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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We’ve been in APS for over a decade and also have experience in private.  Here’s what I will say.  The teachers in APS are as good as the private ones.  There are some duds.  There are some duds on the private side.  There is a huge difference in their ability to communicate with parents given the numbers.  But overall the teachers in APS are generally not the problem.  All of the ones we have had would’ve been able to answer the kinds of questions about social development and basic learning about of child at a parent teacher conference.  Well, besides one teacher who couldn’t string two sentences together.

So, you either got very unlucky and happen to have a bad teacher.  It happens.  It’s rare.  Usually though this can be gleaned from a cohort of parents—you shouldn’t be the only one in your boat.  If that’s the case, then it’s probably you.  There are definitely needy parents in APS and, if the can, they end up pulling their child for private  school which does a much better job at coddling needy parents.  I will say that it can make for a bit of a weird makeup of kids in the those classrooms but you do you. [/quote]

Thank you for a useful perspective. I saw someone commented above about Claremont. We are an immersion family also. Many of the parents whose kids are brand new to the language seem thrilled as the student is picking up something they wouldn't otherwise. As a native speaker I am on the fence. If teacher can't answer my basic questions about Suzie, and my student already had a good grasp of the language before school started, then I'm doubting what they know about my daughter and what she is learning. I suppose it's not as apparent as it would be for the non-native speakers. [/quote]

In my experience at APS most teachers won't name other students at all.  I think there are rules related to privacy, so I wouldn't give up on immersion because of this. You'll find this at other APS schools.

Most of what kids learn in kindergarten are social skills.  It took me a few years past kindergarten to believe this.

When I've asked teachers what the kids are learning I am often referred to the Virginia standards of learning.  This is true for multiple grades, not just kindergarten.

If your child already speaks Spanish, I'd look at what she is learning like what an english speaking child learns in an english speaking kindergarten.  They're still learning even though they know a lot of the language already.  For example, maybe the kids are learning to read in Spanish if they already speak Spanish well?  Maybe they're learning to count to higher numbers?  I remember my english speaking child learning to count to 100 in english.  It was definitely something they learned even though they already spoke english. [/quote]

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