Anonymous wrote:I have a first grader in immersion there. He loves it. Agree with everything everyone else said. It’s a lottery. We got lucky. I know people whose lottery number was in the 200s/300s…we’re a Francophone household so doubly lucky. In any event, I say try it. The buses overall run well for the French program too so that’s option if you get a spot.

Hi! We are waitlisted single digit for 1st grade. Do we have any chance, you think? For K grade we were #58 and missed it of course.
How many kids could potentially leave the program after K?
Thank you.

It’s a long shot in the lottery (our wait list number was more than 1,000), but it can work out well. As they expand dual language programs at schools, I expect demand to slacken somewhat since those kids probably won’t be playing the lottery unless there is a heritage language.

We have a kid in this program and it's also our neighborhood school. We've been very happy with it from both angles; won the lotto in getting the seat in the immersion program for sure. We were in the low 30s on the wait list and they made it to us in the first week of school.

I have a first grader in immersion there. He loves it. Agree with everything everyone else said. It’s a lottery. We got lucky. I know people whose lottery number was in the 200s/300s…we’re a Francophone household so doubly lucky. In any event, I say try it. The buses overall run well for the French program too so that’s option if you get a spot.

Thanks all! Heartened by so many comments attesting to the quality of both immersion options and our neighborhood school.

Anonymous wrote:This isn’t an MCPS problem. Very few public elementary schools in this country offer foreign languages.

OK. Wasn’t trying to make a case against MCPS. I was disappointed because we moved away from a district/region where elementary school foreign language is typical.

This isn’t an MCPS problem. Very few public elementary schools in this country offer foreign languages.

I’ve had 2 kids at SCES French (lucky twice as we were after sibling preference ended). Neither spoke French before, but both have thrived. K is very much about coloring and singing and learning to listen to directions. The French class sizes are bigger than English (24 vs 18-20 I think) but the K teachers are very experienced.

One thing I’ll add, we have neighbors zoned for ESS who had older child at SCES for French and a younger one who didn’t get in, and they were able to request a transfer to SCES (English) for the second child so they’d be at the same school. ESS is great as well, but if logistics are a concern it can be helpful.

OP, given that it’s a lottery that always has more demand than available slots, I would enter for every school program you’re eligible for and then make a determination if you get a spot. We live in 20910 and our DC goes to Page Spanish immersion. French at Sligo Creek would have been our first choice given the language and proximity to our house, but we’re very happy with Page. The bus transportation has worked out well.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks to both of you who responded! Very helpful. I didn’t know the sibling preference had been weakened which I guess is good/bad for us— helpful for kid 1, but it would be a pain if younger sibs didn’t get in when the time comes.

Appreciate the insight, as well as the positive comments about ESSES.

My understanding is that the sibling link is now that you get two "entries" into the lottery. Given that wait lists are often in the hundreds, and they take 48 kids in kindergarten and maybe 4 more in first grade, it's still pretty difficult odds. The one thing I'd flag about the odds, though, is that recent years are not going to give good data. With the 20-21 year being primarily virtual, more spots opened up than average and fewer parents put their kids in the lottery than average. Basically, it's a crapshoot but you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, so go ahead and put your child in the lottery and see if it their number comes up.

It seems to have weakened but not by much. You can also get in on the first grade level. After that it’s test in only.

Thanks to both of you who responded! Very helpful. I didn’t know the sibling preference had been weakened which I guess is good/bad for us— helpful for kid 1, but it would be a pain if younger sibs didn’t get in when the time comes.

Appreciate the insight, as well as the positive comments about ESSES.

The odds are pretty long, but maybe a little better now that MCPS has weakened the sibling link. In my experience, the hardest to lottery into is the Spanish at Rock Creek Forest, and the easiest from a lottery perspective seems to be William Tyler Page. That has to do with proximity (RCF is pretty central) and perceived middle school articulation patterns.

The good news is that you have strong options. ESSES is a good school with an active PTA and a "neighborhood" feel given its small attendance zone. The French Immersion at SCES is well-regarded and the kids who attend seem well prepared for the switch to a primarily English environment in middle school.

For French immersion most parents are not French speakers. You’ll always have a few parents who are fluent but mise have zero to little exposure.
The teachers know this and kindergarten is treated in almost a preschool way. Tina of songs, exaggerated movements to help convey meaning, etc. You can always accept then decline. You can look on the schools websites for more info and stats.

My daughter will start kindergarten next year. I’ve been disappointed in the lack of foreign language options in ES in MCPS but was interested to learn that French immersion is available at a school that’s pretty close to us geographically. (We’re zoned for East Silver Spring.)

Can anyone give me a sense of lottery odds? Is it a shot in the dark or are odds a bit better than that?

Also, if your kids have done this program, how did they adjust? My daughter doesn’t know any French. My husband and I have some serviceable French, kind of (used to be pretty decent but super rusty now!). My daughter went through a lot of changes in preschool, particularly with moves, so I’m worried about language immersion being a lot as she transitions to K. But at the same time she loves school and I have every reason to expect she’ll be a good student.

We’d also be interested in Spanish programs but they seem farther away.