Anonymous wrote:

OJH wrote:Hello to all!
Longtime lurker, first time writer, and first time player of the insane school lottery here in DC.
I have one point, and three questions:

1. My School DC website and customer service reps are committing fraud by regurgitating "Put your choices in order of which you want the most". There is no disclosure whatsoever, if a school has ZERO or less than 1% of slots available to those without sibling and/or boundary and/or other legal preference. The data does not lie, and it's absolutely unconscionable. There should be ONE list for where you would want to go if every program was immediately scalable (enabling schools to justify increased resources) and one for reality, where child's future is at stake. Lottery system for public education is in of itself unconstitutional, and I would happily join a class action lawsuit seeking policy change and NO resources diverted from education.

2. Other than Washington Yu Ying, which PK3/PK4/K immersion programs are taught entirely in the target language?

3. How many PK/K hours per day or week is Mandarin taught at Thomson? How many at Creative Minds? Do ANY other schools offer Mandarin on a regular basis? Are there any new Mandarin programs on the horizon?

4. I speak French fluently, and would love to network with homeschool parents creating alternative learning culture. Please add me on facebook.com/goldyard or instagram @cherry.brain if you are connected to these quiet folks.

Full disclosure: I am self-educated, low income single parent, who sacrificed a HECK OF A LOT for "DS" to hear 4 languages every weekday. We moved to DC for a family emergency, and I'm on a mission to build on that foundation.

Oyster's PK4 is now full Spanish immersion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mandarin is taught for one hour total in the ECE CMI classes. It seems like a total waste to me and I wish they just had Spanish everyday

Sorry, one hour total per week.

Anonymous wrote:OK OP. I took a second to actually read your first point (filtering out the distinct aroma du nutcase) and you do make a good point. It would be helpful if there were more information on the odds of getting into each school that did not require parents to know they have to look elsewhere to understand their odds. The information is there (in the form of annual retrospective lottery data) but that isn't always so easy to find or understand. So, it would be cool if they could include an "odds" calculator or at least flag the schools where literally no kids with your profile have gotten seats in the lottery.

Anonymous wrote:Um, welcome to DC. I don't think you're going to find happiness here.

Anonymous wrote:Would you consider moving IB for Oyster, or private if language is that important to you? WIS and Rochambeau offer full immersion in French.

OJH wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um, welcome to DC. I don't think you're going to find happiness here.

I grew up in the DMV. The city has potential, and universal pk3/pk4 is game changer we shouldn't be satisfied with until it's fair, or at least honest. Would love to know how your children's experience has been here... This forum is scarier than the streets.

Anonymous wrote:OK OP. I took a second to actually read your first point (filtering out the distinct aroma du nutcase) and you do make a good point. It would be helpful if there were more information on the odds of getting into each school that did not require parents to know they have to look elsewhere to understand their odds. The information is there (in the form of annual retrospective lottery data) but that isn't always so easy to find or understand. So, it would be cool if they could include an "odds" calculator or at least flag the schools where literally no kids with your profile have gotten seats in the lottery.

Anonymous wrote:By law, charters cannot have separate lotteries to create a 50/50 language speaker environment. They would if they could, but they can't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By law, charters cannot have separate lotteries to create a 50/50 language speaker environment. They would if they could, but they can't.

I don't think they would if they could. Certainly not YuYing. The half dozen truly bilingual Chinese-speaking kids there are considered unfair competition.

Anonymous wrote:

OJH wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um, welcome to DC. I don't think you're going to find happiness here.

I grew up in the DMV. The city has potential, and universal pk3/pk4 is game changer we shouldn't be satisfied with until it's fair, or at least honest. Would love to know how your children's experience has been here... This forum is scarier than the streets.

They've been doing great in a DCPS that's talked about as second rate. We moved in boundary for the school and haven't had to deal with the lottery other than PK3 and that wasn't a big deal.

OJH wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK OP. I took a second to actually read your first point (filtering out the distinct aroma du nutcase) and you do make a good point. It would be helpful if there were more information on the odds of getting into each school that did not require parents to know they have to look elsewhere to understand their odds. The information is there (in the form of annual retrospective lottery data) but that isn't always so easy to find or understand. So, it would be cool if they could include an "odds" calculator or at least flag the schools where literally no kids with your profile have gotten seats in the lottery.

LMAO! Yes, I'm neurotic. However, every African/Asian/European person I met in college spoke at least 3 languages passably. It's worth prioritizing for the future of as many American children as possinle.

Anonymous wrote:Tyler speaks completely in spanish for prek3 and 4

Anonymous wrote:

OJH wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK OP. I took a second to actually read your first point (filtering out the distinct aroma du nutcase) and you do make a good point. It would be helpful if there were more information on the odds of getting into each school that did not require parents to know they have to look elsewhere to understand their odds. The information is there (in the form of annual retrospective lottery data) but that isn't always so easy to find or understand. So, it would be cool if they could include an "odds" calculator or at least flag the schools where literally no kids with your profile have gotten seats in the lottery.

LMAO! Yes, I'm neurotic. However, every African/Asian/European person I met in college spoke at least 3 languages passably. It's worth prioritizing for the future of as many American children as possinle.

A lot of people have children who speak multiple languages, such as mine who speak, read, and write 3 fluently. Stop praising yourself, you're not that special. We know many people who are doing/have done the same.

OJH wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyler speaks completely in spanish for prek3 and 4

TY!!! Is this in "English dominant" or "spanish dominant" classrooms, or both??