Drew Elementary in SS is arts integration but I don't know much about it.

Say you were to apply to all of the programs, what are the odds of getting in (or off the waitlist) for kindergarten?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What? Who is trying to do away with the immersion programs??? Genuinely curious. Hoping for a spot next year, but might as well move on if its dead. They should be adding classes, not eliminating. The programs are very popular so I assume it would take something extreme to do away with the programs.

A few years ago Rolling Terrace cut back....they used to have 3 Spanish immersion kindergarten classes, then went down to 2. And through attrition, moving, etc. the numbers of kids staying in the immersion program go down every year (after 1st grade they don't take kids who haven't been exposed to Spanish)

Attrition does reduce class size in all the immersion programs, including the Sligo Creek program DC attended, but this isn't really surprising. When a family moves away or some kids go to HGCs in 4th grade, the immersion programs can't simply take any random kid and plop him into a program where he will be expected to do math in french/spanish/chinese. Instead the school can only fill the slot with another kid who already speaks french/spanish/chinese at the same grade level.

OP, are you aware that the normal entry age for the immersion programs is K, with a few kids entering in 1st grade? After the first few grades, the school will test your child to see if he/she can keep up with the rest of the class before admitting them.

Anonymous wrote:What? Who is trying to do away with the immersion programs??? Genuinely curious. Hoping for a spot next year, but might as well move on if its dead. They should be adding classes, not eliminating. The programs are very popular so I assume it would take something extreme to do away with the programs.

A few years ago Rolling Terrace cut back....they used to have 3 Spanish immersion kindergarten classes, then went down to 2. And through attrition, moving, etc. the numbers of kids staying in the immersion program go down every year (after 1st grade they don't take kids who haven't been exposed to Spanish)

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery County may have been progressive at one point in time, but I've heard much better things about DC charters. Policies change every year, so you really have to rely on the information from central administration -- recognizing it may change next year. I've never heard of "Kemp" Mill. My understanding for Spanish is:

1) Burnt Mills, local only
2) Rolling Terrace, local, then county-wide lottery
3) Rock Creek, county-only

Wait lists are extremely long and do not carry over each year.

Here is the information about eligibility for Spanish immersion: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/elementary/immersion-spanish.aspx
1) Burnt Mills (partial)--lottery for BMES students, then Key MS zoned ES students, then county
2) Rolling Terrace (partial)--lottery for RTES students, then county
3) Rock Creek Forest (full)--county-wide lottery, no preference for local RCFES students

The "rumor" that Burnt Mills is local only is likely based on the premise of prioritizing students from nearby elementary schools that feed into Key, before moving to the county. The only full immersion program, RCF, is a straight county-wide lottery.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I've never heard of "Kemp" Mill..

And yet it exists, AND has a dual-language Spanish program.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/kempmilles/dualprogram/

Participation is by lottery among children in the Kemp Mill ES attendance area.

Exactly. As I posted earlier, Kemp Mill is NOT immersion, it is a dual-language program, which is diffierent. You've really never heard of Kemp Mill ES or the neighborhood? It's in Silver Spring. (Although "Kemp" Mill is priceless--thanks for the laugh! I've never heard of it, so it can't be real. Also, here's some incomplete information that's already posted multiple times in the thread.)

Anonymous wrote: I've never heard of "Kemp" Mill..

And yet it exists, AND has a dual-language Spanish program.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/kempmilles/dualprogram/

Participation is by lottery among children in the Kemp Mill ES attendance area.

Montgomery County may have been progressive at one point in time, but I've heard much better things about DC charters. Policies change every year, so you really have to rely on the information from central administration -- recognizing it may change next year. I've never heard of "Kemp" Mill. My understanding for Spanish is:

1) Burnt Mills, local only
2) Rolling Terrace, local, then county-wide lottery
3) Rock Creek, county-only

Wait lists are extremely long and do not carry over each year.