I for one think that having a quality spanish immersion program at Van Ness Elementary should definitely be considered. The Capitol Riverfront area is pretty diverse, and it should become a popular school to go to in Ward 6 when it opens up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is a spanish immersion program being thought of as a possible program that should be included at Van Ness? I think that it would be a great program for the school. In addition to all of the documented benefits it brings for children learning a second language at a young age, it also would expand the middle and high school options for children who attend Van Ness Elementary. These kids would then have the option to go to some of the high performing middle school charters that have spanish immersion (i.e. Mundo Verde), and also would allow them to continue this all the way to high school (with the new DC International Charter School - DCI). Thoughts?

Not exactly. Under current law, charters are not supposed to give priority to students based on language.

The only way to get into DCI is to go to a DCI feeder school. You don't even need to speak another language, but of course, it wouldn't hurt.

You are incredibly wrong. There will be approximately 20-30 slots open for lottery for DCI. You do not have to have an immersion background. There will be a beginning language track in each of the three languages at DCI. If you enter in 6th grade you could then have 7 years of language instruction in a language!!

Anonymous wrote:I definitely think a Spanish Immersion program at Van Ness Elementary School could work. The school opens in about 18 months. That would leave plenty of time for DCPS to get the right faculty in place. Also, since only a few grade levels will be open initially (PS3, PK4, K), this makes it that much easier to get the program started. I also think it would generate a tremendous amount of interest from Capitol Hill families.

Re-read 17:10 post above. Demand for language immersion is not hard to find. Supplying licensed immersion teachers and bilingual administrators to staff a DCPS program will not be easy. Option 1) rob Peter to pay Paul. Poach staff from all the other DCPS dual language schools who are already licensed. Good luck getting those principals to hand off any of their decent Spanish teachers. Option 2) recruit licensed staff from existing DC charters. But remember, in DC licensed means you can teach in English. It's no guarantee you'll get good immersion teachers who can teach content in Spanish. You need two licensed teachers per classroom to do it right. Option 3) find some way to attract new to DC staff willing to join the WTU and put up with the instability of DCPS overall.

The number 1 challenge is to get a principal who knows how to put together a good immersion program who isn't already employed happily elsewhere. And would be happy to do it without a local Spanish-speaking population. Piece of cake.

There are many ways to create a compelling program or even offer enhanced FLES or teaching language as a subject. Van Ness might do well to find a unique offering that DCPS would support than trying to cannibalize existing programs.

What would this do to Tyler SI? I thought part of the Tyler SI problem was getting families to stay past the early childhood years. Perhaps the SI program at Tyler and the Van Ness program could merge in some way for the early years.

I definitely think a Spanish Immersion program at Van Ness Elementary School could work. The school opens in about 18 months. That would leave plenty of time for DCPS to get the right faculty in place. Also, since only a few grade levels will be open initially (PS3, PK4, K), this makes it that much easier to get the program started. I also think it would generate a tremendous amount of interest from Capitol Hill families.

Anonymous wrote:If there is no inbound Spanish-speaking population why couldn't DCPS dream big and try a different language?

Chinese?

The real issue is teacher licensing and hiring. DCPS has asinine licensing procedures for language teachers. They have to pass a crap test called the Praxis in English even if they are teaching content in another language.

Charters can hire whomever they want. Virginia has it's own licensing test for language teachers. Maryland allows the Puerto Rican version of the Praxis for Spanish teachers.

DCPS can't offer competitive immersion programs until this is addressed. This is part of the reason only one of the eight DCPS immersion programs is at the Reward (highest) level.

Anonymous wrote:Is a spanish immersion program being thought of as a possible program that should be included at Van Ness? I think that it would be a great program for the school. In addition to all of the documented benefits it brings for children learning a second language at a young age, it also would expand the middle and high school options for children who attend Van Ness Elementary. These kids would then have the option to go to some of the high performing middle school charters that have spanish immersion (i.e. Mundo Verde), and also would allow them to continue this all the way to high school (with the new DC International Charter School - DCI). Thoughts?

Not exactly. Under current law, charters are not supposed to give priority to students based on language.

The only way to get into DCI is to go to a DCI feeder school. You don't even need to speak another language, but of course, it wouldn't hurt.

If there is no inbound Spanish-speaking population why couldn't DCPS dream big and try a different language?

Chinese?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Spanish Immersion can't co-exist at both Tyler Elementary and Van Ness Elementary?

What percentage of the SI program at Tyler is IB students? If they were waitlisting IB students I think you could make a case that there needs to be more SI programs in the neighborhood. If not, why would DCPS need two SI programs less than a mile from each other?

Neither the Tyler Traditional nor Tyler Spanish programs have a very high percentage of IB kids, but I get the feeling there aren't nearly as many IB kids in the Tyler catchment as there are in other catchments. Certainly, many are heading elsewhere for school. But is this impression that there just aren't that many IB kids wrong?

It would be very easy to fill two SI programs on Capitol Hill. The extensive Tyler SI waitlist barely moves at all, and a lot of Capitol Hill parents really do want language immersion nearby.

That being said, I suspect SI at Van Ness would be more popular than SI at Tyler because Van Ness won't be starting out with the upper grades and all the attendant problems/perceived problems those grades brings to Tyler.

Anonymous wrote:Spanish Immersion can't co-exist at both Tyler Elementary and Van Ness Elementary?

What percentage of the SI program at Tyler is IB students? If they were waitlisting IB students I think you could make a case that there needs to be more SI programs in the neighborhood. If not, why would DCPS need two SI programs less than a mile from each other?

Spanish Immersion can't co-exist at both Tyler Elementary and Van Ness Elementary?

Also, there is no native Spanish-speaking population anywhere nearby.

It takes away one of the few draws from Tyler.

Is a spanish immersion program being thought of as a possible program that should be included at Van Ness? I think that it would be a great program for the school. In addition to all of the documented benefits it brings for children learning a second language at a young age, it also would expand the middle and high school options for children who attend Van Ness Elementary. These kids would then have the option to go to some of the high performing middle school charters that have spanish immersion (i.e. Mundo Verde), and also would allow them to continue this all the way to high school (with the new DC International Charter School - DCI). Thoughts?