Thoughts on Rock Creek Forest Elementary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't the parents on the English side as happy?

They are mad their kids didn't get into immersion. They are unhappy that their kids have to go to school with children who live in the apartments on the other side of Weast West Highway, who might be (gasp!) low income and even worse, (gasp!) not white. They feel that immersion takes away from the feel of a neighborhood school (ridiculous) and gets more attention and resources (also ridiculous, considering that the immersion classes have more kids in them with the same number of teachers and immersion teachers have to create their own materials). They are mad that the PTA has more immersion parents on it (don't even know where to go on that one).

They are also, secretly, mad that immersion kids get to go on to Westland and BCC while often paying less for their houses, an issue compounded by the fact that in Checy Chase, the RCF area houses are the cheapest and crummiest. They feel that immersion is a way for parents to cheap out on housing and get the same opportunities that their kids get. Most are not well off so they've had to stretch for a house in the RCF area and it makes them resentful both of richer CC families and the immersion families.

You really need some medication. You are crazy and way off base.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't the parents on the English side as happy?

They are mad their kids didn't get into immersion. They are unhappy that their kids have to go to school with children who live in the apartments on the other side of Weast West Highway, who might be (gasp!) low income and even worse, (gasp!) not white. They feel that immersion takes away from the feel of a neighborhood school (ridiculous) and gets more attention and resources (also ridiculous, considering that the immersion classes have more kids in them with the same number of teachers and immersion teachers have to create their own materials). They are mad that the PTA has more immersion parents on it (don't even know where to go on that one).

They are also, secretly, mad that immersion kids get to go on to Westland and BCC while often paying less for their houses, an issue compounded by the fact that in Checy Chase, the RCF area houses are the cheapest and crummiest. They feel that immersion is a way for parents to cheap out on housing and get the same opportunities that their kids get. Most are not well off so they've had to stretch for a house in the RCF area and it makes them resentful both of richer CC families and the immersion families.

You really need some medication. You are crazy and way off base.

I promise you, this is 100% true, all of it. All these things were said by non-immersion parents in the last few years. Paragraph #2 is actually not so secret -- it was openly said at PTA meetings. The relationship between the immersion program and the neighborhood side is toxic.

[Anonymous]

Spoken like a true immersion parent whose children will never have to interacte with the "apartment kids" but sounds so high and mighty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spoken like a true immersion parent whose children will never have to interacte with the "apartment kids" but sounds so high and mighty.

And one who has their kid in immersion only to get away from their own predominantly non-white Silver Spring/Takoma Park school.

[Anonymous]

RCFES is a great community. My child has friends in and out of immersion. Please just stop stirring up this nonsense and find something else to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spoken like a true immersion parent whose children will never have to interacte with the "apartment kids" but sounds so high and mighty.

And one who has their kid in immersion only to get away from their own predominantly non-white Silver Spring/Takoma Park school.

These posters are confirming my points! SOOO glad to be out of that school. SOOO glad to be away from closet racists/classist wannabes in that cluster. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spoken like a true immersion parent whose children will never have to interacte with the "apartment kids" but sounds so high and mighty.

And one who has their kid in immersion only to get away from their own predominantly non-white Silver Spring/Takoma Park school.

These posters are confirming my points! SOOO glad to be out of that school. SOOO glad to be away from closet racists/classist wannabes in that cluster. Ugh.

PP here. Feel like I need to clarify this. My child is not white so I didn't feel the need to "get away" from kids in SS/TP. I really wanted her to get a biingual education, and was so excited about this opportunity. And immersion was a lot more work for us as a family, not an easy way to get away from our local schools. What a shock to find out that in this cluster my child was not welcome, and it would be assumed that we were just trying to get the "better" option without paying for it. These posts are good indicators of what the English program parents really think about immersion. As I said before, it's a toxic attitude that is a real negative at the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spoken like a true immersion parent whose children will never have to interacte with the "apartment kids" but sounds so high and mighty.

And one who has their kid in immersion only to get away from their own predominantly non-white Silver Spring/Takoma Park school.

These posters are confirming my points! SOOO glad to be out of that school. SOOO glad to be away from closet racists/classist wannabes in that cluster. Ugh.

PP here. Feel like I need to clarify this. My child is not white so I didn't feel the need to "get away" from kids in SS/TP. I really wanted her to get a biingual education, and was so excited about this opportunity. And immersion was a lot more work for us as a family, not an easy way to get away from our local schools. What a shock to find out that in this cluster my child was not welcome, and it would be assumed that we were just trying to get the "better" option without paying for it. These posts are good indicators of what the English program parents really think about immersion. As I said before, it's a toxic attitude that is a real negative at the school.

That's fine and nice to hear and I do believe that is the case for some portion of the immersion families. But the poster who went off on the screed about how RCF English parents "secretly mad" that immersion parents pay less for their houses and their kids get to to go to Westland/BCC only confirms our suspicions about the intentions of many immersion families. I was at the meeting she cited and don't recall that coming up, at all.

For the record, most of us who bought in RCF did so for the location and the schools. We aren't bitter that we paid more. In fact, we think we are smarter than those who bought in SS/TP thinking that the schools would magically improve or that their kids would somehow get into a magnet program or that their crappy crime-ridden neighborhoods aren't that bad. I've seen several families insist on keeping their child in immersion when it clearly is not a good fit but they don't want their child at their home school.

As for having the immersion program in the school. Most of my friends and neighbors don't really have an issue with it. However, it is our neighborhood school and having the program there makes our school more crowded and takes away a lot of time in the PTA dealing with immersion issues (bussing, COSA's etc) that other schools don't need to deal with. And, by the way, there are many English-side parents on the PTA.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I am appalled. We bought in RCF because it's a great neighborhood and we love our house you called "crappy" and our truly lovely neighbors .We look forward to starting school in the fall. This post turned really mean really fast, it's sad. I clicked on this for info because we will start school here this fall and I'm reminded how awful some of these posts get without really giving helpful info. Yuck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spoken like a true immersion parent whose children will never have to interacte with the "apartment kids" but sounds so high and mighty.

And one who has their kid in immersion only to get away from their own predominantly non-white Silver Spring/Takoma Park school.

These posters are confirming my points! SOOO glad to be out of that school. SOOO glad to be away from closet racists/classist wannabes in that cluster. Ugh.

PP here. Feel like I need to clarify this. My child is not white so I didn't feel the need to "get away" from kids in SS/TP. I really wanted her to get a biingual education, and was so excited about this opportunity. And immersion was a lot more work for us as a family, not an easy way to get away from our local schools. What a shock to find out that in this cluster my child was not welcome, and it would be assumed that we were just trying to get the "better" option without paying for it. These posts are good indicators of what the English program parents really think about immersion. As I said before, it's a toxic attitude that is a real negative at the school.

That's fine and nice to hear and I do believe that is the case for some portion of the immersion families. But the poster who went off on the screed about how RCF English parents "secretly mad" that immersion parents pay less for their houses and their kids get to to go to Westland/BCC only confirms our suspicions about the intentions of many immersion families. I was at the meeting she cited and don't recall that coming up, at all.

For the record, most of us who bought in RCF did so for the location and the schools. We aren't bitter that we paid more. In fact, we think we are smarter than those who bought in SS/TP thinking that the schools would magically improve or that their kids would somehow get into a magnet program or that their crappy crime-ridden neighborhoods aren't that bad. I've seen several families insist on keeping their child in immersion when it clearly is not a good fit but they don't want their child at their home school.

As for having the immersion program in the school. Most of my friends and neighbors don't really have an issue with it. However, it is our neighborhood school and having the program there makes our school more crowded and takes away a lot of time in the PTA dealing with immersion issues (bussing, COSA's etc) that other schools don't need to deal with. And, by the way, there are many English-side parents on the PTA.

Again, I think you are providing the point. The "steed" is making the same oint that you do, assuming that those of us in Silver Spring live in crappy, crime-ridden neighborhoods when in fact I live in a very nice neighborhood that happens to have people of color in it.

I don't know how you could have been at that meeting and not heard this.

[Anonymous]

COnsidering Spanish immersion and would appreciate feedback specifically as to why people pulled their kids out

[Anonymous]

RCF neighborhood parent here. I love the school. I love our neighbors. I love the administration and the parents at the school. It is, in my experience, very down to earth compared to other neighborhoods in the area. My son has friends in the neighborhood program and the immersion program. Most of my friends are neighborhood because we live close to each other. I don’t feel or notice any animosity between the neighborhood and immersion programs. It really is a wonderful school and fabulous (RCFESers - get it?) community.

[Anonymous]

In the lowest grades, kids are pulled out of immersion if they’re found to have special needs so they are not bogged down by learning a second language. (I don’t agree with this practice but it happens.) As the years go on, some kids are pulled out for normal reasons like moving away or childcare changes but they are seldom replaced. A few kids are pulled out around 3/4 grade because parents may get them into another magnet or panic that their English skills are lagging. (Don’t panic; the English skills will be fine in a few years.) And last, kids are often pulled out of the feeding pattern and returned to their neighborhood schools when they switch levels into middle or high school because of friends or ease of transportation.

[Anonymous]

My son attended the immersion program last year, but I pulled him out this year. It was a great program (he learned a lot), and a beautiful school with a lot of really fun events, but we moved (even further) away from the school. Logistics were becoming a nightmare, especially upon learning that his younger sibling wouldn't be guaranteed entry. I couldn't imagine having 2 kids in 2 different schools! The bus ride was long, but he actually loved it. Now that I can compare two different elementary schools, I will say the large size of RCF was a bit of a drawback (potentially the only drawback), since it was overwhelming for my shy child. Since I didn't live too close to the school, I didn't volunteer much and so didn't meet other families and we didn't become part of the school community. He and I both feel more comfortable at his new school, even after just one month of school, simply due to the smaller size and proximity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spoken like a true immersion parent whose children will never have to interacte with the "apartment kids" but sounds so high and mighty.

I continue to be baffled by why parents want their child to learn Spanish but not actually learn alongside a native Spanish speaker