Reply to New principal: how to improve Oyster-Adams

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[quote=Anonymous]Do you realize that no student has to take an AP class in order to sit for an AP exam? So, why don't you just have your 8th grader take the AP exam? I really don't think that Oyster should waste its scarce resources by offering a course like AP Spanish. Btw, it would be much smarter to have your kid wait to take the AP exam in high school; presumably after he/she has more advanced Spanish language/literature classes. Your kid will probably stand a much better chance of earning a 4 or 5 on the exam.
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Regardless of whether or when students take an AP exam, the main point I want to make is that students at other schools achieve a level of Spanish literacy that at Oyster-Adams is only possible if, as you mentioned, you spend time and money outside school with special tutoring, nannies and trips abroad. That should not be necessary. Spanish fluency and literacy should be an expected outcome of the school for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for extra classes and resources.

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You are misinformed if you believe that the vast majority of students who attend immersion schools in this area graduate with a higher level of Spanish fluency/literacy than Oyster students...if those students also come from English speaking homes (you must compare apples to apples).  Please name the schools where this is allegedly the case.  It can't be LAMB because I had a recent conversation with a parent whose son attended LAMB from PS through 5th grade.  A year after leaving the school, and entering a private monolingual middle school, the kid can't even hold a conversation completely in Spanish (although he still understands Spanish very well.).  This same parent told me that a LAMB administrator informed him that grade level fluency and literacy were no longer LAMB's goals for its graduating 5th graders because it just isn't realistic.  I also don't think it’s Stokes or DC Bilingual, because both of those schools struggle just to get their high FARMs student populations to perform proficiently on the DC-CAS.  Mundo Verde and Yu Ying don't have a enough of a track record to compare with Oyster; besides which, YY had to create a non-immersion track for those students who weren't even at grade level in English.  No other dual immersion DCPS comes close to performing well as Oyster, so we shouldn't even focus on what they're doing in Spanish until those schools get it together in English.  Are you speaking of WIS?  I would hope that if you're shelling out $38,000 per year that your child speaks and reads like a native Spaniard (or Cervantes himself).  However even WIS has this to say on their website:  
 
Q: Will my child be bilingual when he/she leaves the Primary School?
A: When the second language learning is happening exclusively at school, it is not our
expectation that every child will attain a truly bilingual status. The goal for many students is
strong language fluency and proficiency by the end of 5th grade. For most families who wish
for their child(ren) to be fully bilingual, significant support outside of school is necessary.  (link: http://www.wis.edu/data/files/gallery/ContentGallery/Frequently_Asked_Questions_1213.pdf)

Even WIS, the gold standard for dual immersion education in this area states that most children will need SIGNIFICANT support outside of school to be fully bilingual.  So please PP, tell us which magical schools around here have managed to produce these extraordinary bilingual and biliterate students…without significant outside support (who also come from English speaking homes) where all others have failed?!?

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