German and French Aftercare

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone! There's been a few threads on additional language immersion charters, their viability, the difficulty in starting one, and issues surrounding all of the above. Another thread discussed starting a DPR aftercare program, which could give leeway to a school if there seemed to be enough momentum for parents.

I've been doing some very cursory research on this and am looking for parents who would be interested in forming an aftercare program focused on French and German immersion. Ideally, it would take place somewhere centrally located to the majority of families. Also, it would be crucial to have some kind of bus service that picks the kids up from their school(s) and brings them to the aftercare location. I'd like to focus on kids in Pre-K through K or 1st initially and then go from there.

Is there anyone who'd be interested in investigating this further? I was a part of the Haricot Vert group, which disbanded for a number of reasons, so I'm aware of some of the pitfalls this undertaking might experience. For one, it may be too cost-prohibitive, or logistically impossible. However, it could also work and be an amazing program. Won't know unless/if we meet to openly discuss this.

Let me know if you're interested! Also, we all know that DCUM can bring out the worst in people. Please do not respond if you don't have productive intentions and/or have some type of agenda. This is strictly for open-minded parents who are seeking an exciting program for their kids. All backgrounds welcome and especially enthused for Francophone and Teutophone families.

[Anonymous]

Very interested in a French afterschool.

[Anonymous]

There would be support in upper NW. Spring Valley and Wesley Heights are FULL OF embassy folk and international org. employees, Germans and Frenchmen included. I think a location nearer there would be more promising.

[Anonymous]

^^ Do you have any locales in mind? I'm in Columbia Heights and was thinking of our very nice community center run by DPR, but everything is on the table. My biggest concern would be the bus service. My child is currently in a charter in NE and would need to commute across town. We do this anyway, but there would need to be a lot of families interested to make a bus service financially doable.

[Anonymous]

I am interested!
I have heard very superficially about the charter project disbanding, and have been given a link to go read about it, but haven't.

We are partially Francophone, in Park View, looking to send our rising PK3 to Stokes if we "win" the lottery, or BMPV if not, because why not learn Spanish if we can't learn French. Our DC is doing the Alliance Francaise classes weekly, which is a trek and a penny, but so far well worth it.

Obviously, I would prefer an EOTP location, myself.

[Anonymous]

I would think the community center at Turtle Park would work. More likely, though, is that you'll need space at a church instead. Metropolitan, near Mann is a little too inconvenient. Perhaps the church near Tenleytown (just south of the metro, on the corner of Wisconsin and Nebraska). Perhaps AU would be interested in supporting this. AU is very welcoming to their neighbors, so this fits with their general demeanor.

Think about your clientele. Where are they predominantly located? Moreover, if you envision this as aftercare, you're restricting yourself to SAHM and nannies, so you want to be in an area with nannies (since there aren't many SAHM -- although that is different when filtering by Germans and, perhaps, Frenchmen). I don't think CoHeights fits these criteria.

[Anonymous]

There is a german-speaking playgroup located at the playgrounds in upper NW (turtle, newark st., etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would think the community center at Turtle Park would work. More likely, though, is that you'll need space at a church instead. Metropolitan, near Mann is a little too inconvenient. Perhaps the church near Tenleytown (just south of the metro, on the corner of Wisconsin and Nebraska). Perhaps AU would be interested in supporting this. AU is very welcoming to their neighbors, so this fits with their general demeanor.

Think about your clientele. Where are they predominantly located? Moreover, if you envision this as aftercare, you're restricting yourself to SAHM and nannies, so you want to be in an area with nannies (since there aren't many SAHM -- although that is different when filtering by Germans and, perhaps, Frenchmen). I don't think CoHeights fits these criteria.

I don't understand your thinking. I would think that if a family needs aftercare, they don't have nannies or a SAHM. An SAHM or a nanny would pick up their kid at school at 3p without aftercare.

[Anonymous]

Most schools already provide some sort of aftercare solution, so you're talking about parent eschewing the school-provided aftercare in lieu of a separate aftercare.

The appeal to german and french nationals is not about having someone to look after their kids after the school day ends; they already have access to this. The appeal is the german and french language/cultural focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most schools already provide some sort of aftercare solution, so you're talking about parent eschewing the school-provided aftercare in lieu of a separate aftercare.

The appeal to german and french nationals is not about having someone to look after their kids after the school day ends; they already have access to this. The appeal is the german and french language/cultural focus.

Of course. I still don't get how this is restricting to SAHM and nannies.

[Anonymous]

Working parents are not able to drive to school and pick up their children to transport them to another aftercare program at 3pm.

[Anonymous]

German nationals on short term assignments are generally not looking for aftercare that focuses on German culture and other German nationals, they're looking for an American experience. You may need to find German immigrants for that, someone who is looking to give there kids a taste of Germany. The Embassy crowd gets enough of Germans/Germany.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:German nationals on short term assignments are generally not looking for aftercare that focuses on German culture and other German nationals, they're looking for an American experience. You may need to find German immigrants for that, someone who is looking to give there kids a taste of Germany. The Embassy crowd gets enough of Germans/Germany.

Cannot disagree more, and the evidence speaks against this sentiment. To wit, DSW classes.

Most germans in DC are ex-pats not on short-term assignment. Perhaps the mention of "embassy folks" was a red herring; bankers may be a more appropriate description of the likely clientele.

[Anonymous]

OP here- I see (healthy) debate starting to happen! I just want to clarify what I believe the "clientale" will be and what I'd like to attract. I'm hoping to find families that are lovers of language learning and culture and also have a need for quailty after-school care. I agree that most schools have aftercare for the kids. Also, I think their utilization comes in handy for parents on a continuum- those who don't need very long after school, those who can have nannies pick the kids up, those who work late hours, etc...

What I'd like to form is a group comprised of a diverse group of parents (of varying needs), who have the commonality of wanting an immersion experience for their child(ren) up to five days a week so the kid can become fluent in the target language.

Also, hate to beat a dead horse, but I really need transportation to be factored in. As an example, the Global Readiness Academy targeted a group of schools near it's location in McLean and provided a van to pick up the kids and drive them to the academy on Mondays (the day when the camp was held).

This service would get kids where they need to go without disturbing the parents work day or require them to spend the extra on a nanny, etc...

As far as the location of the majority of the clientele, it may wind up being towards upper NW, but it might not be. With the Haricots Verts group most of us lived East of the Park and had tried to get a meeting going at Le Caprice, an awesome French bakery in my community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Working parents are not able to drive to school and pick up their children to transport them to another aftercare program at 3pm.

Ahh. Gotcha. The OP was talking about a bus, so I assumed that parents wouldn't be involved in that transportation step.

Honestly, I would prefer to see whether there is enough interest in a Columbia Heights location first, because there is enough commuting in a week. American University would just not be feasible for us (Park View).