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Looking for thoughts on Mount Vernon Community School in Del Ray, Alexandria
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Anonymous
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I currently live in a condo in Rosemont and are looking to move to a townhouse in Del Ray, so we would move from Maury Elementary to Mount Vernon Elementary School. My daughter is 1 so this is not really any issue right now. I am looking for thoughts on the following questions for the dual language program:
1. If your child attends/attended MVCS, did you find it challenging to assist with your child's schoolwork in Spanish? I majored in French, actually, so I like the idea of the dual language program but am worried I won't understand half of the content. 2. I have heard of the option to opt out of the dual language program, should it not be right for my child. Can someone explain how this works? Specifically, I am looking to see whether you have a choice once you decide to opt out: for example, if I opt out and the school closest to me has no openings and then I am offered a spot at the second or third farthest school with more availability, can I decide to just stay at MVCS? Or, once I opt out, do I have to go with the school that has openings. We primarily get around by walking and I am worried about how to get to a school farther away. Thanks so much for any and all responses I get! |
Anonymous
We live in the zone but attend private instead. The neighborhood is pretty divided on MVCS. Some love, love, love it and send their kids there. Others not so much and therefore send their kids to SSSAS, Grace, Browne, Burgundy, ACDS, or parochial. All the kids on our block do private of some sort. A few up the street go to TC for high school, but they moved here after ES. Sorry I don't have more to offer, but you should anticipate strong opinions on this school. Probably better opinions generally when compared to Jefferson Houston, but not as favorable as Maury and some of the others in ACPS. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for your response. This is what I figured but I am glad at least I can hear from one Del Ray resident. |
Anonymous
| Active duty military family who used to live in Del Ray. We opted out of MVCS (my daughter was K at the time) because we knew we'd be moving in 1.5 years. They calculated the shortest distance from my house to the next closest school, which was Maury. Cora Kelly is also really close (and maybe J-H too, depending on your exact address). It's a bit of a crapshoot. |
Anonymous
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Count our family in as one of those that loves MVCS. Our kids are now in high school and middle school, but both talk about how much they loved being at MVCS (my younger used a persuasive writing assignment to argue for making MVCS K-8 because she misses it so much). Both are essentially fluent in Spanish, which was our goal. Full disclosure one of the reasons we moved to the neighborhood was because we wanted the free dual language education for our kids even though we are not Spanish speakers.
A few things of note: The dual language program has gotten stronger over time. Our younger kid got a much more robust program than our older kid got. I understand that it continues to get stronger. The school (and the ACPS language department) has created a good dual language parent handbook that didn't exist when my older was coming up. I mention this because the experience of someone ten years ago or even five years ago is probably not super relevant to what is going on in the school now (at least pre-pandemic). Since you asked specifically about homework: In the early years, we definitely struggled to figure out how to support the Spanish at home since we don't speak it. Our best resources for what to do were other parents and the individual teachers. A lot of what we learned is in the parent handbook now. To be honest, we never really had to help with homework (and in elementary school generally they don't have much homework to begin with). With our older kid, we got a Spanish tutor that we used periodically in third and fourth grade. We found we didn't need her for our younger kid, which speaks in part to the growth in the program and in part to that kid's natural facility for language. Essentially, just encouraging reading generally is what teachers say is best (i.e., boosting reading in your native language boosts those skills in the target language.) The school is really large, and that can seem overwhelming. I think the last I checked it was about 900 kids. The school does a pretty good job of making it feel small (e.g., grades kept together in their own hallway so that their world feels smaller). But there are some things that result from the size: there are never "whole school" assemblies because the auditorium cannot fit everyone. (There are assemblies, they are just limited to particular grades at particular times) There isn't a "school play" with everyone the way we had when we were kids. But there are other things - some early grade levels do their own performances (one kid did a fairy tale theater thing that was hilarious) and there are a ton of after school club options that include a couple that put on a play. In other words, it's a different experience than you might have at a school with 300 kids - but the opportunities are there. The parent community is really strong. The PTA has done a ton of work over the years to create community. Some good leaders have made big strides in bridging the gap between the native Spanish speaking families and the native English speaking families. The recent "from neighbors to friends" program was part of that effort. I hope that it continues. As your kid gets older (and this pandemic ends) make an effort to meet MVCS families on the playground or at various community events. I generally think people are pretty honest about the pros and cons of the school. In terms of opting out, all of MVCS is dual language, so if you don't want that your kid will be placed at another ES. Where your kid goes is based on what school is closest to your home and whether there is space in that school, so you don't really have much control over where you go. Depending on where you are in the neighborhood you could end up at CBES, J-H, Maury, or CKES. So, they start with the school closest to you. If there is a spot, that's where you go. If not, they go to the next closest school. And so on. (At least that is how the process works on paper.) For what it's worth: on our block the batch of kids included 8 MVCS kids, 2 Maury kids, and 2 private school kids. (all of them now in MS or HS) Not sure whether the pandemic is going to change the numbers appreciably around the neighborhood in terms of ES, but surely this will be all over by the time you get to the decision point. Good luck with the house buying. |
Anonymous
| We have 2 kids at MVCS. We absolutely love that our kids are getting a dual language education and that they have diverse classmates from around the globe. Is it perfect, no, but we have been pleased over the last 4 years we have been there. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| MVCS is a super-stretched, ridiculously overcrowded school. My husband is bilingual and I speak several languages, but I don’t see kiddos there entering middle school with substantive language skills that differentiate them from their peers. I’d opt out to either Maury or Cora Kelly. Preferably CK. A great school that is on an upward trajectory. |
Anonymous
You’d recommend Cora Kelly over Maury? Really? |
Anonymous
Yes, really. I value a small, diverse school with great teachers and an engaged community. |
Anonymous
| Agree with the PP but for a different reason. The parent group at the other school is vicious. Do a search here under the schools' names, and do the same on FB and ND. The better choice will be very clear. |
Anonymous
| MCVS family here — we love it. It is an incredibly warm and welcoming community. The dual language is a bonus. |
Anonymous
I was trying not to be mean but totally agree. The parent behavior at Maury is remarkable, and not in a good way. |
Anonymous
OP here- can you please provide examples? My experience has been great so far. |
Anonymous
The two schools are pretty close in size, and Maury's community is extremely engaged. It's diverse in the sense that it is 30 percent African American, although you are correct that it does not draw from any neighborhoods with a significant number of Hispanic students. |