Bilingual Ed Dilemma

[Anonymous]

My son will be going to preschool in September and he is currently enrolled in a Spanish immersion program (not public) within walking distance to our home in NW DC. We applied to LAMB and Bancroft and got spots on the waitlist; I put that out of my mind because I thought we had practically no hope. Today I found out that my son has a spot at Bancroft. We are very interested in bilingual education and we don't want to blow the chance of having him guaranteed a (free) spot through 5th grade, but we are hesitant about blowing our chance at the preschool in which he is already enrolled, which seems like the perfect place for him.

Is securing a spot at Bancroft for the future worth it? Our in-boundary school is Hearst, which would be the default if he doesn't get a spot at a bilingual or Spanish exposure school for Pre-K/Kindergarten.

Also, is there any hope that after two years of immersion education he could get an OOB Spanish-dominant spot at Oyster?

Would love to know what those of you who have been dealing with bilingual ed in DC think.

[Anonymous]

No experience/thoughts to offer on your other issues, butI do know that he will not qualify for an OOB Spanish-dominant spot at Oyster no matter how many years of immersion education he has. We spoke to the principal about this issue for our own child. The Spanish-dominant spots are for kids who speak exclusively Spanish at home and whose first-choice language is always Spanish.