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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]YY parent here.  I know several native speaker families/students and have not heard from any that they feel unwelcome - on the contrary, they are involved and happy from the school.  I hear a lot of gripes from individuals who don't like the system (no preference for native speakers, no assessment tests for getting in at the early grades).  Just like with everything, people gripe about the school if they don't like a particular policy.  [b]I am frankly appalled by some of the posts that were either racist or borderline.[/b]  What I also don't understand is that since the lottery waitlist operates on a list based on time of application, any family that is on the ball and applies online or in person at the time applications are accepted basically will get in.  This might not be the case this year or in the next few as more and more siblings will get preference as the school gets larger but it has been in the past.  That is, any family who is really interested in the school and very focused on getting in can get in by being strategic about the application process. [/quote]

Second time I've posted, my children are still too young for YY and I'm just collecting impressions.

You have to a highly assimilated native speaker to be on DCUMBD, or at least a sophisticated immigrant with an advanced degree.  The more ordinary immigrants, e.g. the dry cleaner and take-out crowd, don't know how to be strategic about the application process, have never talked to anybody at the school, and don't put their kids names in the lottery because they've heard that YY doesn't welcome Chinese who don't speak both English and Mandarin well.

We have advanced degrees and have also been appalled by the many PPs telling the Chinese to go to hell, saying that they don't care if their kids are in class with children like ours, or perhaps don't want this.  My wife, who has run down the whole thread, is now saying, we're not going anywhere near that school, what a bad environment for a bilingual family.

She's decided that all most of the parents care about is that THEIR kid gets a spot, to avoid bleak IB schools.  The more Chinese who apply, the fewer places for other children.  But it's hard to tell, maybe we should seek out more native speakers at YY to ask how they like it  I've talked to a few bilingual parents who say they feel somewhat unwelcome and tired of being part of such a small minority, but keep this to themselves because they don't want to be accused of racism, wanting preferential treatment, or whatever.  Sounds smart, given the apparent abundance of anti-Chinese feeling, ignorance of the culture, and lack of interest in it  If YY had a Cantonese speaker in a position of authority you would see more DC Chinese taking an interest in the school and feeling at home there.

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