Alexandria City Elementary Transfers: How?

[Anonymous]

We also are zoned for MVCS and don't want to send our child there. We are not supportive of the mandatory dual language with no opt-out (supposedly in 2014). We don't want to end up at J-H either. I feel like our hand will be forced between the two or else we have to shell out $28k for private kindergarten. What the heck are our taxes paying for?

[Anonymous]

Could someone point me to the information about MVCS becoming all / mandatory dual immersion? I searched and I can't find this information -- this thread is the first and only place I've seen it. Where is this info coming from, and can we get details? We are zoned for this school and our neighbors whose kids already attend insist that this is something you opt into.

Incidentally, of these folk all but one family DID opt for the dual immersion program, and one reason they cite is that because it's something parents have to pro-actively opt into, the families tend to be more involved / engaged in their kids education (regardless of race, ethnicity, or income level), and the dual-immersion program benefits from all the positives you would expect flow from that. Their argument was, "Even if you don't care about Spanish immersion, this is why you should consider it at MVCS." I'm not saying that's a valid argument, but that was their perception. Of course, that argument would no longer apply if the whole school were dual immersion.

Also, if the whole school becomes mandatory dual immersion, what would happen to kids in upper elementary grades who had not opted for the dual immersion program previously? Presumably it would not be possible to simply dump them in with kids who have been in immersion since K?

So I'd love it if someone could clue me in to where I can learn more about this.

[Anonymous]

My daughter will be a kindergartener at MV. This year, there is one class of k that is non-immersion, out of 10 total classes, I think. I don't know what it will be like next year, but for now there is an English only k class, and more than one in the upper grades, I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in an area zoned for J-H, and I am just praying that I can opt out and somehow get my child transferred to MVCS.

I was zoned for K last year in J-H and very high on the transfer list. They only offered me Cora Kelly and I put my daughter in private school instead. We are moving to Arlington this summer. I found the people at ACPS very nasty, one person borderline accusing me of being a racist for not wanting to put my child in J-H. Basically no one will help you or tell you anything besides refer you to this guy named Karl Smith. A retiree in management told me that a lot of high level management have jobs at risk if they don't improve J-H soon, so there is tons of pressure to get non-free lunch kids at J-H. I don't envy you as I have never been so frustrated in my life going through the process last year. What really sucks is that so many of the transfer decisions are made at the last minute, so you don't really have a lot of alternatives if they don't work out.

Thank you so much for this information, PP. I have been watching this thread as I continue to ponder what to do. Now that I am hearing about mandatory dual immersion at MVCS, I am unfortunately going to have to cross that off of my list, as well. No criticism of it generally, but it just isn't something I want for my child who has had a fairly complicated start with language acquisition, speech therapy, etc. And I am NOT sending her to J-H. Can I ask where you sent your DD to private and/or where in Arlington you're looking? Totally understand if you don't want to say. We're thinking of moving into the District to try to get our daughter a place in one of the JKLMM schools but we will be sorry to leave Old Town and our current home.

[Anonymous]

At Mt Vernon, dual language is currently opt-in, with enough dual language classes so that there is no waiting list (5-6 years ago, there was a lengthy waiting list for the spanish immersion side and the school was half dual language and half "traditional" English classrooms). There are supposed to be 7 dual lang kinder classes and 1 "traditional"' class for next year.
Starting in 2014 - 15, the current principal would like to start to roll out an all dual language model, starting with the kinders who enter in 2014 and rolling up with them (so if a kid is in the traditional side, they would be grandfathered in until leaving the school in 5th grade, but new kinders would automatically be enrolled in dual language).
Hope this helps. For what it is worth, I've had one kid in dual language and one kid in traditional and we've been pleased with both sides. The teachers are leading the charge to convert to all dual language.

[Anonymous]

I have to wonder if the dual language would just be a way around the fact that the schools are so bad about incorporating ELL children. This seems like a way they could get around having to work with those kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could someone point me to the information about MVCS becoming all / mandatory dual immersion? I searched and I can't find this information -- this thread is the first and only place I've seen it. Where is this info coming from, and can we get details? We are zoned for this school and our neighbors whose kids already attend insist that this is something you opt into.

Incidentally, of these folk all but one family DID opt for the dual immersion program, and one reason they cite is that because it's something parents have to pro-actively opt into, the families tend to be more involved / engaged in their kids education (regardless of race, ethnicity, or income level), and the dual-immersion program benefits from all the positives you would expect flow from that. Their argument was, "Even if you don't care about Spanish immersion, this is why you should consider it at MVCS." I'm not saying that's a valid argument, but that was their perception. Of course, that argument would no longer apply if the whole school were dual immersion.

Also, if the whole school becomes mandatory dual immersion, what would happen to kids in upper elementary grades who had not opted for the dual immersion program previously? Presumably it would not be possible to simply dump them in with kids who have been in immersion since K?

So I'd love it if someone could clue me in to where I can learn more about this.

We learned this from the MVCS principal on the school tour, e.g., that right now it is proposed with the school board to make all Kindergarten classes mandatory dual language in 2014, with no opt out. If this is, in fact, true, and parents are opposed, I urge you to contact the school board. We certainly will be.

[Anonymous]

The other negative thing about the MVCS mandatory dual language program that we found particularly unnerving, is that while it is proposed for 2014 that the school move to an all immersion program starting in K (with no opt out for Kindergarteners in 2014), there is no continuity into the middle school years. What is the point of a child being taught math and since solely in Spanish, only to then get to middle school where everyone is being taught those subjects in English? The dual language/immersion doesn't roll cohesively into middle school! What's the point then? If anything, those students could be potentially at a disadvantage in math.

It's a poorly thought-out program right now, solely intended to benefit the ESL students in the zone. There is nothing "progessive" or "cutting edge" about it. It's for pure necessity and nothing more.

I think people who live in Del Ray with small children are misled by visits to the playgrounds on weekends. if you really want to get a sense of the school, you need to tour during the week while school is in session. The community that attends the playground on the weekends is a markedly different demographic than the actual students who actually attend the school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to wonder if the dual language would just be a way around the fact that the schools are so bad about incorporating ELL children. This seems like a way they could get around having to work with those kids.

Agreed. It would relieve the teachers from having to do double duty, in some regard.

Now, this question may rub people the wrong way: but why are native English-speaking children/kindergarteners in the MVCS zone, as of 2014, being forced to learn math/science in a language that is not the national language? Shouldn't it be the other way around, and shouldn't we be requiring the non-native English speakers to learn in English? That's what all of our forefathers did....mine had to learn everything in English....

MVCS isn't a "special" application-type immersion school like Key Elementary in Arlington, which is opt-in process. And it's not like other FLL programs in FFX county where they teach foreign languages in elementary school, e.g., French immersion, Spanish, even Mandarin (McLean), and it's opt-in.

As of 2014 MVCS will be requiring all rising Kindergarteners in the zone to learn math and science in Spanish instead of English! Does anyone else see the problems with this? I do not want my English-speaking kids to be at a disadvantage in math! This is sending such a bad message!

[Anonymous]

The US has no national language.

I believe math works the same in spanish as it does in english.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The other negative thing about the MVCS mandatory dual language program that we found particularly unnerving, is that while it is proposed for 2014 that the school move to an all immersion program starting in K (with no opt out for Kindergarteners in 2014), there is no continuity into the middle school years. What is the point of a child being taught math and since solely in Spanish, only to then get to middle school where everyone is being taught those subjects in English? The dual language/immersion doesn't roll cohesively into middle school! What's the point then? If anything, those students could be potentially at a disadvantage in math.

It's a poorly thought-out program right now, solely intended to benefit the ESL students in the zone. There is nothing "progessive" or "cutting edge" about it. It's for pure necessity and nothing more.

I think people who live in Del Ray with small children are misled by visits to the playgrounds on weekends. if you really want to get a sense of the school, you need to tour during the week while school is in session. The community that attends the playground on the weekends is a markedly different demographic than the actual students who actually attend the school!

I can't imagine how a Hispanic person reading these boards must feel. The horror--being in an immersion program with other kids who speak the language. And 33% of the school is white. So, yes, many of the kids you see on the playground on the weekend attend this school. But I love how you're deciding the rest of the kids are "undesirables" based solely on their non-whiteness. You guys can blather on about test scores and safety ratings all you want, but when you drive by the school and don't see all white kids running around, and then are horrified...you're just plain racist. So, racist, run off to your all-white schools and try to get into your "cutting-edge" immersion program. I don't want your racist kids hanging out with my kids, anyway.

[Anonymous]

Most of the kids at the playground are infants/toddlers/preschoolers - too young to actually attend the school. Many families move away before starting elementary or after a couple years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the kids at the playground are infants/toddlers/preschoolers - too young to actually attend the school. Many families move away before starting elementary or after a couple years.

And many don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The other negative thing about the MVCS mandatory dual language program that we found particularly unnerving, is that while it is proposed for 2014 that the school move to an all immersion program starting in K (with no opt out for Kindergarteners in 2014), there is no continuity into the middle school years. What is the point of a child being taught math and since solely in Spanish, only to then get to middle school where everyone is being taught those subjects in English? The dual language/immersion doesn't roll cohesively into middle school! What's the point then? If anything, those students could be potentially at a disadvantage in math.

It's a poorly thought-out program right now, solely intended to benefit the ESL students in the zone. There is nothing "progessive" or "cutting edge" about it. It's for pure necessity and nothing more.

I think people who live in Del Ray with small children are misled by visits to the playgrounds on weekends. if you really want to get a sense of the school, you need to tour during the week while school is in session. The community that attends the playground on the weekends is a markedly different demographic than the actual students who actually attend the school!

I can't imagine how a Hispanic person reading these boards must feel. The horror--being in an immersion program with other kids who speak the language. And 33% of the school is white. So, yes, many of the kids you see on the playground on the weekend attend this school. But I love how you're deciding the rest of the kids are "undesirables" based solely on their non-whiteness. You guys can blather on about test scores and safety ratings all you want, but when you drive by the school and don't see all white kids running around, and then are horrified...you're just plain racist. So, racist, run off to your all-white schools and try to get into your "cutting-edge" immersion program. I don't want your racist kids hanging out with my kids, anyway.

Touchy, Touchy, aren't we? You must be one of the Del Rayers who bought during the bubble and cannot sell now.... I didn't interpret this poster as being racist at all, but stating a fact. We also live in Del Ray, and it's true. Anyone who is thinking about sending their kids to MVCS needs to visit the school while it is in session to get the full sense of what the program is about. We did. And, it's also true that the demographic attending the school during the weekdays IS different then the families that visit the playground on the weekends. It's not racist by any means, it's fact! The greatly white yuppies and their kids visit the playground on the weekends, whereas during the week the school is 60% hispanic. There's nothing wrong with that, it's the way it is. And the school is an immersion program in order to increase test scores because so many ESL kids are there. Nothing racist about that, either. The principal is very clear about that during his tours. He said point blank that over 60% of the student body is latino, and that 30% is white. he also said that of the white population, 90% of those kids are in the TAG program.

MVCS is not desirable for everyone. And I can understand how someone who is zoned for MVCS might be put-off by the fact that their rising Kindergarteners will be all but forced into Spanish immersion. This is especially concerning for parents of native English speakers who may have language or learning issues already. what makes it worse is that there are no good options for people who do not want to send their kids to MVCS except to move elsewhere. Spanish shouldn't be "forced down" the throats of tax payers with English speaking children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The US has no national language.

I believe math works the same in spanish as it does in english.

English is the de facto official language of the United States. Don't be dense.