Who do I write to to advocate that Yu Ying join the common lottery?

[Anonymous]

Is that why some of the teachers were sent out at the end of the year because of visa non-renewal problems?!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The visas get extended in one-year increments. Teachers know if they challenge admins, extension paperwork may not be filed. If YY hired mostly ABCs like MoCo, you'd see changes, particularly where outreach to the local ethnic community goes.

Makes sense. But then, of course, everyone on DCUM would complain that they're not native speakers. Can't please everyone, that's for sure.

[Anonymous]

11:53, what did you hear about visa non renewal? We are at YY and I haven't heard a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's strange because our DC's Chinese teacher last year taught at another US school before moving to Yu Ying. You sure about that?

Same here, PP. My DC's Chinese teacher came to YY from MoCo. I think the complaining PP is "Heritage Mom" who is perpetually angry that her Cantonese-speaking family didn't get language preference - and so she blames the school for it.

Oh right, blame one probably fictious parent who's supposedly angry not getting a non-existant language preference for shoddy hiring practices that lead to one lead admin after another not reading or speaking Chinese, let alone as a native speaker.

YY clearly prefers that its teachers to come on one-year visas, rendering them virtually powerless in the hierarchy. But to some extent, the joke is on the admins. Ever seen the sentences praising "President" Mao teachers have kids copy down (in characters). Laugh or cry.

Honey you clearly know NOT of what you speak! Heritage Mom is as real as they get... she has provided pages and pages of "interesting" reading on almost every thread about YY since she didn't get in the first time. Also, for those of us who actually have kids there, your version of what's happening with the teachers doesn't match parent experience. And at the end of the day, anonymous people can complain and criticize all they want on the internet; it doesn't change the reality that, warts and all, YY is a great school and an amazing opportunity for the DC families lucky enough to get in.

Have you ever thought of taking all your vitriol about how things are done there and starting your own Mandarin bilingual school in DC that is run the way you think it should be run? Having an opinion and criticizing is one thing. But those who go on and on about the Administration at a school that has actually pulled off a lot come across as bitter, petty and kinda psycho because this is the Administration that has brought this school to where it is today. Are there still improvements to be made? Of course. But choosing between what is clearly working for the most part and ditching the current Administration in the name of hiring someone unknown because they are a native Mandarin speaker is crazy talk.

You don't like how it's run, you don't like who they've hired... go start your own school. If parents way back when hadn't put in the work and put in place the vision they had, YY wouldn't exist for you to be so bitter about. You can do it better? Cool. There are a lot of DC parents who would love the chance to go to such a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11:53, what did you hear about visa non renewal? We are at YY and I haven't heard a thing.

My child's teacher had to leave a couple weeks before the end of school and they got a substitute.

[Anonymous]

What a misery these YY threads are these days. Wish Jeff would freeze this one and ban new ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's strange because our DC's Chinese teacher last year taught at another US school before moving to Yu Ying. You sure about that?

Same here, PP. My DC's Chinese teacher came to YY from MoCo. I think the complaining PP is "Heritage Mom" who is perpetually angry that her Cantonese-speaking family didn't get language preference - and so she blames the school for it.

Oh right, blame one probably fictious parent who's supposedly angry not getting a non-existant language preference for shoddy hiring practices that lead to one lead admin after another not reading or speaking Chinese, let alone as a native speaker.

YY clearly prefers that its teachers to come on one-year visas, rendering them virtually powerless in the hierarchy. But to some extent, the joke is on the admins. Ever seen the sentences praising "President" Mao teachers have kids copy down (in characters). Laugh or cry.

Honey you clearly know NOT of what you speak! Heritage Mom is as real as they get... she has provided pages and pages of "interesting" reading on almost every thread about YY since she didn't get in the first time. Also, for those of us who actually have kids there, your version of what's happening with the teachers doesn't match parent experience. And at the end of the day, anonymous people can complain and criticize all they want on the internet; it doesn't change the reality that, warts and all, YY is a great school and an amazing opportunity for the DC families lucky enough to get in.

Have you ever thought of taking all your vitriol about how things are done there and starting your own Mandarin bilingual school in DC that is run the way you think it should be run? Having an opinion and criticizing is one thing. But those who go on and on about the Administration at a school that has actually pulled off a lot come across as bitter, petty and kinda psycho because this is the Administration that has brought this school to where it is today. Are there still improvements to be made? Of course. But choosing between what is clearly working for the most part and ditching the current Administration in the name of hiring someone unknown because they are a native Mandarin speaker is crazy talk.
You don't like how it's run, you don't like who they've hired... go start your own school. If parents way back when hadn't put in the work and put in place the vision they had, YY wouldn't exist for you to be so bitter about. You can do it better? Cool. There are a lot of DC parents who would love the chance to go to such a school.

You've got a problem. Start your own thread. I'm w/heritage mom, whether or not she's real.

Date stamps are no big deal. Not having school leaders who speak or read chinese is. DC charter could do a nationwide search and find qualified admins. These language and culture challenged folks have had their day.

[Anonymous]

No one in the WHOLE world is a qualified Mandarin-speaking candidate? That is a recruitment and HR failure that is likely to be compounded by the poor salaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one in the WHOLE world is a qualified Mandarin-speaking candidate? That is a recruitment and HR failure that is likely to be compounded by the poor salaries.

I imagine the salaries are the sticking point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is greener in MoCo. The principals speak excellent Chinese, and the teachers, who are paid and trained well, tend to stick around for years. Most teachers are ABCs with strong ties to the local ethnic community, which is very involved in the programs. Standards are considerably higher--for math, English and, yes, Mandarin--and there isn't a non-immersion track. Roughly one-quarter of the kids mainly speak Chinese at home (far more in 5th grade than K, because bilingual children test in to replace drop-outs). Best of all, parents aren't driven to these programs to escape low-performing neighborhood elementary schools, so no there's almost no admissions rate race. You don't meet many MoCo immersion parents who don't know basics about the US Chinese immigrant experience, and China itself, like you do at YY.

That's not true. The school has a general comprehensive school and the chinese immersion school. The chinese immersion is basically a school within a school.

[Anonymous]

I don't believe it. More and more US colleges teach Mandarin, including writing to Chinese immigrants and ABCs who already speak well. There are bright sparks in their 30s around the country who are well-qualified and would come to DC for the adventure of running YY for what they're paying. Oyster-Adams just hired a 28 year old newbie principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's strange because our DC's Chinese teacher last year taught at another US school before moving to Yu Ying. You sure about that?

Same here, PP. My DC's Chinese teacher came to YY from MoCo. I think the complaining PP is "Heritage Mom" who is perpetually angry that her Cantonese-speaking family didn't get language preference - and so she blames the school for it.

Oh right, blame one probably fictious parent who's supposedly angry not getting a non-existant language preference for shoddy hiring practices that lead to one lead admin after another not reading or speaking Chinese, let alone as a native speaker.

YY clearly prefers that its teachers to come on one-year visas, rendering them virtually powerless in the hierarchy. But to some extent, the joke is on the admins. Ever seen the sentences praising "President" Mao teachers have kids copy down (in characters). Laugh or cry.

Honey you clearly know NOT of what you speak! Heritage Mom is as real as they get... she has provided pages and pages of "interesting" reading on almost every thread about YY since she didn't get in the first time. Also, for those of us who actually have kids there, your version of what's happening with the teachers doesn't match parent experience. And at the end of the day, anonymous people can complain and criticize all they want on the internet; it doesn't change the reality that, warts and all, YY is a great school and an amazing opportunity for the DC families lucky enough to get in.

Have you ever thought of taking all your vitriol about how things are done there and starting your own Mandarin bilingual school in DC that is run the way you think it should be run? Having an opinion and criticizing is one thing. But those who go on and on about the Administration at a school that has actually pulled off a lot come across as bitter, petty and kinda psycho because this is the Administration that has brought this school to where it is today. Are there still improvements to be made? Of course. But choosing between what is clearly working for the most part and ditching the current Administration in the name of hiring someone unknown because they are a native Mandarin speaker is crazy talk.
You don't like how it's run, you don't like who they've hired... go start your own school. If parents way back when hadn't put in the work and put in place the vision they had, YY wouldn't exist for you to be so bitter about. You can do it better? Cool. There are a lot of DC parents who would love the chance to go to such a school.

You've got a problem. Start your own thread. I'm w/heritage mom, whether or not she's real.

Date stamps are no big deal. Not having school leaders who speak or read chinese is. DC charter could do a nationwide search and find qualified admins. These language and culture challenged folks have had their day.

There will always be people like you with what you think are easy/essential/better ideas who couldn't pull off 1/20th of what those running this school have pulled off. DCUM will always be a breeding ground for this type of "They should do this" "They don't care about that" yet, unless you are actually involved in the hiring process, you have no idea how they search, what resumes they get, who they consider, and why they choose who they choose.

Your best quote that pretty much sums up my point: "These language and culture challenged folks have had their day." Interesting. And who are you again and what have you accomplished that makes you qualified to even think you know what's best? I guess that's what always surprises me - yes, again and again - about people who think like you. You couldn't do what they've done, but you think you know better both what they have tried and what they should do. That is the scariest thing in the world when people who think like you are actually in a position to make decisions that affect the school. But on an anonymous message board, ok, I guess I should stop being surprised by the ignorance and bizarre narcissistic sense that you know best and that it's so easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe it. More and more US colleges teach Mandarin, including writing to Chinese immigrants and ABCs who already speak well. There are bright sparks in their 30s around the country who are well-qualified and would come to DC for the adventure of running YY for what they're paying. Oyster-Adams just hired a 28 year old newbie principal.

YY parent here. You are suggesting that we fire the head of school just so that we can recruit a newbie principal who's looking for an adventure? Um, no. While I would like to see Chinese admins at some point, I'm much more interested in continuity of operations at this point, thanks very much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe it. More and more US colleges teach Mandarin, including writing to Chinese immigrants and ABCs who already speak well. There are bright sparks in their 30s around the country who are well-qualified and would come to DC for the adventure of running YY for what they're paying. Oyster-Adams just hired a 28 year old newbie principal.

And that.... proves beyond doubt how ignorant you are. If you really think the new Principal of O-A is "newbie" to school administration, you a) don't know her resume; b) don't know her; and c) have not got a damn clue about how hard it is to find excellent school Admins. She will be awesome, but she is one of the last people you could call a "Newbie" and it's a LOT easier to find Spanish-speaking rock stars to head up an American school like O-A than it is Mandarin-speaking rockstars. Hell, finding rockstar Principals for non-bilingual schools is a huge mega challenge.

Ok, now it's easier to read your posts and be clear that you don't know anything about hiring quality Administrators so of course, you think it's easy. Nuff said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is greener in MoCo. The principals speak excellent Chinese, and the teachers, who are paid and trained well, tend to stick around for years. Most teachers are ABCs with strong ties to the local ethnic community, which is very involved in the programs. Standards are considerably higher--for math, English and, yes, Mandarin--and there isn't a non-immersion track. Roughly one-quarter of the kids mainly speak Chinese at home (far more in 5th grade than K, because bilingual children test in to replace drop-outs). Best of all, parents aren't driven to these programs to escape low-performing neighborhood elementary schools, so no there's almost no admissions rate race. You don't meet many MoCo immersion parents who don't know basics about the US Chinese immigrant experience, and China itself, like you do at YY.

That's not true. The school has a general comprehensive school and the chinese immersion school. The chinese immersion is basically a school within a school.

The MoCo Potomac and College Gardens Mandarin immersion programs don't bump kids from an immersion Mandarin track to a non-immersion track like YY does. They don't have many low SES kids to start with, but the ones they take are given the resources and help to keep up with high SES peers, including summer camp in China.