Recommendations on best ES & MS in VA or NW DC. French class a +

[Anonymous]

We are moving to the DC area next summer. We will have one 5th grader and one 7th grader so I need recommendations on ES and MS in the same area. Schools offering French are definitely a plus for us. We would consider moving to NW DC or Northern VA. We don't want a long commute. Any recommendations?

[Anonymous]

Ken Gardens Elementary in Mclean has a French immersion program starting in first grade.

[Anonymous]

Kent gardens, Longfellow Middle School, McLean High School

What is your budget?

[Anonymous]

I heard about Kent. Not sure about our budget yet... We are willing to go the private way but definitely don't have the budget for Rochambeau or WIS). We are also concerned about the school sizes since our kids have been attending pretty small schools overseas and in the USA.

[Anonymous]

What is your budget for private?

[Anonymous]

You could apply for a spot at Stokes charter school in DC, which offers French/English dual language (50% in each language for K-5), then feeds to the DC International charter. If you got a spot, you could then find a place near the school. (It is by lottery and you can apply from our of DC, but you have to move to the city to take the spot.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could apply for a spot at Stokes charter school in DC, which offers French/English dual language (50% in each language for K-5), then feeds to the DC International charter. If you got a spot, you could then find a place near the school. (It is by lottery and you can apply from our of DC, but you have to move to the city to take the spot.)

If your 5th grader got into stokes or your 7th grader into DCI, the other would get pulled to the top of the waitlist, as sibling preference works across the schools. To apply, you do so at myschooldc.org.

[Anonymous]

Aren't all the public French immersion programs based on a lottery?

Kent Gardens in McLean
Maryvale in Rockville, MD
Robert Goddard in PG County--MD

[Anonymous]

Deal Middle School in DC is IB and offered French.

[Anonymous]

I'm French, and was not interested in the immersion programs because even though they are in French, they still follow the American curriculum (American history and geography, not French history and geography, etc).

So my kids are in public school and go to a French weekend school. See myfrenchclasses.org. They are in Bethesda.

There is also the French school Rochambeau, which follows the French state curriculum and French teaching methods. A bit too narrow-minded for my taste and of course expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Deal Middle School in DC is IB and offered French.

And Murch is an ES (PK through 5th) that feeds to Deal (6th -8th). There is an after school French program there that offers everything from one to 5 hours per week and/or private French tutoring.