This thread is super helpful. Thank you.

Has anyone had their student opt out of continuing in APS immersion, but who chose to continue learning Spanish through outside courses or summer programs? I don't know what my student will choose, but I was hopeful that it would feel like more than a binary choice when the time comes.

I had two kids go through Key and Gunston. We were really happy with the Immersion Program at Key, but never expected to send our kids on to Gunston (we live near Science Focus). But most of their friends were going to stick with Immersion, and they seemed to be doing well with it, so we sent them to Gunston, which turned out to be a good choice. Their Spanish writing skills really blossomed there, and their speaking ability also improved. When it came to HS, our older one went on to Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax, because that was a good academic fit, and the younger one went to W-L for the IB program, as we live close to W-L and most of his close friends (who were from the Immersion program) were also going there.

These were my kids. My older son took Spanish at TJHSST through 11th grade, when he ran out of classes to take (they didn't offer AP Spanish Lit his senior year). He spent an hour a day watching Spanish TV on Netflix his senior year to try to keep up (and expand) his Spanish. He definitely learned some new vocabulary! My younger son took Spanish for Fluent Speakers in 9th grade, AP Spanish in 10th, and IB Spanish HL in 11th and 12th. But neither did formal courses outside of school.

This thread is super helpful. Thank you.

Has anyone had their student opt out of continuing in APS immersion, but who chose to continue learning Spanish through outside courses or summer programs? I don't know what my student will choose, but I was hopeful that it would feel like more than a binary choice when the time comes.

--parent of elementary immersion student

I had two kids go through Key and Gunston. We were really happy with the Immersion Program at Key, but never expected to send our kids on to Gunston (we live near Science Focus). But most of their friends were going to stick with Immersion, and they seemed to be doing well with it, so we sent them to Gunston, which turned out to be a good choice. Their Spanish writing skills really blossomed there, and their speaking ability also improved. When it came to HS, our older one went on to Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax, because that was a good academic fit, and the younger one went to W-L for the IB program, as we live close to W-L and most of his close friends (who were from the Immersion program) were also going there.

Yes, I was thinking only of entering immersion as a kindergartener. I should have clarified there is some kind of language check/test for kids if they enter immersion after 1st grade. I don't know how intense it is. I know someone who moved here with kids in 3rd and 5th (I think) and they "tested" in. They came from an immersion program somewhere else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't recall exactly what question APS asks to determine whether you apply as Spanish speaker or English speaker, but there is no language test so if you and your child speak Spanish at home I would encourage you to consider whether it makes sense to apply as a Spanish speaker. There are lots of kids who grow up in a Spanish speaking home that prefer English because that is what they learn and speak with friends at preschool. There are always English speakers who don't come off the English wait list.

I actually feel good about applying as a spanish speaker. Thankfully OPOL is working really well up until now and he always responds to Dad, teachers and spanish speaking caregivers in Spanish. I was more worried about what the test would be for preK-3 in DC because I was afraid he would just be too shy to respond, but I think at this point he would talk and he is reading well (current kindergartener). This is very encouraging, but unfortunately still have to deal with real estate market. Thank you!

Older son entered immersion as a third grader. They did a short zoom call to confirm he spoke Spanish. Younger son went through normal K lottery, applied as spanish speaker. No one checked to see how his Spanish is.

If you look at the immersion materials they use the phrase native/heritage speakers so I think a child with a native Spanish speaking parent is probably considered a “heritage” speaker even if English is their first language.

Anonymous wrote:I don't recall exactly what question APS asks to determine whether you apply as Spanish speaker or English speaker, but there is no language test so if you and your child speak Spanish at home I would encourage you to consider whether it makes sense to apply as a Spanish speaker. There are lots of kids who grow up in a Spanish speaking home that prefer English because that is what they learn and speak with friends at preschool. There are always English speakers who don't come off the English wait list.

I actually feel good about applying as a spanish speaker. Thankfully OPOL is working really well up until now and he always responds to Dad, teachers and spanish speaking caregivers in Spanish. I was more worried about what the test would be for preK-3 in DC because I was afraid he would just be too shy to respond, but I think at this point he would talk and he is reading well (current kindergartener). This is very encouraging, but unfortunately still have to deal with real estate market. Thank you!

Maybe a better suggestion, if you're not sure whether to apply as a Spanish or English speaker, is to ask the principal about your specific situation.

I don't recall exactly what question APS asks to determine whether you apply as Spanish speaker or English speaker, but there is no language test so if you and your child speak Spanish at home I would encourage you to consider whether it makes sense to apply as a Spanish speaker. There are lots of kids who grow up in a Spanish speaking home that prefer English because that is what they learn and speak with friends at preschool. There are always English speakers who don't come off the English wait list.

Oh PP here, if I can remember correctly, we did not need an Arlington address to apply but we did need an Arlington address to enroll, which obviously came a couple months later.

We speak Spanish at home but we are predominantly an English speaking household and didn't have confidence that our kid could apply as a Spanish speaker. So we applied as an English speaker. We were also in the same boat - we were moving from DC to Arlington (specifically for the Spanish immersion program!). We were put on the waitlist but it moved very fast - we got a relatively low number and were in almost immediately. I was very stressed about it after our PK experiences in DC where waitlists never moved, but that just didn't play out in this circumstance. I believe you can get historical waitlist numbers online somewhere - if I recall, nearly everyone who wants an immersion spot has historically received one. But that may have changed in the last year or two, so I'd recommend confirming that data.

We moved during COVID and were not required to provide an Arlington address and could apply to either Claremont or Key; we did need to pick the school we preferred and then find a house in that school's zone. I did see that this year they say if you don't have an Arlington address yet, you have to apply to Key.

We have loved our experience so far (still early elementary) and fully recommend the Spanish program to everyone who asks.

Anonymous wrote:How hard is it to lottery into Spanish Immersion elementary schools in Arlington? We are considering moving and the middle and high school spanish immersion track really appeals to me. My kids speak Spanish with their Dad if there is any preference in the lottery.

If you apply as a Spanish speaker, you have a 99.9999% chance of getting a spot.

How hard is it to lottery into Spanish Immersion elementary schools in Arlington? We are considering moving and the middle and high school spanish immersion track really appeals to me. My kids speak Spanish with their Dad if there is any preference in the lottery.

Anonymous wrote:I have a middle schooler at gunston in the immersion program. We’ve been happy with it. In 6th grade, kids not in immersion take a reading class (separate from English) instead of Spanish LA.
My kid does immersion & band, so he doesn’t get to take other electives but is fine with that. Science, social studies, Spanish LA, & TA (kind of like homeroom) are in Spanish. It’s true that a lot of kids go to their neighborhood MS, but a fair number continue in immersion too. Only real downside has been getting up so early to catch the bus across the county. My son really wanted to continue with immersion, & so far we & he are glad he is. We haven’t decided about HS yet.
You can always leave immersion but you can’t necessarily jump back in.

This is really helpful. I'm an elementary Immersion parent.