Yu Ying. Is it really that awesome?

[Anonymous]

No, Yu Ying is not that awesome. English academics are o.k., not great. The administration is a major negative. And as another poster noted, if you dare to criticize (even if constructive) you will become very unpopular. And not many who have bad experiences will post because of blow back.

[Anonymous]

OP, don't bother with DCUM where YY is concerned. This blogged is stalked by crazy boosters who accuse PPs offering the mildest criticism of scaremongering, or being racist jackasses.

I'd find a few enrolled families, and at least one mildly disgruntled former family (preferably a Chinese-speaking one) to get the lowdown in person or on the phone.

Some parents do mind that there are only a handful of bilingual kids, mainly because it means that the kids speak English in almost every conversation not involving a teacher (at recess, in the halls). But if you don't speak Chinese, aren't ethnic Chinese, and your IB school is no gem, you surely won't mind.

[Anonymous]

HI, OP again. Unfortunately our inbounds DCPS is not a good option. We are currently at another DCPS via lottery luck in PS3, so if we were to make a move we would need to stick with it. Part of why this is so hard is the difficulty of getting into the 'good' charters after k or so. Right now, if we do not choose YY, we will stay at our current DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, don't bother with DCUM where YY is concerned. This blogged is stalked by crazy boosters who accuse PPs offering the mildest criticism of scaremongering, or being racist jackasses.

I'd find a few enrolled families, and at least one mildly disgruntled former family (preferably a Chinese-speaking one) to get the lowdown in person or on the phone.

Some parents do mind that there are only a handful of bilingual kids, mainly because it means that the kids speak English in almost every conversation not involving a teacher (at recess, in the halls). But if you don't speak Chinese, aren't ethnic Chinese, and your IB school is no gem, you surely won't mind.

And the crazy haters - don't forget them! Especially ones who never had kids at Yu Ying but hate the school anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Awesome if you won't care that very few parents speak Chinese at home. We thought it was a strange school, where only teachers on 1-year work visas and hired help provide cultural inputs, no grandparents, and very few parents or bilingual kids. Parents and admins claim they would love to change this, but since they try to do it without Chinese admins, it's an effort doomed to fail. Mention any of this and make yourself really unpopular (and stand accuse of speaking Cantonese) fast.

This is an example of the misinformation that gets thrown about on this site. The teachers are not on one year visas. There are many teachers who have been at the school since it opened. I get its not a school for everyone, but why post inaccuracies for parents who are trying to make a choice.

Don't fret PP. At this point just about everyone knows not to take that poster seriously.

Really, at this stage, I've come to view Ms/Mr "It's complicated. There are relationships. / The Admins don't speak Chinese, not enough Cantonese in the school" the way you see your alcoholic uncle at annual family events: Their behavior is bizarre and disturbing, but after awhile you come to expect it, and when they don't act up, the gathering seems to be missing something...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Awesome if you won't care that very few parents speak Chinese at home. We thought it was a strange school, where only teachers on 1-year work visas and hired help provide cultural inputs, no grandparents, and very few parents or bilingual kids. Parents and admins claim they would love to change this, but since they try to do it without Chinese admins, it's an effort doomed to fail. Mention any of this and make yourself really unpopular (and stand accuse of speaking Cantonese) fast.

This is an example of the misinformation that gets thrown about on this site. The teachers are not on one year visas. There are many teachers who have been at the school since it opened. I get its not a school for everyone, but why post inaccuracies for parents who are trying to make a choice.

Don't fret PP. At this point just about everyone knows not to take that poster seriously.

Really, at this stage, I've come to view Ms/Mr "It's complicated. There are relationships. / The Admins don't speak Chinese, not enough Cantonese in the school" the way you see your alcoholic uncle at annual family events: Their behavior is bizarre and disturbing, but after awhile you come to expect it, and when they don't act up, the gathering seems to be missing something...

+1, and he/she/they always manage to show up so quickly! Must spend the whole day refresh, refreshing, hoping and praying for a YY thread to pop up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you go here over a good DCPS or private?

13:28. That's an good question to ask yourself. Yu Ying was the ONLY public school we applied to and was our first choice. We chose it over two private schools which were only in English. And my child was already reading and doing math in English before he entered YY.

Honestly, if you are not enthusiasic about Mandarin - choose another school.

Yes, yes and yes. If you are not enthusiastic about Mandaring OP (which you've pretty much acknowledged you're not), and you like your current DCPS, if you leave that DCPS that you lucked into and then don't like YY, there is no going back. You'd have to luck into another school, which for K is rough.

You've kind of already answered your own question - nothing I have read on here about YY describes the non-Mandarin benefits (other than the building) as exceptional. It seems like a good place, but without the Mandarin angle, why would you leave a DCPS you're happy at for the unknown?

(And btw I'm already in so I say that as someone who isn't affected no matter which choice you make.)

[Anonymous]

The main question you might want to ask yourself is how serious are you about Mandarin and Chinese culture. Could and would you provide appropriate inputs at home over the years -DVDs, Chinese-speaking au pair/babysitters, Chinese-speaking family friends, immersion summer camps, and trips to Chinese-speaking countries?

If you aren't serious, with the immersion ending at 5th grade, and little Mandarin spoken in DC, maybe not. If you speak Mandarin fluently, you're not going to be bowled over by the utterances of YY kids without a Chinese-speaking adult in the home, but the language instruction is still pretty good. The rest of the curriculum is average and the school community seems warm to those who don't raise their voices in opposition.

Apparently, these observations make us haters. But if Mandarin is your big thing, you will cheerfully weather it all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The main question you might want to ask yourself is how serious are you about Mandarin and Chinese culture. Could and would you provide appropriate inputs at home over the years -DVDs, Chinese-speaking au pair/babysitters, Chinese-speaking family friends, immersion summer camps, and trips to Chinese-speaking countries?

If you aren't serious, with the immersion ending at 5th grade, and little Mandarin spoken in DC, maybe not. If you speak Mandarin fluently, you're not going to be bowled over by the utterances of YY kids without a Chinese-speaking adult in the home, but the language instruction is still pretty good. The rest of the curriculum is average and the school community seems warm to those who don't raise their voices in opposition.

Apparently, these observations make us haters. But if Mandarin is your big thing, you will cheerfully weather it all.

Seriously, get over yourself! Most of us do NOT read a post like this and see you as a "hater"! There are posters who obviously have axes to grind, and they do seem like haters, but your posts (and many of your past posts, judging from what you say here) do not seem like hating. There are several YY parents who lament the lack of responsiveness (or enough responsiveness) to concerns expressed by parents to the Administration.


Those sound like legit concerns, and it is getting EXHAUSTING reading you and others talking about how you can't say that without being attacked. Who is attacking you??? You sound paranoid and that's just bizarre, but your YY criticisms sound very reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Our child is accepted for the coming year in PK and we wouldn't be considering it if not for the Chinese. If you have no interest in the Chinese immersion aspect, I can't see how you could make this work.

Language immersion is a pretty huge commitment for your child's education and shouldn't be done just because you think it's trendy or will have greater benefits later on for job prospects. I see committing our children to Chinese immersion is also a commitment on our part as parents as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child is accepted for the coming year in PK and we wouldn't be considering it if not for the Chinese. If you have no interest in the Chinese immersion aspect, I can't see how you could make this work.

Language immersion is a pretty huge commitment for your child's education and shouldn't be done just because you think it's trendy or will have greater benefits later on for job prospects. I see committing our children to Chinese immersion is also a commitment on our part as parents as well.

+ 100!

[Anonymous]

We absolutely love the school, the administration, and the parents. Most of all, we love the Chinese immersion and the IB PYP and think our kid is getting an excellent education. Our friends at WIS say our PYP beats their PYP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We absolutely love the school, the administration, and the parents. Most of all, we love the Chinese immersion and the IB PYP and think our kid is getting an excellent education. Our friends at WIS say our PYP beats their PYP.

What do your friends at WIS base that assessment on? What specifically makes them say that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We absolutely love the school, the administration, and the parents. Most of all, we love the Chinese immersion and the IB PYP and think our kid is getting an excellent education. Our friends at WIS say our PYP beats their PYP.

Not a YY booster. Won't say why as I have been attacked as being Cantonese and I am AA. However, go talk to WIS about their Chinese immersion and you will find out why YY does beat WIS hands down.

[Anonymous]

You get accuse of speaking Cantonese b/c you want preferential admissions for Cantonese speakers.

Get accuse? Your paranoia about a Cantonese-speaking conspiracy (or is that conspirator?) puts a dampener on one YY thread after another, idiot. Why don't you let an OP collect some good info for a change. Go trash another thread.