Why is WYY considered a top charter school

[Anonymous]

Why is WYY considered a top charter school. I understand the school is specialized in Mandarin immersion, but it does not have a track record. This is the school's second year in existence and therefore it does not have any test scores. I am not looking for a fight, I am really interested and wanted to know why it is considered a top choice for entry. TIA

[Anonymous]

Because "top" can mean different things to different people.

It was founded by and attended by a close-knit group of people who are very happy with it. By all appearances, it's also providing a high-quality education, still in that close-knit environment. These are good things.

You are right that it has a very limited record and that we don't yet know how viable or successful it will be as it expands. That's part of the charter experience, though. Washington Latin isn't old but some people swear by it. Personally I think that at the elementary level the atmosphere and culture is very important.

[Anonymous]

I think Yu Ying is the type of school that most of us want for our children. It is in no way perfect. There have been some bumps, especially for the oldest class where my DC is, but the school is staffed by intelligent, energetic professionals who do what it takes to make the school run well. The majority of the parents are committed to a good education for their children and tend to be enthusiastic about Mandarin and the IB curriculum.

Next year is the first year that Yu Ying will have to administer the DC-CAS. Hopefully, they will meet AYP. However, one of the reasons we are not at our neighborhood school is that the emphasis on the test was taking away from what I felt was real learning.

Yu Ying is not an easy educational environment. Kids have to move between the two classrooms, they have to spend every other day immersed in a language that is unfamiliar. They learn to do math in both languages, the IB curriculum is taught in both languages, etc. I feel that my child is gaining a better education than if we had kept him in our neighborhood school.

[Anonymous]

I'm a parent in the K level classes, so my DC was in the huge group of "we can't believe we're getting this amazing education for free - didn't we just leave expensive privates (e.g. Aiden Montessori) for more money and lower quality than this?!"

If you want to get a sense of the faculty and B of T commitment to the school you need only talk to the parents - if there's a school in DC which has more founders, teachers, and administrators children currently enrolled I'd be interested to hear about it. Nothing says "I am committed to this school!" like enrolling your own child.

Aside from all that, my Kindergartner is on track to read English AND Mandarin short stories by the end of the year. This is in addition to mastery of early-ed mathematics and regular art/PE/computer.

Honestly? I think people pay $30K per year for some of the supersize DC private names and yet they don't receive this elevated level of instruction - even in English (much less Chinese).

Having said that, if you're of the sort to cash in on Yu Ying and then move on to private? We don't really want or need you. There's a growing percentage of the student body families who want t extend the program all the way through H.S. We want our children to have advanced Mandarin at every level. If you're not committed to a high-level Mandarin education for your child all the way to college then please don't apply.

[Anonymous]

Another point in WYY's favor is that the early buy-in sets up the school to have the close, long-term community of a top private school.

Once your DC gets in at the Pre-K or K level, you get to meet the children and families your DC will be exposed to up until at least the 8th grade. Sure, there will be a little turn-over and attrition and a few new kids, but by and large? By 2nd grade, the only new kids coming in will be fluent Chinese speakers (with their attendant cultural baggage of high expectations and low tolerance for B.S.).

[Anonymous]

Because charters generally suck. And because this one is the current hope of upper middle class parents who don't want to go private or leave the city and whose kids are preschoolers.

No track record actually helps -- it's easier to believe when there's little or no data to dash your hopes. Early self-promotion, to the extent that it leads to more upper middle class recruitment, gives parents more hope and more resources. Hope because other people like you have validated your choice and resources because, they will presumably work with you to see that the school succeeds. Nothing wrong with that, but in the initial stages it's almost inherently a kind of confidence game/pyramid scheme.

Personally, I'd be more willing to bet on Washington Latin than YuYing in this category (upper middle class folks discover the possibilities of charters). More experienced leadership and a more viable model. Chinese immersion will only go so far if the parents aren't fluent in Chinese themselves.

[Anonymous]

Yu Ying parent here. Charters do generally suck....but the the beauty of the charter school movement to let a thousand flowers bloom is that of the 60 plus charter options in DC you now have 6 or 7 good charters that didn't exist a mere 10 years ago. I'd love if someone could do the math and add up the enrollment of schools like Cap City, Washington Latin, Yu Ying, Haynes, Lamb, etc. and figure out how many middle class families (not families receiving free or reduced lunch) have stayed in the city because of these schools.

So its a good question OP: why is Yu Ying considered a top school if it is only in its second year, has no test scores, etc. to back it up? Personaly, I would say Yu Ying is not a "top" school. That moniker can't be awarded until it graduates its first 8th grade class successfully and proves they are fluent in Mandarin--the stated goal.
However, it is a highly desired school in terms of getting a lottery spot--that's a better way to describe it. I believe it is going to continue to be highly desireable because it offers a rare combination of factors that few public school or charter schools in the city offer--excellence in teaching, true diversity (something like 30% white, 50% black, and 20% Asian if I remember correctly from the City Paper last year) rigor, and staff and administration who are super committed to the school.

Totally agree with a PP as well, I hope Yu Ying does a high school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Yu Ying is 20% Asian? What percentage of those children are native speakers of Mandarin?

Just curious.

[Anonymous]

I think there are a lot of parents hoping to give their kids an "edge" with Mandarin fluency, and I think they are in for some disappointment.

[Anonymous]

I think the stats are more like 50% african american, 30% white, 15% hispanic, 5% asian.

Many/most of the asian children (girls) are adopted into caucasian families. There are only a handful of native Mandarin speakers. At least one expat return who was born in China (caucasian) and is near native fluency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are a lot of parents hoping to give their kids an "edge" with Mandarin fluency, and I think they are in for some disappointment.

What school does your child attend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are a lot of parents hoping to give their kids an "edge" with Mandarin fluency, and I think they are in for some disappointment.

Actually, immersion education in North America has a pretty extensive and successful track record. Mandarin is relatively new on the east coast, but it's been popular in California and the Pacific Northwest for years and continues to grow in popularity due to its success. Early immersion itself (mostly french) has been around since the '70s and is considered the "Cadillac model" of foreign language acquisition, far superior to the direct instruction model used in most MS and HS programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the stats are more like 50% african american, 30% white, 15% hispanic, 5% asian.

Many/most of the asian children (girls) are adopted into caucasian families. There are only a handful of native Mandarin speakers. At least one expat return who was born in China (caucasian) and is near native fluency.

Those are last year's numbers. There seems to be a significantly different demographic distribution of students if you look at the grades individually. For example, the 2nd grade is majority AA, however a visual survey of the K and Pre-k classes shows what is probably a plurality of caucasian students, but obviously a well-balanced mix of all ethnicities. There don't appear to be any obvious "one and onlys" which is really nice! In any event this year's data won't be available for some time. Also, keep in mind that "Asian" includes children of Indian (the subcontinent) background, so the "Asian" designation doesn't indicate fully ethnic Chinese.

[Anonymous]

i don't have any specific knowledge of WYY, but i suspect that it is generating a lot of interest because it both shows early promise and is the flavor of the month (i mean that respectfully). it's new and has an interesting and high-profile twist in its mandarin immersion and so it is getting a lot of attention. and it seems to have inspired a dedicated group of boosters. more power to WYY. next year, we will all be gabbing about another new charter....

[Anonymous]

I'm also a YY parent and we may be unusual but fluency in Mandarin is not our primary reason for being there. I am actually pretty skeptical that it can be achieved without any native speakers (which is essentially a fact). However, there seems to be good data indicating that simply learning a language like Mandarin provides real educational benefits and we're already seen our daughter developing confidence and pride thanks to her accomplishments in Chinese. She also gets a lot of positive feedback every time it comes up which it does endlessly (amazing how many times a week someone asks where your child goes to school!). And, as everyone else has said, it is really a great, nurturing environment. All the staff members know all the kids by name and the small size means that most of the kids know each other too. So, whether it is a "top" charter may be questionable, but we feel really lucky to be there.