There is a lottery in the spring of Kindergarden. If you do not get a spot you are given a number and placed on a wait list. I have no idea if there are separate lists for in and out of boundary and fluent speakers or just one big wait list. After January of year two if there is an opening it is filled by only fluent French speakers as the thought is it would be too much catching up to do for someone new to the language. If you do not supply to the lottery and then want to get into the program my guess would be your child's name would be added to the wait list but that is just a assumption....

I'm very interested in this too. Also, are there two separate lotteries- one for in-District and one for out?

I guess I really don;t understand this lottery. What comes out of it is not just a yes/no answer, but a priority number? I must confess to more than a bit of envy to hear that some were indeed waitlisted at #11...

Still unclear if the same list continues for 2nd grade, or if there is a different lottery. I would gladly trade my #54 or so for something in the single digits -- knowing very well that even that might not get my child in.

Also, would a child who is in-between, and has been taking French classes privately, benefit from a letter from their teacher, explaining the level they are at? My son is not fluent by any stretch, but is getting up there with the vocabulary and is able to understand. By the beginning of next year, I expect he will be making additional progress. I'm a fluent speaker, so he does have some resources to learn. How can that be factored in this wait?

We applied for the lottery for entrance into first grade immersion and were wait listed at #11. My daughter is now in the class in second grade. My understanding in that the program is capped at 75 kids and someone would need to drop out of the program in order for someone else to be added. My guess is that if you are non fluent your child would be put at the end of the wait list for second grade and if fluent another fluent student would have to leave the program......

well, 2nd graders are allowed in only if there are openings. KG does not seem to have openings for any grade.
http://www.fcps.edu/is/worldlanguages/immersionvacancies.shtml

NP here. In a similar situation, and I did spend some time talking to the principal (previous one) and the district. The expectations for the older grades is that the kid would be fluent enough to be able to contribute in science and math classes, explain his or her thinking, make hypotheses and generally be a contributor in the class. Since KG does partial immersion, and the math and science classes are targeted, there is an emphasis on STEM vocabulary in French. There is no formal exam, just a conversation with a teacher, and there is no formal assessment at the end, other than the grade in the report card.

The lottery is competitive. We tried for 1st grade this year, and ended up at #99. By the beginning of the year, it was down to #53 -- still far from likely that we'd be able to join. A few years before, we tried to gain admission for our eldest child while living inside the boundary. We started the summer at #39, still did not get in, and ended up moving outside the boundaries (we were new to VA back then, deciding where to live).

BTW, The school web site does talk about a 2nd grade lottery, but there is no such mention on the FCPS site.
http://www.fcps.edu/is/worldlanguages/immersion.shtml

Maybe it's something they would consider next year. I would like to hear more about it, as we would still be pursuing admission if it were an option for 2nd grade. Since they have a large school with a large local community of French speakers, the French spots fill quickly, and there are always a long list of siblings waiting to get in. So I would not have high expectations, but who knows? 3rd time's the charm.

You're welcome.

^^ Brilliant idea! Thanks for chiming in with this awesome insight.

Call the school to find out what entails determining a native speaker.

How is the test for fluency conducted? Is it a simple conversation with an instructor? A formal interrogation? My kid is conversational, but not fluent. Also, does the 10% set aside get used?

NP. My DC has been in an immersion aftercare for two years and is conversational. Anyone with experience with this could tell me if the principal may accept him as a native speaker. I know that probably pushing it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you already have a residence? I don't think you can participate in the lottery until you have a Fairfax County residence. September will be too late to do that.

OP here. I was told the lottery starts in late January and I will have residency by then so that's taken care of. I'm just curious to know if we should waste our time thinking that a slot at second grade is statistically plausible. Anyone know the chances? 1%, 10%, or whatever. Also, is it true that the school reserves 10% of slots for native speakers?

I am sorry, i thought that you were looking to have your child enter 2nd grade next September at the asme time you would be moving to the area. So, it sounds like you will have your DC in a regular classroom for 1st grad and then hopefully have DC start 2nd grade in the French Immersion. DO I have it correctly?

I would contact the Principal to see what fluency level they would want to consider a child to be a native speaker. If your DC is deemed a native speaker, you may be able to have DC transfer in when you move next September. It is somewhat easier to get in the the French Immersion program if you live within the Kent Gardens boundary than if you live outside of it. Your best chance is if your child falls into the category of "native speaker", otherwise the wait list is usually larger than the total program.

Anonymous wrote:Do you already have a residence? I don't think you can participate in the lottery until you have a Fairfax County residence. September will be too late to do that.

OP here. I was told the lottery starts in late January and I will have residency by then so that's taken care of. I'm just curious to know if we should waste our time thinking that a slot at second grade is statistically plausible. Anyone know the chances? 1%, 10%, or whatever. Also, is it true that the school reserves 10% of slots for native speakers?

Do you already have a residence? I don't think you can participate in the lottery until you have a Fairfax County residence. September will be too late to do that.

I understand this is the last year a child who is not fluent in French can center. How worse are the odds for entry at that year? Also, does anyone have insight into how difficult the fluency test is for children entering at third and beyond? My family will be moving into the area next September and DS is proficient though not fluent in French. Hoping we'll luck out in the lottery for second grade, but if the event that doesn't work, I wonder if he could pass the fluency exam. According to his teacher he's "very good", but "very shy" with speaking. Thanks for any advice!