Powell, Marie Reed, or Cleveland for Spanish immersion?

[Anonymous]

We are into one, and have good enough lottery numbers at the other two that we will likely be offered a spot at some point for K, and possibly also for our PK3-er (we think we'll have spots for Powell and Cleveland, at least, for PK3). Commute at Marie Reed would be by far the best, but there is that awful building. Powell and MR obviously have a lot more Latinos, which we see as a huge plus; Cleveland has better test scores. Both kids are already bilingual. We have no idea what will should or would do, because we think all three schools have their pluses and minuses. We'd love to hear the thoughts and opinions of others who have attended any of these schools. Given a choice, which would you choose, and why?

[Anonymous]

What minuses does Powell have? Just curious.

[Anonymous]

What are your pros and cons for all three?

[Anonymous]

The building is the big minus for MR. It's awful. Not sure when renovations will actually happen, but they're on the list. So kids could be in trailers or over in the Meyer swing space during the renovations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are into one, and have good enough lottery numbers at the other two that we will likely be offered a spot at some point for K, and possibly also for our PK3-er (we think we'll have spots for Powell and Cleveland, at least, for PK3). Commute at Marie Reed would be by far the best, but there is that awful building. Powell and MR obviously have a lot more Latinos, which we see as a huge plus; Cleveland has better test scores. Both kids are already bilingual. We have no idea what will should or would do, because we think all three schools have their pluses and minuses. We'd love to hear the thoughts and opinions of others who have attended any of these schools. Given a choice, which would you choose, and why?

These are all up and coming dual language DCPS programs. It seems to me that MR is the furthest along the curve of these three. Powell gets a tremendous amount of boosting on DCUM but as far as I can tell it is just parents in PK so far. Cleveland is the one you hear about least, but with the new boundaries, the feeder neighborhood looks promising. But I assume that if MR is a convenient commute then Cleveland is not and vice versa.

My rank of DCPS dual language would probably be:

Oyster
Bancroft
Marie Reed dual language
Powell dual language
Cleveland dual language
...

[Anonymous]

OP here. I think the minus to Powell is that the boosters all seem to be PK, and I'm just not sure of the quality of the program for K and beyond. I haven't really spoken to anyone who has done the program in those grades. But I would love to! Anyone?

19:12, I agree with your rankings for Oyster and Bancroft. We have a low (under 10) number for Oyster, but I don't think those waitlists are going to move at all, so I don't expect to get in there. Our number at Bancroft is much higher than the others, and they took no one OOB last year, so I don't expect to get in there. But, can you tell me why you would rank it MR, Powell, and then Cleveland? Cleveland definitely has the best test scores...but then, it has the fewest ELL, by far. I like the diversity of MR, and that it's been around for so long, but I worry about the distractions that building would pose to learning. Cleveland gives me pause because it's less than 30% Latino, and I really would like the kids in a program with more Latinos. I also feel like I have not been able to speak with enough people to really gauge the quality of the programs. Anyway, those are my rough pro/cons, and would love to hear your reasoning.

I talked with the MR principal about the renovations. They are still very early in the process, and have few details available.

[Anonymous]

PS. OP her again. I also REALLY liked the Marie Reed principal. She seemed really dynamic. I wasn't as impressed with the Cleveland principal, and found the Powell principal to be nonresponsive when I tried to reach out with some follow up questions.

[Anonymous]

If Marie Reed does get a great new building, I think it might become very popular very quickly. The question is just how long the renovations are going to take.

[Anonymous]

And when they are even going to start. Being on the schedule doesn't mean it will actually happen when DGS says. Just ask Garrison families about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Marie Reed does get a great new building, I think it might become very popular very quickly. The question is just how long the renovations are going to take.

OP again. I totally agree, but I think we are maybe 3 years away from renovation completion. Based on what I've heard, I think we'd have to commit to K and 1st in a what seems like a disruptive atmosphere, and I'm not sure I want to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are into one, and have good enough lottery numbers at the other two that we will likely be offered a spot at some point for K, and possibly also for our PK3-er (we think we'll have spots for Powell and Cleveland, at least, for PK3). Commute at Marie Reed would be by far the best, but there is that awful building. Powell and MR obviously have a lot more Latinos, which we see as a huge plus; Cleveland has better test scores. Both kids are already bilingual. We have no idea what will should or would do, because we think all three schools have their pluses and minuses. We'd love to hear the thoughts and opinions of others who have attended any of these schools. Given a choice, which would you choose, and why?

These are all up and coming dual language DCPS programs. It seems to me that MR is the furthest along the curve of these three. Powell gets a tremendous amount of boosting on DCUM but as far as I can tell it is just parents in PK so far. Cleveland is the one you hear about least, but with the new boundaries, the feeder neighborhood looks promising. But I assume that if MR is a convenient commute then Cleveland is not and vice versa.

My rank of DCPS dual language would probably be:

Oyster
Bancroft
Marie Reed dual language
Powell dual language
Cleveland dual language
...

I've looked into all the dual language programs, and I would definitely include Bruce Monroe @ Park View in this list, equivalent to Powell. The program seems good and has growing interest in the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Marie Reed does get a great new building, I think it might become very popular very quickly. The question is just how long the renovations are going to take.

OP again. I totally agree, but I think we are maybe 3 years away from renovation completion. Based on what I've heard, I think we'd have to commit to K and 1st in a what seems like a disruptive atmosphere, and I'm not sure I want to do that.

These were my thoughts exactly. Of course, Bancroft has the same drawback, but at Bancroft the renovation plans and schedule are already (nominally) finalized, and furthermore Bancroft seems unlikely to take anyone OOB w/o preference anyway, so it's academic.

[Anonymous]

Definitely consider Cleveland dual Language as a top contender to Oyster. Don't be fooled by the location and the SES it is a WONDERFUL school with an amazing bilingual program that is probably the most authentic one of all of them.
The school is well run nurturing and full of intelligent students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely consider Cleveland dual Language as a top contender to Oyster. Don't be fooled by the location and the SES it is a WONDERFUL school with an amazing bilingual program that is probably the most authentic one of all of them.
The school is well run nurturing and full of intelligent students.

Are both the teachers and the aides in the bilingual program all native speakers? Also, random question, but do you know what time morning drop off is?

[Anonymous]

The Marie Reed building seemed completely chaotic when we toured. I did like the principal, but it didn't make my list because the open layout was just awful.