Powell, Marie Reed, or Cleveland for Spanish immersion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I think the minus to Powell is that the boosters all seem to be PK, and I'm just not sure of the quality of the program for K and beyond. I haven't really spoken to anyone who has done the program in those grades. But I would love to! Anyone?

19:12, I agree with your rankings for Oyster and Bancroft. We have a low (under 10) number for Oyster, but I don't think those waitlists are going to move at all, so I don't expect to get in there. Our number at Bancroft is much higher than the others, and they took no one OOB last year, so I don't expect to get in there. But, can you tell me why you would rank it MR, Powell, and then Cleveland? Cleveland definitely has the best test scores...but then, it has the fewest ELL, by far. I like the diversity of MR, and that it's been around for so long, but I worry about the distractions that building would pose to learning. Cleveland gives me pause because it's less than 30% Latino, and I really would like the kids in a program with more Latinos. I also feel like I have not been able to speak with enough people to really gauge the quality of the programs. Anyway, those are my rough pro/cons, and would love to hear your reasoning.

I talked with the MR principal about the renovations. They are still very early in the process, and have few details available.

I ranked Cleveland lower because it has few to no middle clas families and fewer native speakers, and you want at least one of those in a dual language, preferably both. Oyster clearly has both, Bancroft has the native speakers, plus a critical mass of middle class though not approaching Oyster demographics, Marie Reed similar to Bancroft in MR's dual language track, Powell and Bruce Monroe have the native speakers but few or no middle class past PK. But another PP pointed out that native speakers at Cleveland are concentrated in the dual language track, which helps.

I agree with PP that objectively Bruce Monroe is similar to Powell, but just doesn't get the boosting Powell does.

Another thing, I prefer the "dual language only" model that Oyster and Bancroft have (and Bruce Monroe?) and I wonder if other schools will consider it. It focuses the school's mission, makes hiring simpler (albeit more difficult), and makes it more likely you'll have a critical mass of parents !!and teachers !! committed to bilingualism and so on. I think it's no coincidence that Oyster chose this model many years ago.

Yes, I believe that Bruce Monroe no longer has an English track in any grade.

As a neighborhood school they have to.

No they don't--DCPS just has to give an alternative school. If you decide you want to enroll as an IB student in 5th grade, they have to support you, but they don't have to offer you an English track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cleveland has a growing number of high SES families. My child's class of 14 has at least 4 professional families, quite possibly more. That's not a ton, but also not none.

Is that PK? School profile shows 99 percent FARM. I realize that number is not always accurate, community eligibility schools etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cleveland has a growing number of high SES families. My child's class of 14 has at least 4 professional families, quite possibly more. That's not a ton, but also not none.

Is that PK? School profile shows 99 percent FARM. I realize that number is not always accurate, community eligibility schools etc.

My understanding (from previous discussions on here) is that the 99% FARM number is a default number that is used once a certain FARM threshold is met. The number also reflects the whole-school number -- that is, PK all through 5th grade (the lower grades having significantly lower FARM numbers with recent interest in this and other schools), and english and spanish track (the english having higher FARM numbers since there is lots of interest by high SES families in the spanish program). But I would be interested in others at Cleveland who can provide input on the class demographics at the lower and higher levels.

[Anonymous]

Cleveland's actual FARMs number is 55% or so (if memory serves), and that number is a year or two old because they don't release very recent numbers. That's a bit lower than the schools nearby (Seaton, Langley, etc).

The boundary is much larger this year, so the population may look different next year.

[Anonymous]

Powell is wonderful, and the only reason I didn't list it is inconvenient location. Principal Docal is amazing, the teachers were warm and nurturing, and they are slated to complete a ton of new facilities in the next year. Out of the three you listed, Powell would be my top choice. No question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Marie Reed does get a great new building, I think it might become very popular very quickly. The question is just how long the renovations are going to take.

OP again. I totally agree, but I think we are maybe 3 years away from renovation completion. Based on what I've heard, I think we'd have to commit to K and 1st in a what seems like a disruptive atmosphere, and I'm not sure I want to do that.

I'm wondering what about the open space seemed chaotic. I'm only familiar with closed space schools (if this is even a term), and am not an expert on learning environments. I'm wondering what kinds of judgements families are making when they consider a space chaotic. Is it noisy? Are the kids distracted? Are students not learning? Also, how much time are families able to spend in the building and classrooms observing instruction?

Also, what do the classrooms look like? I'm assuming partitions of some sort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cleveland's actual FARMs number is 55% or so (if memory serves), and that number is a year or two old because they don't release very recent numbers. That's a bit lower than the schools nearby (Seaton, Langley, etc).

The boundary is much larger this year, so the population may look different next year.

Ok, I definitely stand corrected on FARM percentage at Cleveland. This is an example of how DCPS school profiles can be misleading.

[Anonymous]

When I attended Takoma Education Campus ( pre fire ofcourse) it was an open space model.

The only distraction was when kids got into a fight, but that wasn't freuqent. It was all we knew so it didn't bother us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS. OP her again. I also REALLY liked the Marie Reed principal. She seemed really dynamic. I wasn't as impressed with the Cleveland principal, and found the Powell principal to be nonresponsive when I tried to reach out with some follow up questions.

Powell principal is either on leave or back on a limited basis after giving birth recently--so just something to consider, as you wouldn't know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PS. OP her again. I also REALLY liked the Marie Reed principal. She seemed really dynamic. I wasn't as impressed with the Cleveland principal, and found the Powell principal to be nonresponsive when I tried to reach out with some follow up questions.

Powell principal is either on leave or back on a limited basis after giving birth recently--so just something to consider, as you wouldn't know that.

Thanks for that. But no out-of-office message on her email, for example?

[Anonymous]

Just reading your initial post, it's clear you have lots of emotion here.

[Anonymous]

We are an upper income family at Cleveland -- this year for K, and next year no. 2 starts in prek3 -- both dual language. We love it. The teachers are native speakers and very dedicated. The children overall are very polite and respectful and bright. Check your stereotypes and give it a shot. Fyi, i attended the most elite private schools (not in dc) for boarding and college/grad and have very high standards for my children's academics. Living in Shaw since '05, Cleveland was always my top pick. Its test scores have always been high -- this principal is new. We didnt get in for prek the first time.

[Anonymous]

What, exactly, are people afraid of in exposing their kids to lower income peers? Exposure to another culture, black or Hispanic? We are talking about elementary school children here. Happily our children are growing up in a more color blind world. Try speaking to someone from a different SES, culture, neighborhood and learn something new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely consider Cleveland dual Language as a top contender to Oyster. Don't be fooled by the location and the SES it is a WONDERFUL school with an amazing bilingual program that is probably the most authentic one of all of them.
The school is well run nurturing and full of intelligent students.

Are both the teachers and the aides in the bilingual program all native speakers? Also, random question, but do you know what time morning drop off is?

YES, and Before 8:30 -- in the beginning of the year they encourage you to get there at 8 for free breakfast. We average around 8:15.

[Anonymous]

All this talk about the classes do not have enough native Spanish speaking kids. My concern, as a highly educated Hispanic, is that the majority of Hispanic kids in these programs are from very poor families, and the parents are illiterate in Spanish. They speak Spanish, but not well. Their spelling, in particular, is grammatically wrong. I want my kids to keep their Spanish, but I am concerned that the other kids will bring the overall learning in the classroom down. Not to mention that these kids are learning English for the first time. I saw this at Powell, for example.