Yu Yang--is the student body predominately African American, does Yu Yang have a non-Chinese track..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG! Who resurrected this thread???!!! It took forever to die the first time!

You just did. (And now I did, too. Sigh. Maybe we're both geniuses.)

[Anonymous]

The real challenges the current 4th graders face are English and Math, NOT Chinese. This is what happens when you have inexperienced teacher(s) teaching the leading grade.

[Anonymous]

DIE THREAD! DIE!

[Anonymous]

So they aren't special needs. They are regular kids, right? The million dollar quesion is who failed them along the way. Did it happen before they got to the school, after or both? But then was it caught in time to make a difference? Is is making a difference?

[Anonymous]

They started in 1st grade at Yu Ying or Yang. I think it's pretty clear who failed them, though many would apparently argue that it was their horrible Kindergarten experience that marked them for failure.

Regardless, if you can control admissions for high income kids, the problem is solved. Right?

[Anonymous]

Isn't that the class that had problems from day one? A lot of them had been kicked out their previous schools?

The current 2nd and 3rd grades (which started that same year) are substantially different.

[Anonymous]

This class is different, but why? I understand they came from other schools and there may be a variety of reasons why. But the fact remains that YY is a school with blind admission and a lottery like all of the other schools in the city. How might the next group or any future group be any different? Is there something with the way the school operates that counsels underperforming kids out before they get to that grade? Or has the school culture figured out how to support those types of kids better?

[Anonymous]

There was no lottery for that grade. Usually the older grades in new charters are under-enrolled from the start. That class is a self-selected group of kids for whom, for whatever reasons, prior schools were not working out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They started in 1st grade at Yu Ying or Yang. I think it's pretty clear who failed them, though many would apparently argue that it was their horrible Kindergarten experience that marked them for failure.

Regardless, if you can control admissions for high income kids, the problem is solved. Right?

How did Yu Ying fail them? Just taking DC CAS data there were 35 kids in that class. 22 of them scored advanced or proficient in reading and 20 in math. That is decent by DC Standards (beat the state average at least) and there was a wide range of scores in the class indicating to me that smart kids are not being held back. Anyway, how is this discussion even relevant to anyone beyond the parents of those 35 kids (Yu Ying doesn't admit kids beyond second grade, so its not as if there will be other kids joining this class).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was no lottery for that grade. Usually the older grades in new charters are under-enrolled from the start. That class is a self-selected group of kids for whom, for whatever reasons, prior schools were not working out.

Mom of a 4th grader here. I think that characterization is unfair to the families in that class. I can't speak for eveyone in that class, but we chose Yu Ying because of the opportunity to learn Chinese, not because our prior school was not working out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was no lottery for that grade. Usually the older grades in new charters are under-enrolled from the start. That class is a self-selected group of kids for whom, for whatever reasons, prior schools were not working out.

Mom of a 4th grader here. I think that characterization is unfair to the families in that class. I can't speak for eveyone in that class, but we chose Yu Ying because of the opportunity to learn Chinese, not because our prior school was not working out.

Totally didn't mean to offend! Should have said "ideal" instead of "working out".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This class is different, but why? I understand they came from other schools and there may be a variety of reasons why. But the fact remains that YY is a school with blind admission and a lottery like all of the other schools in the city. How might the next group or any future group be any different? Is there something with the way the school operates that counsels underperforming kids out before they get to that grade? Or has the school culture figured out how to support those types of kids better?

Demographically that class has a lot more FARMs students than the other classes. It's a dicier proposition to enroll your 1st grader in a brand new school, than to do so with a PreK or K child. Those parents generally were either highly motivated for Chinese (the higher income group, which looks more like other YY classes) or else had limited choices and possible problems at a previous school.

Subsequent classes have skewed much wealthier and more racially diverse, especially as the school became popular. In the younger classes, it's not uncommon to find parents who are driving students over from neighborhoods with high-performing schools, west of the park. That just didn't happen with the lead class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Subsequent classes have skewed much wealthier and more racially diverse, especially as the school became popular. In the younger classes, it's not uncommon to find parents who are driving students over from neighborhoods with high-performing schools, west of the park. That just didn't happen with the lead class.

There are families now who would not have considered a public school at all but send their child to Yu Ying b/c it's the only school, public or private, in DC that is immersion Chinese.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Subsequent classes have skewed much wealthier and more racially diverse, especially as the school became popular. In the younger classes, it's not uncommon to find parents who are driving students over from neighborhoods with high-performing schools, west of the park. That just didn't happen with the lead class.

There are families now who would not have considered a public school at all but send their child to Yu Ying b/c it's the only school, public or private, in DC that is immersion Chinese.

Yep, that's us. It was Yu Ying or private. Luckily, we got into Yu Ying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Subsequent classes have skewed much wealthier and more racially diverse, especially as the school became popular. In the younger classes, it's not uncommon to find parents who are driving students over from neighborhoods with high-performing schools, west of the park. That just didn't happen with the lead class.

There are families now who would not have considered a public school at all but send their child to Yu Ying b/c it's the only school, public or private, in DC that is immersion Chinese.

Yep, that's us. It was Yu Ying or private. Luckily, we got into Yu Ying.

Options for some people mean saving $29,000 a year. For others, options mean not going to a school where kids might get jumped. The former are lucky regardless, the later only gets lucky if a spot is available.