Rejected by Oyster for Pre-K4 Spanish dominant - what are our options?

[Anonymous]

Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

Agree that child should have gone to the school with dad only (assuming that isn't what happened.

DCPS is allowed to "discriminate" at Oyster or the other dual-langauge schools because it is a special Spanish/English immersion program, and they offer you an alternative placement to another DCPS for K and above if you don't want it, or child doesn't speak either language.

Of course no one is guaranteed a Pk3 or a PK4 space. Children with disabilities or language disorders are NOT admitted to this program either.

-Mom of kid who had SN that attended a charter immersion program, not DCPS for exactly this reason (Charters can't test for proficiency, have to take whoever wins the lottery because they don't have an alternative placement)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

OP—don’t waste your time. I know two families who went through the exact same thing as you (including one Spanish speaking parent). Their kids failed the test, and that was it. One family appealed their case all the way up to the chancellor’s office, to no avail. They had to find another school.

[Anonymous]

Barbara Chambers center on Irving st and 15th has a great FREE PK Spanish program. Call them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at Communikids in Tenleytown.

Thank you for pointing this one out, looks very promising. Any idea how hard it is at this point to get into its paid Pre-K? I got on the waitlist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at Communikids in Tenleytown.

Thank you for pointing this one out, looks very promising. Any idea how hard it is at this point to get into its paid Pre-K? I got on the waitlist.

The wait list is pretty long OP. https://communikids.com/pre-k-3-and-4-free-preschool-in-dc/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

Agree that child should have gone to the school with dad only (assuming that isn't what happened.

DCPS is allowed to "discriminate" at Oyster or the other dual-langauge schools because it is a special Spanish/English immersion program, and they offer you an alternative placement to another DCPS for K and above if you don't want it, or child doesn't speak either language.

Of course no one is guaranteed a Pk3 or a PK4 space. Children with disabilities or language disorders are NOT admitted to this program either.

-Mom of kid who had SN that attended a charter immersion program, not DCPS for exactly this reason (Charters can't test for proficiency, have to take whoever wins the lottery because they don't have an alternative placement)

Wait is this true? Children with language disorders are not admitted to bilingual DCPS? You mean for prek 3/4 only? What if child applied English dominant and then there would be no test, how would they even know?. Are you saying oyster, etc would not let you continue the year if they get an IEP for such issues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

Agree that child should have gone to the school with dad only (assuming that isn't what happened.

DCPS is allowed to "discriminate" at Oyster or the other dual-langauge schools because it is a special Spanish/English immersion program, and they offer you an alternative placement to another DCPS for K and above if you don't want it, or child doesn't speak either language.

Of course no one is guaranteed a Pk3 or a PK4 space. Children with disabilities or language disorders are NOT admitted to this program either.

-Mom of kid who had SN that attended a charter immersion program, not DCPS for exactly this reason (Charters can't test for proficiency, have to take whoever wins the lottery because they don't have an alternative placement)

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. At least there is a way out of this conundrum. Could you share which charter school you chose? Did I understand you correctly that DCPS's "discrimination" applies to the K level as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

Agree that child should have gone to the school with dad only (assuming that isn't what happened.

DCPS is allowed to "discriminate" at Oyster or the other dual-langauge schools because it is a special Spanish/English immersion program, and they offer you an alternative placement to another DCPS for K and above if you don't want it, or child doesn't speak either language.

Of course no one is guaranteed a Pk3 or a PK4 space. Children with disabilities or language disorders are NOT admitted to this program either.

-Mom of kid who had SN that attended a charter immersion program, not DCPS for exactly this reason (Charters can't test for proficiency, have to take whoever wins the lottery because they don't have an alternative placement)

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. At least there is a way out of this conundrum. Could you share which charter school you chose? Did I understand you correctly that DCPS's "discrimination" applies to the K level as well?

LAMB.

Your child can enroll as an English-dominant kid without being subject to a test in K, assuming they can speak it a bit. I'd enroll in a preschool or daycare that is uses English for one year, and enroll in Oyster as an IB kindergarten student. It is a great school and you won't have any problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

We used exactly the same arguments. Oyster did not care. We both went, as we figured, we can't hide such an obvious fact that our son speaks Russian. It seemed only logical to choose Spanish on the application, as his English is almost non-existent. If we had chosen English and still won the lottery, would Oyster care that our son still can't form a complete sentence in English?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

Agree that child should have gone to the school with dad only (assuming that isn't what happened.

DCPS is allowed to "discriminate" at Oyster or the other dual-langauge schools because it is a special Spanish/English immersion program, and they offer you an alternative placement to another DCPS for K and above if you don't want it, or child doesn't speak either language.

Of course no one is guaranteed a Pk3 or a PK4 space. Children with disabilities or language disorders are NOT admitted to this program either.

-Mom of kid who had SN that attended a charter immersion program, not DCPS for exactly this reason (Charters can't test for proficiency, have to take whoever wins the lottery because they don't have an alternative placement)

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. At least there is a way out of this conundrum. Could you share which charter school you chose? Did I understand you correctly that DCPS's "discrimination" applies to the K level as well?

This is not true. If a child wins the lottery for any school, they have a right to attend. It does not matter if they have been a part of infant and toddlers (or what ever it is called now). If you want placement through infant and toddlers they work with your child's needs and initially your IB school to determine if there is alignment. You may or may not get placement in your school HOWEVER if you lottery into your school for PreK3 or PreK4, the school needs to accept the child. You are guaranteed placement in your IB school for K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

Agree that child should have gone to the school with dad only (assuming that isn't what happened.

DCPS is allowed to "discriminate" at Oyster or the other dual-langauge schools because it is a special Spanish/English immersion program, and they offer you an alternative placement to another DCPS for K and above if you don't want it, or child doesn't speak either language.

Of course no one is guaranteed a Pk3 or a PK4 space. Children with disabilities or language disorders are NOT admitted to this program either.

-Mom of kid who had SN that attended a charter immersion program, not DCPS for exactly this reason (Charters can't test for proficiency, have to take whoever wins the lottery because they don't have an alternative placement)

Wait is this true? Children with language disorders are not admitted to bilingual DCPS? You mean for prek 3/4 only? What if child applied English dominant and then there would be no test, how would they even know?. Are you saying oyster, etc would not let you continue the year if they get an IEP for such issues?

It was a few years ago, but what happened to us was we were strongly counseled out, urged to go elsewhere for the child's own good. Our child had expressive language issues, but not receptive. Understood everything but you had to be creative to find ways for him to show he got it (pointing etc).

He got speech therapy at school (only in English) but couldn't speak much in either language. When half the content is in a second language and DCPS doesn't provide speech therapy in that language, and doesn't believe the child is learning because the kid can't speak we threw in the towel. We did, however, talk to a lawyer, who said because DCPS was willing to "serve" my child in another elementary, they were not discriminating against us. We applied and got into LAMB, and left. DCPS the LEA has to provide services and support to the kid, but you don't necessarily have the right to get those in your IB school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

We used exactly the same arguments. Oyster did not care. We both went, as we figured, we can't hide such an obvious fact that our son speaks Russian. It seemed only logical to choose Spanish on the application, as his English is almost non-existent. If we had chosen English and still won the lottery, would Oyster care that our son still can't form a complete sentence in English?

No they would not care. Similar if there was an IB child who only spoke Arabic at home. The family should call and ask what to select. They would have been told to select English. Oyster Adams would have supported the child as an English Language Learner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

We used exactly the same arguments. Oyster did not care. We both went, as we figured, we can't hide such an obvious fact that our son speaks Russian. It seemed only logical to choose Spanish on the application, as his English is almost non-existent. If we had chosen English and still won the lottery, would Oyster care that our son still can't form a complete sentence in English?

They don't administer an English test, because I don't think the situation comes up very often.

And of course there are many more English-dominant applicants, so you might not have gotten in anyway. It is easier to get into the Spanish; a spanish-dominant IB child is pretty much a sure thing because there simply aren't many who live in the boundary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you go with your son to take the test or did your husband? If your son isn't used to speaking Spanish with you and instead speaks Russian then perhaps that is why he didn't do as well as you thought. Maybe your husband should go and plead your case. I don't understand how a public school can discriminate against children who are not fluent in any language. Your son is certainly not English language dominant if you are speaking Russian and your husband is speaking Spanish. How can there only be two categories- Fluent English speaker and Fluent Spanish speaker. What about a child who has a language delay and can't pass a test in either language? Is there a test for English speakers as well?

We used exactly the same arguments. Oyster did not care. We both went, as we figured, we can't hide such an obvious fact that our son speaks Russian. It seemed only logical to choose Spanish on the application, as his English is almost non-existent. If we had chosen English and still won the lottery, would Oyster care that our son still can't form a complete sentence in English?

They don't administer an English test, because I don't think the situation comes up very often.

And of course there are many more English-dominant applicants, so you might not have gotten in anyway. It is easier to get into the Spanish; a spanish-dominant IB child is pretty much a sure thing because there simply aren't many who live in the boundary.

Your child would not have gotten in as English dominant. Every year there are not enough spots for IB English dominant kids with siblings already attending Oyster.