Mary Bethune McLeod:PS and PK Spanish immersion classes

[Anonymous]

OP: I think you are in the same dilemma as a lot of parents. We all want our children to be part of a warm, diverse environment where they can laugh and grow into confident young adults. The difficult part is that someone has to make the choice to take the first step toward diversity. I think we will see that this is already happening with the incoming PS3 classes at Bethune.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: I think you are in the same dilemma as a lot of parents. We all want our children to be part of a warm, diverse environment where they can laugh and grow into confident young adults. The difficult part is that someone has to make the choice to take the first step toward diversity. I think we will see that this is already happening with the incoming PS3 classes at Bethune.

Unless they get called off a another school's waitlist.

[Anonymous]

To answer another parent's question--I don't know how to measure "how much" Spanish our child is learning! How do parents of any PS-3er measure that? Our child understands everything that is said in class and responds appropriately, but usually not in full Spanish sentences.

[Anonymous]

OP, that's a very honest, thoughtful observation. When we went on the tour, we didn't really have problems with lack of diversity, because it's clear that's going to change as it becomes more popular.

We're a bi-racial family. For the record, we also didn't see glum white or latinos. They seemed to be all interacting OK on our visit. Our neighborhood DCPS school is only slightly more diverse than Bethune. We turned down our spot at Bethune, only because we want to be able to walk to our local school.

I too have no interest in sending my kid to a school where she's the only brown kid. But the truth of the matter is, DCPS is a majority AA school district. And if everyone waits for schools East of the Park to get more diverse in DC (hoping just other non AA parents will send their kids there), it'll never happen.

[Anonymous]

White family here, we just accepted a spot. I can't wait, love the immersion model, the teachers and staff were friendly and the kids seemed very happy.

Can't wait.

[Anonymous]

White family here too, and hoping we get off the waitlist for Bethune. Our child makes friends easily, and already has friends from all backgrounds, so we are not worried about diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:White family here too, and hoping we get off the waitlist for Bethune. Our child makes friends easily, and already has friends from all backgrounds, so we are not worried about diversity.

You should call them, I know they had some technical issues with the waitlist. Give them a call to find out your status.

[Anonymous]

PP: I will call. We are very excited about Bethune and hope it works out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:White family here too, and hoping we get off the waitlist for Bethune. Our child makes friends easily, and already has friends from all backgrounds, so we are not worried about diversity.

We are giving up our PK3 slot so hopefully you will get it. Just can't make the commute work and we did 3 trial runs to see if we could.

It's a really nice school and good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:White family here too, and hoping we get off the waitlist for Bethune. Our child makes friends easily, and already has friends from all backgrounds, so we are not worried about diversity.

We are giving up our PK3 slot so hopefully you will get it. Just can't make the commute work and we did 3 trial runs to see if we could.

It's a really nice school and good luck!

Just got in....wonder if I have you to thank?

[Anonymous]

My long-term hope is to get into a DCI feeder; until that happens I am happy to stay at Bethune. Yes, they believe that Spanish language ability can be maintained after 5 years of immersion. We'll see how that works, but I am not personally that worried about it. We are committed to language acquisition and feel lucky to have the option of early immersion.

You do realize that DCI can not exclude applicants. They will be doing a yearly lottery like evryone else.

[Anonymous]

True...if there are spots available in grades 6-9th only. DCI will not accept children in 7th grade and beyond.

So if the feeder schools fill all but 2 slots for 6th grade, there would only be 2 slots for lottery...unless maybe siblings take those 2 slots because of sibling preference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:True...if there are spots available in grades 6-9th only. DCI will not accept children in 7th grade and beyond.

So if the feeder schools fill all but 2 slots for 6th grade, there would only be 2 slots for lottery...unless maybe siblings take those 2 slots because of sibling preference.

meant to type they will not fills empty slots in grades 10th-12th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We are giving up our PK3 slot so hopefully you will get it. Just can't make the commute work and we did 3 trial runs to see if we could.

It's a really nice school and good luck!

Just got in....wonder if I have you to thank?

Congrats! Don't know if it was because we got off the list, but glad you did get in. The facilities are really nice there and I got a good vibe from the teachers and students. Hope your LO loves it.

[Anonymous]

So far, so good for our family. Just wondered how other new families are faring so far this year?