Dual language middle school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child has been in a Spanish dual language program since pre k but now as we prepare for middle school it doesn’t seem like that many options. The only school I really hear given as best choice is DCI however it is so far. Is there any talks of them getting a bus from eastern market like other schools? What is everyone take on the few other dual language middle schools? I would hate to abandon language immersion.

DCI is the only charter/public school in the city with serious language programming and an IB diploma in high school.

But you won’t get in the Spanish track since you are not in a feeder.

The only other serious option is private which is WIS.

Oyster is a much better middle school language option. DCI middle is language light in comparison. If you are in 3rd-4th you can probably get a spot at a DCI feeder since most people don’t want to start DL in upper elementary. You can also try for Oyster if your kid can pass the proficiency test. The Jefferson program seems promising and if you live on the hill I would consider it. I don’t think DCI is worth the commute (I have kids there).

I have a kid at DCI middle. No the language model is not light. I am assuming your kid is in the lower language level tracks then. If so, then yes limited course options. They are not going to put a kid in many classes in the language if they are not even proficient yet.

My kid is in the highest track and so has lots of classes in the language. DCI has 6, yes six, levels of language classes and they test the kids every year with STAMP to know where they are and to place them. Kids in the highest track not only has language classes but also other subject like social studies actually taught in the language. Electives can also be in the language if you are in the higher track. Also exchange programs late middle are optiins if you are in the higher track. Lots of kids with native speaking families in this track also. Also if you are in the highest track, you can take a 2nd language starting as early as 7th and work towards an IB bilingual diploma.

I can’t comment on Oyster since I don’t have a kid there, but since you seem to know, you can let us know how extensive is the offerings in languages.and courses are there.

Also I agree with another poster that doubtful the Jefferson program will be successful when you have so little students coming in with proficiency in the language. Also majority of kids are not even on grade level in ELA, so I don’t see how they will be able to master a 2nd language.

Hey DCI booster. I am PP and we are native Spanish speakers and have been at DCI a lot longer than you. So, we are especially critical of the language classes. Yes. DCI has a lot of options but the kids in those higher classes aren’t really as proficient as I would expect. Most of the DCI feeders don’t have very high percentages of native Spanish speakers except possibly DCB which doesn’t even do full immersion in prek so the English speaking kids aren’t really challenged to learn Spanish. The advanced kids aren’t really that advanced. Adams has a large cohort of native speakers and Spanish is spoken outside of academic settings. All of the kids at Adams are highly proficient in Spanish. If OP wants a strong Spanish program Adams is the way to go if they can swing it. And I definitely wouldn’t travel from the hill to DCI. I would shoot for Stuart Hobson and supplement with language classes.

I’m also a spanish teacher and tutor and this crazy prior poster is full of BS. I am tired of the president being absolutely full of bs and I’m not taking from a second total liar.

Also only someone that had absolutely no idea what they’re talking about would suggest Stuart Hobson. Lots of kids travel to DCI from the Hill, but a total liar who is for some bizarre reason inventing nonsense would suggest this.

There are not lots of kids who commute from the Hill to DC. Some? Yes. Lots? Absolutely not. I would absolutely go SH + language classes over that commute to mediocrity. Different people have different priorities and I can absolutely accept that some people would choose the reverse.

Depends on how you define lots. Majority of CH families, no. But MV actually had a bus to P st pre Covid from CH and now there is a private shuttle from CH in addition to many kids taking metro at Union Station. I’ll also add that some families in NE part of the hill will take the NOMA/Galluduet stop because same distance and much easier to navigate drop off..

So there is enough of a contingent number of families from CH to DCI just like there is a good contingent of families from Deal to DCI.

As to SH for CH families, what exactly does it offer besides being closer for UMC families that is better than DCI? It certainly is not the math or language. It is also a dead end for high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are close to union station or can handle dropping kid there, tons of DCI kids take the red line to Takoma and bus or walk from there. It’s very easy and direct.

+1. Very easy.

Also, I think the private bus, the stop is by Eastern market, if Union station is not on your way to work.

Update, PP above. I know a family who takes the shuttle and asked. FYI the CH stop on the shuttle is a little further down from Eastern market at the CVS on Potomac.

[Anonymous]

I think you missed the point of the earlier SH poster. SH offers a short commute. Period. There is a point where for a lot of people a really long commute is not likely to be worth it if there is another reasonably okay option nearby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child has been in a Spanish dual language program since pre k but now as we prepare for middle school it doesn’t seem like that many options. The only school I really hear given as best choice is DCI however it is so far. Is there any talks of them getting a bus from eastern market like other schools? What is everyone take on the few other dual language middle schools? I would hate to abandon language immersion.

DCI is the only charter/public school in the city with serious language programming and an IB diploma in high school.

But you won’t get in the Spanish track since you are not in a feeder.

The only other serious option is private which is WIS.

Oyster is a much better middle school language option. DCI middle is language light in comparison. If you are in 3rd-4th you can probably get a spot at a DCI feeder since most people don’t want to start DL in upper elementary. You can also try for Oyster if your kid can pass the proficiency test. The Jefferson program seems promising and if you live on the hill I would consider it. I don’t think DCI is worth the commute (I have kids there).

I have a kid at DCI middle. No the language model is not light. I am assuming your kid is in the lower language level tracks then. If so, then yes limited course options. They are not going to put a kid in many classes in the language if they are not even proficient yet.

My kid is in the highest track and so has lots of classes in the language. DCI has 6, yes six, levels of language classes and they test the kids every year with STAMP to know where they are and to place them. Kids in the highest track not only has language classes but also other subject like social studies actually taught in the language. Electives can also be in the language if you are in the higher track. Also exchange programs late middle are optiins if you are in the higher track. Lots of kids with native speaking families in this track also. Also if you are in the highest track, you can take a 2nd language starting as early as 7th and work towards an IB bilingual diploma.

I can’t comment on Oyster since I don’t have a kid there, but since you seem to know, you can let us know how extensive is the offerings in languages.and courses are there.

Also I agree with another poster that doubtful the Jefferson program will be successful when you have so little students coming in with proficiency in the language. Also majority of kids are not even on grade level in ELA, so I don’t see how they will be able to master a 2nd language.

Hey DCI booster. I am PP and we are native Spanish speakers and have been at DCI a lot longer than you. So, we are especially critical of the language classes. Yes. DCI has a lot of options but the kids in those higher classes aren’t really as proficient as I would expect. Most of the DCI feeders don’t have very high percentages of native Spanish speakers except possibly DCB which doesn’t even do full immersion in prek so the English speaking kids aren’t really challenged to learn Spanish. The advanced kids aren’t really that advanced. Adams has a large cohort of native speakers and Spanish is spoken outside of academic settings. All of the kids at Adams are highly proficient in Spanish. If OP wants a strong Spanish program Adams is the way to go if they can swing it. And I definitely wouldn’t travel from the hill to DCI. I would shoot for Stuart Hobson and supplement with language classes.

I’m the PP and what exactly is not true about my post??

So your kid is not even in the middle school to speak of? Your experience is how many years old from middle if you are even for real and not a troll?

Our feeder had plenty of native speaking families. My kids spanish class at DCI currently has a lots of native speaking families who were at back to school night. And my kid scored high on STAMP so yes objective data.

BTW data doesn’t lie and both schools have similar percentages of spanish families.

If you look at absolute numbers, DCI actually has many more spanish families because Oyster is so small.

This is correct. DCI has more students. However, There are many coming from feeders that identify as Hispanic but speak English at home. My kids came from a feeder and they never had more than 2 or 3 kids that actually spoke Spanish at home consistently.

True, if the kids were born here or having moved to the US after 2-3 years, they will want to speak English at home and not spanish. It is not going to be any different at Adams with similar kids and profiles.

But what I noticed at our feeder which consisted of UMC educated spanish families who were fluent in English, is that parents spoke to the kids only in spanish and they chose a spanish immersion school because they prioritize their kids knowing spanish. And you can bet these kids read, wrote, and spoke spanish grammatically better than the ESL kids.

The bottom line is that if you prioritize spanish then it is a no brainer that DCI is the best choice, because it offers a strong language program all the way thru 12th. It is also offers the IB curriculum from middle to high school with the option of getting an IB diploma at graduation. This opens so many doors if your kid is interested at all in going to college abroad. It also sets your kid to stand out in applying to colleges here where AP kids are a dime a dozen.

BTW, my kid’s strength is math and science and we have found STEM to be very good at DCI. Math tracking is great. Science teachers strong and great clubs and EC in STEM.

I don’t think this is true of Oyster Adams or other schools that prioritize language proficiency for participation. OA kids have to pass a proficiency test and over half of the students in each class have passed this assessment. 50% of a class that consistently speaks Spanish versus 5-10% is a big deal when considering overall language development. I am a teacher in a DL program in the suburbs and we have similar requirement to DCPS programs and the kids speak in Spanish throughout the day. The level Spanish is so much higher than at my kids DCI feeder. It’s a little disheartening but there are other great things about the school so we plug away and work on Spanish at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you missed the point of the earlier SH poster. SH offers a short commute. Period. There is a point where for a lot of people a really long commute is not likely to be worth it if there is another reasonably okay option nearby.

+1. OP is worried about the commute. DCI is far away from them. We live close to our school options and love the extra time with our kids and that they have extra time to explore their interests. My neighbors kids commute 45 minutes on a good day and after all of the school activities they never see them. It’s valid to consider and SH is a strong neighborhood option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child has been in a Spanish dual language program since pre k but now as we prepare for middle school it doesn’t seem like that many options. The only school I really hear given as best choice is DCI however it is so far. Is there any talks of them getting a bus from eastern market like other schools? What is everyone take on the few other dual language middle schools? I would hate to abandon language immersion.

DCI is the only charter/public school in the city with serious language programming and an IB diploma in high school.

But you won’t get in the Spanish track since you are not in a feeder.

The only other serious option is private which is WIS.

Oyster is a much better middle school language option. DCI middle is language light in comparison. If you are in 3rd-4th you can probably get a spot at a DCI feeder since most people don’t want to start DL in upper elementary. You can also try for Oyster if your kid can pass the proficiency test. The Jefferson program seems promising and if you live on the hill I would consider it. I don’t think DCI is worth the commute (I have kids there).

I have a kid at DCI middle. No the language model is not light. I am assuming your kid is in the lower language level tracks then. If so, then yes limited course options. They are not going to put a kid in many classes in the language if they are not even proficient yet.

My kid is in the highest track and so has lots of classes in the language. DCI has 6, yes six, levels of language classes and they test the kids every year with STAMP to know where they are and to place them. Kids in the highest track not only has language classes but also other subject like social studies actually taught in the language. Electives can also be in the language if you are in the higher track. Also exchange programs late middle are optiins if you are in the higher track. Lots of kids with native speaking families in this track also. Also if you are in the highest track, you can take a 2nd language starting as early as 7th and work towards an IB bilingual diploma.

I can’t comment on Oyster since I don’t have a kid there, but since you seem to know, you can let us know how extensive is the offerings in languages.and courses are there.

Also I agree with another poster that doubtful the Jefferson program will be successful when you have so little students coming in with proficiency in the language. Also majority of kids are not even on grade level in ELA, so I don’t see how they will be able to master a 2nd language.

Hey DCI booster. I am PP and we are native Spanish speakers and have been at DCI a lot longer than you. So, we are especially critical of the language classes. Yes. DCI has a lot of options but the kids in those higher classes aren’t really as proficient as I would expect. Most of the DCI feeders don’t have very high percentages of native Spanish speakers except possibly DCB which doesn’t even do full immersion in prek so the English speaking kids aren’t really challenged to learn Spanish. The advanced kids aren’t really that advanced. Adams has a large cohort of native speakers and Spanish is spoken outside of academic settings. All of the kids at Adams are highly proficient in Spanish. If OP wants a strong Spanish program Adams is the way to go if they can swing it. And I definitely wouldn’t travel from the hill to DCI. I would shoot for Stuart Hobson and supplement with language classes.

I’m the PP and what exactly is not true about my post??

So your kid is not even in the middle school to speak of? Your experience is how many years old from middle if you are even for real and not a troll?

Our feeder had plenty of native speaking families. My kids spanish class at DCI currently has a lots of native speaking families who were at back to school night. And my kid scored high on STAMP so yes objective data.

BTW data doesn’t lie and both schools have similar percentages of spanish families.

If you look at absolute numbers, DCI actually has many more spanish families because Oyster is so small.

This is correct. DCI has more students. However, There are many coming from feeders that identify as Hispanic but speak English at home. My kids came from a feeder and they never had more than 2 or 3 kids that actually spoke Spanish at home consistently.

True, if the kids were born here or having moved to the US after 2-3 years, they will want to speak English at home and not spanish. It is not going to be any different at Adams with similar kids and profiles.

But what I noticed at our feeder which consisted of UMC educated spanish families who were fluent in English, is that parents spoke to the kids only in spanish and they chose a spanish immersion school because they prioritize their kids knowing spanish. And you can bet these kids read, wrote, and spoke spanish grammatically better than the ESL kids.

The bottom line is that if you prioritize spanish then it is a no brainer that DCI is the best choice, because it offers a strong language program all the way thru 12th. It is also offers the IB curriculum from middle to high school with the option of getting an IB diploma at graduation. This opens so many doors if your kid is interested at all in going to college abroad. It also sets your kid to stand out in applying to colleges here where AP kids are a dime a dozen.

BTW, my kid’s strength is math and science and we have found STEM to be very good at DCI. Math tracking is great. Science teachers strong and great clubs and EC in STEM.

I don’t think this is true of Oyster Adams or other schools that prioritize language proficiency for participation. OA kids have to pass a proficiency test and over half of the students in each class have passed this assessment. 50% of a class that consistently speaks Spanish versus 5-10% is a big deal when considering overall language development. I am a teacher in a DL program in the suburbs and we have similar requirement to DCPS programs and the kids speak in Spanish throughout the day. The level Spanish is so much higher than at my kids DCI feeder. It’s a little disheartening but there are other great things about the school so we plug away and work on Spanish at home.

Yeah, when our kid was at OA, only Spanish was spoken in Spanish classes from what I saw (being a room parent in ES and coach in MS).

Also, the DCI booster above seems to not know anything about Adams while talking negatively about the school. They seem to be suggesting that it’s some great advantage unique to DCI that content classes are in Spanish, which seems weird to me. Of course content classes are in Spanish at an immersion school! How else would you do it? Are there any classes at any immersion school where this isn’t the case? Wouldn’t that not be immersion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child has been in a Spanish dual language program since pre k but now as we prepare for middle school it doesn’t seem like that many options. The only school I really hear given as best choice is DCI however it is so far. Is there any talks of them getting a bus from eastern market like other schools? What is everyone take on the few other dual language middle schools? I would hate to abandon language immersion.

DCI is the only charter/public school in the city with serious language programming and an IB diploma in high school.

But you won’t get in the Spanish track since you are not in a feeder.

The only other serious option is private which is WIS.

Oyster is a much better middle school language option. DCI middle is language light in comparison. If you are in 3rd-4th you can probably get a spot at a DCI feeder since most people don’t want to start DL in upper elementary. You can also try for Oyster if your kid can pass the proficiency test. The Jefferson program seems promising and if you live on the hill I would consider it. I don’t think DCI is worth the commute (I have kids there).

I have a kid at DCI middle. No the language model is not light. I am assuming your kid is in the lower language level tracks then. If so, then yes limited course options. They are not going to put a kid in many classes in the language if they are not even proficient yet.

My kid is in the highest track and so has lots of classes in the language. DCI has 6, yes six, levels of language classes and they test the kids every year with STAMP to know where they are and to place them. Kids in the highest track not only has language classes but also other subject like social studies actually taught in the language. Electives can also be in the language if you are in the higher track. Also exchange programs late middle are optiins if you are in the higher track. Lots of kids with native speaking families in this track also. Also if you are in the highest track, you can take a 2nd language starting as early as 7th and work towards an IB bilingual diploma.

I can’t comment on Oyster since I don’t have a kid there, but since you seem to know, you can let us know how extensive is the offerings in languages.and courses are there.

Also I agree with another poster that doubtful the Jefferson program will be successful when you have so little students coming in with proficiency in the language. Also majority of kids are not even on grade level in ELA, so I don’t see how they will be able to master a 2nd language.

DP, parent of an Adams grad.

I think the post above is full of good information about DCI, which I’ve heard good things about.

In case it helps OP - when my kid was at Adams, 1/2 of subjects for all kids were in Spanish and 1/2 were English. So math might be in English and science in Spanish. IIRC, at least one year one of my kid’s teachers in an English subject was completely bilingual (like no accent in either) and taught a bit in both.

Our kid started Oyster in 2nd and went through 8th at Adams. He then did AP Spanish Lang and Lit 2 years at JR. we spoke very little Spanish at home, but travelled regularly to Latin America and socialized in Spanish regularly. In college, DS took content classes in Spanish and had a prof ask what country he was from. Prof was surprised he grew up in DC and didn’t speak Spanish at home. DC’s job in college was also all in Spanish. So, we thought OA was very effective at teaching Spanish.

Glad your kid had a good experience at Adams.

We did not look at Adams at all because it is so small. About 70-75 kids a grade. Above sounds like a repeat of elementary to us with the 50/50 classroom model.

We wanted a more traditional middle school experience with periods and where you could track for each individual subjects, a very robust curriculum of core subjects, lots of electives, in addition to full array of clubs and sports.

The extensive language level tracking works really well to meet each kid where they are and allows the higher performing kids to advance much more quickly.

DCI is very data driven and uses standardized testing as a hard measure of where the kids are in addition to grades and teachers recommendations. They are very transparent about it too in communications to families.

The middle school kids just all finished their standardized testing in language, math, ELA, and science. Some kid’s schedules will change due to their scores with moving up or down levels. It will also dictate which kids need more support classes. It’s a lot of work to evaluate and do this for over 600 kids in the middle school, but ensures that the kids are met where they are. They will retest in winter and repeat above. So there is a lot of fluidity in the class levels. This IMO is what I think is good practice and equity. It is not lowering standards. It is upholding standards and expectations and supporting the low performers to bring them up .

Adams is really small, and DC was more than ready for a bigger cohort when he went to JR.

Specifically for sports, DS had a good experience at Adams — played his main sport any two others that he wouldn’t have been able to play at a school like deal. He went on to play at JR in a sport commonly thought of as very competitive, as did one of his Adams teammates. Some friends from another sport made varsity as freshmen, and ended up doing very well. When DS was there, a big percentage of the school was active in sports, and it was a nice community experience. Not sure if that’s still how it is.

DCI has 43 sport teams. There are multiple teams just in the middle school in the popular sports (in addition to high school team) so lots of kids get a chance to participate and play. They try to make sports available to as many students as they can. You might not make one the most popular sports in 6th but likely in 7th.

Depending on your kid’s goals for sports, it’s worth considering coaching and program strength for HS. The Public Charter School league is not a competitive league compared to DCIAA or WCAC, at least in sports I’m aware of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you missed the point of the earlier SH poster. SH offers a short commute. Period. There is a point where for a lot of people a really long commute is not likely to be worth it if there is another reasonably okay option nearby.

I think you are missing the point that SH is not considered a reasonable option for families that prioritize academics over saving a commute of 15/20 minutes each morning.

SH is 6 minutes from our place by car, even walkable. But I’ll take the extra 20 minutes to DCI.

It is also very short sighted to not consider high school when it is just 3 years away which your kid will have to commute to anyway, if they get in which is a bigger if now than ever before.

Be ready to move after middle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you missed the point of the earlier SH poster. SH offers a short commute. Period. There is a point where for a lot of people a really long commute is not likely to be worth it if there is another reasonably okay option nearby.

I think you are missing the point that SH is not considered a reasonable option for families that prioritize academics over saving a commute of 15/20 minutes each morning.

SH is 6 minutes from our place by car, even walkable. But I’ll take the extra 20 minutes to DCI.

It is also very short sighted to not consider high school when it is just 3 years away which your kid will have to commute to anyway, if they get in which is a bigger if now than ever before.

Be ready to move after middle.

SH is a 5 minute walk from my front door. The idea that it's 20 extra minutes to DCI (not to mention the x2) is bonkers. It's about 1.5 extra hours per day for me, if not more because you also need to build in a little cushion if you have a lengthy commute. For an 11-13 year old, we can agree to disagree about whether the extra 1.5-2 hours PER DAY is enough to make up for whatever you think the benefits of DCI are. Absolutely you do you and your choice is a perfectly valid one, but this ridiculous tone you adopt that your view is the only correct one for anyone who cares about academics is wrong. My family cares about and is accomplished in academics by any measure. We made and are happy with the opposite choice you did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you missed the point of the earlier SH poster. SH offers a short commute. Period. There is a point where for a lot of people a really long commute is not likely to be worth it if there is another reasonably okay option nearby.

I think you are missing the point that SH is not considered a reasonable option for families that prioritize academics over saving a commute of 15/20 minutes each morning.

SH is 6 minutes from our place by car, even walkable. But I’ll take the extra 20 minutes to DCI.

It is also very short sighted to not consider high school when it is just 3 years away which your kid will have to commute to anyway, if they get in which is a bigger if now than ever before.

Be ready to move after middle.

SH is a 5 minute walk from my front door. The idea that it's 20 extra minutes to DCI (not to mention the x2) is bonkers. It's about 1.5 extra hours per day for me, if not more because you also need to build in a little cushion if you have a lengthy commute. For an 11-13 year old, we can agree to disagree about whether the extra 1.5-2 hours PER DAY is enough to make up for whatever you think the benefits of DCI are. Absolutely you do you and your choice is a perfectly valid one, but this ridiculous tone you adopt that your view is the only correct one for anyone who cares about academics is wrong. My family cares about and is accomplished in academics by any measure. We made and are happy with the opposite choice you did.

I am the PP and yes, it is 6 minutes by car (not walking) to SH or about 26 minutes to drive to NOMA and take train/bus. I don’t need to drive my 11 year old to school. He can take metro by himself.

Sure if you actually want to dive to DCI, that is another story.

I never said families don’t care about academics. But i stand that you are prioritizing a shorter commute over better academics. That is what we are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you missed the point of the earlier SH poster. SH offers a short commute. Period. There is a point where for a lot of people a really long commute is not likely to be worth it if there is another reasonably okay option nearby.

I think you are missing the point that SH is not considered a reasonable option for families that prioritize academics over saving a commute of 15/20 minutes each morning.

SH is 6 minutes from our place by car, even walkable. But I’ll take the extra 20 minutes to DCI.

It is also very short sighted to not consider high school when it is just 3 years away which your kid will have to commute to anyway, if they get in which is a bigger if now than ever before.

Be ready to move after middle.

SH is a 5 minute walk from my front door. The idea that it's 20 extra minutes to DCI (not to mention the x2) is bonkers. It's about 1.5 extra hours per day for me, if not more because you also need to build in a little cushion if you have a lengthy commute. For an 11-13 year old, we can agree to disagree about whether the extra 1.5-2 hours PER DAY is enough to make up for whatever you think the benefits of DCI are. Absolutely you do you and your choice is a perfectly valid one, but this ridiculous tone you adopt that your view is the only correct one for anyone who cares about academics is wrong. My family cares about and is accomplished in academics by any measure. We made and are happy with the opposite choice you did.

I am the PP and yes, it is 6 minutes by car (not walking) to SH or about 26 minutes to drive to NOMA and take train/bus. I don’t need to drive my 11 year old to school. He can take metro by himself.

Sure if you actually want to dive to DCI, that is another story.

I never said families don’t care about academics. But i stand that you are prioritizing a shorter commute over better academics. That is what we are talking about.

BTW, PP again and it is 7 minutes drive by car to NOMA from SH. From there it is 20 minute train/bus ride if they come right away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child has been in a Spanish dual language program since pre k but now as we prepare for middle school it doesn’t seem like that many options. The only school I really hear given as best choice is DCI however it is so far. Is there any talks of them getting a bus from eastern market like other schools? What is everyone take on the few other dual language middle schools? I would hate to abandon language immersion.

DCI is the only charter/public school in the city with serious language programming and an IB diploma in high school.

But you won’t get in the Spanish track since you are not in a feeder.

The only other serious option is private which is WIS.

Oyster is a much better middle school language option. DCI middle is language light in comparison. If you are in 3rd-4th you can probably get a spot at a DCI feeder since most people don’t want to start DL in upper elementary. You can also try for Oyster if your kid can pass the proficiency test. The Jefferson program seems promising and if you live on the hill I would consider it. I don’t think DCI is worth the commute (I have kids there).

I have a kid at DCI middle. No the language model is not light. I am assuming your kid is in the lower language level tracks then. If so, then yes limited course options. They are not going to put a kid in many classes in the language if they are not even proficient yet.

My kid is in the highest track and so has lots of classes in the language. DCI has 6, yes six, levels of language classes and they test the kids every year with STAMP to know where they are and to place them. Kids in the highest track not only has language classes but also other subject like social studies actually taught in the language. Electives can also be in the language if you are in the higher track. Also exchange programs late middle are optiins if you are in the higher track. Lots of kids with native speaking families in this track also. Also if you are in the highest track, you can take a 2nd language starting as early as 7th and work towards an IB bilingual diploma.

I can’t comment on Oyster since I don’t have a kid there, but since you seem to know, you can let us know how extensive is the offerings in languages.and courses are there.

Also I agree with another poster that doubtful the Jefferson program will be successful when you have so little students coming in with proficiency in the language. Also majority of kids are not even on grade level in ELA, so I don’t see how they will be able to master a 2nd language.

Hey DCI booster. I am PP and we are native Spanish speakers and have been at DCI a lot longer than you. So, we are especially critical of the language classes. Yes. DCI has a lot of options but the kids in those higher classes aren’t really as proficient as I would expect. Most of the DCI feeders don’t have very high percentages of native Spanish speakers except possibly DCB which doesn’t even do full immersion in prek so the English speaking kids aren’t really challenged to learn Spanish. The advanced kids aren’t really that advanced. Adams has a large cohort of native speakers and Spanish is spoken outside of academic settings. All of the kids at Adams are highly proficient in Spanish. If OP wants a strong Spanish program Adams is the way to go if they can swing it. And I definitely wouldn’t travel from the hill to DCI. I would shoot for Stuart Hobson and supplement with language classes.

I’m the PP and what exactly is not true about my post??

So your kid is not even in the middle school to speak of? Your experience is how many years old from middle if you are even for real and not a troll?

Our feeder had plenty of native speaking families. My kids spanish class at DCI currently has a lots of native speaking families who were at back to school night. And my kid scored high on STAMP so yes objective data.

BTW data doesn’t lie and both schools have similar percentages of spanish families.

If you look at absolute numbers, DCI actually has many more spanish families because Oyster is so small.

This is correct. DCI has more students. However, There are many coming from feeders that identify as Hispanic but speak English at home. My kids came from a feeder and they never had more than 2 or 3 kids that actually spoke Spanish at home consistently.

True, if the kids were born here or having moved to the US after 2-3 years, they will want to speak English at home and not spanish. It is not going to be any different at Adams with similar kids and profiles.

But what I noticed at our feeder which consisted of UMC educated spanish families who were fluent in English, is that parents spoke to the kids only in spanish and they chose a spanish immersion school because they prioritize their kids knowing spanish. And you can bet these kids read, wrote, and spoke spanish grammatically better than the ESL kids.

The bottom line is that if you prioritize spanish then it is a no brainer that DCI is the best choice, because it offers a strong language program all the way thru 12th. It is also offers the IB curriculum from middle to high school with the option of getting an IB diploma at graduation. This opens so many doors if your kid is interested at all in going to college abroad. It also sets your kid to stand out in applying to colleges here where AP kids are a dime a dozen.

BTW, my kid’s strength is math and science and we have found STEM to be very good at DCI. Math tracking is great. Science teachers strong and great clubs and EC in STEM.

I don’t think this is true of Oyster Adams or other schools that prioritize language proficiency for participation. OA kids have to pass a proficiency test and over half of the students in each class have passed this assessment. 50% of a class that consistently speaks Spanish versus 5-10% is a big deal when considering overall language development. I am a teacher in a DL program in the suburbs and we have similar requirement to DCPS programs and the kids speak in Spanish throughout the day. The level Spanish is so much higher than at my kids DCI feeder. It’s a little disheartening but there are other great things about the school so we plug away and work on Spanish at home.

What are you taking about? 5-10% of the kids at DCI are not speaking spanish. Everyone is speaking spanish in the spanish classes.

If you have kids in a classroom and only 50% are proficient, the other 50% are not. Then you are going to be teaching to the lower 50%. You also might have a wide range of abilities in the 50% who are proficient. Some of these kids are advance and can move faster but the teacher is not going to do that when 1/2 the class is not proficient.

Tracking is so much better. The kids are in the right level all together and the classes can move at different speeds with different depths based on the kids abilities. So the advance kids are moving much faster and covering more depth. The lower level kids are moving slower and things are being repeated if necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you missed the point of the earlier SH poster. SH offers a short commute. Period. There is a point where for a lot of people a really long commute is not likely to be worth it if there is another reasonably okay option nearby.

I think you are missing the point that SH is not considered a reasonable option for families that prioritize academics over saving a commute of 15/20 minutes each morning.

SH is 6 minutes from our place by car, even walkable. But I’ll take the extra 20 minutes to DCI.

It is also very short sighted to not consider high school when it is just 3 years away which your kid will have to commute to anyway, if they get in which is a bigger if now than ever before.

Be ready to move after middle.

SH is a 5 minute walk from my front door. The idea that it's 20 extra minutes to DCI (not to mention the x2) is bonkers. It's about 1.5 extra hours per day for me, if not more because you also need to build in a little cushion if you have a lengthy commute. For an 11-13 year old, we can agree to disagree about whether the extra 1.5-2 hours PER DAY is enough to make up for whatever you think the benefits of DCI are. Absolutely you do you and your choice is a perfectly valid one, but this ridiculous tone you adopt that your view is the only correct one for anyone who cares about academics is wrong. My family cares about and is accomplished in academics by any measure. We made and are happy with the opposite choice you did.

I am the PP and yes, it is 6 minutes by car (not walking) to SH or about 26 minutes to drive to NOMA and take train/bus. I don’t need to drive my 11 year old to school. He can take metro by himself.

Sure if you actually want to dive to DCI, that is another story.

I never said families don’t care about academics. But i stand that you are prioritizing a shorter commute over better academics. That is what we are talking about.

I actually think DCI and SH have similar academics at the top end except in language and different other strengths. SH’s arts program (musical theater & band, specifically) is miles better. But also, with the extra 1.5-2 hours my kid gets each day, they can do… academic enrichment. I’m not sure what you’re having trouble understanding about that concept. From my house, Google says DCI is 46 minutes on public transport and I would make my kid build in a cushion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you missed the point of the earlier SH poster. SH offers a short commute. Period. There is a point where for a lot of people a really long commute is not likely to be worth it if there is another reasonably okay option nearby.

I think you are missing the point that SH is not considered a reasonable option for families that prioritize academics over saving a commute of 15/20 minutes each morning.

SH is 6 minutes from our place by car, even walkable. But I’ll take the extra 20 minutes to DCI.

It is also very short sighted to not consider high school when it is just 3 years away which your kid will have to commute to anyway, if they get in which is a bigger if now than ever before.

Be ready to move after middle.

SH is a 5 minute walk from my front door. The idea that it's 20 extra minutes to DCI (not to mention the x2) is bonkers. It's about 1.5 extra hours per day for me, if not more because you also need to build in a little cushion if you have a lengthy commute. For an 11-13 year old, we can agree to disagree about whether the extra 1.5-2 hours PER DAY is enough to make up for whatever you think the benefits of DCI are. Absolutely you do you and your choice is a perfectly valid one, but this ridiculous tone you adopt that your view is the only correct one for anyone who cares about academics is wrong. My family cares about and is accomplished in academics by any measure. We made and are happy with the opposite choice you did.

I am the PP and yes, it is 6 minutes by car (not walking) to SH or about 26 minutes to drive to NOMA and take train/bus. I don’t need to drive my 11 year old to school. He can take metro by himself.

Sure if you actually want to dive to DCI, that is another story.

I never said families don’t care about academics. But i stand that you are prioritizing a shorter commute over better academics. That is what we are talking about.

I actually think DCI and SH have similar academics at the top end except in language and different other strengths. SH’s arts program (musical theater & band, specifically) is miles better. But also, with the extra 1.5-2 hours my kid gets each day, they can do… academic enrichment. I’m not sure what you’re having trouble understanding about that concept. From my house, Google says DCI is 46 minutes on public transport and I would make my kid build in a cushion.

Sorry but you are in denial. SH does not serve the top end students well.

I do agree that you will have to enrich a lot though.

[Anonymous]

Why are we even taking about SH?

OP asked about dual language and the answer is DCI.

End of story