Rank your top Spanish immersion programs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will oyster still have in boundary this year?

Yes, of course. This year and next and for the foreseeable future. It is only a minority of the Oyster Adams community that would like to change things; the majority (and DCPS) are pretty happy to maintain such a successful and diverse model.

How can this be true if it is majority out of boundary to begin with that a majority of the school prizes the in boundary set up for a specialized school?

Because a majority of those OOB families want their kids to attend a school in a nice, affluent area...not in the hood. You can't remove the boundaries and leave Woodley Park without a neighborhood school. Oyster has been bilingual and on that same corner for over 40 years--nothing major is changing with those boundaries anytime soon. Plus, if there were no boundaries, those parents would still have to travel to WP to attend the school. The real reason some people want Oyster's boundaries abolished is that they resent that affluent families can buy their way into the neighborhood/school. In a word: envy.

In the latest survey the vast majorities of in-bound AND out-bound parents wanted the school to remain in the same locations. Why? I don't think it's so much that "hood" factor as much as:
- Why play with fire? If something is working well, why attempt something radical that might well mean the end of the school as a successful, bilingual and diverse institution?
- Everyone at the school already has work, life and transport arrangements in place. Out-boundary parents and teachers live all over the city, not just in one neighborhood, so for a very significant chunk of them moving the school somewhere farther away from current locations would make life much more difficult, not easier. They would be as affected as the in-bound parents and teachers, if not more

+1 Most O-A families realize there's not much that will happen radically in the short run of next 2-3 years or however long boundaries are grandfathered. The real issue is about O-A kids who can't/don't want to do bilingual for grades 6-8 having the option of feeding to Deal/Wilson. That's the third rail.

Each of the charter immersion schools are quite different from each other. DCPS immersion schools basically come down to O-A or not O-A, for the moment. Who knows, Powell could become the Oyster of the East in a couple of years. But there's still a big issue of middle and high schools with immersion options.

GL all

Sorry, what do you mean about O-A not O-A? As in some are academically strong like O-A and some are not?

Thanks for your perspective!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will oyster still have in boundary this year?

Yes, of course. This year and next and for the foreseeable future. It is only a minority of the Oyster Adams community that would like to change things; the majority (and DCPS) are pretty happy to maintain such a successful and diverse model.

How can this be true if it is majority out of boundary to begin with that a majority of the school prizes the in boundary set up for a specialized school?

Because a majority of those OOB families want their kids to attend a school in a nice, affluent area...not in the hood. You can't remove the boundaries and leave Woodley Park without a neighborhood school. Oyster has been bilingual and on that same corner for over 40 years--nothing major is changing with those boundaries anytime soon. Plus, if there were no boundaries, those parents would still have to travel to WP to attend the school. The real reason some people want Oyster's boundaries abolished is that they resent that affluent families can buy their way into the neighborhood/school. In a word: envy.

In the latest survey the vast majorities of in-bound AND out-bound parents wanted the school to remain in the same locations. Why? I don't think it's so much that "hood" factor as much as:
- Why play with fire? If something is working well, why attempt something radical that might well mean the end of the school as a successful, bilingual and diverse institution?
- Everyone at the school already has work, life and transport arrangements in place. Out-boundary parents and teachers live all over the city, not just in one neighborhood, so for a very significant chunk of them moving the school somewhere farther away from current locations would make life much more difficult, not easier. They would be as affected as the in-bound parents and teachers, if not more

+1 Most O-A families realize there's not much that will happen radically in the short run of next 2-3 years or however long boundaries are grandfathered. The real issue is about O-A kids who can't/don't want to do bilingual for grades 6-8 having the option of feeding to Deal/Wilson. That's the third rail.

Each of the charter immersion schools are quite different from each other. DCPS immersion schools basically come down to O-A or not O-A, for the moment. Who knows, Powell could become the Oyster of the East in a couple of years. But there's still a big issue of middle and high schools with immersion options.

GL all

Sorry, what do you mean about O-A not O-A? As in some are academically strong like O-A and some are not?

Thanks for your perspective!

NP--I would say yes. There is no dual immersion school (DCPS or charter) in the city with stronger test scores than Oyster.

[Anonymous]

I'm laughing at the herd mentality of this thread. Only one poster put DC Bilingual on their list, and put it down as #7. DC Bilingual is a public charter Tier 1 school - with a proven track record over 9 years (and 25 years for its parent organization, CentroNia). Whereas the love for MV, which has been around for like two minutes ... oh, don't get me started ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm laughing at the herd mentality of this thread. Only one poster put DC Bilingual on their list, and put it down as #7. DC Bilingual is a public charter Tier 1 school - with a proven track record over 9 years (and 25 years for its parent organization, CentroNia). Whereas the love for MV, which has been around for like two minutes ... oh, don't get me started ...

I've met leadership at both schools several times in the last 2 years, spent time in both schools both in "open house" situations as well as in the course of my job. I would pick Mundo Verde over DC Bilingual in a heartbeat. That is just my opinion, but please be clear that having what you consider a "proven track record" for over 9 yrs" in no way means that it's a better school, either in general or for particular families. There are MANY factors that go into what different people consider a "successful" or "amazing" or "top quality" school.

I'm glad that DC Bilingual is a school that some people are excited about. I'm glad some people are excited about MV. For my family, it would be MV without hesitation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm laughing at the herd mentality of this thread. Only one poster put DC Bilingual on their list, and put it down as #7. DC Bilingual is a public charter Tier 1 school - with a proven track record over 9 years (and 25 years for its parent organization, CentroNia). Whereas the love for MV, which has been around for like two minutes ... oh, don't get me started ...

I've met leadership at both schools several times in the last 2 years, spent time in both schools both in "open house" situations as well as in the course of my job. I would pick Mundo Verde over DC Bilingual in a heartbeat. That is just my opinion, but please be clear that having what you consider a "proven track record" for over 9 yrs" in no way means that it's a better school, either in general or for particular families. There are MANY factors that go into what different people consider a "successful" or "amazing" or "top quality" school.

I'm glad that DC Bilingual is a school that some people are excited about. I'm glad some people are excited about MV. For my family, it would be MV without hesitation.

+1. I am not sure what previous PP meant with "Tier 1," but DC Bilingual was classified as "Rising," not "Reward," given latest DC-CAS scores (57% in math; 62% in Reading).
http://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/release_content/attachments/2013%20School-By-School%20DC%20CAS%20Results%20(Statewide)%20(1).pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP--I would say yes. There is no dual immersion school (DCPS or charter) in the city with stronger test scores than Oyster.

Three things distinguish Oyster from other dual language programs, and I do not believe any of them truly tie to quality of instruction. I recommend that incoming parents bear these things in mind and take a look at all of the DCPS dual language programs if that kind of program is intriguing to you.

So – Oyster’s advantages.

29% free and reduced price meals. Bancroft is 77%, Marie Reed is 89%, and the rest are 99% free and reduced price meal schools. We know that family income and school readiness go hand in hand.

Percentage of English language learners: Oyster has 16%, Bancroft 65%, Bruce-Monroe 62%, Cleveland 21%, Marie Reed 58%, Powell 66%, Tyler 1%. Cleveland and Tyler are the lowest percentage Latino/Hispanic, both are around 70% African-American where the others are 60-80% Latino/Hispanic. Getting English language learners to perform on English language tests takes years and years . The roughly 40% difference between Oyster and the majority Latino/Hispanic dual-language schools has to account for something.

Test results: Oyster posted low 80s on percent proficient, Cleveland around 70%, and the rest are rising surprisingly fast but in the 40s, 50s and 60s in various measures, except for Tyler, which is not doing too well on proficiency, unfortunately.

Growth/student progress ratings: The growth/student progress numbers are not particularly distinguishing among these schools. If anything, Marie Reed had a surprisingly good Math growth rate last year.

My honest bet is that the difference between Oyster and the other schools is really not the quality of instruction. It is what comes with the 50-70% difference in poverty/free meals numbers between the schools and the difficulties of preparing English language learners to excel on tests in English.

I would say to those who do not live within Oyster's boundaries or who lose out on Spanish-language charter programs in the lottery, go see the DCPS dual language schools and see if you are comfortable there and whether your children would be. If they would be, think hard about the DCPS dual language school rather than envy what those at Oyster have, because the advantages Oyster appears to have seem to be more about what students bring with them into the school than in what happens inside the school.

I do not say that to knock Oyster, but to suggest that folks look past appearances and toward indicators of instructional quality - whether kids seem on task in class, whether teachers love what they are doing, and the curriculum seems well integrated and focused on things you want your child to learn.

I have my child in another DCPS dual language program and am happy with the school.
See more here: http://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Compare.aspx?tab=1&school=292,204,330,300,284,224,296 and here: http://www.learndc.org/schoolprofiles/view

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm laughing at the herd mentality of this thread. Only one poster put DC Bilingual on their list, and put it down as #7. DC Bilingual is a public charter Tier 1 school - with a proven track record over 9 years (and 25 years for its parent organization, CentroNia). Whereas the love for MV, which has been around for like two minutes ... oh, don't get me started ...

If your sole criteria is length of time in existence, I would choose DC Bilingual. For any other reason, Mundo Verde would be the clear choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm laughing at the herd mentality of this thread. Only one poster put DC Bilingual on their list, and put it down as #7. DC Bilingual is a public charter Tier 1 school - with a proven track record over 9 years (and 25 years for its parent organization, CentroNia). Whereas the love for MV, which has been around for like two minutes ... oh, don't get me started ...

I've met leadership at both schools several times in the last 2 years, spent time in both schools both in "open house" situations as well as in the course of my job. I would pick Mundo Verde over DC Bilingual in a heartbeat. That is just my opinion, but please be clear that having what you consider a "proven track record" for over 9 yrs" in no way means that it's a better school, either in general or for particular families. There are MANY factors that go into what different people consider a "successful" or "amazing" or "top quality" school.

I'm glad that DC Bilingual is a school that some people are excited about. I'm glad some people are excited about MV. For my family, it would be MV without hesitation.

I'm the previous poster immediately above - I would also add that if I were entering the lottery this year, if it was just about the school, I wouldn't even apply to DC Bilingual. I would apply to MV, LAMB, Stokes (not part of the lottery, I know, but still), and Powell, and then fill my other choices with other non-bilingual schools over applying to DC Bilingual. Only DCB's participation in DCI makes me even consider DC Bilingual as an option, but fortunately we're already in a different DCI feeder so that doesn't apply to us this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm laughing at the herd mentality of this thread. Only one poster put DC Bilingual on their list, and put it down as #7. DC Bilingual is a public charter Tier 1 school - with a proven track record over 9 years (and 25 years for its parent organization, CentroNia). Whereas the love for MV, which has been around for like two minutes ... oh, don't get me started ...

I've met leadership at both schools several times in the last 2 years, spent time in both schools both in "open house" situations as well as in the course of my job. I would pick Mundo Verde over DC Bilingual in a heartbeat. That is just my opinion, but please be clear that having what you consider a "proven track record" for over 9 yrs" in no way means that it's a better school, either in general or for particular families. There are MANY factors that go into what different people consider a "successful" or "amazing" or "top quality" school.

I'm glad that DC Bilingual is a school that some people are excited about. I'm glad some people are excited about MV. For my family, it would be MV without hesitation.

I'm the previous poster immediately above - I would also add that if I were entering the lottery this year, if it was just about the school, I wouldn't even apply to DC Bilingual. I would apply to MV, LAMB, Stokes (not part of the lottery, I know, but still), and Powell, and then fill my other choices with other non-bilingual schools over applying to DC Bilingual. Only DCB's participation in DCI makes me even consider DC Bilingual as an option, but fortunately we're already in a different DCI feeder so that doesn't apply to us this year.

Oops, forgot Bancroft and probably Cleveland as well, all before DC Bilingual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm laughing at the herd mentality of this thread. Only one poster put DC Bilingual on their list, and put it down as #7. DC Bilingual is a public charter Tier 1 school - with a proven track record over 9 years (and 25 years for its parent organization, CentroNia). Whereas the love for MV, which has been around for like two minutes ... oh, don't get me started ...

Are you a parent at DC Bilingual? I would LOVE to get more info on it. I started a thread on this the other day, and no one replied. They have not announced any open houses and have info from last year's lottery on their page. I'm very interested, and at least the current location is good for me, but I definitely feel like I want to hear more from the school before I apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm laughing at the herd mentality of this thread. Only one poster put DC Bilingual on their list, and put it down as #7. DC Bilingual is a public charter Tier 1 school - with a proven track record over 9 years (and 25 years for its parent organization, CentroNia). Whereas the love for MV, which has been around for like two minutes ... oh, don't get me started ...

I've met leadership at both schools several times in the last 2 years, spent time in both schools both in "open house" situations as well as in the course of my job. I would pick Mundo Verde over DC Bilingual in a heartbeat. That is just my opinion, but please be clear that having what you consider a "proven track record" for over 9 yrs" in no way means that it's a better school, either in general or for particular families. There are MANY factors that go into what different people consider a "successful" or "amazing" or "top quality" school.

I'm glad that DC Bilingual is a school that some people are excited about. I'm glad some people are excited about MV. For my family, it would be MV without hesitation.

I'm the previous poster immediately above - I would also add that if I were entering the lottery this year, if it was just about the school, I wouldn't even apply to DC Bilingual. I would apply to MV, LAMB, Stokes (not part of the lottery, I know, but still), and Powell, and then fill my other choices with other non-bilingual schools over applying to DC Bilingual. Only DCB's participation in DCI makes me even consider DC Bilingual as an option, but fortunately we're already in a different DCI feeder so that doesn't apply to us this year.

I agree with everything that's said here. We are at Powell and love it. Although MV and LAMB would of been are first choices we are very happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always wonder why parents say Montessori isn't for their child. Do you have experience with the philosophy to test its effectiveness? I have no dog in the fight, just curious.

My child is very strong willed and independant. Montessori allows her to just play to the things she likes to do, but doesn't explore any of her weaknesses or aspects of her personality that she needs to work on. In the Montessori setting, she tends to take "to much" of a lead and kids just follow what she wants to do.

In a more structured play-based school setting, teachers can work with her to access those parts of her personality that need work.

It's what worked for us, but I do think that for most kids, Montessori is a great learning model and a great program (which is why LAMB and other programs have such long, long waitlists)

[Anonymous]

My child has only attended one school, so I am not in a position to rank. He attends Bruce-Monroe, which is a dual-language program. He is in PS 3. I am pleased with the school. More importantly, he LOVES it. And, although he went to a Spanish speaking day care before pre-school, he never spoke Spanish. Now, he speaks Spanish everyday and asks me all the time how to say things in Spanish. I would recommend checking it out. You have a much better chance of getting in, than some of the higher "ranked" schools.

[Anonymous]

Happy MV parent here. If test results are important, MV won't get CAS until next year when there is a third grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm laughing at the herd mentality of this thread. Only one poster put DC Bilingual on their list, and put it down as #7. DC Bilingual is a public charter Tier 1 school - with a proven track record over 9 years (and 25 years for its parent organization, CentroNia). Whereas the love for MV, which has been around for like two minutes ... oh, don't get me started ...

Are you a parent at DC Bilingual? I would LOVE to get more info on it. I started a thread on this the other day, and no one replied. They have not announced any open houses and have info from last year's lottery on their page. I'm very interested, and at least the current location is good for me, but I definitely feel like I want to hear more from the school before I apply.

Interesting that the first poster here never responded to PP about whether they are a DC Bilingual parent. Maybe they're not a parent (but a staff member or something) so they're not responding because they can't give the viewpoint PP is asking for... but really, even though many so far are saying they disagree with the "DCB over MV" idea, this is a great time for any DC Bilingual parents reading this to pipe up about what they think of the school, especially if it's positive.

For me, I'd be interested to hear what parents think of Cleveland, Marie Reed and Bancroft as well (yes, I know there is a difference in demand among those 3, but I'd love more info about all 3).