Reply to Spanish Immersion at Van Ness Elementary School

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I definitely think a Spanish Immersion program at Van Ness Elementary School could work.   The school opens in about 18 months.  That [b]would leave plenty of time for DCPS to get the right faculty in place.  Also, since only a few grade levels will be open initially (PS3, PK4, K), this makes it that much easier to get the program started[/b].   I also think it would generate a tremendous amount of interest from Capitol Hill families.[/quote]

Re-read 17:10 post above. Demand for language immersion is not hard to find. Supplying licensed immersion teachers and bilingual administrators to staff a DCPS program will not be easy. Option 1) rob Peter to pay Paul. Poach staff from all the other DCPS dual language schools who are already licensed. Good luck getting those principals to hand off any of their decent Spanish teachers. Option 2) recruit licensed staff from existing DC charters. But remember, in DC licensed means you can teach in English. It's no guarantee you'll get good immersion teachers who can teach content in Spanish. You need two licensed teachers per classroom to do it right. Option 3) find some way to attract new to DC staff willing to join the WTU and put up with the instability of DCPS overall.

The number 1 challenge is to get a principal who knows how to put together a good immersion program who isn't already employed happily elsewhere. And would be happy to do it without a local Spanish-speaking population. Piece of cake.  :wink:

There are many ways to create a compelling program or even offer enhanced FLES or teaching language as a subject. Van Ness might do well to find a unique offering that DCPS would support than trying to cannibalize existing programs.[/quote]

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