Dual-language/Immersion Programs

[Anonymous]

Recently moved to DMV and am trying to figure out where to buy/rent long-term. Our primary factor is schools (we have a 2.5 year-old) which is why this post is under schools and education rather than real-estate. After living overseas for a few years, we decided that we really wanted our kids to go through a language immersion program so we've been researching options in DMV. Spanish or French would be fine with us, but we'd probably prefer Spanish.

Here are my questions:
1. Do I still have to apply through the lottery if I live in-bounds in DC or Montgomery County? I've looked at the websites and they seem to conflict. MCPS lists some schools as "two-way" which I believe are in-bounds only, and others that are "immersion" which seem to be everything from in-bounds (they use the term local), countywide, and regional (can't find the definition they're using for regional). For DCPS the website says I have to apply via lottery but the same page states, "All elementary Dual Language programs are “boundary” schools. If you live in a Dual Language school boundary, your child is eligible to enroll in that school." If the program was still lottery on the local level, I don't think they'd say "your child is eligible to enroll". Am I missing something?

2. Are MCPS or DPCS planning to expand these programs? I've looked online and only see older articles (around 2018). Anything more recent that might not have hit the news yet?

3. If it all really boils down to a lottery, I'd like to know what my backup options are. To that extent, does anyone have experience with Rochambeau? I see a lot of mixed reviews online. Are there other schools folks recommend that would be nearish to that price point?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Move in bounds for oyster-adams and your kids can go there (spanish-english bilingual). Great school. Small boundary though and homes are expensive (there are apartment options too)

[Anonymous]

You have an excellent grasp on everything. Like nothing to correct you on. If you want two-way immersion (50/50 bilingual), you can move in bound to one of the DCPS or MCPS schools. Personally I’d move to Mount Pleasant for Bancroft if that’s in your budget. There’s also Marie Reed, Powell, and Bruce Monroe in DC, but those don’t have great middle schools, so if you can afford Bancroft or Oyster, I’d do that. Full immersion is a MCPS “local” lottery school for a 99% sure bet, or the regular immersion lottery, but then you have to win the lottery. DCPS and the DC charters don’t have any full immersion options past kindergarten. I don’t know of any plans to expand, but we’re in DC so not super up on MCPS. Rochambeau is the cheapest private. Next is WIS, but that’s a big price difference.

[Anonymous]

I would add that we do an Arlington bilingual. Admission by lottery. It has a language path through high school, which I like.

[Anonymous]

In MCPS you have Oakland Terrace. Great school and neighborhood

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have an excellent grasp on everything. Like nothing to correct you on. If you want two-way immersion (50/50 bilingual), you can move in bound to one of the DCPS or MCPS schools. Personally I’d move to Mount Pleasant for Bancroft if that’s in your budget. There’s also Marie Reed, Powell, and Bruce Monroe in DC, but those don’t have great middle schools, so if you can afford Bancroft or Oyster, I’d do that. Full immersion is a MCPS “local” lottery school for a 99% sure bet, or the regular immersion lottery, but then you have to win the lottery. DCPS and the DC charters don’t have any full immersion options past kindergarten. I don’t know of any plans to expand, but we’re in DC so not super up on MCPS. Rochambeau is the cheapest private. Next is WIS, but that’s a big price difference.

You could also stay where you are for the time being and play the DC lottery to see if you get into any of the immersion charters. We were able to lottery into LAMB (Latin American Montessori Bilingual) and are excited about it. It has a path to DC International, a language immersion charter middle/high school, although it's not 100% guaranteed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have an excellent grasp on everything. Like nothing to correct you on. If you want two-way immersion (50/50 bilingual), you can move in bound to one of the DCPS or MCPS schools. Personally I’d move to Mount Pleasant for Bancroft if that’s in your budget. There’s also Marie Reed, Powell, and Bruce Monroe in DC, but those don’t have great middle schools, so if you can afford Bancroft or Oyster, I’d do that. Full immersion is a MCPS “local” lottery school for a 99% sure bet, or the regular immersion lottery, but then you have to win the lottery. DCPS and the DC charters don’t have any full immersion options past kindergarten. I don’t know of any plans to expand, but we’re in DC so not super up on MCPS. Rochambeau is the cheapest private. Next is WIS, but that’s a big price difference.

You could also stay where you are for the time being and play the DC lottery to see if you get into any of the immersion charters. We were able to lottery into LAMB (Latin American Montessori Bilingual) and are excited about it. It has a path to DC International, a language immersion charter middle/high school, although it's not 100% guaranteed.

That's right, DC has bilingual DCPS and charters. Out of bounds DCPS and charters are by lottery only. If you get a lottery seat, you can move wherever you want in DC and keep that seat. Moving in-bound to a bilingual DCPS guarantees you a seat in kindergarten (there's free pre-K in DC, but most/all bilingual schools have waitlists for English dominant kids, so you'd still have to lottery to get a seat in pre-K). Same in MoCo - moving in-bound gets you a seat at a bilingual/two-way immersion school (50/50 language model like DC schools), or you can lottery for a full immersion seat at one of those programs. Some of those programs have "local" preference, so you're pretty much guaranteed a seat if you do the lottery as an in-bound student. VA also has an immersion lottery in Arlington Co, and some bilingual schools and a lottery in FCPS. OP, if you tell us your budget and housing preferences (suburban, SFH, etc.), we can give you more specific recommendations.