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[quote=Anonymous]We are also in the group who would not choose the school if we could do it over again. Our kids had Spanish capability before entering, so it’s not a language issue for us. What we found was that it was fine at the start, and then the problems showed up more as we got more into it. The quality of the staff and teachers is really uneven, and some are much worse than I ever imagined was possible. I don’t know how the academics compare to other APS schools as this is the only one we have experienced, but I would say it is not on the particularly rigorous side, and can be quite underwhelming for a child who catches on quickly, which can lead to boredom and waning interest in school/desire to go to school. Some classes also seem really to let a lot of misbehaviors really slide, and that also can affect the experience overall. We learned that you really have to document issues and insist upon action and follow up. Again, maybe this is true everywhere - I don’t know. But it’s been a lot over the years.

There also are huge gaps across the student body, with some who have clearly had lots of parental/outside help and others who have not and are struggling. Ideally they’d all be served and should be served, but in practice, the way the school (or maybe it’s APS, I don’t know), is set up doesn’t seem to provide sufficient resources to meet all the needs.

We really believe in the immersion model, but the way this is all put into practice here is lacking. There are certainly some wonderful, dedicated staff and some wonderful students, but overall, I don’t think the Spanish has been worth it— at least for us (but we can support it somewhat at home, so ymmv on that). It’s a shame that APS offers no FLES in lower grades outside of immersion, even as an after school enrichment option. My advice if you do choose the school would be to watch carefully and be prepared to really advocate and support your child in and outside of the classroom. The school has a lot of really vocal fans, and we in retrospect were drawn in and didn’t ask enough questions beforehand. That’s on us. And as for the waitlist - yes, there seems to be a waitlist, but they also seem to substantially clear it before September, so not sure what that means.
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