Is Sligo Creek French immersion open to all MC residents? and other questions

[Anonymous]

Considering moving to around Chevy Chase/Bethesda (retively close to Bethesda metro station) a couple of years from now, and interested about the Sligo Creek French immersion program. Is it open to all MC residents? Is it easy/hard to be admitted via lottery? Long waitlist? Is it earier/harder to get into the program for 1st year rather than, say, preK or K (we are French-speaking family and DC already speaks French)? Any risk that the immersion program may be discontinued? Thanks

[Anonymous]

It is open to the southern portion of the county - north goes to maryvale. That's all I know. I have a question to adis evacuate I am also interested - is your child more likely to get in if he or she speaks French at home or attended an immersion preschool?

[Anonymous]

Stupid iPhone autospell. Above should read as I am also interested.

[Anonymous]

It's a strict lottery; no preference if someone speaks French at home. Very difficult to get in; something like 10 lottery applicants for every spot.

[Anonymous]

DC did the french immersion program and there was at least one kid from east Chevy Chase in his class. Although I'd definitely check with your real estate agent/the school board before buying a particular house.

It's all done by lottery, so there is no advantage if your kid speaks french at home. There do tend to be a lot of applicants, so the odds are not great.

[Anonymous]

I have read that the immersion programs are really not designed for children that already speak the language. Keep in mind that your child will be learning the basics with kids that have never heard a word of French before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have read that the immersion programs are really not designed for children that already speak the language. Keep in mind that your child will be learning the basics with kids that have never heard a word of French before.

Yes - a child who already speaks French is not the target audience for this program.

It is very hard to get into - hundreds of applicants for very few spots.

[Anonymous]

If you go to the MCPS web site and look up special programs you'll find all the details you want to know about the immersion programs and how to apply. It is hard to get in because it a lottery and hundreds apply for just 20 or so spots. Moreover, I would not emphasize that you speak French at home; the program is not intended for native speakers.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. What about the second phase when the kids have to go to silver spring international school. Is that one of good quality?

[Anonymous]

silver spring international has the IB MYP plus both French and Spanish partial immersion. We were very happy with the school - it is a good size (under 800) and they do an excellent job with school atmosphere, offering numerous elective options (non-immersion kids get two electives as long as they are not in double-block math or reading, immersion kids get double-block in the target language plus another elective). The school has partner schools in France and Mexico and immersion students have participated in exchanges. As part of middle school reform ssi piloted the advanced english/science/social studies courses in addition to accelerated math (up to algebra II).

[Anonymous]

Hi - We live in France and are considering a return to DC area. Have 2 children, currently in second grade and pre-k. After first grade isn't admittance based on language proficiency (and space if a student leaves?) and for those who had children who went through this program, other than learning to speak French, what did you think about the quality of the teaching? thanks!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi - We live in France and are considering a return to DC area. Have 2 children, currently in second grade and pre-k. After first grade isn't admittance based on language proficiency (and space if a student leaves?) and for those who had children who went through this program, other than learning to speak French, what did you think about the quality of the teaching? thanks!!

Our kid entered Sligo french immersion in an upper grade, coming from a local private school. For entrance after K or 1st grade, Sligo will have somebody sit down with your child for a french conversation to evaluate his or her french language skills. I remember the evaluator was particularly interested in whether our child could handle a math class that is conducted in french. I think our kid was asked to describe how to do division in french, or maybe it was to solve a simple math problem in french. The evaluation was not fantastically difficult -- our kid was accepted -- but it does involve expressing basic math concepts in french.

There are two immersion classrooms, so a total of maybe 40 or 50 spots (the same kid is now about to enter high school, so it's been a while and I can't remember). It's true there are hundreds of applicants for the K and 1st grade lottery slots. I think chances may be a little better in the upper grades, because a few spots will open due to normal attrition (families move, some kids leave for the highly gifted magnets) and only a few kids who have the language skills to fill these spots.

As for the quality of the program - it's the MoCo curriculum but in French. Coming from a private school, we noticed that the MoCo curriculum is shy on science and social studies relative to the private school, however our kid who will enter high school next year has basically caught up in those areas during middle school. MoCo did let our kid do math 2 years ahead, in French, so in this respect DC was ahead of the private school. And regarding languages, there's just no comparison between immersion and 3-5 hours of language a week. MoCo immersion isn't really big on grammar and spelling, and as a fluent french speaker I'd see my kid get A's on papers with obvious grammatical faults, but then again DC is now fluent and was able to charm the French when we visited France. There was an excessive emphasis on the MSAs but it only sucked about a week out of the school year. The immersion program has a "small school" feel like the private school. In the end, we don't have any regrets, at all, about moving from a local private school to the Sligo immersion program.

[Anonymous]

Newsflash - the Sligo immersion program is *not* a local private and parents who approach it with that sense of entitlement and a) fail to support the needier part of the school or b) don't continue with the partial immersion - less sheltered? - program at SSIMS, give it a very bad name.

[Anonymous]

As potential immersion parents should probably know, and as 8:56 makes painfully clear, there's some resentment from the Sligo Academy towards the immersion program.

And wow, 8:56. You jump to a lot of assumptions and make a lot of accusations that seemed to be based on very little besides your own issues. Honestly, when people talk about DCUM being hostile and even psychotic, they're referring to posts like yours.

I'm 10:20 and posted about moving from private to immersion. If you're responding to me, you're dead wrong. I don't know how you jumped to conclusions about entitlement or failure to support the Academy. I didn't post our life story about how we moved to immersion for lots of other reasons besides "looking for a public equivalent of private school." I didn't feel it was necessary to mention that we actually appreciate being part of a public school community and exposing our kid to real diversity. I didn't mention that we looked into Rochambeau but wanted Sligo's environment instead. I figured nobody wanted to hear our life stories and all that was needed was to respond to 6:25's very specific question with a specific answer. But apparently it's a rule on DCUM that you should always defend yourself pro-actively, and provide 3 extra paragraphs explaining your motives in every aspect, in order to fend off posters like you.

[Anonymous]

Who has ever moved His/her child from rochambeau to sligo? What Should be our expectation? Will our kids continue to speak fluently? How is the school environment? Are they strict?