Help deciding between Maret and WIS

[Anonymous]

Are you still waiting to hear about lottery results for Oyster, LAMB, etc, or not considering those at all?

[Anonymous]

Maret and go to Colegio Argentino on Saturdays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son does already speak spanish at home with my husband. He's worried we will not be able to maintain fluency over time without WIS. My husband didn't learn spanish until high school because his parents pushed English.

Perhaps you can speak to the lower school Spanish teachers at Maret and the K teachers (since one of them teaches Spanish) about your husband's concerns. I believe the teachers have been making some additional efforts with native speakers recently (special lunches, etc.). I don't have all the details (my kids are not native speakers), but I'm sure Maret admissions could get you in touch with the right folks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maret and go to Colegio Argentino on Saturdays.

We are Argentine and would rather do Spanish-immersion school during the week so weekends are dedicated to leisure. We also don't want to burden DC with homework from two schools.

[Anonymous]

If you want your child to acquire fluent Spanish, then choose WIyS for the Primary years. I guarantee you that by the end of 5th grade, not only will your child be completely fluent in Spanish, but also strong in math, encouraged in their independent thinking, experienced in discussing and sharing their ideas with others, strong in their writing, and nurtured and supported in spirit.

In my opinion, the Middle School program is even stronger, and I believe that you will probably choose to stay for that as well. I speak from experience, as the parent of two children who attended WIS from PK through middle school, who are both good people as well as very strong students (in languages - including Chinese - writing, math, and science) well prepared for high school and then college by the foundation laid at WIS. I think that WIS is an exceptional School.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want the language, go with WIS.
But Maret is the better school, overall,
WIS has a transient population & still has a
World Bank & IMF population, predominantly...
Maret has a more sophisticated Int'l population.

This post is completely uninformed…the WIS population is no more transient than any other NWDC school. There is a heavy presence of World Bank/IMF families, but I think it might be around 30% of the entire school population. And also most of those families stay at the World Bank/IMF for the duration of their careers so they are staying in DC. In my DD's WIS graduating class of 70 kids there were 30 "lifers" (entered WIS in PK or K). The majority of the remainder of kids had been there for at least 7 years. There were only 2-3 students who came during the 10th & 11th grade years. There is always some transition for kids who want a different experience or school, but that is the case with all schools that have the PK/K-12th grade set-up. However, to suggest that WIS is more transient is factually incorrect.

Also, the dig about Maret having a more "sophisticated Int'l population"…not even sure how to respond to that other than to say that the WIS community is a fun, lively and engaging community with families from all of the world. The parents and families are well educated and work in various organizations, embassies and companies. I don't think anyone with a true understanding of the community would suggest that it is not a sophisticated international population. In addition, I cannot speak to Maret as a school because I have no direct information and never looked at for my children, but I don't think it's necessary or productive to pit the schools against each other. Indicating that Maret is a better school without a direct knowledge of the schools makes the statement lack credibility. I'm confident Maret is a fine school, but so is WIS.

OP - WIS is a wonderful school that will help your child thrive and not only in the target language, but also in critical thinking, world views and social responsibility. There is so much more to the school which you may find you're pleasantly surprised about. However, you don't seem convinced and that perception (even if I believe it is wrong) will affect the experience you, your child and your family will have while at the school. You need to really think about that…and then decide what is best for your family.

Good luck with the decision!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want the language, go with WIS.
But Maret is the better school, overall,
WIS has a transient population & still has a
World Bank & IMF population, predominantly...
Maret has a more sophisticated Int'l population.

Ok Maret booster: By your own admission, WIS has a large World Bank and IMF population. Where do Maret parents work that make their international population "more sophisticated"? What a silly statement--it doesn't even make sense.

[Anonymous]

Maret is a much better school. WIS is transient -- kids often have to go back to their home countries.

[Anonymous]

From the WIS Family Handbook:

"On average only six percent of WIS students leave the school because of relocation—much lower than
at most international schools."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maret is a much better school. WIS is transient -- kids often have to go back to their home countries.

My child is at WIS and most of her class has been there since preK or k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maret is a much better school. WIS is transient -- kids often have to go back to their home countries.

I don't have kids at either school but PP you are a very poor reflection on Maret.

[Anonymous]

WIS.

Your DH will be deeply disappointed at the level of Spanish language instruction in younger grades. We heard a lot of Spanglish in the classrooms on our visit. We asked to speak with other Latins and the administration basically said there weren't any. They were pretty open that they have a hard time recruiting Hispanics and said something about Catholic schools being more culturally attractive. (?) They seemed very keen to have our bilingual from birth Latino child at their school. We appreciated their openness, but it was very awkward. We are a mixed-race family who would have fit in visually at Maret. But we were concerned our child would be the "only one" in his grade and were a bit skeptical.

For early elementary, there is not alternative to immersion in the classroom and cultural exposure socially outside the classroom. For Spanish, in the city the only way to get both is either WIS or a DC public or charter immersion program.

As someone mentioned, Maret has the U.S. kind of visual diversity by race. Our family does, too. But for us, language and culture trumped skintone.

Congratulations on having excellent options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WIS.

Your DH will be deeply disappointed at the level of Spanish language instruction in younger grades. We heard a lot of Spanglish in the classrooms on our visit. We asked to speak with other Latins and the administration basically said there weren't any. They were pretty open that they have a hard time recruiting Hispanics and said something about Catholic schools being more culturally attractive. (?) They seemed very keen to have our bilingual from birth Latino child at their school. We appreciated their openness, but it was very awkward. We are a mixed-race family who would have fit in visually at Maret. But we were concerned our child would be the "only one" in his grade and were a bit skeptical.

For early elementary, there is not alternative to immersion in the classroom and cultural exposure socially outside the classroom. For Spanish, in the city the only way to get both is either WIS or a DC public or charter immersion program.

As someone mentioned, Maret has the U.S. kind of visual diversity by race. Our family does, too. But for us, language and culture trumped skintone.

Congratulations on having excellent options.

I assume that the bolded paragraph above refers to Maret and not WIS, correct?

[Anonymous]

Check teachers' credentisls at both, it will show you where to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check teachers' credentisls at both, it will show you where to go.

WIS:
FACULTY FACTS
- Over 65% of our faculty members hold a Masters degree or above.
- 104 teachers represent 33 nationalities.
- Over half the faculty have been at WIS for 10 years or more.
- Languages: the majority of faculty and staff speak two languages. Some teachers speak up to eight!

MARET:
"Maret promotes teamwork, cross-discipline teaching, professional development, and life-long learning among our faculty. Over one-third of our teachers have been at Maret 10 or more years. Published authors, award-winning educators, composers and musicians, inventors, innovators, museum-shown artists: our teachers are multi-talented professionals whose career skills and “real life” insights enrich the classroom. Colleagues and collaborators, they learn from – and support – one another."

Both are pretty impressive, as should be the case for any school at this level.