Reply to Oyster- Adams in US News...thoughts?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Former OA, IB, bilingual Latino family here who took 2 kids out at different years for a variety of reasons.

People often ask me about OA. I'd like to point them toward actual numbers rather than bias them from our experiences.

Has there been any analysis of when and why students leave and where they go? Do they do surveys?

I can speculate from our experience and anecdotes of about a dozen other families similar to ours. But I never heard an official explanation or analysis.

No OA administrator ever asked us why we pulled a born-bilingual, middle class, in-boundary kid out of what should have been the ideal K-8 school. Not even after the first one left. You'd think they'd be at least curious after we took one out pre-3rd grade and the other pre-6th. Several other families told me the same thing. One said an administrator told her "we're not going to beg you to stay. There are plenty of people on the waitlist." A teacher told me "they just want to fill the middle school. They don't care if leave before 5th."

Is there info out there on the website or newsletter that folks think is accurate regarding retention? 
 [/quote]

I'm interested in hearing more about retention as well.  My DC is in the 3rd grade, and based on the class directory (all three classes) there doesn't appear to be a single new student.  That is an indication that there were no available spaces to fill.  My 3rd grader told me that no one left her grade, but I don't think that she's the most reliable reporter.  However, I do think that's an indication that there was very little attrition from 2nd to 3rd grade this year.[/quote]

I don't think Oyster backfills vacancies (at least with non-natie speakers) past 1st or 2nd grade given the dual language requirements. [/quote]

Oyster has to take IB students (Spanish or English) no matter their level of fluency in the target language.  I know native English speaking students who joined Oyster in 3rd and 5th grades.  Oyster definitely backfills Spanish speaking vacancies with (mostly) OOB Spanish speaking students all the way through 8th grade.  There just happens to be a lot fewer vacancies in the upper grades now.[/quote]

So what is this message on their website about? http://www.oysteradamsbilingual.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=294888&type=d

"Oyster-Adams is a PK-8 academic program and with the expectation that all students who enroll in the primary years complete the full academic program through 8th grade. [b]It is recommended that children enter the dual-language program no later than first grade[/b] so that they can build language skills in the early grades. Therefore, Oyster-Adams generally does not accept out-of-boundary students who are not at or near grade level in Spanish after first grade. [b]In addition, in-boundary students must take and pass our Spanish language proficiency exam in order to enroll. If a student does not pass and/ or the parent would like the monolingual option, the in-boundary school of right is Francis Stevens at School without Walls. [/b][/quote]

Nothing I said conflicts with your first bolded sentence.  The second bolded sentence is news to me.  This may be a new policy under the current principal.  However, the former principal would only "strongly advise" native English speaking parents against enrolling their monolingual children in the upper grades.  Thanks for bringing this new policy to my attention--I like it.  It keeps the class moving at a normal pace, instead of slowing down (and using more English) to accommodate English speaking IB kids who join in the upper grades.  
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