Need School Ideas?? And Insight on schools for new English speakers, & new to the usa/dc kids
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Anonymous
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We are in the process of adoption. Our children will be pre-school and early school age. While the older child will have learned some English in school it is not going the be their 1st language nor what is spoken in their current home & social settings. They will be behind academically compared to what is expected for their age and corresponding grade level. They will also have a huge cultural learning curve.
We are considering some amount of home schooling if they come home mid-year or miss any chance at the DC lottery. But we would like to attend school once they are ready and we are able to find the right one for each child. We are in NE DC. I would love to not have to drive an hour to take the kids to school but I will if we really need too. Private school could be a option but the costs here really limit us. I am asking so that I can start making a long & short list of school to go and visit. Hopefully that will help us narrow down which ones we will revisit with our children when the time comes. (BTW, Not looking for feed back on adoption. So, please stick to the the school topic. If you have found a specific school to be really supportive or not supportive of adoptive families that would be good to know.) What we think we are looking for in a school: -Experience with non-English learners- not Spanish speakers- but non-English speakers from different backgrounds -Welcoming multicultural- yes this includes different skin colors but we are hoping for going beyond that to actual international cultural inclusion -Welcoming, respectful & supportive of diverse & non-traditional/different types of families -Support for children with learning or mild behavior differences while still having primarily inclusive class rooms, encourages active parent involvement. We understand that some services like speech therapy are done outside of a regular class room. But we do not want our children sent to a all day special class only because they are starting out behind and not because they actually need long term intensive services. Some issues that present with adoptive kids are not actually learning issue (some are) but often they are normal a adjustment. A school that is understanding of this would be amazing! -Multi-age class room setting or at least some classes/parts of the day that are mixed ages: it is likely our kids will be on target in some areas, behind in others, maybe a ahead in others. It is very likely have had catching up to do the 1st year or two but, maybe on a more normal track later. We don't want to see them forced into a much lower grade with out the opportunity to excel beyond that grade if they are able to do so. Also, a multi-age class room would feel more familiar to them and maybe make them not feel out of place as the only 8 year old in 1st grade. Thanks for your insight. |
Anonymous
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I would take a two-track approach given what you've described.
As soon as they arrive, reach out to Early Stages (part of DCPS) which will do an evaluation and help advise on a DC public school placement. If the children are behind developmentally that will give the younger one priority to secure a spot in a PreK 3 or PreK 4 program and appropriate services for the older one. That placement may or may not abe at your neighborhood DCPS school - depending on the issues. At the same time you should try to enter the lottery. Ideally they arrive before the March 1 deadline, but if not you can still enter the 'post-lottery' process to try and secure a space at a DC Charter school. Among charters I would recommend looking at Bridges and CMI, both of which have small class sizes and are very much about including children with all kinds of learning differences. There may be other good options you will hear about here. |
Anonymous
| We had a friend that had a great experience at Inspired Teaching with adopted child that came from non Spanish speaking country as a PK student. |
Anonymous
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My daughter is at Seaton Elementary and we love it. The school is incredibly diverse and has a great ESL program and support center. The school is up-and-coming so there is a lot of energy and excitement. The principal was just name principal of the year and she is wonderfully supportive of the students and faculty. You can find lots of information about the school at the website. Feel free to contact them directly for answers to your specific questions.
http://seatondc.org/ |
Anonymous
| Bridges is among the best for inclusive education and usually clears their waiting list. |
Anonymous
| Hearst has a lot of embassy kids and is great with ESL. Last year, two kids from the Chinese embassy came into DC's class speaking no English and they were fully caught up by the end of the school year. This was for PK. Not sure how it works for older kids. |
Anonymous
It is, But OP lives in NE and Hearst is not easy to get into in 1st-3rd grade OOB. |
Anonymous
Another Seaton parent here. I also suggest checking out our school. Seaton is definitely welcoming and very diverse. The students and staff represent 43 different nationalities. I highly suggest you call the school to schedule a visit and see for yourself if it is a good fit for your family. |
Anonymous
I'd like to add that Seaton also has a few embassy families. |
Anonymous
| Shining Stars Montessori has kids of many nationalities and mixed-age classrooms. Though Montessori might not be appropriate depending on what, if any, special needs present in your kids. Congratulations on the adoption! |
Anonymous
Being of different nationalities doesn't mean they are recent foreign born children, non-English speakers. Do you have experience or know anyone at SS that describes what OP is looking for? Not trying to be snarky. |
Anonymous
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Montessori classrooms are mixed age, so the charters Shining Stars and Lee Montessori, as well as DCPS' Capitol Hill Montessori program might be worth a try.
Creative Minds and Bridges are known for their work with kids who have some special needs. Creative Minds will be difficult to get into. Bridges usually takes a lot of kids from their waitlist, as a previous poster noted. Schools that have many English language learners are Oyster, Marie Reed, Powell, Thomson, Seaton, Bancroft, Stoddert, and Bruce Monroe. These are all DCPS schools, and you would need to live in boundary to get into most of them, although a few may have spots here and there. DC Bilingual and Mundo Verde are Spanish immersion charters with significant percentages of Spanish dominant families. |
Anonymous
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Don't have specific school advice, but you might find the ELL services at DCPS central office useful.
http://dcps.dc.gov/service/english-language-learner-ell-support |
Anonymous
OP specified non Spanish. |
Anonymous
We are at one of the DCPS dual language schools listed. There are certainly plenty of kids whose first language is neither Spanish nor English. The bottom line in DC, though, is that if you are looking for a school with substantial experience with English language learners, most of those ELL kids will speak Spanish at home. There will not be any public schools that will meet all of the OPs exhaustive criteria. |