Anonymous wrote:
I only with the language being taught was Mandarin or Arabic and not Spanish.

Arlington should teach its English speakers Mandarin and Spanish speakers English.

We have a 1st grader at Claremont and have been very happy with the school. The faculty (both teachers and administration) are very committed and responsive to both students and parents. The overall school community is extremely engaged - at a recent evening event there were probably 100 or more families in attendance.

Is is a perfect school - probably not, but does one really exist? But we love Claremont because we believe it focused on the right things for our family - i.e. critical thinking, lifelong learning, love of reading, international perspective, arts, physical fitness - in a positive environment.

I know that some people are turned off by the early start time, but it actually works out nicely in that you have plenty of time in the afternoons (school starts @ 8 and ends @2:41).

Anonymous wrote:Hi, I am in the same position as OP, we are deciding between Claremont and St. Agnes, two totally different programs. Our concern is that we don't speak Spanish at home - any thoughts on how kids without Spanish at home fare at the school? Thanks!

Did you make a decision? We are actually in the same situation. And we are waiting to go to the Claremont Open House this coming February! St. Agnes is an awesome school , we like it a lot! However, they do not do immersion, but have other great programs and focus.

We are on the process to select a school for our daughter. We hear wonderful things about Claremont school. But what are the drawbacks (weak sides) or things to need to be improved in the school?

How are the teachers of kindergarten?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a big difference between FLES and immersion. FLES is an early start to a language using traditional foreign language learning methods. In immersion, you learn by doing. DC is at Claremont and studies math, science, Spanish language arts, and (depending on the year), art or music in Spanish. It's really comparing apples and oranges.

Don't get me wrong - I think it's great that Arlington has FLES and hope that all schools eventually get it but we're certainly glad that DC is at an immersion school. Claremont (and Key) follow the exact same curriculum as any other Arlington elementary school - it's just that half the curriculum is taught in the target language.

Right, we understand the difference. We're just saying that there's nothing inherently superior to the immersion approach. The kids still learn the language. There's no extra virtue to immersion. Happy it works for you though.

NP here. "Superior" is a loaded word, but make no mistake. Immersion kids are MUCH more likely to actually learn and retain the language than those who get it 3 times a week. Is that "inherent virtue"? That's up to you. Certainly there are valid reasons to not do immersion, but I wouldn't rely on FLES as a substitute. They are very different programs. Only you can decide which is best for your kid in keeping with your priorities.

Per NP, the difference is huge. The immersion students learn whole subject areas in Spanish and also get language arts instruction in Spanish. You can't compare it to FLES. I think FLES is better than no language instruction but the proficiency outcomes for FLES versus immersion are very different, except for that percentage of kids who either like learning languages and/or have natural language acquisition ability and are able to develop a high level of proficiency later in life.

Anonymous wrote:We are really excited about the unique opportunity that Claremont offers.

Someone has mentioned the arts strength at Claremont.

Is anyone aware of how Claremont students fare in math in the long-term (especially since many are learning it in a second language and since math is a subject that really builds upon previous learning)? Are there any data on Claremont kids in middle and high school with regard to math?

Parent of a Claremont student here. I don't think there's any appreciable difference - the goal at the school (as with all Arlington elementary schools) is to have kids taking algebra by 8th grade. The school follows the exact same curriculum, but just uses textbooks in Spanish. Math is one of the subjects taught in Spanish because 1 +1 = 2 in any language.

DS has learned math in Spanish and we are non-native speakers of Spanish so we tend to help in Spanish. Nevertheless, DS usually answers in English and knows all the English-language terminology despite never having been taught it in English. Same with science. Despite having learned science in Spanish, DS knows the terminology in English without our ever having done extra teaching of material in English.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a big difference between FLES and immersion. FLES is an early start to a language using traditional foreign language learning methods. In immersion, you learn by doing. DC is at Claremont and studies math, science, Spanish language arts, and (depending on the year), art or music in Spanish. It's really comparing apples and oranges.

Don't get me wrong - I think it's great that Arlington has FLES and hope that all schools eventually get it but we're certainly glad that DC is at an immersion school. Claremont (and Key) follow the exact same curriculum as any other Arlington elementary school - it's just that half the curriculum is taught in the target language.

Right, we understand the difference. We're just saying that there's nothing inherently superior to the immersion approach. The kids still learn the language. There's no extra virtue to immersion. Happy it works for you though.

NP here. "Superior" is a loaded word, but make no mistake. Immersion kids are MUCH more likely to actually learn and retain the language than those who get it 3 times a week. Is that "inherent virtue"? That's up to you. Certainly there are valid reasons to not do immersion, but I wouldn't rely on FLES as a substitute. They are very different programs. Only you can decide which is best for your kid in keeping with your priorities.