other neighborhood parents who have successfully petitioned to go to Rosemary Hills (hard to imagine many are successful but there you have it) or go to privates, and look down on those who go to RCF.

Lots of neighborhood parents say that having the immersion program takes away from RCF's role as a cohesive neighborhood school. Frankly I found this argument weird -- I guess what they meant was that if the immersion kids didn't take up 50 spots a grade, more neighborhood kids from upper SES would go and it would be a more balance student body. It's pretty speculative -- if MCPS were to open up those spaces it could just as easily be to kids in the Silver Spring side of the boundary which would actually increase the low SES population.

Anyway, it doesn't affect the classroom experience, just makes the PTA etc. sometimes uncomfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think she was saying that there aren't any involved academy parents, just that the tendency is going to be toward involved and possibly wealthier parents in the immersion program as compared to the academy program. I know that to be true at Sligo Creek - there are lots of very involved and "wealthy" for the area academy parents, but pretty much all the French parents are very involved and invested in their children. That's all she's saying.

Yes, that is exactly what I meant to say.