Dora Kennedy French Immersion - Incoming Kindergarten Class

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I posted this in the lottery updates thread, but I realized matched people may no longer be checking there. Is anyone interested in getting together a playgroup so the children can get to know each other prior to starting school this fall?

[Anonymous]

Yes, I would be interested. I am sure meeting new friends and seeing familiar faces will be helpful for the first day(s) as they transition.

Anyone signing up for the 3-week summer camp?

[Anonymous]

OP here, my son will be attending camp for 2 of the 3-week sessions (family vacation already planned for the week of the 4th).

[Anonymous]

DKFI parent here. One advice I give to prospective Dora Kennedy French Immersion (DKFI) parents is to read, read, read English books with your DKFI student. English/Language Arts/Phonics is not taught until the 2nd-grade and as a result, some of the DKFI 2nd-graders can be slight to severely behind in reading. Reading in French will certainly help with their English reading development, but I stress supplement reading books in English as well. Keep in mind unless your child is a high achiever/gifted, most kindergartners are learning HOW to read and may not be able to comprehend what they're reading. Comprehension should develop mid to late in their 2nd-grade year.

Congrats on your child selection to DKFI, the school is AMAZING! Stay involved, join the PTA (http://www.dkfipta.org/) and engage with their teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DKFI parent here. One advice I give to prospective Dora Kennedy French Immersion (DKFI) parents is to read, read, read English books with your DKFI student. English/Language Arts/Phonics is not taught until the 2nd-grade and as a result, some of the DKFI 2nd-graders can be slight to severely behind in reading. Reading in French will certainly help with their English reading development, but I stress supplement reading books in English as well. Keep in mind unless your child is a high achiever/gifted, most kindergartners are learning HOW to read and may not be able to comprehend what they're reading. Comprehension should develop mid to late in their 2nd-grade year.

Congrats on your child selection to DKFI, the school is AMAZING! Stay involved, join the PTA (http://www.dkfipta.org/) and engage with their teachers.

Thank you so much for this advice! I have heard so many awesome things about the school but my worry has still be that my child may fall behind a bit in English. He is an early reader so we will continue to include many English books and not double up on the French texts. Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

I agree with the above post; awesome advice! My son is not reading yet, but I will continue to supplement at home and may even invest in a reading tutor.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone help me with a tough decision? My son i starting kindergarten and was excepted into Dora French Immersion and CMIT North Elementary. Can anyone tell me which they would choose and why? FYI: Transportation is not a problem for either school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone help me with a tough decision? My son i starting kindergarten and was excepted into Dora French Immersion and CMIT North Elementary. Can anyone tell me which they would choose and why? FYI: Transportation is not a problem for either school.

I would do CMIT North if transportation isn't an issue and you think your child can handle the rigor (hard to tell at K). CMIT goes through 12th grade. DKFI kids do get automatic entry to Central High School but I'm not sure how good that program is. DKFI goes through 8th but the class size at 6-8 are really small (45-55 kids per grade). That sounds good unless there is a social issue and you can't separate your kid from the bully in the class. CMIT has around 175 kids per grade in the upper grades which I think is better from a social perspective.

[Anonymous]

It depends on your child. CMIT is only good if your child is going to end up on an accelerated track. Students who are average and/or below grade level do not do well there. My son got in to CMIT first and then DKFI and we've chosen DKFI. By the time he's in HS (9 years from now), there's no telling what the High School offerings will be like. For ES/MS I would go with DKFI every time. My nephew has attended DKFI since Kindergarten and is now entering the 7th grade. I also know several CMIT North families who have left the school because of frustrations with the lack of support and structure for students who are not at the higher academic levels.

Anyway, I am the OP, and unfortunately this has been a super busy summer and I haven't been able to do any meetups. The PTA is having an event for incoming Kindergaten families at the Greenbelt Park on the 19th. Checkout their FB page if you haven't already followed. I will be there and I am looking forward to meeting other K families.

[Anonymous]

Correction, the Greenbelt Park meetup is July 27th not the 19th. From 10:30am-12:30pm

[Anonymous]

That's a great problem to have. Both schools are exceptional. My son started at CMIT North and is currently enrolled at Dora Kennedy French Immersion (DKFI) so my apologies in advance if my response sounds biased.
I didn’t know if my son would gravitate to STEM subjects and didn’t want to force it. The fact that DKFI curriculum is taught in French was intriguing but it also offered my son a balanced learning environment. Now that he’s older (10 years old; rising 5th grader) he’s showing interest in STEM subjects. For the summer, he’s in STEM camps that’s offered through PG Parks and Recreation and at local colleges in the DMV. He’s involved in Destination Imagination, an after-school activity in which students work in teams to solve STEM challenges and present their solutions at tournaments across the DMV and the country. Many of DKFI students end up being admitted to Eleanor Roosevelt’s highly regarded Science and Technology program. Central High School is not an option (I will get to that part later).

What also helped me decide to choose DKFI was the Maryland Public School Report Card. Oftentimes parents rely on GreatSchools.com, Niche.com and other similar sites. Those sites are sometimes based on some type of emotion (positive, negative and in between). The Maryland Public School Report Card takes subjectivity out of the equation and shows the school’s test scores, absenteeism rates, graduation rate, college readiness, and student growth just to name a few performance indicators. Based on these performance indicators, the state will give each school a percentile rank, a total earned points percent and a star rating on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. DKFI was recently rated a 5 star school in the 92nd percentile for MD elementary schools and CMIT North was rated a 4 star school in the 66th percentile for MD elementary schools. I mentioned earlier Central High School was not an option because it was rated a 2 star school in the 17th percentile for MD high schools.

As parents you want to make the best choice for your child, I hope you arm yourself with as much information to make that choice. Lastly, DKFI PTA will be hosting a kindergarten meet up Saturday July 27th from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the Greenbelt Playground (it’s behind the Greenbelt Library). Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's a great problem to have. Both schools are exceptional. My son started at CMIT North and is currently enrolled at Dora Kennedy French Immersion (DKFI) so my apologies in advance if my response sounds biased.
I didn’t know if my son would gravitate to STEM subjects and didn’t want to force it. The fact that DKFI curriculum is taught in French was intriguing but it also offered my son a balanced learning environment. Now that he’s older (10 years old; rising 5th grader) he’s showing interest in STEM subjects. For the summer, he’s in STEM camps that’s offered through PG Parks and Recreation and at local colleges in the DMV. He’s involved in Destination Imagination, an after-school activity in which students work in teams to solve STEM challenges and present their solutions at tournaments across the DMV and the country. Many of DKFI students end up being admitted to Eleanor Roosevelt’s highly regarded Science and Technology program. Central High School is not an option (I will get to that part later).

What also helped me decide to choose DKFI was the Maryland Public School Report Card. Oftentimes parents rely on GreatSchools.com, Niche.com and other similar sites. Those sites are sometimes based on some type of emotion (positive, negative and in between). The Maryland Public School Report Card takes subjectivity out of the equation and shows the school’s test scores, absenteeism rates, graduation rate, college readiness, and student growth just to name a few performance indicators. Based on these performance indicators, the state will give each school a percentile rank, a total earned points percent and a star rating on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. DKFI was recently rated a 5 star school in the 92nd percentile for MD elementary schools and CMIT North was rated a 4 star school in the 66th percentile for MD elementary schools. I mentioned earlier Central High School was not an option because it was rated a 2 star school in the 17th percentile for MD high schools.

As parents you want to make the best choice for your child, I hope you arm yourself with as much information to make that choice. Lastly, DKFI PTA will be hosting a kindergarten meet up Saturday July 27th from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the Greenbelt Playground (it’s behind the Greenbelt Library). Good Luck!

Some 8th graders are accepted to Roosevelt's S&T program- maybe a bigger cohort than some schools, but not necessarily "many" either. Typically between 10 and 15 students (out of 60-65) in an eighth grade class at DKFI get in. Just thought I'd point this out, as the post makes it sound like this is a natural trajectory for many students at DKFI. In fact, most students attend their zoned HS and a small number go private. Central HS is not really an immersion program (most classes are not taught in French), and most DKFI students do not go there.

~DKFI parent for the last 12 years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's a great problem to have. Both schools are exceptional. My son started at CMIT North and is currently enrolled at Dora Kennedy French Immersion (DKFI) so my apologies in advance if my response sounds biased.
I didn’t know if my son would gravitate to STEM subjects and didn’t want to force it. The fact that DKFI curriculum is taught in French was intriguing but it also offered my son a balanced learning environment. Now that he’s older (10 years old; rising 5th grader) he’s showing interest in STEM subjects. For the summer, he’s in STEM camps that’s offered through PG Parks and Recreation and at local colleges in the DMV. He’s involved in Destination Imagination, an after-school activity in which students work in teams to solve STEM challenges and present their solutions at tournaments across the DMV and the country. Many of DKFI students end up being admitted to Eleanor Roosevelt’s highly regarded Science and Technology program. Central High School is not an option (I will get to that part later).

What also helped me decide to choose DKFI was the Maryland Public School Report Card. Oftentimes parents rely on GreatSchools.com, Niche.com and other similar sites. Those sites are sometimes based on some type of emotion (positive, negative and in between). The Maryland Public School Report Card takes subjectivity out of the equation and shows the school’s test scores, absenteeism rates, graduation rate, college readiness, and student growth just to name a few performance indicators. Based on these performance indicators, the state will give each school a percentile rank, a total earned points percent and a star rating on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. DKFI was recently rated a 5 star school in the 92nd percentile for MD elementary schools and CMIT North was rated a 4 star school in the 66th percentile for MD elementary schools. I mentioned earlier Central High School was not an option because it was rated a 2 star school in the 17th percentile for MD high schools.

As parents you want to make the best choice for your child, I hope you arm yourself with as much information to make that choice. Lastly, DKFI PTA will be hosting a kindergarten meet up Saturday July 27th from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the Greenbelt Playground (it’s behind the Greenbelt Library). Good Luck!

Some 8th graders are accepted to Roosevelt's S&T program- maybe a bigger cohort than some schools, but not necessarily "many" either. Typically between 10 and 15 students (out of 60-65) in an eighth grade class at DKFI get in. Just thought I'd point this out, as the post makes it sound like this is a natural trajectory for many students at DKFI. In fact, most students attend their zoned HS and a small number go private. Central HS is not really an immersion program (most classes are not taught in French), and most DKFI students do not go there.

~DKFI parent for the last 12 years

NP here.
Do many students go to the IB program at Parkdale?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's a great problem to have. Both schools are exceptional. My son started at CMIT North and is currently enrolled at Dora Kennedy French Immersion (DKFI) so my apologies in advance if my response sounds biased.
I didn’t know if my son would gravitate to STEM subjects and didn’t want to force it. The fact that DKFI curriculum is taught in French was intriguing but it also offered my son a balanced learning environment. Now that he’s older (10 years old; rising 5th grader) he’s showing interest in STEM subjects. For the summer, he’s in STEM camps that’s offered through PG Parks and Recreation and at local colleges in the DMV. He’s involved in Destination Imagination, an after-school activity in which students work in teams to solve STEM challenges and present their solutions at tournaments across the DMV and the country. Many of DKFI students end up being admitted to Eleanor Roosevelt’s highly regarded Science and Technology program. Central High School is not an option (I will get to that part later).

What also helped me decide to choose DKFI was the Maryland Public School Report Card. Oftentimes parents rely on GreatSchools.com, Niche.com and other similar sites. Those sites are sometimes based on some type of emotion (positive, negative and in between). The Maryland Public School Report Card takes subjectivity out of the equation and shows the school’s test scores, absenteeism rates, graduation rate, college readiness, and student growth just to name a few performance indicators. Based on these performance indicators, the state will give each school a percentile rank, a total earned points percent and a star rating on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. DKFI was recently rated a 5 star school in the 92nd percentile for MD elementary schools and CMIT North was rated a 4 star school in the 66th percentile for MD elementary schools. I mentioned earlier Central High School was not an option because it was rated a 2 star school in the 17th percentile for MD high schools.

As parents you want to make the best choice for your child, I hope you arm yourself with as much information to make that choice. Lastly, DKFI PTA will be hosting a kindergarten meet up Saturday July 27th from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the Greenbelt Playground (it’s behind the Greenbelt Library). Good Luck!

Some 8th graders are accepted to Roosevelt's S&T program- maybe a bigger cohort than some schools, but not necessarily "many" either. Typically between 10 and 15 students (out of 60-65) in an eighth grade class at DKFI get in. Just thought I'd point this out, as the post makes it sound like this is a natural trajectory for many students at DKFI. In fact, most students attend their zoned HS and a small number go private. Central HS is not really an immersion program (most classes are not taught in French), and most DKFI students do not go there.

~DKFI parent for the last 12 years

NP here.
Do many students go to the IB program at Parkdale?

Haven't heard of many. I do have a friend whose child (not DKFI) went there and was happy with it, though.