Powell, Marie Reed, or Cleveland for Spanish immersion?
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Anonymous
The most authentic? In what way? My impression is that it has one of the lowest percentage of native speakers of all the dual language schools. |
Anonymous
+1 I'd love to hear what you like about it, Cleveland parent, and whether your family speaks Spanish. I'm the OP. I think it's the low percentage of native speakers that bothers me about Cleveland, as it does otherwise sound like a solid school. |
Anonymous
First grade Powell parent here. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. |
Anonymous
Great. How is the quality of the program for K and 1st? Do you speak Spanish at home? Are the teachers and aides native speakers? What do you think the greatest strengths and weaknesses of the program are? And finally, if you had a choice between Powell and other DCPS programs and commute wasn't a factor, would you still choose Powell? |
Anonymous
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My child is in early childhood ed at Marie Reed. I’ve replied to a couple of other threads. I think the teaching is very good. The teachers really seem to know how to channel preschooler energy into something productive, and they work very hard at keeping kids engaged, including differentiating if need be. I also like Tools of the Mind, which really seems to meet kids where they are in terms of literacy. The in-depth play also seems to encourage vocabulary development. I’ve been especially surprised by the math instruction, which seems to have taught my child way more than I ever expected, mostly by playing games.
It’s hard for me to assess the Spanish instruction thoroughly. My child doesn’t like speaking Spanish with me, since he doesn’t think it is my language. (He was in a bilingual daycare, and I was told that the little ones classify people on the basis of language rather ruthlessly. One dual language school I toured said that they try to trick their three-year olds into thinking that the teachers don’t speak English.) My kid can write a few very simple words in Spanish, can generally understand what people say to him, can understand a Spanish cartoon, and can count higher in Spanish now than he could when he entered the program at Marie Reed. I’m not a fan of the building, since it is a maze, and has one of those older HVAC systems with two settings: sweltering and freezing. However, I don’t think concerns about the open layout are really that relevant for early childhood. Pretty much every preschool program in the city uses a curriculum that has ripped off the idea of centers or stations from Montessori. Wherever your child goes to preschool, they will be in a room with several groups of children doing other tasks. They generally cope pretty well. If you have other questions, I can try to answer them. |
Anonymous
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Re Cleveland, pretty much all the Hispanic kids in the school are in the dual language track (there is also an English only track there), so there are actually a lot of native speakers in the dual language track. Starting this year, there is a lottery within in dual language track for English dominant speakers and Spanish dominant speakers, so going forward the dual language program with always be ~50/50 English and Spanish speaking students. (Like Oyster does.)
Through third grade all the teachers and aides are native speakers. The 4/5th grade Spanish teacher is not native, but African Anerican. I think they wanted a model for the AA kids. That teacher is currently on maternity leaves, so perhaps she won't be back. Another Cleveland dual language plus it is 90% in Spanish in PK3 and PK4. It switches to 50/50 in K. So it's likely easier for English dominant kids to learn Spanish. Not all DCPS Spanish immersion programs are like that. |
Anonymous
I ranked Cleveland lower because it has few to no middle clas families and fewer native speakers, and you want at least one of those in a dual language, preferably both. Oyster clearly has both, Bancroft has the native speakers, plus a critical mass of middle class though not approaching Oyster demographics, Marie Reed similar to Bancroft in MR's dual language track, Powell and Bruce Monroe have the native speakers but few or no middle class past PK. But another PP pointed out that native speakers at Cleveland are concentrated in the dual language track, which helps. I agree with PP that objectively Bruce Monroe is similar to Powell, but just doesn't get the boosting Powell does. Another thing, I prefer the "dual language only" model that Oyster and Bancroft have (and Bruce Monroe?) and I wonder if other schools will consider it. It focuses the school's mission, makes hiring simpler (albeit more difficult), and makes it more likely you'll have a critical mass of parents !!and teachers !! committed to bilingualism and so on. I think it's no coincidence that Oyster chose this model many years ago. |
Anonymous
| Cleveland has a growing number of high SES families. My child's class of 14 has at least 4 professional families, quite possibly more. That's not a ton, but also not none. |
Anonymous
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Any idea how far into the WL Marie Reed DL and Powell will go for PK3?
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Anonymous
Yes, I believe that Bruce Monroe no longer has an English track in any grade. |
Anonymous
My kid is PK4 at Powell, so perhaps my 2 cents is worth even less, but here goes. Powell's principal had her first baby less than two months ago, likely the reason she hasn't responded. Judging by what you've written, I'd say she embodies everything you're looking for. I wasn't sold on Powell until I went to an open house and heard a parent ask her about her vision for the school. Her background in a native Spanish-speaking household, her experience teaching at middle and high school levels (so mindful of what early education needs to do to prepare learners) and what she said about the school's role in serving and uniting the community - across barriers of language and class - helped me form my own thoughts about what I wanted. If you also attend an open house there, you'll encounter many enthusiastic parents of kids in upper grades - I did, and they convinced me as well. For what it's worth, it also helped me realize that involved parents of older kids aren't spending a lot of time on DCUM. Email the parents organization - you'll get plenty of informed responses. We're happy enough that I have doubts about the benefits of jumping to another school. I don't know much about Marie Reed but have a friend whose kid has been there for PS3 and PK4. They're in boundary for Oyster and had always planned to attend, but now they're torn because they like MR so much. Just one anecdote. |
Anonymous
| Any idea how far into the WL Marie Reed DL and Powell will go for K? |
Anonymous
Not far at all. Each school offered one K seat for their DL programs last year. Powell's wait list was 35, MR's 26. http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Learn+About+Schools/Lottery+and+Admissions:+Apply+to+Our+Schools/My+School+DC+Lottery |
Anonymous
As a neighborhood school they have to. |
Anonymous
Thanks! |