3 new language immersion schools next year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fear mongering in this thread is incredible.

My kid is at OTES and we are thrilled with the two-way immersion. We need a bigger house but we're staying for the school.

If it wasn't going well (and this happens for very, very few kids, it is by no means hit or miss) there's an alternative English-only school we could go to.

It's great that they're expanding this, actually.

Yeah we are at flora singer, which is great, but I’m definitely a bit envious of the program at OTES. If only we’d had a crystal ball when house shopping 10 years ago!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should just offer a language class a few days a week like they so specials but more often for all kids.

This. It would make more sense to do it this way. Friends in other states start a second language in 1st grade as a ‘special’ and it works well.

+1. It’s all or nothing in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

My kids are at W and W-feeder schools. They have never received adequate writing or grammar instruction. That’s not part of the MCPS curriculum really. If I had younger kids and could pick any school, it would be Oakland Terrace. For parents on here talking about adding Spanish as a special, that’s at best an hour per week in current special form and based on past years when language was offered at some schools. That does almost nothing. For the schools I suspect or hope MCPS will target for the new programs, the schools are effectively already bilingual in many cases. For those calling for the specials approach, I doubt it will be your kids’ school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should just offer a language class a few days a week like they so specials but more often for all kids.

That’s not really the point of these programs though- a big part of it is being inclusive for native-Spanish speakers. They get to learn in both Spanish and English. So a special a couple times a week wouldn’t really benefit them.

I get what you’re saying though- it’s very common in European countries for primary school kids to receive instruction in English and other languages several times per week. They pick it up so much faster at that age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck finding qualified teachers for 3 more schools.

Well, they just need to find bilingual teachers for one grade per school. Not a huge lift.

We were at one dual language school, and lots of teachers were mid-career professionals from PR. They had experience teaching, skills in both languages/cultures, and it was a pretty easy shift.

Yes, many of the teachers are from PR. Since hurricane Maria especially, a lot of Puerto Ricans have decided to leave for the mainland.

However, for these programs to work long term, there needs to be more training opportunities at US colleges for teaching ES in Spanish. We can’t rely solely on recruiting teachers from elsewhere.

PR is the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are at W and W-feeder schools. They have never received adequate writing or grammar instruction. That’s not part of the MCPS curriculum really. If I had younger kids and could pick any school, it would be Oakland Terrace. For parents on here talking about adding Spanish as a special, that’s at best an hour per week in current special form and based on past years when language was offered at some schools. That does almost nothing. For the schools I suspect or hope MCPS will target for the new programs, the schools are effectively already bilingual in many cases. For those calling for the specials approach, I doubt it will be your kids’ school.

If you read the article, one of the programs is going to be in Chinese. I'm wondering if they are pivoting Potomac from the partial immersion model currently in place to a more dual immersion model. So, honestly, it might be "their" school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck finding qualified teachers for 3 more schools.

Well, they just need to find bilingual teachers for one grade per school. Not a huge lift.

We were at one dual language school, and lots of teachers were mid-career professionals from PR. They had experience teaching, skills in both languages/cultures, and it was a pretty easy shift.

Yes, many of the teachers are from PR. Since hurricane Maria especially, a lot of Puerto Ricans have decided to leave for the mainland.

However, for these programs to work long term, there needs to be more training opportunities at US colleges for teaching ES in Spanish. We can’t rely solely on recruiting teachers from elsewhere.

PR is the US.

Well ok I should have said universities besides those in PR. Better? My point is that teaching reading and math in Spanish is different than teaching Spanish to high school students, and most Spanish teachers are trained for the latter. Don’t get me wrong, I think we need more immersion programs, but in order for them to expand significantly we need more teachers trained to staff them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are at W and W-feeder schools. They have never received adequate writing or grammar instruction. That’s not part of the MCPS curriculum really. If I had younger kids and could pick any school, it would be Oakland Terrace. For parents on here talking about adding Spanish as a special, that’s at best an hour per week in current special form and based on past years when language was offered at some schools. That does almost nothing. For the schools I suspect or hope MCPS will target for the new programs, the schools are effectively already bilingual in many cases. For those calling for the specials approach, I doubt it will be your kids’ school.

If you read the article, one of the programs is going to be in Chinese. I'm wondering if they are pivoting Potomac from the partial immersion model currently in place to a more dual immersion model. So, honestly, it might be "their" school.

That is interesting. And as someone who would jump at the chance for a dual immersion Spanish program to come to our ES, I admit I’d be hesitant about Chinese.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are at W and W-feeder schools. They have never received adequate writing or grammar instruction. That’s not part of the MCPS curriculum really. If I had younger kids and could pick any school, it would be Oakland Terrace. For parents on here talking about adding Spanish as a special, that’s at best an hour per week in current special form and based on past years when language was offered at some schools. That does almost nothing. For the schools I suspect or hope MCPS will target for the new programs, the schools are effectively already bilingual in many cases. For those calling for the specials approach, I doubt it will be your kids’ school.

My kids had Spanish as a special at College Gardens years ago as part of IB (PYP). I think the goal was to get through Spanish 1 by the end of elementary. It unfortunatley switched to Chinese when the school acquired a Chinese Immersion program. Maybe they lost funding too? It become almost nothing at that point. My kids do still talk about watching Teletubbies videos in Chinese.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck finding qualified teachers for 3 more schools.

Well, they just need to find bilingual teachers for one grade per school. Not a huge lift.

We were at one dual language school, and lots of teachers were mid-career professionals from PR. They had experience teaching, skills in both languages/cultures, and it was a pretty easy shift.

Yes, many of the teachers are from PR. Since hurricane Maria especially, a lot of Puerto Ricans have decided to leave for the mainland.

However, for these programs to work long term, there needs to be more training opportunities at US colleges for teaching ES in Spanish. We can’t rely solely on recruiting teachers from elsewhere.

PR is the US.

Well ok I should have said universities besides those in PR. Better? My point is that teaching reading and math in Spanish is different than teaching Spanish to high school students, and most Spanish teachers are trained for the latter. Don’t get me wrong, I think we need more immersion programs, but in order for them to expand significantly we need more teachers trained to staff them.

Hi there, DP and you clearly implied that PR is not in the US. That is not cool. Stop being do defensive and show some appreciation that this poster has hopefully prevented you from causing offense in a less anonymous setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fear mongering in this thread is incredible.

My kid is at OTES and we are thrilled with the two-way immersion. We need a bigger house but we're staying for the school.

If it wasn't going well (and this happens for very, very few kids, it is by no means hit or miss) there's an alternative English-only school we could go to.

It's great that they're expanding this, actually.

Yeah we are at flora singer, which is great, but I’m definitely a bit envious of the program at OTES. If only we’d had a crystal ball when house shopping 10 years ago!

I wish we didn't buy in OTES. It wasn't the best experience. Hopefully the new principal is better but she wasn't great as a VP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck finding qualified teachers for 3 more schools.

Well, they just need to find bilingual teachers for one grade per school. Not a huge lift.

We were at one dual language school, and lots of teachers were mid-career professionals from PR. They had experience teaching, skills in both languages/cultures, and it was a pretty easy shift.

Yes, many of the teachers are from PR. Since hurricane Maria especially, a lot of Puerto Ricans have decided to leave for the mainland.

However, for these programs to work long term, there needs to be more training opportunities at US colleges for teaching ES in Spanish. We can’t rely solely on recruiting teachers from elsewhere.

PR is the US.

Well ok I should have said universities besides those in PR. Better? My point is that teaching reading and math in Spanish is different than teaching Spanish to high school students, and most Spanish teachers are trained for the latter. Don’t get me wrong, I think we need more immersion programs, but in order for them to expand significantly we need more teachers trained to staff them.

For some kids, it is a great opportunity, others not so much. It would make more sense to have a specials class 2-3 days a week instead. Kids can take foreign language starting in MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fear mongering in this thread is incredible.

My kid is at OTES and we are thrilled with the two-way immersion. We need a bigger house but we're staying for the school.

If it wasn't going well (and this happens for very, very few kids, it is by no means hit or miss) there's an alternative English-only school we could go to.

It's great that they're expanding this, actually.

Yeah we are at flora singer, which is great, but I’m definitely a bit envious of the program at OTES. If only we’d had a crystal ball when house shopping 10 years ago!

I wish we didn't buy in OTES. It wasn't the best experience. Hopefully the new principal is better but she wasn't great as a VP.

There is one poster who always trashes OTES and the old principal.

Sorry you had a bad experience. Move on, though.

[Anonymous]

Many parents would love a dual immersion option at ES. Kids pick up language and intonation much more easily the younger they are. It would also align well strategically for MCPS to increase these programs as hopefully the kids continue language and stay on track to earn the seal of biliteracy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should just offer a language class a few days a week like they so specials but more often for all kids.

This. It would make more sense to do it this way. Friends in other states start a second language in 1st grade as a ‘special’ and it works well.

Many private schools have Spanish as a special starting in K.