Yu Ying - Transferring to Yu Ying from another state

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think some posters here and many parents really do not understand what immersion is all about - since they seem to think it's no big deal to send a kid with no language experience into a school where his peers would have been participating in an immersion program for years.

I think some seriously think, "oh, no big deal, so they have a Mandarin class - maybe little Johnny can skip that and take something else - or if he does have to take it but isn't good at Mandarin, maybe he'll get a D in that class but everything else will be OK." Immersion means it's not just one language class. It means it will be coming up all throughout the schoolday. It will show up in History class. Science class. And so on. Further, language is a lifelong learning journey. You don't master Mandarin in a semester. A student coming in as a newbie to a room full of peers who have been working on it for years will flounder.

He'll be like that kid drowning in the deep end of the pool above. That parent will be doing their child a huge disservice if they don't understand that.

And I think people such as yourself hear things no one is saying. Who in this thread is minimizing or dismissing the work it takes to help a student who doesn't start at the entry grade get up to speed in proficiency? Quote please.

How would you propose that student catch up on several years worth of proficiency?

I think people are describing the rules that YY operates on, which include not admitting new students after 2nd grade.

I'm fine with those rules. Other posters seem insistent on being able to send kids after 2nd.

Who are you talking about??? Everyone in this thread either thinks that once entry is cut off at 2nd grade, there should be no more entry until 6th grade when YY/DCI can accomodate a new group of "never spoke Mandarin before" students in DCI. Because, students from Stokes, Mundo Verde, etc will not know Mandarin and will also be taking it for the first time if they so choose (and many will choose to). The other group in this thread wants to see any spots that open up through attrition between 2nd and 6th grades to be able to be filled by testing for language proficiency.

Who is it you are seeing saying "let the no Mandarin proficiency" students in after 2nd grade (but before 6th) so they'd be in 3rd grade trying to follow along with students who've been at YY for at least a year? No one is saying that. Quote anyone who said anything like that.

Forgot to say - the first group, the "no new students after 2nd grade until 6th grade" group, feel that way because there is a priority on mantaining the lottery as the only way to enter the school (no testing in, becaue that would give families who can pay for Mandarin classes/tutoring/nannies a huge advantage). I don't know anyone in that group that doesn't get why it wouldn't be great to be able to have more already bilingual students fill those slots, but it's an equity issue. But NONE of those people (or people in the "let students test in" group) want to see non-Mandarin speaking students thrown in with Mandarin speaking students in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't LAMB also have a cut-off entry year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't LAMB also have a cut-off entry year?

LAMB accepts up to 4 yrs old. They have an immersion Spanish Montessori model and the policy is b/c of Montessori not Spanish.

[Anonymous]

pk4 is the last entry year for LAMB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't LAMB also have a cut-off entry year?

LAMB accepts up to 4 yrs old. They have an immersion Spanish Montessori model and the policy is b/c of Montessori not Spanish.

Well why would it make a difference if the kid was transferring from another Montessori school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't LAMB also have a cut-off entry year?

LAMB accepts up to 4 yrs old. They have an immersion Spanish Montessori model and the policy is b/c of Montessori not Spanish.

Well why would it make a difference if the kid was transferring from another Montessori school.

Same issue that we've been talking about for pages. The law doesn't allow admissions to be based on any selective criteria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Forgot to say - the first group, the "no new students after 2nd grade until 6th grade" group, feel that way because there is a priority on mantaining the lottery as the only way to enter the school (no testing in, becaue that would give families who can pay for Mandarin classes/tutoring/nannies a huge advantage). I don't know anyone in that group that doesn't get why it wouldn't be great to be able to have more already bilingual students fill those slots, but it's an equity issue. But NONE of those people (or people in the "let students test in" group) want to see non-Mandarin speaking students thrown in with Mandarin speaking students in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades.

Regarding the statement in bold: It's hardly a "huge advantage" to have the opportunity to enter a school that's PS-6 in 3rd grade, where: (1) seats will only be available if students leave the school; (2) your child must meet some sort of Mandarin proficiency test; and (3) you have to win a lottery among the people who meet #2 in order to get the very very few seats available because of #1. The idea that someone will give their kid 4 or 5 years of tutoring on the off chance they could get into YY for grades 3-6 is crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Forgot to say - the first group, the "no new students after 2nd grade until 6th grade" group, feel that way because there is a priority on mantaining the lottery as the only way to enter the school (no testing in, becaue that would give families who can pay for Mandarin classes/tutoring/nannies a huge advantage). I don't know anyone in that group that doesn't get why it wouldn't be great to be able to have more already bilingual students fill those slots, but it's an equity issue. But NONE of those people (or people in the "let students test in" group) want to see non-Mandarin speaking students thrown in with Mandarin speaking students in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades.

Regarding the statement in bold: It's hardly a "huge advantage" to have the opportunity to enter a school that's PS-6 in 3rd grade, where: (1) seats will only be available if students leave the school; (2) your child must meet some sort of Mandarin proficiency test; and (3) you have to win a lottery among the people who meet #2 in order to get the very very few seats available because of #1. The idea that someone will give their kid 4 or 5 years of tutoring on the off chance they could get into YY for grades 3-6 is crazy.

You're either clueless or purposefully being misleading. Mandarin is the flavor of the month (and is likely to be for years to come), and parents are ALREADY investing in Mandarin language resources for their tiny ones, NOT just on the off-chance they'll get into YY, but because Mandarin is a priority for them and if they don't get into a Mandarin bilingual school, they'll find another way to supplement their kid learning it. The interest in Mandarin hardly begins and ends with YY. We were getting ready to send our DC to a Mandarin language school in our last city before getting to DC and arrived here already knowing about YY and hoping to get in. But regardless of admissions (or not) to YY, Mandarin was and is very important to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Forgot to say - the first group, the "no new students after 2nd grade until 6th grade" group, feel that way because there is a priority on mantaining the lottery as the only way to enter the school (no testing in, becaue that would give families who can pay for Mandarin classes/tutoring/nannies a huge advantage). I don't know anyone in that group that doesn't get why it wouldn't be great to be able to have more already bilingual students fill those slots, but it's an equity issue. But NONE of those people (or people in the "let students test in" group) want to see non-Mandarin speaking students thrown in with Mandarin speaking students in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades.

Regarding the statement in bold: It's hardly a "huge advantage" to have the opportunity to enter a school that's PS-6 in 3rd grade, where: (1) seats will only be available if students leave the school; (2) your child must meet some sort of Mandarin proficiency test; and (3) you have to win a lottery among the people who meet #2 in order to get the very very few seats available because of #1. The idea that someone will give their kid 4 or 5 years of tutoring on the off chance they could get into YY for grades 3-6 is crazy.

You're either clueless or purposefully being misleading. Mandarin is the flavor of the month (and is likely to be for years to come), and parents are ALREADY investing in Mandarin language resources for their tiny ones, NOT just on the off-chance they'll get into YY, but because Mandarin is a priority for them and if they don't get into a Mandarin bilingual school, they'll find another way to supplement their kid learning it. The interest in Mandarin hardly begins and ends with YY. We were getting ready to send our DC to a Mandarin language school in our last city before getting to DC and arrived here already knowing about YY and hoping to get in. But regardless of admissions (or not) to YY, Mandarin was and is very important to us.

This is true for most parents who choose a Mandarin immersion school at other cities but not as much at Yu Ying simply b/c of the way the lottery is run here and the limited number of seats at desirable schools. There are many families at Yu Ying who originally sent their kids there b/c it's the best school they got into through the lottery not b/c of their desire for mandarin specifically. Then there are other families who chose it b/c it's the only Mandarin immersion school in DC. It makes for a diverse community and those who did not originally chose YY for the Mandarin become more devoted with time or they leave. Since there is very little attrition, looks like learning Mandarin eventually becomes a priority for those families too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Forgot to say - the first group, the "no new students after 2nd grade until 6th grade" group, feel that way because there is a priority on mantaining the lottery as the only way to enter the school (no testing in, becaue that would give families who can pay for Mandarin classes/tutoring/nannies a huge advantage). I don't know anyone in that group that doesn't get why it wouldn't be great to be able to have more already bilingual students fill those slots, but it's an equity issue. But NONE of those people (or people in the "let students test in" group) want to see non-Mandarin speaking students thrown in with Mandarin speaking students in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades.

Regarding the statement in bold: It's hardly a "huge advantage" to have the opportunity to enter a school that's PS-6 in 3rd grade, where: (1) seats will only be available if students leave the school; (2) your child must meet some sort of Mandarin proficiency test; and (3) you have to win a lottery among the people who meet #2 in order to get the very very few seats available because of #1. The idea that someone will give their kid 4 or 5 years of tutoring on the off chance they could get into YY for grades 3-6 is crazy.

You're either clueless or purposefully being misleading. Mandarin is the flavor of the month (and is likely to be for years to come), and parents are ALREADY investing in Mandarin language resources for their tiny ones, NOT just on the off-chance they'll get into YY, but because Mandarin is a priority for them and if they don't get into a Mandarin bilingual school, they'll find another way to supplement their kid learning it. The interest in Mandarin hardly begins and ends with YY. We were getting ready to send our DC to a Mandarin language school in our last city before getting to DC and arrived here already knowing about YY and hoping to get in. But regardless of admissions (or not) to YY, Mandarin was and is very important to us.

You need to understand that in this city that opening upper grades up without a proficiency test, you ABSOLUTELY WOULD BE competing in a lottery against many other families whose kids have absolutely no preparation in Mandarin - and in many cases likely little genuine interest in Mandarin as well. There are a ton of families out there who will take anything they can get without any real regard or consideration of the stated mission and purpose of the school, much less any commitment to it. That's a basic reality in the charters as well as DCPS specialized schools with tons of evidence to support it - that posters here need to understand, like it or not.

This is why people keep bringing up proficiency tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Forgot to say - the first group, the "no new students after 2nd grade until 6th grade" group, feel that way because there is a priority on mantaining the lottery as the only way to enter the school (no testing in, becaue that would give families who can pay for Mandarin classes/tutoring/nannies a huge advantage). I don't know anyone in that group that doesn't get why it wouldn't be great to be able to have more already bilingual students fill those slots, but it's an equity issue. But NONE of those people (or people in the "let students test in" group) want to see non-Mandarin speaking students thrown in with Mandarin speaking students in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades.

Regarding the statement in bold: It's hardly a "huge advantage" to have the opportunity to enter a school that's PS-6 in 3rd grade, where: (1) seats will only be available if students leave the school; (2) your child must meet some sort of Mandarin proficiency test; and (3) you have to win a lottery among the people who meet #2 in order to get the very very few seats available because of #1. The idea that someone will give their kid 4 or 5 years of tutoring on the off chance they could get into YY for grades 3-6 is crazy.

You're either clueless or purposefully being misleading. Mandarin is the flavor of the month (and is likely to be for years to come), and parents are ALREADY investing in Mandarin language resources for their tiny ones, NOT just on the off-chance they'll get into YY, but because Mandarin is a priority for them and if they don't get into a Mandarin bilingual school, they'll find another way to supplement their kid learning it. The interest in Mandarin hardly begins and ends with YY. We were getting ready to send our DC to a Mandarin language school in our last city before getting to DC and arrived here already knowing about YY and hoping to get in. But regardless of admissions (or not) to YY, Mandarin was and is very important to us.

You need to understand that in this city that opening upper grades up without a proficiency test, you ABSOLUTELY WOULD BE competing in a lottery against many other families whose kids have absolutely no preparation in Mandarin - and in many cases likely little genuine interest in Mandarin as well. There are a ton of families out there who will take anything they can get without any real regard or consideration of the stated mission and purpose of the school, much less any commitment to it. That's a basic reality in the charters as well as DCPS specialized schools with tons of evidence to support it - that posters here need to understand, like it or not.

This is why people keep bringing up proficiency tests.

There is no one in this thread who doesn't understand that, and right now YY doesn't and has no plans to do that until 6th grade when other no-Mandarin kids will also be joining from other feeders. No one is confused about what you just said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Forgot to say - the first group, the "no new students after 2nd grade until 6th grade" group, feel that way because there is a priority on mantaining the lottery as the only way to enter the school (no testing in, becaue that would give families who can pay for Mandarin classes/tutoring/nannies a huge advantage). I don't know anyone in that group that doesn't get why it wouldn't be great to be able to have more already bilingual students fill those slots, but it's an equity issue. But NONE of those people (or people in the "let students test in" group) want to see non-Mandarin speaking students thrown in with Mandarin speaking students in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades.

Regarding the statement in bold: It's hardly a "huge advantage" to have the opportunity to enter a school that's PS-6 in 3rd grade, where: (1) seats will only be available if students leave the school; (2) your child must meet some sort of Mandarin proficiency test; and (3) you have to win a lottery among the people who meet #2 in order to get the very very few seats available because of #1. The idea that someone will give their kid 4 or 5 years of tutoring on the off chance they could get into YY for grades 3-6 is crazy.

You're either clueless or purposefully being misleading. Mandarin is the flavor of the month (and is likely to be for years to come), and parents are ALREADY investing in Mandarin language resources for their tiny ones, NOT just on the off-chance they'll get into YY, but because Mandarin is a priority for them and if they don't get into a Mandarin bilingual school, they'll find another way to supplement their kid learning it. The interest in Mandarin hardly begins and ends with YY. We were getting ready to send our DC to a Mandarin language school in our last city before getting to DC and arrived here already knowing about YY and hoping to get in. But regardless of admissions (or not) to YY, Mandarin was and is very important to us.

This is true for most parents who choose a Mandarin immersion school at other cities but not as much at Yu Ying simply b/c of the way the lottery is run here and the limited number of seats at desirable schools. There are many families at Yu Ying who originally sent their kids there b/c it's the best school they got into through the lottery not b/c of their desire for mandarin specifically. Then there are other families who chose it b/c it's the only Mandarin immersion school in DC. It makes for a diverse community and those who did not originally chose YY for the Mandarin become more devoted with time or they leave. Since there is very little attrition, looks like learning Mandarin eventually becomes a priority for those families too.

Your scope is too limited. You are speaking as if YY is the starting point for many parents. These days, it's not. There are a lot of parents committed to Mandarin a language their kids will learn "by any means necessary", having nothing to do with the existence of YY. There is a reason other DC schools are slowly starting to introduce Mandarin instruction, although not in an immersion way yet. If a parent is committed to Mandarin and has resources to work with, they will get it for their kid one way or another. If they get into YY, score, but if not, they are still moving forward. It's those parents who will have a huge advantage over everyone else (except native speakers) if upper attrition slots get filled during non-lottery years by proficiency test in, and then there will be no slots when it opens up again for 6th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Forgot to say - the first group, the "no new students after 2nd grade until 6th grade" group, feel that way because there is a priority on mantaining the lottery as the only way to enter the school (no testing in, becaue that would give families who can pay for Mandarin classes/tutoring/nannies a huge advantage). I don't know anyone in that group that doesn't get why it wouldn't be great to be able to have more already bilingual students fill those slots, but it's an equity issue. But NONE of those people (or people in the "let students test in" group) want to see non-Mandarin speaking students thrown in with Mandarin speaking students in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades.

Regarding the statement in bold: It's hardly a "huge advantage" to have the opportunity to enter a school that's PS-6 in 3rd grade, where: (1) seats will only be available if students leave the school; (2) your child must meet some sort of Mandarin proficiency test; and (3) you have to win a lottery among the people who meet #2 in order to get the very very few seats available because of #1. The idea that someone will give their kid 4 or 5 years of tutoring on the off chance they could get into YY for grades 3-6 is crazy.

You're either clueless or purposefully being misleading. Mandarin is the flavor of the month (and is likely to be for years to come), and parents are ALREADY investing in Mandarin language resources for their tiny ones, NOT just on the off-chance they'll get into YY, but because Mandarin is a priority for them and if they don't get into a Mandarin bilingual school, they'll find another way to supplement their kid learning it. The interest in Mandarin hardly begins and ends with YY. We were getting ready to send our DC to a Mandarin language school in our last city before getting to DC and arrived here already knowing about YY and hoping to get in. But regardless of admissions (or not) to YY, Mandarin was and is very important to us.

You need to understand that in this city that opening upper grades up without a proficiency test, you ABSOLUTELY WOULD BE competing in a lottery against many other families whose kids have absolutely no preparation in Mandarin - and in many cases likely little genuine interest in Mandarin as well. There are a ton of families out there who will take anything they can get without any real regard or consideration of the stated mission and purpose of the school, much less any commitment to it. That's a basic reality in the charters as well as DCPS specialized schools with tons of evidence to support it - that posters here need to understand, like it or not.

This is why people keep bringing up proficiency tests.

There is no one in this thread who doesn't understand that, and right now YY doesn't and has no plans to do that until 6th grade when other no-Mandarin kids will also be joining from other feeders. No one is confused about what you just said.

Apparently you are GOD and you know exactly what everyone is thinking. LOL

[Anonymous]

Ha ha... Yes, please get over yourself, "God" - you have no way of knowing what other posters know or understand, and you also have to realize that for each one of the several people posting here, there may be a dozen just reading and never posting, along with many more who might just get tidbits second hand from others who visit here. Don't make assumptions about what people do or don't know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ha ha... Yes, please get over yourself, "God" - you have no way of knowing what other posters know or understand, and you also have to realize that for each one of the several people posting here, there may be a dozen just reading and never posting, along with many more who might just get tidbits second hand from others who visit here. Don't make assumptions about what people do or don't know.

You and the PP above should get over your own badly-challenged reading skills. All of these discussions are in writing. That is apparently a news flash for you. The handy thing about that is, what people say is reviewable.

No one in this thread has said anything that indicates a misunderstanding of that point that someone keeps wasting time by writing again and again when no one indicated a lack of understanding of it in their posts.

Another handy thing for you to learn about DCUM: no one is responsible for knowing or responding to all the people who read but don't post. And duh (wow you are really reaching) you are insane to suggest people post random silliness that responds to nothing previously said just in case someone reading here gives poor 2nd hand info to those not here? Lol!!! The lengths people will go to to not claim their own cluelessness. Too late, everything is in writing, we already know!