German School of Washington, DC

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have experiences to share about kids taking weekend classes at the German School of Washington DC (in Potomac)? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Not personally but our friend's son goes there and they absolutely love it. He is bilingual and it really helped him with reading/writing (speaking is fine anyway). Apparently it is a nice community.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply, I was just coming here to bump the question! Do you know if it's the weekend classes your friend's son takes? There's no way we can send our three kids there full-time but I would love to know whether the weekend classes are good (understanding that they are not going to lead to fluency).

[Anonymous]

PP here. Yes, they are doing the Saturday morning class. As I mentioned, we don't have any personal experience with this but our friend introduced us to some other families who are also taking Saturday classes and they also really seemed to like it. But most were bilingual so I don't know about the classes for beginners.

[Anonymous]

My DD, age 5, is entering her 3rd year of Saturday School at the German School. Most families in the weekend classes can't afford or don't want to do the school full time. The classes are separated by language levels, native speakers (where German is spoken at home), intermediate and beginner. My DD understands what is said to her but doesn't speak up yet, but I think that's more her personality, as others in her class are speaking some sentences. Overall, I recommend it, but the classes fill up quickly, so you need to register right when they open, especially if you want a pass to park during classes and stay on campus. Otherwise, they run a bus from a nearby parking lot (to avoid annoying their neighbors). It is a nice community and they have special events around German customs and holidays, such as St. Martin's day. Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

Thank you both -- very helpful!

[Anonymous]

We have our kid in saturday classes, and will put our younger in this year too. Our first has seemed to enjoy it, and has learned a lot. We put a lot of effort in to it too, reading german books almost nightly, trying to watch videos occasionally. The kids in the class seem mixed - some had better abilities than others, at the beginner levels.

Agree that it's a nice community. We've enjoyed the St. Martin's parade, I think an Oktoberfest thing, the christmas market. They have a great flea market each spring too - lots of books and games cheap!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have our kid in saturday classes, and will put our younger in this year too. Our first has seemed to enjoy it, and has learned a lot. We put a lot of effort in to it too, reading german books almost nightly, trying to watch videos occasionally. The kids in the class seem mixed - some had better abilities than others, at the beginner levels.

Agree that it's a nice community. We've enjoyed the St. Martin's parade, I think an Oktoberfest thing, the christmas market. They have a great flea market each spring too - lots of books and games cheap!

What is the cost of attending the Saturday classes?

[Anonymous]

It's $410 per semester, and an additional $30 for use of the library. (Totally worth it for the library!)

http://dswashington.org/tuition-and-fees.html

[Anonymous]

OP here -- I just signed up my three kids yesterday. Too late for a parking pass but I think the shuttle will work out fine. We are looking forward to it!