Lottery chances for Spanish Immersion ES programs?

[Anonymous]

How competitive is it to obtain a slot in a Spanish immersion ES? If your an inbounds to a school, do you get preference? Is there testing? Do you have a better chance in grades 1 and 2? DC is 3 and is Spanish/ English bilingual currently, but I am not a native speaker so think that we need a more formal educational language environment for her.

My husband just got a job in Annapolis Junction and I work in NW Dc. Trying to make his commute more bearable. We live in NW. Currently waiting for DCPS/charter school lottery results, but not holding our breath for any slots and can't really swing private schools.

Housing: we are middle income earners by this area's standards (combined HHI at $150k), so will probably rent or buy a condo, so tips on what neighborhoods to target for elementary school searches are much appreciated.

Thanks to all for your advice.

[Anonymous]

Rolling Terrace in Takoma Park has a Spanish immersion program (full immersion in K; partial from grades 1-5) that gives preference to in-boundary incoming kindergarteners. There are spots that end up filled by lottery (despite the large in bound population), so you're basically guaranteed a spot if you live in bounds. Look for the boundary lines on the MoCo public school website.

There are not a lot of condos in the catchment (apartments, yes), but houses are less expensive in that part of Takoma Park.

[Anonymous]

I know that Rock Creek Forest (full immersion program on border of Silver Spring and Chevy Chase) has somewhere arund 50 spots, less any sibling preferences, and typically gets at least 250 applications. So chances are less than one in five. Those odds aren't very good, if you're making them a reason to move. There's no inbound preference or testing -- it's pure lottery.

Rolling Terrace is partial, not full immersion. Go and look around.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks so much for the insights. MoCo parents are much nicer than DC parents!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How competitive is it to obtain a slot in a Spanish immersion ES? If your an inbounds to a school, do you get preference? Is there testing? Do you have a better chance in grades 1 and 2? DC is 3 and is Spanish/ English bilingual currently, but I am not a native speaker so think that we need a more formal educational language environment for her.

My husband just got a job in Annapolis Junction and I work in NW Dc. Trying to make his commute more bearable. We live in NW. Currently waiting for DCPS/charter school lottery results, but not holding our breath for any slots and can't really swing private schools.

Housing: we are middle income earners by this area's standards (combined HHI at $150k), so will probably rent or buy a condo, so tips on what neighborhoods to target for elementary school searches are much appreciated.

Thanks to all for your advice.

Someone got into rolling terrace mid year (January). With a lottery number of 86.

[Anonymous]

Rolling Terrace has a shorter waiting list for several reasons. It's not full immersion and it's not in as sought after a school, also kinda far away unless you live in Silver Spring orTakoma Park. So the list moves more quickly.

I think people often apply to all the lottery programs (we did) and see where you get in.

So what that tells you is that a lot of people got in to RT and decided not to go, and then one child left md-year.

Roc Creek Forest, OTOH, would not get to that high a lottery number. Maybe -- MAYBE -- you would get to 40.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rolling Terrace has a shorter waiting list for several reasons. It's not full immersion and it's not in as sought after a school, also kinda far away unless you live in Silver Spring orTakoma Park. So the list moves more quickly.

I think people often apply to all the lottery programs (we did) and see where you get in.

So what that tells you is that a lot of people got in to RT and decided not to go, and then one child left md-year.

Roc Creek Forest, OTOH, would not get to that high a lottery number. Maybe -- MAYBE -- you would get to 40.

FWIW, DS was low 40s on the wait list at RCF and did not get in this year. I knew two other parents who applied to RCF whose numbers were in the 280s (!). It seems about 1/3 of the 50 slots for K are filled by siblings, so odds of getting in are around 1 in 10....Sigh....

I also knew someone who got a call for the wait list at Sligo and they were in the 50s.

[Anonymous]

We got in at RT with a number of 69, but it was August and about four years ago. Some people rent in the neighborhood, then buy in TkPk or Silver Spring after their kid gets in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How competitive is it to obtain a slot in a Spanish immersion ES? If your an inbounds to a school, do you get preference? Is there testing? Do you have a better chance in grades 1 and 2? DC is 3 and is Spanish/ English bilingual currently, but I am not a native speaker so think that we need a more formal educational language environment for her.

My husband just got a job in Annapolis Junction and I work in NW Dc. Trying to make his commute more bearable. We live in NW. Currently waiting for DCPS/charter school lottery results, but not holding our breath for any slots and can't really swing private schools.

Housing: we are middle income earners by this area's standards (combined HHI at $150k), so will probably rent or buy a condo, so tips on what neighborhoods to target for elementary school searches are much appreciated.

Thanks to all for your advice.

Someone got into rolling terrace mid year (January). With a lottery number of 86.

Actually no child left mid year... One child left in the fall and was replaced but no one knows why the child joined in January.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rolling Terrace has a shorter waiting list for several reasons. It's not full immersion and it's not in as sought after a school, also kinda far away unless you live in Silver Spring orTakoma Park. So the list moves more quickly.

I think people often apply to all the lottery programs (we did) and see where you get in.

So what that tells you is that a lot of people got in to RT and decided not to go, and then one child left md-year.

Roc Creek Forest, OTOH, would not get to that high a lottery number. Maybe -- MAYBE -- you would get to 40.

I think that any lottery number from a mid year acceptance is misleading. At that stage many parents who may have ordinarily accepted before or shortly after a school start will not be willing to switch their child mid year so the number is probably has not real meaning

[Anonymous]

We were in the 30's for Sligo for 2012-2013 school year and didn't get called. Wondering if the person who got called who was in the 50's was this last year? Strange!
We would have taken the spot in a second.