Reply to Bilingual Kids in Language Immersion ES Programs, Which Programs Have Many & Strive to Attract Them?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Now, the norm among most parents I know is to extensively research schools, worry about your IB school, attend multiple open houses at charters and schools where you're OOB, and of course, worry about transporting your kids to and from school and before/after care since so many households have two working parents.  I had thought that most people did all this because they worried about finding a quality school where their kids would be challenged to excel.  Little did I know that in addition to all of the above I should be worried about finding a school where I feel "comfortable" as a parent.  Go figure.[/quote]

The mom who left again. It hit us one day that since we do have school choice, unlike our poor parents, and were finding YY a psychological hassle, despite our best efforts to like it, we could go.  We knew that the PA doesn't hire staff, and learned that nobody much with the power to do so cares if YY has an ethnic administrator (at least not without the PA pushing like mad for this for a long time, not the case while we were there).  [b]We still don't understand why every charter needs a population that closely mirrors the entire city's, when maintaining such a study body doesn't serve the mission of the school--teaching Chinese to kids--as well as having many bilingual Chinese onboard would.[/b]

Our kids now learn Mandarin from Cantonese at a weekend school in Rockville.  They race ahead with Mandarin because the weekend program builds intelligently on their extensive Cantonese-speaking skills.

What's the point of stressing that parents want more native speakers when the school community hasn't put its money where its mouth is on this front?  We could have made all sorts of practical suggestions to YY on how to draw in bilingual families if we hadn't been risking unpleasantness if we did. More bilingual families is great in theory, but in practice it gets messy.  As the previous PP pointed out quite rightly in describing how his narrow-minded ILs think, immigrant Chinese who teach their children dialects at home tend to be a fairly insular bunch.  They don't buy into pluralism and civic-mindedness en masse to meet YY's current standards for these qualities.  A few will, but most will not. Look, we love our easy-going IB school, so all's well that ends well for us.
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Wow.  Actually, the bolded tells me YY is absolutely doing the right thing.  I'm truly glad you have choices and were able to make a change and find a school that fit your family's values and educational priorities.  AND... your quote in bold about not understanding why it's important to have charters that were founded to serve the population of the city reflect the population of the city... if i ever get my kid into YY, I will be thrilled if their dedication to this critical and essential aspect of why charters in DC were founded in the first place continues to drive parents like you out.  Ethinic Chinese or not.

From what I am learning about bilingual ed, it IS important to find ways to increase the bilingual student population  of the school, and if we get into any of the bilingual charter schools we're applying to, we look forward to being parent champions in that fight.  But never, ever at the cost of the founding mission of DC's charters to serve and reflect the student body.  That is why you can't test in, that is why it's open to every resident of the District to apply.  That is why some schools recruit in Ward 8 and Ward 7 as well as elsewhere.  I think recruiting among the local Cantonese Chinese community is a great idea, even though I understand many Cantonese-speaking Chinese don't feel welcome at YY and that is something that would be great to see change.

But parents like you who a) don't get the mission and reasons for the existence of DC charters, and who would b) change the basics with not even a 2nd thought if it served YOUR purposes, even though YY is already serving a smaller % of FARMS kids than most charters, I hope parents like you continue to be driven out.  Of ALL DC charters.  Because your presence hurts more than helps the student body.  And that is recognizing that this isn't purely a class or race/ethnicity issue, it is a perspective issue.  I think mixed class and mixed race/ethnicity is awesome.  But all charter schools can do without the "What's the big deal with having the student body be reflective of the city?" parents who actually enroll and still don't get it.  Good riddance, and you're happier too, so it's truly a win-win!

Love win-wins!  :mrgreen:[/quote]

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