Anyone with experience with both Mundo Verde and Inspired Teaching?

[Anonymous]

I'm wondering if anyone out there has switched from Mundo Verde to Inspired Teaching or vice versa and can give their thoughts/pros and cons of both? I know there have been quite a few discussions of the two schools, but most of the comments seem to be made by people who have experience with one and an opinion on the other, but not actual direct experience with both. We have a spot at IT and now have a relatively good wait list number at Mundo Verde. I know that the obvious big difference is the language, and yes, we want the Spanish immersion, but I really like IT and worry that if we get to make a choice and opt for Spanish, we will be missing out on a great school environment/community. I have read a lot of the comments on here about both, but I'm really curious what people with direct experience with both schools have found (just the regular school day, not before/after care). What do you miss about the school you left and what do you appreciate about the school you moved to? My guess is that our daughter will be perfectly happy at either school, but I over think everything so I'm constantly looking for more information.

[Anonymous]

We are at IT. I know at least 3 families that have left for MV. They all have always wanted Spanish and took the opportunity when given. We still keep in touch and they are all really happy. Still have playdates with a few. The friends that we have generally have positive things to say about both schools with the main things separating them are Spanish and size. I really think it comes down to 1) how much you desire Spanish and 2) if you're planning to take advantage of DCI for high school. I hear great things about MV and the kids I know that attend are super having and thriving. As an IT parent, I can really say the environment and family dynamic is amazing. I never would have imagined being part of such a great group of families. The parents that we know that have left often leave after many happy hours, hugs, and tears. I can happily report that they are really happy at MV now.

I know it's said all the time but I honestly don't think you can go wrong with either school.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry, but your post makes it sound like you only want spanish immersion because it's trendy. You don't indicate any reason as to why you want Mundo Verde other than just "wanting" the language. It doesn't sound like you can support it at all (au pair, family who speak it, etc).

As much as I love MV, I as a native speaker, do not think it can teach a kid to speak Spanish well unless they have some help outside the school.

To be honest, this whole post sounds like you want to select the school which will inspire the most envy. Please be honest with yourself and your child and pick the best school for them.

[Anonymous]

Reread your post OP. You do not give any reason for wanting MV other than fear of missing out.

[Anonymous]

We don't want Spanish because it is trendy, I'm sorry if it sounded that way. My husband and I both speak some Spanish but neither of us speak fluently. I have been close a few times (time in Spain, Spanish classes, etc.) and although my parents are from the U.S., they were living in a Spanish speaking country when I was born so I have always regretted not being able to speak Spanish fluently. My daughter's daycare is Spanish speaking so she has some Spanish already and I'd hate for her to lose that. I think there are a lot of benefits to being bilingual. I loved Mundo Verde when I visited it. I liked the sustainability focus, the idea of expeditionary learning, and the Spanish immersion. I also loved Inspired Teaching. I have a master's degree in education and the inquiry based education style of Inspired Teaching seems a lot like the style taught in my favorite ed class. Both schools have a lot of positives in my mind, which is why I was looking for comments from people who have experience with both. The first two responses I have received seem to be common in terms of the difference in tone between the two schools, with the IT poster really trying to be helpful and able to be positive about both schools, while the MV poster doesn't seem to have any helpful comparison and is not very friendly. It makes me a bit concerned about the MV parent culture. I know that this is one reason getting information from DCUM may not be the best idea, but after looking at the websites and going to the open houses, it is the only other place that I know of to get more information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reread your post OP. You do not give any reason for wanting MV other than fear of missing out.

I think I have explained it better now. Although to be honest, I don't think my reasons for wanting MV or IT are necessary to answer my initial question since my hope was to get comparisons from a specific group of people, those with experiences at both schools. Even if they have different reasons for choosing one school over the other than I might, they could have useful information. I didn't want to narrow the question so much that it would limit the answers. Plus, I know there are others out there trying to compare these two schools and a more general question that gets a wider range of responses might be useful someone else besides me.

[Anonymous]

I honesty think it comes down to whether you want language. Children are thriving at both schools, they are both pretty diverse. IT seems to have less economic diversity. MV has more expensive aftercare, MV has 4 classes per grade, IT 2. As an IT parent I can count on one hand the number of people that have left IT for MV. I don't think I know one family that has left MV for IT. So the chances that one of the 4-5 families that have experience at both are reading DCUM are probably slim. Sorry I can't help with the comparison.

I can tell you I have a close friend at MV. One in 3rd and one in K. K kid is loving it and thriving. 3rd grade not so much. They are sticking with it for now. I also have 3-4 friends at IT that are leaving this year. Some for DCI feeder, and 2 because they aren't happy, got into another middle school option, or got into a Deal feeder. This year was a bad year for 4th grade so there are some unhappy folks. But for every 1 unhappy family you will meet 20 that are extremely happy. I think you're going to get that everywhere. You're also going to have a year with a teacher you're not raving about. Although after 4 years of teachers at IT I can say every one has been a 9.5 or 10 on scale of 10.

If you have a specific question about IT, i'd be happy to try to answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honesty think it comes down to whether you want language. Children are thriving at both schools, they are both pretty diverse. IT seems to have less economic diversity. MV has more expensive aftercare, MV has 4 classes per grade, IT 2. As an IT parent I can count on one hand the number of people that have left IT for MV. I don't think I know one family that has left MV for IT. So the chances that one of the 4-5 families that have experience at both are reading DCUM are probably slim. Sorry I can't help with the comparison.

I can tell you I have a close friend at MV. One in 3rd and one in K. K kid is loving it and thriving. 3rd grade not so much. They are sticking with it for now. I also have 3-4 friends at IT that are leaving this year. Some for DCI feeder, and 2 because they aren't happy, got into another middle school option, or got into a Deal feeder. This year was a bad year for 4th grade so there are some unhappy folks. But for every 1 unhappy family you will meet 20 that are extremely happy. I think you're going to get that everywhere. You're also going to have a year with a teacher you're not raving about. Although after 4 years of teachers at IT I can say every one has been a 9.5 or 10 on scale of 10.

If you have a specific question about IT, i'd be happy to try to answer.

Thank you! It is great to know how much you have liked the teachers at IT. Since I don't have direct connections with people at either school, responses from people at one who know people at the other are helpful. Especially because, as you say, it was a bit of a long shot that the small group of people I was really addressing my question to would see my post. I don't think I have any specific questions about IT at the moment. From what I know, I'm pretty sure we would be happy there, we just need to decide whether we are willing to give up the Spanish immersion (if we even get the option of MV, which we may not).

I know DCUM is not going to solve this for me, but it is nice to have a place like this to discuss it. Even though I didn't think my question really needed the justification a couple of posters seemed to think it did, and those comments frustrated me at first, thinking through my response and typing it up was actually a useful exercise for me. So thanks to all!

[Anonymous]

Good luck with your choice. It's not a bad place to be in at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't want Spanish because it is trendy, I'm sorry if it sounded that way. My husband and I both speak some Spanish but neither of us speak fluently. I have been close a few times (time in Spain, Spanish classes, etc.) and although my parents are from the U.S., they were living in a Spanish speaking country when I was born so I have always regretted not being able to speak Spanish fluently. My daughter's daycare is Spanish speaking so she has some Spanish already and I'd hate for her to lose that. I think there are a lot of benefits to being bilingual. I loved Mundo Verde when I visited it. I liked the sustainability focus, the idea of expeditionary learning, and the Spanish immersion. I also loved Inspired Teaching. I have a master's degree in education and the inquiry based education style of Inspired Teaching seems a lot like the style taught in my favorite ed class. Both schools have a lot of positives in my mind, which is why I was looking for comments from people who have experience with both. The first two responses I have received seem to be common in terms of the difference in tone between the two schools, with the IT poster really trying to be helpful and able to be positive about both schools, while the MV poster doesn't seem to have any helpful comparison and is not very friendly. It makes me a bit concerned about the MV parent culture. I know that this is one reason getting information from DCUM may not be the best idea, but after looking at the websites and going to the open houses, it is the only other place that I know of to get more information.

I am not sure what you expected from the previous MV poster. Did you want them to jump up and down with joy when yet another parent with no background or previous real interest in Spanish wants to enroll their special snowflake? The previous posters asked real questions to you, which you did not answer or address. Are you prepared to support the language since neither you nor your husband speak Spanish? Are you ready to hire the appropriate people? Aside from some vague mentions of a nice trip to Spain (also - Spain only? You live in the US and haven't bothered to take your family to Latin America despite your burning wish that your child speak Spanish?), you do not show any interest in teaching your child Spanish that I can see.

Let me be clear - kids whose parents have limited to no Spanish can and do thrive at MV. But they are willing and able to do what they can to help their child along with the Spanish. I do not see many people torn between two schools like Inspired Teaching and MV because frankly the schools are quite different. Their only similarity is that they're favorably perceived on DCUM and at the playground.

From everything you've written here, I think your choice is clear. Stick with Inspired Teaching since it seems the best fit for your family. And don't worry - lots of people will be jealous of your school.

[Anonymous]

Despite what the pp's have said, I know many families at MV who don't know Spanish and don't do anything extra to support it at home, and their children are still doing well. I agree that immersion should be a desire and not just an afterthought as it is a big commitment both for the kid and for logistics in dealing with the school (everything is translated, which would get annoying if it isn't a priority for you). But if it is, I say go for it and it will be all good. If you are looking at spots after kindergarten, however, I would probably skip it as it would take real support to catch up.

[Anonymous]

I know kids whose parents don't speak Spanish at Mundo who are doing okay. A big weak spot is that MV doesn't do a great job teaching spanish grammar. For kids of English speaking parents it is difficult for them to speak truly excellent spanish. Sorry but that's the truth.

[Anonymous]

Not OP but it's possible for one to want Spanish as a high priority and also have a desire for non-immersion at the same time. To be quite honest, the tone of the MV posts are very unappealing and would make me have second thoughts on the school. Crazy how someone can read into someone so much based on what's said it not said in 4 sentences. I hope these MV posters are the exception and not the norm.

[Anonymous]

Spanish should never be the end all be all in your decision making for a school. One can have Spanish as #1 priority but if the school is lacking in other important areas, one should not overlook. Spanish should not have a cult like following where you ignore other important things that make a school a good place to be. Not saying MV doesn't have those things. OP is simply asking and everyone is saying "what do you need to know about MV other than its Spanish?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't want Spanish because it is trendy, I'm sorry if it sounded that way. My husband and I both speak some Spanish but neither of us speak fluently. I have been close a few times (time in Spain, Spanish classes, etc.) and although my parents are from the U.S., they were living in a Spanish speaking country when I was born so I have always regretted not being able to speak Spanish fluently. My daughter's daycare is Spanish speaking so she has some Spanish already and I'd hate for her to lose that. I think there are a lot of benefits to being bilingual. I loved Mundo Verde when I visited it. I liked the sustainability focus, the idea of expeditionary learning, and the Spanish immersion. I also loved Inspired Teaching. I have a master's degree in education and the inquiry based education style of Inspired Teaching seems a lot like the style taught in my favorite ed class. Both schools have a lot of positives in my mind, which is why I was looking for comments from people who have experience with both. The first two responses I have received seem to be common in terms of the difference in tone between the two schools, with the IT poster really trying to be helpful and able to be positive about both schools, while the MV poster doesn't seem to have any helpful comparison and is not very friendly. It makes me a bit concerned about the MV parent culture. I know that this is one reason getting information from DCUM may not be the best idea, but after looking at the websites and going to the open houses, it is the only other place that I know of to get more information.

I am not sure what you expected from the previous MV poster. Did you want them to jump up and down with joy when yet another parent with no background or previous real interest in Spanish wants to enroll their special snowflake? The previous posters asked real questions to you, which you did not answer or address. Are you prepared to support the language since neither you nor your husband speak Spanish? Are you ready to hire the appropriate people? Aside from some vague mentions of a nice trip to Spain (also - Spain only? You live in the US and haven't bothered to take your family to Latin America despite your burning wish that your child speak Spanish?), you do not show any interest in teaching your child Spanish that I can see.

Let me be clear - kids whose parents have limited to no Spanish can and do thrive at MV. But they are willing and able to do what they can to help their child along with the Spanish. I do not see many people torn between two schools like Inspired Teaching and MV because frankly the schools are quite different. Their only similarity is that they're favorably perceived on DCUM and at the playground.

From everything you've written here, I think your choice is clear. Stick with Inspired Teaching since it seems the best fit for your family. And don't worry - lots of people will be jealous of your school.

Give it a rest. Many/most of the people in DC who send their kids to immersion schools would not be there if the "test" to get in was "real interest" in Spanish, Mandarin, French. This is why it's admittance is set up as a lottery. Many kids thrive and do just fine especially in the early grades without having support at home or having parents who speak/know the immersion language. Frankly, all the complaining about "being able to support the language at home" as a preference for admitting kids to these schools sounds like sour grapes from poor lottery results.