MCPS Spanish immersion schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for the data form these immersion experiments. Does it make a difference for native English speakers? Or is it just a fancy excuse to bus kids in to communities with high populations of native Spanish soeajers to increase the school’s report card? Everyone I know who started in one has left once they saw what was behind the curtain

This is a weird critique, since most of the kids at WTPES and BMES are coming from elsewhere in the down-county, and RCFES is a BCC feeder.

Yes, RCF feeds into BCC which is why the immersion program is primarily made up of families trying to escape the DCC schools.

Most of the families that I know at or trying to get into RCF aren't trying to "escape" DCC schools, they want their kids to learn a second language (or one of the parents is a native spanish speaker). We elected not to apply but living in Silver Spring, RCF would have been the most convenient option for us.

American kids overall are at a distinct disadvantage compared to Europeans when it comes to language education- most don't take a language until late middle school, which is really late. They pick it up so much faster at a younger age. In Europe kids are learning English and sometimes another language in primary school. The only option here is to get into an immersion program. I personally would have liked the two-way immersion but we already had bought a house and had a kid in ES before those were rolled out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for the data form these immersion experiments. Does it make a difference for native English speakers? Or is it just a fancy excuse to bus kids in to communities with high populations of native Spanish soeajers to increase the school’s report card? Everyone I know who started in one has left once they saw what was behind the curtain

This is a weird critique, since most of the kids at WTPES and BMES are coming from elsewhere in the down-county, and RCFES is a BCC feeder.

Yes, RCF feeds into BCC which is why the immersion program is primarily made up of families trying to escape the DCC schools.

True. Things may change once boundary studies are completed prior to opening of new HS in North Bethesda by 2026 or 2027.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you like about your Spanish immersion program? What don't you like about it? Are you happy or is your kid happy with the style and level of Spanish taught? How about the teachers your child has?

When your child goes to middle school from immersion, what level Spanish do they take in 6th grade?

Trying to move to a neighborhood that houses Spanish immersion, tho I know it is lottery and living in the neighborhood does not necessarily matter.

You may want to consider moving to a neighborhood of a two-way immersion school, as there is no lottery for those programs; all students are included.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/esol/es/#twowayimmersion

The downside of the two-way immersion programs is that there is no plan for MS. They do not feed into a MS immersion program. Full immersion programs feed into middle school immersion programs.

I thought there was a plan put out last year to have two way immersion at White Oak, Lakelands Park, and Newport Mill MS, and maybe others? Did I imagine that?

So has Newport Mill implemented a two-way immersion program? Can Newport Mill parents speak to how this works?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for the data form these immersion experiments. Does it make a difference for native English speakers? Or is it just a fancy excuse to bus kids in to communities with high populations of native Spanish soeajers to increase the school’s report card? Everyone I know who started in one has left once they saw what was behind the curtain

This is a weird critique, since most of the kids at WTPES and BMES are coming from elsewhere in the down-county, and RCFES is a BCC feeder.

Yes, RCF feeds into BCC which is why the immersion program is primarily made up of families trying to escape the DCC schools.

Most of the families that I know at or trying to get into RCF aren't trying to "escape" DCC schools, they want their kids to learn a second language (or one of the parents is a native spanish speaker). We elected not to apply but living in Silver Spring, RCF would have been the most convenient option for us.

American kids overall are at a distinct disadvantage compared to Europeans when it comes to language education- most don't take a language until late middle school, which is really late. They pick it up so much faster at a younger age. In Europe kids are learning English and sometimes another language in primary school. The only option here is to get into an immersion program. I personally would have liked the two-way immersion but we already had bought a house and had a kid in ES before those were rolled out.

It's funny how Silver Spring parents want their kids to be bilingual but Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac parents don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for the data form these immersion experiments. Does it make a difference for native English speakers? Or is it just a fancy excuse to bus kids in to communities with high populations of native Spanish soeajers to increase the school’s report card? Everyone I know who started in one has left once they saw what was behind the curtain

This is a weird critique, since most of the kids at WTPES and BMES are coming from elsewhere in the down-county, and RCFES is a BCC feeder.

Yes, RCF feeds into BCC which is why the immersion program is primarily made up of families trying to escape the DCC schools.

Most of the families that I know at or trying to get into RCF aren't trying to "escape" DCC schools, they want their kids to learn a second language (or one of the parents is a native spanish speaker). We elected not to apply but living in Silver Spring, RCF would have been the most convenient option for us.

American kids overall are at a distinct disadvantage compared to Europeans when it comes to language education- most don't take a language until late middle school, which is really late. They pick it up so much faster at a younger age. In Europe kids are learning English and sometimes another language in primary school. The only option here is to get into an immersion program. I personally would have liked the two-way immersion but we already had bought a house and had a kid in ES before those were rolled out.

It's funny how Silver Spring parents want their kids to be bilingual but Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac parents don't.

DP- maybe that's because there are more native spanish speakers in SS to begin with. If you don't interact with spanish speakers on a daily basis, maybe you don't see learning the language as an important life skill? I do think proximity has something to do with it though. If I lived in Potomac I would not apply to send my kid across the county to the spanish immersion schools- too far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for the data form these immersion experiments. Does it make a difference for native English speakers? Or is it just a fancy excuse to bus kids in to communities with high populations of native Spanish soeajers to increase the school’s report card? Everyone I know who started in one has left once they saw what was behind the curtain

This is a weird critique, since most of the kids at WTPES and BMES are coming from elsewhere in the down-county, and RCFES is a BCC feeder.

Yes, RCF feeds into BCC which is why the immersion program is primarily made up of families trying to escape the DCC schools.

Most of the families that I know at or trying to get into RCF aren't trying to "escape" DCC schools, they want their kids to learn a second language (or one of the parents is a native spanish speaker). We elected not to apply but living in Silver Spring, RCF would have been the most convenient option for us.

American kids overall are at a distinct disadvantage compared to Europeans when it comes to language education- most don't take a language until late middle school, which is really late. They pick it up so much faster at a younger age. In Europe kids are learning English and sometimes another language in primary school. The only option here is to get into an immersion program. I personally would have liked the two-way immersion but we already had bought a house and had a kid in ES before those were rolled out.

It's funny how Silver Spring parents want their kids to be bilingual but Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac parents don't.

There are plenty of families from chevy chase and Bethesda in the RCF program. No experience there yourself I assume?

[Anonymous]

There's some bad (outdated) information on this thread.

First, as of next year there is a new articulation pattern for both OWI and TWI kids. This makes sense, because this is the first class to graduate from some of the TWI programs. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xC3LgndQdxOT2XHhPxZg6pek1CODfCCaDuhgH89N_5Y/preview

Second, as of two years ago, Rock Creek Forest no longer articulates to B-CC. Those kids still go to Westland but don't move on the B-CC unless it is their home school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for the data form these immersion experiments. Does it make a difference for native English speakers? Or is it just a fancy excuse to bus kids in to communities with high populations of native Spanish soeajers to increase the school’s report card? Everyone I know who started in one has left once they saw what was behind the curtain

This is a weird critique, since most of the kids at WTPES and BMES are coming from elsewhere in the down-county, and RCFES is a BCC feeder.

Yes, RCF feeds into BCC which is why the immersion program is primarily made up of families trying to escape the DCC schools.

Most of the families that I know at or trying to get into RCF aren't trying to "escape" DCC schools, they want their kids to learn a second language (or one of the parents is a native spanish speaker). We elected not to apply but living in Silver Spring, RCF would have been the most convenient option for us.

American kids overall are at a distinct disadvantage compared to Europeans when it comes to language education- most don't take a language until late middle school, which is really late. They pick it up so much faster at a younger age. In Europe kids are learning English and sometimes another language in primary school. The only option here is to get into an immersion program. I personally would have liked the two-way immersion but we already had bought a house and had a kid in ES before those were rolled out.

It's funny how Silver Spring parents want their kids to be bilingual but Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac parents don't.

There are plenty of families from chevy chase and Bethesda in the RCF program. No experience there yourself I assume?

+1 PP is blowing smoke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's some bad (outdated) information on this thread.

First, as of next year there is a new articulation pattern for both OWI and TWI kids. This makes sense, because this is the first class to graduate from some of the TWI programs. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xC3LgndQdxOT2XHhPxZg6pek1CODfCCaDuhgH89N_5Y/preview

Second, as of two years ago, Rock Creek Forest no longer articulates to B-CC. Those kids still go to Westland but don't move on the B-CC unless it is their home school.

Thank you for sharing that document--I knew I had seen that info somewhere!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids in two different immersion programs. The first six months of kindergarten is ROUGH. Teachers start from day one in the target language. So get ready for a lot of meltdowns.

My kids both read in English later than their peers but caught up easily.

Teachers and programs have been great to us.

They take Spanish 1 in middle school (the same curriculum that high schoolers take).

Look at the various schools as some do give preference to the neighborhood. For example I think William Tyler Page holds about half the spots for neighborhood. During K orientation they were asking if anyone else from the neighborhood wanted to get into Spanish otherwise they were opening it up to the out of bounds waiting list.

Does this mean that, assuming the one-way immersion students take all three years of Spanish in MS, that they will take Spanish 4 as their first Spanish class in HS?

There’s no high school component to the program. I don’t think that’s right about Spanish 1 in MS if the students continue the program. There are immersion middle schools with special classes. Not everyone continues however.

It would be sad/surprsing if kids who came from spanish immersion were taking the same Spanish 1 as every other 6th grader in the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids in two different immersion programs. The first six months of kindergarten is ROUGH. Teachers start from day one in the target language. So get ready for a lot of meltdowns.

My kids both read in English later than their peers but caught up easily.

Teachers and programs have been great to us.

They take Spanish 1 in middle school (the same curriculum that high schoolers take).

Look at the various schools as some do give preference to the neighborhood. For example I think William Tyler Page holds about half the spots for neighborhood. During K orientation they were asking if anyone else from the neighborhood wanted to get into Spanish otherwise they were opening it up to the out of bounds waiting list.

Does this mean that, assuming the one-way immersion students take all three years of Spanish in MS, that they will take Spanish 4 as their first Spanish class in HS?

There’s no high school component to the program. I don’t think that’s right about Spanish 1 in MS if the students continue the program. There are immersion middle schools with special classes. Not everyone continues however.

It would be sad/surprsing if kids who came from spanish immersion were taking the same Spanish 1 as every other 6th grader in the county.

The two-way immersion kids might want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for the data form these immersion experiments. Does it make a difference for native English speakers? Or is it just a fancy excuse to bus kids in to communities with high populations of native Spanish soeajers to increase the school’s report card? Everyone I know who started in one has left once they saw what was behind the curtain

This is a weird critique, since most of the kids at WTPES and BMES are coming from elsewhere in the down-county, and RCFES is a BCC feeder.

Yes, RCF feeds into BCC which is why the immersion program is primarily made up of families trying to escape the DCC schools.

Most of the families that I know at or trying to get into RCF aren't trying to "escape" DCC schools, they want their kids to learn a second language (or one of the parents is a native spanish speaker). We elected not to apply but living in Silver Spring, RCF would have been the most convenient option for us.

American kids overall are at a distinct disadvantage compared to Europeans when it comes to language education- most don't take a language until late middle school, which is really late. They pick it up so much faster at a younger age. In Europe kids are learning English and sometimes another language in primary school. The only option here is to get into an immersion program. I personally would have liked the two-way immersion but we already had bought a house and had a kid in ES before those were rolled out.

It's funny how Silver Spring parents want their kids to be bilingual but Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac parents don't.

There are plenty of families from chevy chase and Bethesda in the RCF program. No experience there yourself I assume?

Yes that PP is clearly ignorant of RCF’s student body.

Regardless, the demand for OWI far outweighs the availability, so no one will miss those who don’t enter the lotto.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for the data form these immersion experiments. Does it make a difference for native English speakers? Or is it just a fancy excuse to bus kids in to communities with high populations of native Spanish soeajers to increase the school’s report card? Everyone I know who started in one has left once they saw what was behind the curtain

This is a weird critique, since most of the kids at WTPES and BMES are coming from elsewhere in the down-county, and RCFES is a BCC feeder.

Yes, RCF feeds into BCC which is why the immersion program is primarily made up of families trying to escape the DCC schools.

This is so accurate. I have had multiple families articulate exactly this and express zero interest or passion for their kid learning Spanish. It's very annoying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for the data form these immersion experiments. Does it make a difference for native English speakers? Or is it just a fancy excuse to bus kids in to communities with high populations of native Spanish soeajers to increase the school’s report card? Everyone I know who started in one has left once they saw what was behind the curtain

This is a weird critique, since most of the kids at WTPES and BMES are coming from elsewhere in the down-county, and RCFES is a BCC feeder.

Yes, RCF feeds into BCC which is why the immersion program is primarily made up of families trying to escape the DCC schools.

This is so accurate. I have had multiple families articulate exactly this and express zero interest or passion for their kid learning Spanish. It's very annoying.

Annoying for homeowners in RCF who have kids in Spanish immersion but paid $$$ more than a homeowner from Wheaton who's kid also attends RCF Immersion? Many families enter lottery to escape their neighborhood school. Handful of families from west of RCF but bulk applying tends to be from DCC or east county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids in two different immersion programs. The first six months of kindergarten is ROUGH. Teachers start from day one in the target language. So get ready for a lot of meltdowns.

My kids both read in English later than their peers but caught up easily.

Teachers and programs have been great to us.

They take Spanish 1 in middle school (the same curriculum that high schoolers take).

Look at the various schools as some do give preference to the neighborhood. For example I think William Tyler Page holds about half the spots for neighborhood. During K orientation they were asking if anyone else from the neighborhood wanted to get into Spanish otherwise they were opening it up to the out of bounds waiting list.

Does this mean that, assuming the one-way immersion students take all three years of Spanish in MS, that they will take Spanish 4 as their first Spanish class in HS?

There’s no high school component to the program. I don’t think that’s right about Spanish 1 in MS if the students continue the program. There are immersion middle schools with special classes. Not everyone continues however.

It would be sad/surprsing if kids who came from spanish immersion were taking the same Spanish 1 as every other 6th grader in the county.

The two-way immersion kids might want to.

Can you share details of your experience with TWI?