YY switches 5th grade trip from China to NYC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whoa, you'll leave the School over this??

We had no interest in DCI, but would stay at YY for completion of fifth. The immersion trip was the pull. Now it is no longer apart of the equation, and DC can compete for one of the limited fifth grade to middle school slots

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoa, you'll leave the School over this??

We had no interest in DCI, but would stay at YY for completion of fifth. The immersion trip was the pull. Now it is no longer apart of the equation, and DC can compete for one of the limited fifth grade to middle school slots

Just curious why no interest in DCI? The tech focus? The my way or high way admin approach?Or something else?

[Anonymous]

Don't they eat children in China anyway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the work of learning mandarin for 8 years and the tutors and the tears... Leads to NY? I know families who've chosen the school because of this China trip and the opportunity for their children to practice the language in the country. Damn.

Nobody's stopping you from going to China.

I have no idea why anyone would want their child to learn Mandarin, though. Unless you're going to go live in China, it doesn't seem like a very useful language. It'll never be the language of business or anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the work of learning mandarin for 8 years and the tutors and the tears... Leads to NY? I know families who've chosen the school because of this China trip and the opportunity for their children to practice the language in the country. Damn.

Nobody's stopping you from going to China.

I have no idea why anyone would want their child to learn Mandarin, though. Unless you're going to go live in China, it doesn't seem like a very useful language. It'll never be the language of business or anything.

Why are you reading this thread? Couldn't get in to YY and can't let it go?

[Anonymous]

Who thought having a $7000 trip requiring a parent to take time off work was possibly a good idea given the income disparities in DC? Cancelling seems like the right thing. If Mandarin is so useful to know certainly the kids will find other chances to speak it ... right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who thought having a $7000 trip requiring a parent to take time off work was possibly a good idea given the income disparities in DC? Cancelling seems like the right thing. If Mandarin is so useful to know certainly the kids will find other chances to speak it ... right?

You are misinformed. Parents were not required to go. In fact, the administration encouraged parents not to go on the trip, as they found it more disrupted the helpful. The herding of so many parents along with the children was the reason last year the school limited parent accompaniment to one parent and no siblings. Prior classes both parents and YY siblings also went on the trip. Some parents did send their children alone..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a great relief for the parents of the school.

I'm sure that will be a common reaction, but as a parent at YY who is really disappointed, please don't assume to speak for the entire parent community. It never makes sense to make a mass generalization like "great relief for the parents of the school", and in this case I know several like me who were already planning and saving for this trip (kids in 1st and 2nd for us) and we were really looking forward to that amazing experience that they set up for last year.

I totally understand the decision, and it makes sense given the stress it's caused so many, but we had already been rallying parents in our grades to think of other ways to plan for this cost and we felt like we were going to pull it off. Going to China after 7 yrs of studying Mandarin is a FANTASTIC way to culminate the long journey, and while yes, families can always elect to go on their own, the set up for the YY trip last year was amazing and unique (especially the homestay with a family and time in the Chinese school going to classes). We are really sorry that's not going to happen, but we understand why.

What would be an even more fantastic way of studying Mandarin is to actually practice it along the way during the 7 years with the many Chinese people who live right here in the area. I think it's weird you are willing to go all the way to China to see and speak to Chinese people but you aren't willing to do it right here at home.

Cool, I didn't realize you were a close personal friend of mine and my family! Because you must be, otherwise how do you have even the faintest clue what we do and don't do here? You didn't just, like, jump to a major conclusion that simply because we were looking forward to a trip to China in a few years, we don't do ANYTHING with local Chinese celebrations and events and cultural opportunities in the DC area... or did you?

Yeah, you did.

meh, whatever. The bottom line is you made it sound like a trip to China is the only way a child could possibly use Mandarian.

Own your own hyperbole. You bolded my quote yourself, I just said it was a fantastic way to celebrate that long journey. If you read into that that I was saying "it's the only way a child could possibly use Mandarin", that ridiculous jummp is on you alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The stratification is already there because not all kids are able to attend. The fundraising is only covering a third of the students' costs this year.

Please get your facts straight - I have always understood the school to commit 100% to making sure all students who want to go can go. So whatever fundraising has happened so far, my understanding always was - and the school's been clear I feel - that all kids who want to go will go.

The stratification comes in with regard to parents attending too. Most of us (our family included) wouldn't feel comfortable sending our 5th grader on their own, even with chaperones. So the stratification comes in with regard to parents who don't have the money/haven't raised the money to also send a parent, which the school understandably won't pay for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't they eat children in China anyway?

Nope, they eat the dogs that eat the children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the work of learning mandarin for 8 years and the tutors and the tears... Leads to NY? I know families who've chosen the school because of this China trip and the opportunity for their children to practice the language in the country. Damn.

Nobody's stopping you from going to China.

I have no idea why anyone would want their child to learn Mandarin, though. Unless you're going to go live in China, it doesn't seem like a very useful language. It'll never be the language of business or anything.

Those of us who haven't gotten a spot at YY yet love[u] the way you think! Keep thinking it, and please keep saying this on playgrounds and at parties all over DC. The fewer people who see the value of Mandarin, the better for those of us who do. Please PP, say more, lots more!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the work of learning mandarin for 8 years and the tutors and the tears... Leads to NY? I know families who've chosen the school because of this China trip and the opportunity for their children to practice the language in the country. Damn.

Nobody's stopping you from going to China.

I have no idea why anyone would want their child to learn Mandarin, though. Unless you're going to go live in China, it doesn't seem like a very useful language. It'll never be the language of business or anything.

That's right. We should all learn Hebrew.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoa, you'll leave the School over this??

We had no interest in DCI, but would stay at YY for completion of fifth. The immersion trip was the pull. Now it is no longer apart of the equation, and DC can compete for one of the limited fifth grade to middle school slots

Just curious why no interest in DCI? The tech focus? The my way or high way admin approach?Or something else?

Not the PP you're replying to, but you named the exact 2 issues we have with DCI (well, not the tech focus overall, that is a positive. It's the amount of time tech is used that's a huge issue).

[Anonymous]

How much was the China trip going to cost?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much was the China trip going to cost?

Wasn't it roughly $3500 per kid or adult? With the school guaranteeing access to all students, but not paying for parents (with good reason - parents were discouraged because it was harder for the kids to fully immerse in the language and culture with parent speaking English to them whenever together). We were hoping to get parents in our kid's grade to agree to have more of a parallel parent trip where we still went together, but gave the kids much more time on their own (including their home-stays), but where we regularly checked in so we didn't feel like we didn't know how they were doing. And a few touristy things would be all done together, with parents doing their own cultural immersion while the kids were on home-stay.

That was our dream, and maybe we'll still try to organize something like that (our kids aren't in 5th grade for a few years). The home-stay will be the tricky part, but I really hope we can still set it up.