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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As an outsider with no stake in the game (I have two of my children at WIS, and they will stay despite the crushing cost), I'm curious about parents' blanket acceptance that the 50/50 model is crucial. WIS is not 50/50 at all. There are 4 main languages of instruction (Spanish, French, or Dutch; and English for all), and although you will hear many languages on the playground, English is absolutely the main playground language, because it's the only language that all children know. Many children come in knowing none of the 4 academic languages because they speak one or more other languages at home, yet they all pick up both English and the other chosen academic language (oral and written) very quickly, and most are considered bilingual/biliterate in English and the other WIS language at some point during primary school.

So while I certainly understand why parents might WANT a 50/50 model for political and social reasons, is the research really unequivocal that it's the only good model academically? If so, many international and U.N. schools would seem to be doing it all wrong.

You are exactly right!  The research says that at least 1/3 or more of the children/speakers must come from homes where the target language is spoken (Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)).  The ideal is 50/50, but the research acknowledges that this is rarely achieved.  As a matter of fact, I don't believe that there is even one dual immersion school in DC that achieves this balance consistently throughout each grade.  The key is full immersion in PK and K.  How hard is this to implement if Mundo Verde did it in one year?!?
I am an IB parent who attended several meetings on this issue.  This memo clearly reflects the admins/teacher’s desire to have one campus for their own convenience.  If the intent was to do what is best for the students, then the admin. would focus on improving the school as a neighborhood school.  How difficult is it to stop admitting kids who are OOB and come from English-speaking homes (admitted via the Span-dom. lottery thanks to their bilingual preschools)?  How difficult is it to admit a larger percentage of truly Span-dom. kids via the PK lottery (this would help to balance the influx of mostly English speaking kids who enroll in K)?  If Oyster need more kids who come from Span. speaking homes, why won’t someone go over to Mount Pleasant (about 1.5 miles away), and start handing out/posting  flyers IN SPANISH inviting these families to apply for the lottery?  Oh, I know why…that would make it more difficult for the principal to steal the school from Woodley Park and create her own (oops, I meant citywide magnet) school in ONE building.  Can Monica just please leave and go start her bilingual charter in whatever neighborhood she chooses.  We’re not giving Oyster up without a fight.   
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I'm also an outside observer with no stake in this, but I see an argument with the above: most of the non-Spanish kids start Oyster in K. Only a handful get in during pre-K, and there is no PS program. So at most you would be giving the English-dominant kids one year of full immersion, with a few possibly getting two. MV gives them three. I just don't see how this survives as a neighborhood school with the demographics of the neighborhood.[/quote]

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