Rock Creek Forest immersion - recent experiences

[Anonymous]

RCF would be a hike for us (there is a bus stop not too far though), and we have a strong home elementary school, so we are going back and forth on this decision. Looking for recent feedback on the program, especially for families with a longer commute. DC will start K in the fall. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

We are waitlisted, so no reviews of RCF, but I think you should take the spot and try and make it work, you can always go back to home school...

[Anonymous]

We love it there. But I don't have a long commute.... Great principal and assistant principal, good happy vibe... I agree, take the spot and if it doesn't work, you'll make a wait lister happy!

[Anonymous]

I wish DCCAPS allowed people to switch. I’ll trade you a Page spot for an RCF spot as that’s only a few minutes from me. I wish!

[Anonymous]

We are at RCF and our DC takes one of the longest bus rides home. We’re managing it pretty well- there’s a good community of parents at our stop and we all look out for each other if we’re running late, etc. It can be a lot on the kids but they seem to manage it ok. I picked up DC for a few weeks after the school opened in person and DC said they wanted to be back on the bus with their friends instead!

RCF is a great school definitely worth trying. Yes the commute isn’t great but for us it’s worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish DCCAPS allowed people to switch. I’ll trade you a Page spot for an RCF spot as that’s only a few minutes from me. I wish!

+1000

Also I hope the county can keep expanding the language immersion program because it’s so popular.

[Anonymous]

Also following! Deciding between RCF and Maryvale immersion. I can support French at home, but we can’t do the same for Spanish without learning ourselves, which we are considering. And I’m also thinking about the middle school options.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thank you for the feedback. We are definitely leaning towards taking the spot.. And I agree with broadening the program - I wish all MCPS families had this option. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I have a 3rd grader at RCF and like the school. But the first 6-8 weeks of K were very rough as my son got used to immersion Spanish....the teacher never spoke in English so there were lots of frustrations. It is possible to parent without knowing the language. But I’ve found it absolutely helps to know the language

[Anonymous]

Has there been any movement? Anyone?

[Anonymous]

We declined our invitation to RCF for one of the French programs, so there’s at least one opening! We had until 3 pm today to respond.

[Anonymous]

we went to an RCF open house last year and we really liked the principal and school. didn't get in, but it was fantastic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 3rd grader at RCF and like the school. But the first 6-8 weeks of K were very rough as my son got used to immersion Spanish....the teacher never spoke in English so there were lots of frustrations. It is possible to parent without knowing the language. But I’ve found it absolutely helps to know the language

Strange, because there was definitely a mix of English and Spanish for both my kids at the beginning of K, and the teacher said the kids are eased into Spanish at first at the parent meeting.

We love RCF. We have a long bus ride, but the kids seem to enjoy it...time with friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 3rd grader at RCF and like the school. But the first 6-8 weeks of K were very rough as my son got used to immersion Spanish....the teacher never spoke in English so there were lots of frustrations. It is possible to parent without knowing the language. But I’ve found it absolutely helps to know the language

I can corroborate this as my 2nd grader was there for K and 1st. First grade Teacher never spoke English and because there were a lot of native speakers in my child’s classroom, the teacher spoke to their level. My child worked really hard but could not keep up. The principal strikes me as fantastic. I don’t think immersion is the be-all for everyone, though it works for some. My child is now a star student in our (highly regarded) home school.

My advice- try it for kindergarten, but if it’s not working by fall of first grade, take your child out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 3rd grader at RCF and like the school. But the first 6-8 weeks of K were very rough as my son got used to immersion Spanish....the teacher never spoke in English so there were lots of frustrations. It is possible to parent without knowing the language. But I’ve found it absolutely helps to know the language

I can corroborate this as my 2nd grader was there for K and 1st. First grade Teacher never spoke English and because there were a lot of native speakers in my child’s classroom, the teacher spoke to their level. My child worked really hard but could not keep up. The principal strikes me as fantastic. I don’t think immersion is the be-all for everyone, though it works for some. My child is now a star student in our (highly regarded) home school.

My advice- try it for kindergarten, but if it’s not working by fall of first grade, take your child out.

DP Interesting that there are a lot of native speakers. Is that due to demand by Spanish-speaking families or preference given by MCPS to families where Spanish is spoken at home?