Yu Ying Questions

[Anonymous]

I am returning with my family to DC next summer, July 2010, after living in Beijing for six years. We have a house in the Layfayette school district, but are interested in Yu Ying and other Mandarin schools (I thought there was a DCPS in Chinatown). I have two boys, one will be in second grade, and one would be in pre-k4. My questions:

1. Does the school go beyond beginning Mandarin (how many native or near-native speaking children attend the school)? My first grader is in advanced Mandarin at his international school in Beijing, and is writing multi-stroke characters. It's not that I'm not concerned about him being above the class (it's not that remarkable since we've lived here since he was 8 months) but if he cannot keep up near his level, it might be a factor in sending him to Layfayette which is much more convenient as we settle in.

2. How many kids per class? At the school? I know a small school seems personal, but my son would be coming from a big school (up to HS), which he loves as lots of kids and tons of activities.

3. What do you like the best about school? What makes it unique?

4. What are the school hours? And, for PK4? (Just wondering about commute.)

5. Is there any wiggle room for cutoff dates (my youngest is 6 wks shy of cutoff and has been attending a Chinese school for two years)?

6. Are all subjects taught in both languages? Are there two teachers (english and mandarin) per class? I tried to find this out on website...

7. Any other thoughts on keeping up Mandarin in DC, commuting to school (I haven't driven daily for years, so I'm anxious about actual car time!), etc.

Any feedback would be welcome. My dh and I are quite excited to return to DC, but we're feeling guilty about moving the boys. My oldest attends an amazing school, which he loves. It's an IB curriculum, so he's already doing the PYP program, which really suits him, so Yu Ying seems promising in that regard too. But, I guess being subject to the DCPS lottery, that may decide for us.

Thanks!
christy

[Anonymous]

The Chinatown school you referred to is Thomson ES, at 12th and L NW. IB PYP and Mandarin.

[Anonymous]

currrent yu ying parent with kids in 2 and K, so your oldest would be in the grade between.

1) 2nd grade is working at a basic level in mandarin. Few if any native speakers. K has one child I'm aware of that also returned from years in China. preK has one I'm aware of. There are several more in the school, I suspect at the lower level, I have no specific knowledge of the current 1st grade.

That said, this year's 2nd grade is only in their 2nd year of Mandarin instruction due to 2nd year of school's existence. Next year's 2nd grade will be in 3rd year of instruction, which should help somewhat. Also, this year's 2nd has a lot of new kids in the class, as the school was underenrolled last year, so that also dilutes the level of instruction.

2) 25 kids per class, 2 classes per grade level. One teacher and one aide in English, one teacher and one aide in Mandarin. The two class sections alternate dates.

4) Hours 8:30 to 3:30, after care 3:30 to 6, before 7:30 to 8:30, preK 4 has optional dismissal at 2 pm

5) no wiggle room for the preK 4 cut off. I don't think you'll find wiggle room anywhere in the DCPS or charter system. September 30. If I read your post correctly, your youngest is born 6 weeks after that, mid-November, and you will be looking for a preK 3 program on your return. Lafayette and Yu Ying do not have preK 3.

6) All subjects taught in both languages. Forgot to mention, Friday is early dismissal day 1 pm, for teacher planning

The lottery for preK entering this year was quite competitive with ~125 or ~150 applicants for 50 places. Siblings got the first entrance places, and with 4 higher grades next year there probably will be a fair number of siblings (maybe 10 to 15?)

The lottery for this year's 2nd was not very competitive as there were a lot of open spots from a smaller class last year, and several kids did not return. I believe that every child who applied for 2nd was offered a slot (not all came) and that there may still be one space in the class.


Washington International School is starting a Mandarin program, but it's for 6th grade beginners

Eaton has a bit of Mandarin

I believe the Chinatown DCPS school is Thompson?

Many of the Mandarin programs for kids that I'm aware of are basic level and would not meet your son's needs. Perhaps get in touch with the Chinese embassy to find out what Chinese kids do in town. Different audience than DCUM

[Anonymous]

Just to add to what the previous poster wrote, there are two classes for each grade. The kids spend one day in English, and all subjects are taught in English on that day, the next day they go to Chinese, where all subjects are taught in Chinese. Math and the PYP currriculum are taught in both languages. Reading and writing (characters) is taught in both English and Chinese. The classrooms are set up so that the kids sit in the same place in each of the two classrooms.

There is not a permanent location for the school. Next year will be the last year at the current location.

I think what makes the school great is that the teachers and administration all have a lot of energy.

Good luck with your move and decision.

[Anonymous]

OP,
Will you be in DC before March, the deadline for the lottery, so you can visit the schools?

[Anonymous]

Where will the school's permanent location be?

How do the kids that are native speakers keep up an "advanced level" of Mandarin if their classmates are learning the basics?

[Anonymous]

If her older child gets in via lottery, the younger one will have sibling preference and get in automatically. Of course, since her child speaks fluent Mandarin, he could enroll at any time. YY won't accept children after 2nd grade that don't speak Chinese because they wouldn't be able to catch up. That wouldn't apply to the OP's child.

OP, at this time the school does not go beyond beginning Mandarin, but bear in mind the children have only had one year of Mandarin. The immersion model gives them a full day of English alternating with a full day of Mandarin, so by the time your child enrolled he would be with students who have had 2 years of Mandarin. More importantly, he would be with children who still have at least 6 years of Mandarin ahead of them. They aren't advanced in the 2nd grade, but they will be by 5th - 8th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where will the school's permanent location be?

How do the kids that are native speakers keep up an "advanced level" of Mandarin if their classmates are learning the basics?

Good question. For one thing, the only language spoken in the Chinese classrooms is Chinese (by native Chinese speakers). So whereas the children are not yet speaking perfect Chinese, the only language they are hearing is Chinese. The teachers are all modeling and communicating in "advanced Mandarin." Furthermore, Yu Ying just won the FLAP (foreign language assistance program) grant. It's a multi-year award totalling almost a million dollars. One aim for the funding is to develop differentiated Mandarin reading groups so that the children can have more targeted and individualized reading programs in Chinese (just as they do in English) to address their specific skill levels.

As for the permanent location, we all wish we knew too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Washington International School is starting a Mandarin program, but it's for 6th grade beginners

Eaton has a bit of Mandarin

I believe the Chinatown DCPS school is Thompson?

Many of the Mandarin programs for kids that I'm aware of are basic level and would not meet your son's needs. Perhaps get in touch with the Chinese embassy to find out what Chinese kids do in town. Different audience than DCUM

Eaton has received permission from DCPS to develop some Chinese cultural programming and possibly Mandarin FLES. Nobody has any idea yet what this means. For all we know, it could be a 1/2 hour of Chinese per week watching Ni Hao Kai-Lan. There is nothing in the proposal (and zero DCPS experience) to suggest any sort of foreign language proficiency at Eaton, much less an immersion model. This is all about Eaton trying to grab the Mandarin mantle from Thomson (even as Thomson is achieving IB status!) within DCPS. For the record, at least Thomson has a history of success teaching elementary Chinese in Chinatown!

If you're looking for a Mandarin Immersion model you should look at either Washington Yu Ying or Washington International School.

[Anonymous]

On the previous post: WIS is a wonderful IB school that runs from preK-3 through grade 12, but it does not offer Mandarin immersion for young children. If you can't find an appropriate Chinese-language option, you may want to look into WIS for Spanish or French immersion, and supplement with Chinese after school. WIS runs one of the country's oldest and most respected PYP programs, so your child would be in familiar territory.

Starting in middle school, your child could add Chinese in as his third language. WIS grads are fully fluent in 2 languages, and are able to speak/read/write with moderate fluency in at least one other language (often more).

[Anonymous]

I'm the OP...thanks to everyone for the very helpful information! It gives us a lot to think about. Yu Ying certainly sounds like it has heaps of committed people behind it and the FLAP grant is great news. I think establishing Chinese levels would be helpful, because what will Yu Ying do if there's only two classes per grade and some kids depart, but new kids can't enroll past 3rd (without that proficiency)? I'm feeling torn between keeping up Chinese, being around Chinese expat kids and native-speakers (which sounds like would prob have more of at Layfayette), the IB curriculum (which is a fantastic program that really suits my oldest), and going with the neighborhood school which sounds easy during a time of transition and culture shock. At least I feel like we have the option for him to transfer into third grade, say if he goes with Layfayette our first year back. (If we were to continue him with a Saturday school Chinese in the meantime, I assume there are some? Will have to ask our Chinese friends who lived in DC for a while.)

If anyone is still reading....how do I do the Pre-K lottery for my youngest? In March, can I multiple lotteries?: one for second grade Yu Ying, one for sibling Pre-K4 Yu Ying, and one for sibling Layfayette Pre-K4? Can I only invoke one sibling preference? And, if we're not yet enrolled in Layfayette (just moving back into our in-bounds house) how will they know it's sibling preference? I'm still trying to get over that my boys 26 mos apart (oldest, sep birthday, youngest nov) will be three years apart in school and that if I don't get a pre-K4 spot he will go from full-time pre-k (this year) to being home with me (unless I enroll him in private?). But, then again, he is my baby and it will be a big transition back. Finally, if we don't get Yu Ying lottery or choose Layfayette (for second grader), is there a deadline to apply?

In the meantime, I'm going to check out WIS (public?) and Thomson.

I appreciate any wisdom since I won't go back to look at schools until we move back in August. Thanks to all!!

[Anonymous]

Check out Hope Chinese school in Rockville. There's where many of the native Chinese speakers go for Sat. or Sunday language classes.

[Anonymous]

WIS is not public. no no no no. quite the opposite. hope you got some dough

[Anonymous]

Yu Ying lottery. School website, starting in Oct or Nov. No sibling preference until one child admitted and place accepted. Once you do that for one child, the other moves to the top of the wait list. I would not assume that the 2nd grader will necessarily get in. For example, this year's K class, which was last year's preK had space for 6 new children. At least one was a sibling. A space for a 2nd grader assumes that someone leaves after 1st grade. . ..

Lafayette 2nd grade. You live in boundary and can register anytime. Sooner rather than later helps the school control class sizes, but any day of the year.

Lafayette preK. Lottery only, as you do not have a right/ or a legal requirement to have a child attend preK. DCPS does their lottery for in bound preK and out of bound in January on line. Last year, it started mid-Jan and closed in early March. You need to apply on line for preK 4. I'm not sure if you an entitled to a sibling preference if you don't have a currently enrolled sibling at Lafayette, you might just get in bounds preference.

Thomson for 2nd and preK. Same DCPS lottery. Last year, you could pick up to 5 schools.

FYI, my reading of the Yu Ying charter is that they would have to request a change to the charter to admit kids after 2nd grade. Maybe they've done that. But my impression is different than the earlier poster who said fluent 3rd grader could be admitted. Of course, there hasn't been a 3rd grade yet, so no one can look and see what has actually been done.

[Anonymous]

Couple of other things that might be relevant. I believe that applying early to Yu Ying gives you a higher number on the waitlist in case you don't get in through the lottery. And, if your son will be preK 3, there is a nice preschool right next door to Yu Ying that an increasing number of Yu Ying younger sibs are starting to attend. At leat one Yu Ying Chinese teacher also has a child there. So, your son could make some friends that would be in his class the next year and possibly have a few Chinese speakers to hang out with.