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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
Language Immersion Programs
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Anonymous
| I am entering my oldest into the lottery for six of the seven immersion programs for kindergarten. Does anyone have an idea what the odds are for getting into one and/or which programs are the most popular. Our first choice is College Gardens, but I would love to hear about any experiences people could share about any of the programs. I will be attending some open houses soon, but I would like to hear from parents. Are there any of these programs that people would avoid? Also, if anyone has had any experience with Flower Hill (our home school if we don't get into anything), I would like to know about that as well. |
Anonymous
| We applied to only a single school and I think there were at least 10 applicants for every spot. |
Anonymous
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WOW... six out of the seven! Are you that multi-lingual???
To answer your first question, yes they are very popular and the wait list can be over 200 to get in. But that is in part due to folks like you who apply to 6 schools when they can only attend ONE. 
Now, to your second question about what it is like...We had our kids in the Spanish full day at Rock Creek Forest and that was because one of us was a native Spanish speaker. If you are not fluent in the target language, it will get harder and harder as they get older. It is a big commitment to do this program. Their English written skills will suffer. Reading in English, probably not so much, but they will forever be spell check kids as the school is NOT teaching them ENGLISH spelling and grammar. Remember that. That will by YOUR job. Rock Creek used to be an amazing program until they stopped the teachers from Spain program a few years back and the principal there retired. It all went down hill from there. Teacher turnover, the quality of the instruction, the school administration... just not as high of standards as it used to be. Even at the middle school level, I know so many parents who had to hire tutors because they did NOT know the target language. Remember, you are learning, math in the target language. Science in the target language. Social Studies, in the target language. It means as a parent, you have to know the topics and be able to explain them to your child in the target language or find someone who can. Would I do it all over again knowing what I know now??? Of course. |
Anonymous
Interesting. Our neighbors who had kids in the immersion program were excited when she retired and the new principal came on board. I do find it interesting that none of the principals at these programs seem to speak the target language. So what was better under the old administration at RCFES? |
Anonymous
| The current principal at Rock Creek Forest does speak Spanish. |
Anonymous
He does? I have never heard him speak, he always uses a translator. |
Anonymous
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He does speak Spanish but not natively -- I believe he lived in Honduras for a year or so.
IMO, the program has not good. |
Anonymous
Could you elaborate? |
Anonymous
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My son is in the Spanish Immersion at RCFES now, and his English reading ability is definitely lagging way behind his Spanish reading ability.
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Anonymous
I could not disagree more with this. We have had two children in the French immersion program at SCES, one of whom graduated a few years ago, and neither my DH nor I speaks French. Our kids have done very well -outstanding grades and report cards - with no issues, none at all. We have not helped them one whit, language-wise. We have however helped them with math and other subjects, because the concepts are the same across languages. We knew lots of fellow parents who likewise didn't/don't speak French and it is just not an issue. OP, to answer your question - we have liked the FI program at SCES, but it does have its issues. IMO the major ones are: *Since it is immersion, it is heavily dependent on the availability and quality of the staff. If a teacher has a long-term crisis, or is sick a lot, or whatever, the options for long-term subs are not good. Also, IMO, there are a few teachers there who are not so great, and who are there for their language capabilities and not for their teaching talents. A small minority, for sure, but they are there. *IMO the program breaks down a bit in the upper grades (4/5). Our older child never got the proper social studies instruction per MCPS curriculum, because the teacher just didn't get around to it. It's a double-edged sword - the teachers have some autonomy because of the language (which impedes some oversight) - which is a good thing - but it can also mean the kids miss out on what I think are important areas of the curriculum. If I were starting out at this point I would be concerned about budget cuts. I think the language immersion programs, which have undergone cuts already a few times, are frail. Weast doesn't support them as he should (IMO) and they are at the mercy of MCPS. I hope this helps. |
Anonymous
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PP here. Regarding principals, the one at SCES does not speak French, but there is a French Coordinator who is in charge of the FI program. She does of course speak French.
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Anonymous
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It is a big commitment to do this program. Their English written skills will suffer. Reading in English, probably not so much, but they will forever be spell check kids as the school is NOT teaching them ENGLISH spelling and grammar. Remember that. That will by YOUR job.
I am not sure that your statement about forever being a spell check kid is entirely accurate. I did not even learn English until I was 8 (which is when we moved to the US) and spelling has never been an issue. What I love about the English language, compared to Arabic and French (which is what I learned growing up), is that you don't have to worry about masculine and feminine. It makes it easier to learn the language and the English alphabet letters are also so easy to learn. If this is something you and your son really want OP, I hope you guys get in somewhere that works for you. Good luck. |
Anonymous
Actually, this is a great strategy because so many people apply in each lottery. You may not care which language your kid learns, either because you want them to learn a second language period, or because your main goal is escaping the local ES. In our case, DH and I didn't care if DC did spanish or french (and DH and I both speak both languages). So we entered DC in the lotteries for french and spanish schools. DC drew a low number for one, a high number for the other, and went to the first. |
Anonymous
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18:52 again. I think the spell check issue depends on the kid. Our DC, who did immersion, is a great speller in English, without particularly effort on his or our parts. But we know some immersion kids who are not great spellers a few years out.
I believe studies have shown (I have read about these studies, don't have links to post) that immersion kids do worse in English for the first few years, but then mostly catch up by 4th or 5th grades and often do better in English than their peers later on. Immersion isn't for kids with language or speech difficulties, however. |
Anonymous
| This is the OP. Thanks for all the responses. Sorry I haven't replied before this...major computer meltdown. This has all been very informative. I am not that multi-lingual, and it was more of a strategy. It seems it worked, and we were accepted to Maryvale next year. Does anyone have knowledge of or experience with this school? I have researched some statistics, but would love to hear from parents. I am not too concerned with my DC's English suffering. She taught herself to read at three, and at just under five she is probably on a first or second grade level. Also, I am a native speaker, and can assist her should she fall behind. Are there any other things I should prepare myself for? |