Lottery Issue + Language Immersion Format + Homeschool/Co-Op Inquiry

[Anonymous]

Spanish immersion in what should be dual language schools appears to be for those elementary schools without a real cohort of incoming Spanish speakers from Spanish-speaking families. Tyler is far from the core of Spanish-speaking DC and Oyster’s neighborhood, once a part of Hispanic DC, gentrified to the point of having that community mostly move north and east just because it’s expensive.

The lottery isn’t easy but you might get more kids who come in speaking Spanish at 3/4 at Oysrer than others if immersion rather than dual language is your goal at that age.

For my part I would prefer dual language with at least a very large minority cohort of Spanish speaking kids. There are several DCPS and PCS like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By law, charters cannot have separate lotteries to create a 50/50 language speaker environment. They would if they could, but they can't.

I don't think they would if they could. Certainly not YuYing. The half dozen truly bilingual Chinese-speaking kids there are considered unfair competition.

Well, it didn’t take long for the resident YY “native speakers are competition” conspiracy theorist to weigh in.

Didn't take long for the knee-jerk YY booster who can't speak Chinese (and so doesn't have a clue) to weigh in either.

[Anonymous]

OJH wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OJH wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK OP. I took a second to actually read your first point (filtering out the distinct aroma du nutcase) and you do make a good point. It would be helpful if there were more information on the odds of getting into each school that did not require parents to know they have to look elsewhere to understand their odds. The information is there (in the form of annual retrospective lottery data) but that isn't always so easy to find or understand. So, it would be cool if they could include an "odds" calculator or at least flag the schools where literally no kids with your profile have gotten seats in the lottery.

LMAO! Yes, I'm neurotic. However, every African/Asian/European person I met in college spoke at least 3 languages passably. It's worth prioritizing for the future of as many American children as possinle.

A lot of people have children who speak multiple languages, such as mine who speak, read, and write 3 fluently. Stop praising yourself, you're not that special. We know many people who are doing/have done the same.

That's my point... Its NOT special, just harder to accomplish in the US!

No, you missed my point. There are many, many families in DC who are teaching their children 3+ languages from birth. Find a Saturday school to keep the language and community, take long vacations where they speak your target languages, and/or get in a good immersion school. I would not compromise on academics though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spanish immersion in what should be dual language schools appears to be for those elementary schools without a real cohort of incoming Spanish speakers from Spanish-speaking families. Tyler is far from the core of Spanish-speaking DC and Oyster’s neighborhood, once a part of Hispanic DC, gentrified to the point of having that community mostly move north and east just because it’s expensive.

The lottery isn’t easy but you might get more kids who come in speaking Spanish at 3/4 at Oysrer than others if immersion rather than dual language is your goal at that age.

For my part I would prefer dual language with at least a very large minority cohort of Spanish speaking kids. There are several DCPS and PCS like this.

Tyler does set 30% (I think) seats for Spanish dominant students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By law, charters cannot have separate lotteries to create a 50/50 language speaker environment. They would if they could, but they can't.

I don't think they would if they could. Certainly not YuYing. The half dozen truly bilingual Chinese-speaking kids there are considered unfair competition.

Well, it didn’t take long for the resident YY “native speakers are competition” conspiracy theorist to weigh in.

Didn't take long for the knee-jerk YY booster who can't speak Chinese (and so doesn't have a clue) to weigh in either.

Seems I struck a nerve! Sorry, not a booster. Just tired of reading the same non-sensical drivel. There are valid criticisms of the school but the “unfair competition” theory isn’t one of them.

[Anonymous]

What would you know? Your children are English-Chinese bilingual? Get a life, or maybe stay off these threads.

[Anonymous]

It's not fraud. That is really how the lottery works. And every year, schools that allegedly "take nobody" wind up taking a couple of kids.

Brent, Deal, Eaton, Hearst, Janney, Mann, and Ross, just to list the few I looked up, all made waitlist offers this year. If the parents hadn't listed these schools on the lottery, even knowing there was little chance of getting in, their kids wouldn't be going to those schools now.

You get 12 schools to list. If your dream school is one where the odds are low, still list it first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not fraud. That is really how the lottery works. And every year, schools that allegedly "take nobody" wind up taking a couple of kids.

Brent, Deal, Eaton, Hearst, Janney, Mann, and Ross, just to list the few I looked up, all made waitlist offers this year. If the parents hadn't listed these schools on the lottery, even knowing there was little chance of getting in, their kids wouldn't be going to those schools now.

You get 12 schools to list. If your dream school is one where the odds are low, still list it first.

List it first if it's your first choice. Not because if the odds, because your list order does not affect your odds. The only thing list order can do is cause you not to get into a school because you got into one that yoy listed higher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not fraud. That is really how the lottery works. And every year, schools that allegedly "take nobody" wind up taking a couple of kids.

Brent, Deal, Eaton, Hearst, Janney, Mann, and Ross, just to list the few I looked up, all made waitlist offers this year. If the parents hadn't listed these schools on the lottery, even knowing there was little chance of getting in, their kids wouldn't be going to those schools now.

You get 12 schools to list. If your dream school is one where the odds are low, still list it first.

List it first if it's your first choice. Not because if the odds, because your list order does not affect your odds. The only thing list order can do is cause you not to get into a school because you got into one that yoy listed higher

Not having the "odds" listed is far from fraud. Contain your crazy.

[Anonymous]

Telling people the odds is misleading. A lot can change from year to year and there is a certain element of randomness as well. It would not be reliable information and would only confuse people. The most I would do is flag schools that have gone several years without admitting any nonsiblings to preschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Telling people the odds is misleading. A lot can change from year to year and there is a certain element of randomness as well. It would not be reliable information and would only confuse people. The most I would do is flag schools that have gone several years without admitting any nonsiblings to preschool.

Even that could be misleading. Deal did not take OOB students for years, and then made 20+ offers from their waitlist for 17-18. What if someone had been dissuaded from listing it and got a great master number?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Telling people the odds is misleading. A lot can change from year to year and there is a certain element of randomness as well. It would not be reliable information and would only confuse people. The most I would do is flag schools that have gone several years without admitting any nonsiblings to preschool.

Even that could be misleading. Deal did not take OOB students for years, and then made 20+ offers from their waitlist for 17-18. What if someone had been dissuaded from listing it and got a great master number?

Actually I made my own calculator for odds last year on a spreadsheet. But it could only tell me the odds from the prior year, because spots allocated to siblings aren't published for coming year and you can ask schools directly but they can/will only give you a ballpark. So I tried, hard, to make this calculator. And in the end I don't think it added anything to my list. The odds seemed awful at several schools, but, myself and several friends got into those schools by the day school started. So, basically a calculator can't be accurate and also doesn't really help because, luck is luck. If you really have more than 12 schools you want to list, consider that you're casting too wide a net geographically or otherwise. Nobody should really need a longer list than 12.

[Anonymous]

-- as well, if you want input on your list with a language priority, post it on here and you'll get a lot of input.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Telling people the odds is misleading. A lot can change from year to year and there is a certain element of randomness as well. It would not be reliable information and would only confuse people. The most I would do is flag schools that have gone several years without admitting any nonsiblings to preschool.

Even that could be misleading. Deal did not take OOB students for years, and then made 20+ offers from their waitlist for 17-18. What if someone had been dissuaded from listing it and got a great master number?

Or when Mundo Verde was cash strapped and needed to open more PreK classes to pay the bills.

Or when a school is granted an expansion after the lottery.

Lots of things happen - so you want to place your schools in your true priority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Telling people the odds is misleading. A lot can change from year to year and there is a certain element of randomness as well. It would not be reliable information and would only confuse people. The most I would do is flag schools that have gone several years without admitting any nonsiblings to preschool.

Even that could be misleading. Deal did not take OOB students for years, and then made 20+ offers from their waitlist for 17-18. What if someone had been dissuaded from listing it and got a great master number?

Or when Mundo Verde was cash strapped and needed to open more PreK classes to pay the bills.

Or when a school is granted an expansion after the lottery.

Lots of things happen - so you want to place your schools in your true priority.

But, if you have money re than 12 schools you would be willing to go to, just make sure a few are safeties or relative safeties.