Anonymous
Post 08/29/2016 14:41     Subject: Language immersion in MoCo
The programs are mediocre. The social environment bad. FI in Sligo Creek creates a poison state. Our neighborhood is very well off...so I am not sure what the person that said "the school you would normally go" means, unless is a racist elitist that could afford to go to the Lycee or Washington International but will not because is a cheap person. Who knows!!! On fluency: some kids will be some others not. It will depend on the kid. But at ES level, many kids end up not speaking the language and barely understanding it. I speak four languages. My kid 3. You need to put a lot of effort to have a bilingual kid if you are not. Word of advise.
Anonymous
Post 05/05/2014 12:33     Subject: Language immersion in MoCo
Close PP but not exactly. There is a 4 years test in county wide IB program at RM. Kids test in 8th grade. For neighborhood kids, they all continue the MYP curriculum which starts in 6th grade and ends in 10th. For the neighborhood kids who successfully complete all the requirements of the MYP, they can apply to enter the IB program in 11th grade with the kids who tested in for 9th grade.

Also..College Gardens immersion kids are taught Chinese for the math and science portions of the day...not "english" It was never supposed to be full immersion.
Anonymous
Post 05/05/2014 11:42     Subject: Language immersion in MoCo
Anonymous wrote:How are Burnt Mills and Rolling Terrace? We are currently in DCPS but interested in a move out

Is Richard Montogmery a gauranteed IB's seat? How is it?


At the elementary (College Gardens w/Primary Years Programme) and middle school (Julius West w/Middle Years Programme), IB is open to all students at the schools. At the high school level (Richard Montgomery), the Middle Years Programme continues in 9th and 10th grade, and all entering 9th graders continue to be included in IB (even if they didn't do IB in elementary or middle school). The test only comes into play for the final two years of high school for students that want to do the full IB diploma, including the classes, extended essay& theory of knowledge. For kids that don't do the full IB diploma, they can still get IB certificates for individual classes; full IB diploma for the final two years is available at other MCPS schools, like B-CC, without testing in.
Anonymous
Post 05/05/2014 11:02     Subject: Language immersion in MoCo
Anonymous wrote:How are Burnt Mills and Rolling Terrace? We are currently in DCPS but interested in a move out

Is Richard Montogmery a gauranteed IB's seat? How is it?


No. RM's IB program is a highly competitive/selective program that involves a test. I believe there are IB programs in other MCPS schools that are not selective and are open to the entire student body.
Anonymous
Post 05/05/2014 10:23     Subject: Language immersion in MoCo
How are Burnt Mills and Rolling Terrace? We are currently in DCPS but interested in a move out

Is Richard Montogmery a gauranteed IB's seat? How is it?
Anonymous
Post 05/04/2014 20:07     Subject: Language immersion in MoCo
Anonymous wrote:For MCPS you must live within Montgomery County to be eligible. For a guaranteed seat, you must live within the elementary school's boundary lines. If you are outside of those boundary lines and if there are extra seats available, you can then apply to the lottery to try to get one of the seats. The Winston Churchill HS (Potomac) pyramid, which is #1 both in Montgomery County & Maryland and is ranked pretty high nationally, has Chinese immersion in Potomac Elementary School. For Richard Montgomery (Rockville) there's full International Baccalaureate, including Spanish immersion, with College Gardens ES. Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS has Spanish immersion with Rock Creek. All are excellent schools, and if you have more than one child once the first child is accepted the other children are also able to attend. However, the lottery is just that - a lottery, and the odds are not in your favor. Also, due to overcrowding concerns at B-CC the PTA is currently talking about only allowing the kids that get in through the lottery to attend through middle school, requiring all high school students live within the physical school boundaries (this is not the current policy); not sure if this is also being discussed at the other schools. There are other programs in the county which you may want to look into depending on your child's interests, like CETA for the arts.


Some clarifications to this post. Not all of the immersion programs require you to live within the specific elementary school boundary lines. The programs at Rock creek Forest and College Gardens are complete lotteries. The only people who have a preference are those with siblings already attending the program. Also, the change in the feeder pattern to BCC is not a change being made by the PTA. The change is being considered by the Board of Education and would apply to all special programs. They have yet to make a final decision on it though.
Anonymous
Post 05/04/2014 06:00     Subject: Language immersion in MoCo
For Richard Montgomery (Rockville) there's full International Baccalaureate, including Spanish immersion, with College Gardens ES.

College Gardens offers 1/2 day Chinese Immersion and there is no preference for neighborhood kids.
Anonymous
Post 05/04/2014 01:00     Subject: Re:Language immersion in MoCo
Yes, a good chance if waiting for K spot.
Anonymous
Post 05/03/2014 22:52     Subject: Language immersion in MoCo
My son is waitlisted #05 for Maryvale's French program. Anyone know if this means he has a good chance of being selected?
Anonymous
Post 01/07/2014 12:24     Subject: Language immersion in MoCo
Anonymous wrote:For MCPS you must live within Montgomery County to be eligible. For a guaranteed seat, you must live within the elementary school's boundary lines. If you are outside of those boundary lines and if there are extra seats available, you can then apply to the lottery to try to get one of the seats. The Winston Churchill HS (Potomac) pyramid, which is #1 both in Montgomery County & Maryland and is ranked pretty high nationally, has Chinese immersion in Potomac Elementary School. For Richard Montgomery (Rockville) there's full International Baccalaureate, including Spanish immersion, with College Gardens ES. Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS has Spanish immersion with Rock Creek. All are excellent schools, and if you have more than one child once the first child is accepted the other children are also able to attend. However, the lottery is just that - a lottery, and the odds are not in your favor. Also, due to overcrowding concerns at B-CC the PTA is currently talking about only allowing the kids that get in through the lottery to attend through middle school, requiring all high school students live within the physical school boundaries (this is not the current policy); not sure if this is also being discussed at the other schools. There are other programs in the county which you may want to look into depending on your child's interests, like CETA for the arts.


That's only true for three of the immersion programs - Potomac (Chinese), and Burnt Mills and Rolling Terrace (Spanish). OP, if you live in-bounds for one of those schools, then yes, you are practically gauranteed a spot in the immersion program. Not sure why the high schools are mentioned, as I thought the immersion programming only goes through middle school. The IB program at Richard Montgomery, while reportedly excellent, is admission-only and hard to get into.
Anonymous
Post 01/07/2014 09:15     Subject: Language immersion in MoCo
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:For MCPS you must live within Montgomery County to be eligible. For a guaranteed seat, you must live within the elementary school's boundary lines. If you are outside of those boundary lines and if there are extra seats available, you can then apply to the lottery to try to get one of the seats. The Winston Churchill HS (Potomac) pyramid, which is #1 both in Montgomery County & Maryland and is ranked pretty high nationally, has Chinese immersion in Potomac Elementary School. For Richard Montgomery (Rockville) there's full International Baccalaureate, including Spanish immersion, with College Gardens ES. Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS has Spanish immersion with Rock Creek. All are excellent schools, and if you have more than one child once the first child is accepted the other children are also able to attend. However, the lottery is just that - a lottery, and the odds are not in your favor. Also, due to overcrowding concerns at B-CC the PTA is currently talking about only allowing the kids that get in through the lottery to attend through middle school, requiring all high school students live within the physical school boundaries (this is not the current policy); not sure if this is also being discussed at the other schools. There are other programs in the county which you may want to look into depending on your child's interests, like CETA for the arts.


College Gardens is Chinese (not Spanish) and I wouldn't recommend it. They are so overcrowded (6-7 K classes this year) and their middle school is just awful. They only teach in Chinese during "English time." Math, art, PE, music, outside specials are all English spoken. It is nowhere near a full immersion program. I agree with another poster. Unless you have a parent or a tutor who can speak the language it is very tough anyways


Oops, PP here, you're right CGES is Chinese not Spanish! And, also agreed that there is terrible overcrowding - though, that's a problem at many (most?) elementary schools in MoCo. Chinese in all of MoCo is partial immersion, not fully immersion, but IMO it's still better than the alternative, waiting until high school. At least with the partial immersion the kids will have a better time picking up the subtle differences in Chinese intonations than they will later in their teens.