Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YY's ELA PARCC scores have always been among the worst for white and upper middle-class kids in the city when pulled out by race and SES. YY parents commonly whitewash the situation by claiming that "bilingual" kids can't be expected to score high on ELA tests.

My own children, fully bilingual in Chinese and English (meaning that they were the only truly bilingual Chinese-speaking students in their grades at YY) scored low on ELA PARCC in 3rd grade, but by 5th grade they scored 5s. The great majority of the YY 4th and 5th graders speak Chinese at around the level my kids did at age 4, maybe age 5. I know this because I used to volunteer at all kinds of school events, speaking only Mandarin (my first language) to kids and asking them to reply in Chinese. We left the school just two years ago, not impressed with academics but not complaining about the cozy atmosphere.

You may be fine with all of the above, but I wouldn't drink the Kook-Aid. Go forward with your eyes open.

Huh? When we were at YY, the PARCC scores were among the best in the city, certainly among charters. Our kids got a fine education at YY and were well prepared for private middle school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:YY's ELA PARCC scores have always been among the worst for white and upper middle-class kids in the city when pulled out by race and SES. YY parents commonly whitewash the situation by claiming that "bilingual" kids can't be expected to score high on ELA tests.

My own children, fully bilingual in Chinese and English (meaning that they were the only truly bilingual Chinese-speaking students in their grades at YY) scored low on ELA PARCC in 3rd grade, but by 5th grade they scored 5s. The great majority of the YY 4th and 5th graders speak Chinese at around the level my kids did at age 4, maybe age 5. I know this because I used to volunteer at all kinds of school events, speaking only Mandarin (my first language) to kids and asking them to reply in Chinese. We left the school just two years ago, not impressed with academics but not complaining about the cozy atmosphere.

You may be fine with all of the above, but I wouldn't drink the Kook-Aid. Go forward with your eyes open.

This PP ^ has a pathological obsession with YY and comments like this on Every. single. YY. thread. For YEARS. This poster thinks whatever he wanted is exactly what all other prospective and current families want, and that is simply not true (notice how OP didn't ask anything about any of this, and yet he needs to post multiple long replies about his grief with the school). So take these particular criticisms with a grain of salt.

Anonymous wrote:YY's ELA PARCC scores have always been among the worst for white and upper middle-class kids in the city when pulled out by race and SES. YY parents commonly whitewash the situation by claiming that "bilingual" kids can't be expected to score high on ELA tests.

My own children, fully bilingual in Chinese and English (meaning that they were the only truly bilingual Chinese-speaking students in their grades at YY) scored low on ELA PARCC in 3rd grade, but by 5th grade they scored 5s. The great majority of the YY 4th and 5th graders speak Chinese at around the level my kids did at age 4, maybe age 5. I know this because I used to volunteer at all kinds of school events, speaking only Mandarin (my first language) to kids and asking them to reply in Chinese. We left the school just two years ago, not impressed with academics but not complaining about the cozy atmosphere.

You may be fine with all of the above, but I wouldn't drink the Kook-Aid. Go forward with your eyes open.

Anonymous wrote:YY's ELA PARCC scores have always been among the worst for white and upper middle-class kids in the city when pulled out by race and SES. YY parents commonly whitewash the situation by claiming that "bilingual" kids can't be expected to score high on ELA tests.

My own children, fully bilingual in Chinese and English (meaning that they were the only truly bilingual Chinese-speaking students in their grades at YY) scored low on ELA PARCC in 3rd grade, but by 5th grade they scored 5s. The great majority of the YY 4th and 5th graders speak Chinese at around the level my kids did at age 4, maybe age 5. I know this because I used to volunteer at all kinds of school events, speaking only Mandarin (my first language) to kids and asking them to reply in Chinese. We left the school just two years ago, not impressed with academics but not complaining about the cozy atmosphere.

You may be fine with all of the above, but I wouldn't drink the Kook-Aid. Go forward with your eyes open.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you end up getting a spot, I wouldn't worry about learning the language late. Your kid will catch up with the others, especially if you supplement at home. Actually if you supplement, your kid will probably be ahead of peers. I'm a YY PK parent and it seems like most kids don't speak or even understand basic Mandarin. How much is because of DL, I don't know but the kids entering K aren't fluent or even conversant in early education-level Mandarin.

I don't know but hardly any of the kids entering 5th grade aren't fluent or even conversant in basic kid Mandarin. Most speak like native speakers at age 3 or 4.

YY has never been a remotely serious immersion program. Hire a Mandarin speaking nanny this summer, insist that s/he only speaks Mandarin to your child, and only accepts Chinese in return after the first few weeks, and your kid will catch up to other others in a few months. Done.

Better question is, why bother? The kids lose a lot of English over the years in exchange for a little Chinese and a happy environment. Not worth it to us.

Anonymous wrote:If you end up getting a spot, I wouldn't worry about learning the language late. Your kid will catch up with the others, especially if you supplement at home. Actually if you supplement, your kid will probably be ahead of peers. I'm a YY PK parent and it seems like most kids don't speak or even understand basic Mandarin. How much is because of DL, I don't know but the kids entering K aren't fluent or even conversant in early education-level Mandarin.