Oakland Terrace

[Anonymous]

I have a rising Kindergartener who will attend Oakland Terrace this fall. I am excited for the dual immersion program, but neither parent speaks/reads/writes Spanish. Anything you wish you would have done now or known to prepare?

DC has Spanish class at preschool, but it is limited to very basic phrases, counting, etc.

[Anonymous]

No advice but within the MCPS teacher community, OTES is VERY highly regarded. Even with its "highish" FARMS rate.

[Anonymous]

I wish I never put my kid in that school. Otherwise, be prepared to supplement, especially with spelling and math facts.

[Anonymous]

We are 2 teachers new to the area this past year. After much research we chose Oakland Terrace for our 2 young kids (first one starting school this Sept) and we bought a house in Kensington. I have yet to meet a neighbor who does not love the school. But there probably is one, somewhere....

[Anonymous]

There are *many* teacher parents whose kids go to OTES. They are onto something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are *many* teacher parents whose kids go to OTES. They are onto something.

They don’t make a lot of money and their options are limited in this very expensive metro area. That is what it is saying

[Anonymous]

OTES is highly regarded on DCUM, but apparently everyone but the above PP.

As far as your actual question, you don’t need to do anything to prepare. Most of the English speaking kids will have no Spanish skills in the beginning. Maybe watch some Spanish-dubbed cartoons, if you think it will help him get excited or feel more ready. Nick Jr’s YouTube channel has their shows in Spanish, and Disney Jr probably does too.

[Anonymous]

Is it the school or the community that offers Spanish immersion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it the school or the community that offers Spanish immersion?

It's an MCPS program offered at several schools, one of which is Oakland Terrace.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/specialprograms/elementary/0738.18_ESOL2-wayImmers_MCPS_ENG_Web.pdf

[Anonymous]

DS will be in first grade. He loved kindergarten and was so excited to teach me the Spanish that he was learning. There is really nothing that I felt we needed to prepare for. DS went in knowing no Spanish and made great progress despite neither parent knowing Spanish. The teachers are great. I hope you have a good experience. It really is a nice community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are *many* teacher parents whose kids go to OTES. They are onto something.

They don’t make a lot of money and their options are limited in this very expensive metro area. That is what it is saying

Those parent value and know a good education. Former colleague (with PhD and spouse we/masters) were very happy with OTES. Children were prepared for MCPS magnet programs and are excelling.

[Anonymous]

I am the PP teacher (couple). NO ONE values the education of their children more than teachers. Look to where teachers send their children to school. That's a hint to the better schools: we find out about the best teachers, best admin. We do our research.

If for some reason things change down the line, we move/pull out. We don't waste our time in disappointing schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP teacher (couple). NO ONE values the education of their children more than teachers. Look to where teachers send their children to school. That's a hint to the better schools: we find out about the best teachers, best admin. We do our research.

If for some reason things change down the line, we move/pull out. We don't waste our time in disappointing schools.

The admin is the issue. I'm surprised they don't have more turnover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP teacher (couple). NO ONE values the education of their children more than teachers. Look to where teachers send their children to school. That's a hint to the better schools: we find out about the best teachers, best admin. We do our research.

If for some reason things change down the line, we move/pull out. We don't waste our time in disappointing schools.

The admin is the issue. I'm surprised they don't have more turnover.

There is very little turnover. THAT should tell you something about the admin. If staff members aren’t happy, they would leave

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP teacher (couple). NO ONE values the education of their children more than teachers. Look to where teachers send their children to school. That's a hint to the better schools: we find out about the best teachers, best admin. We do our research.

If for some reason things change down the line, we move/pull out. We don't waste our time in disappointing schools.

The admin is the issue. I'm surprised they don't have more turnover.

There is very little turnover. THAT should tell you something about the admin. If staff members aren’t happy, they would leave

My kids have been at the school for several years. We've had huge turnover in vice principals and other staff. We've lost staff too. I've also seen how the admin treat teachers and don't support their or the parents concerns for the kids. Not including how some kids are treated. They don't allow parent volunteers as they don't want parents seeing or knowing what is going on.