Multi-Language Immersion School: ERICA Initiative

[Anonymous]

If you are serious, a charter program in Baltimore did this (multi languages) targeting lower income and lower elementry ages.

There are some really good lessons learned (they randomized which language you were selected to learn).

Anyway, it might help.

[Anonymous]

It is refreshing to see a community/communities on the cutting edge making sure that children are being prepared for the next generation of leadership. Public language immersion programs are cropping up across the country. Combining a language school with an innovative STEAM program and entrepreneurship is a great vision and ahead of its time. It's clear that East of the River residents and friends of are going after what they want and deserve. This type of school could be a model for the city/nation. DCPS should make it a traditional school tracing Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, French, Portugese.

[Anonymous]

Enthused to see that there will be community stakeholder meetings to learn of other ideas and build and strengthen support as well as to start a grassroots movement and crystallize the vision. What a school this could be. The school could bring in diverse students from across the city. The Gregory library is a good library to meet in Saturday. Bringing in a facilitator to provide outreach building technical assistance is a good idea. There will be criticisms, naysayers, division and more but take it in stride and keep on moving. Use what you can and ignore the rest. Everybody won't get the vision or care to take children to a whole other level via language and more. Language coupled with other quality programs will enable another community in DC to help strenghthen America a little more. U.S.A.

[Anonymous]

A start up school of this magnitude has too many moving parts. It will fail.

[Anonymous]

So what elements are needed to make it a success? The one in Baltimore was a start-up and it's still alive and strong. There are others around the country as well.

[Anonymous]

What on earth is early childhood entrepreneurship? What could that possibly be?

[Anonymous]

Double checked and the meeting is still on Saturday from 10:15 to 12:15 at Gregory Library. It's an exciting time in D.C. Now to determine whether DCPS can move the initiative forward or whether the better approach is to go charter. Can the closed Davis Elementary be reopened or should a new school be built to look like Brookland Middle School? Can the school become a reality by 2017? Can it become a magnet school? Is there another key language that should be considered? Are there other ideas that should be incorporated, e.g. Project based learning or expeditionary learning? Is there a DCPS liaison that should be involved? What are the steps to take. Good that the meeting Saturday is open to concerned citizens that want to make a difference and want to sign on to help.

[Anonymous]

That's what it needs- another language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's what it needs- another language.

Lead, follow or get out of the way.

[Anonymous]

Good discussion. Articles on entrepreneurial education can be found in Inc., Entrepreneur, and other forums. It was a really good idea to discuss this on Urban Mom to get a cross section of ideas and get feedback to analyze and address. This can help others flirting with the idea of a dual language school. This is an ambitious innovative idea. The idea will catch on if there is just one dreamer. Make it happen by 2017 by keeping focused and meeting your milestones. Don't give up and take anonymous criticisms with stride. East of the River is a great place for an innovative school that meets different learning styles and can be made exciting. East of the River has become more diverse and it will be good to see different races, cultures, ethnicities, and income levels working together toward common goals. Those that want to see the proposed school move forward will find a way to band together. Saturday's meeting that is open to public is just one step early in the process. This is not the beginning or end. Give it a chance to blossom, bypass obstacles, and bring people and groups together one by one. Grassroots bottom up for now and later with support from the top and maybe from people that once opposed idea and the people trying.

[Anonymous]

I hope that that you have your supports in place. It sounds like a logistical nightmare to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope that that you have your supports in place. It sounds like a logistical nightmare to me.

http://youtu.be/Qw3Z8Oa7E3Y

[Anonymous]

In practical terms, this will be difficult to implement. In order to offer 5 languages, the school would need a full k-5 complement of teachers in each of 5 languages. Most schools that do immersion have trouble hiring a full.complement in one language. Parents may also be reluctant to enroll their children in a language unless they perceive economic benefits.

On top of that, you need an entrepreneurship curriculum, with a supporting materials translated into 5 languages. STEAM will be less of a problem, since curricula are available, although it may be difficult to get all supporting materials in 5 separate languages.

[Anonymous]

Well I can see from the business school 101 terminology that the marketing person is alive and well on the thread.

[Anonymous]

More DC students will benefit if they are taught ENGLISH well. A school that offers 5 languages when a majority of DC students are below grade level in English, good luck with that.