Anonymous
07/24/2012 18:27
Subject: Re:CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
Just would like to introduce some numbers - I did a bit of research on Chinese immersion schools for a project last year and found that there were at least 50 and that was just by my rough count. Utah alone had more than 10 (or at least immersion programs within schools). http://utahchineseimmersion.org/
As for the stat re: a dozen bilingual kids at YY. I don't know the number but I would have to say that it is more. In my DC's PK class, there were three including one who was a recent immigrant. I saw this stat in a description of YY: 47% black, 32% white, 19% Asian and 2% other. I am not sure how the bi/multiracial kids get counted (my child is mixed and I was stumped myself how to answer) but from my experience there is definitely a sizable amount of families with direct connections to China.
As for all this debate back and forth, I don't think anybody at YY (admins, parents, etc.) would not want more bilingual kids. But there are laws to contend with and there is also the reality of DC - our population in this city is very different than North Carolina or San Francisco. I feel like YY doesn't get a fair shake as it gets criticism from all ends - not enough FARMS, not enough outreach to Chinese speaking community, etc. etc. In some ways, it must be doing something right as it seems every group complains (though the parents I know well--ie those in my child's class--are all very satisfied). I see this trend in so many discussions about charter schools in general which has perplexed me. If a certain interest group doesn't get its way or doesn't feel like the admin is doing enough (special needs, language, etc. etc.), then the school is lambasted. What I don't see as much discussion as is what the school is doing right. Is YY perfect? Of course not, no school is. Have I been satisfied as a parent? Yes, beyond my expectations. Look at what they did in just the one last year - renovated a new school from top to bottom, added a large cohort of PK students, significantly increasing the school population, playground/field construction and now the construction of an outdoor classroom (in addition to the challenging day-to-day and all the other stuff I don't know about). In the classroom, I was amazed by my child's progress as well as that of the entire class - night and day improvement from March to May - what a difference full immersion makes. Two native-speaking Chinese friends have heard my daughter speak and said that her tones are good. Having studied Chinese as a non-Asian in China, I know the Chinese can be overly polite and kind on that front but they are American and I asked for their honest opinions. And my daughter's Chinese pales in comparison to that of her classmates. I loved the IB curriculum as I like the integrated approach and was able to track what she was learning through the year.
In regards to DCI, I would imagine that the reason why it is restricted to four feeder schools is because of pure numbers. I don't see YY or any school wanting to be "exclusive." What I do see is demand that outstrips supply which is why I think there is definitely room for more immersion models, both charter and possibly DCPS (another bureaucratic challenge).
As for the stat re: a dozen bilingual kids at YY. I don't know the number but I would have to say that it is more. In my DC's PK class, there were three including one who was a recent immigrant. I saw this stat in a description of YY: 47% black, 32% white, 19% Asian and 2% other. I am not sure how the bi/multiracial kids get counted (my child is mixed and I was stumped myself how to answer) but from my experience there is definitely a sizable amount of families with direct connections to China.
As for all this debate back and forth, I don't think anybody at YY (admins, parents, etc.) would not want more bilingual kids. But there are laws to contend with and there is also the reality of DC - our population in this city is very different than North Carolina or San Francisco. I feel like YY doesn't get a fair shake as it gets criticism from all ends - not enough FARMS, not enough outreach to Chinese speaking community, etc. etc. In some ways, it must be doing something right as it seems every group complains (though the parents I know well--ie those in my child's class--are all very satisfied). I see this trend in so many discussions about charter schools in general which has perplexed me. If a certain interest group doesn't get its way or doesn't feel like the admin is doing enough (special needs, language, etc. etc.), then the school is lambasted. What I don't see as much discussion as is what the school is doing right. Is YY perfect? Of course not, no school is. Have I been satisfied as a parent? Yes, beyond my expectations. Look at what they did in just the one last year - renovated a new school from top to bottom, added a large cohort of PK students, significantly increasing the school population, playground/field construction and now the construction of an outdoor classroom (in addition to the challenging day-to-day and all the other stuff I don't know about). In the classroom, I was amazed by my child's progress as well as that of the entire class - night and day improvement from March to May - what a difference full immersion makes. Two native-speaking Chinese friends have heard my daughter speak and said that her tones are good. Having studied Chinese as a non-Asian in China, I know the Chinese can be overly polite and kind on that front but they are American and I asked for their honest opinions. And my daughter's Chinese pales in comparison to that of her classmates. I loved the IB curriculum as I like the integrated approach and was able to track what she was learning through the year.
In regards to DCI, I would imagine that the reason why it is restricted to four feeder schools is because of pure numbers. I don't see YY or any school wanting to be "exclusive." What I do see is demand that outstrips supply which is why I think there is definitely room for more immersion models, both charter and possibly DCPS (another bureaucratic challenge).
Anonymous
07/24/2012 18:15
Subject: Re:CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
Anonymous wrote:"No, it doesn't have the requisite population. Posters keep mentioning NYC - Flushing, Chinatown; San Fran; Vancouver; Sydney, etc. DC has a population just over 600,000."
Whoah. My college roommate, and current house guest, is a prof at Chapel Hill. Sends his kids to a Chinese immersion school at "Glenwood ES."
When I mentioned that yy has around a dozen bilingual kids of 400, he was surprised. Says the CH Chinese population can't be half DCs, but they have 3 or 4 times as many as we do. They have a Chinese administrator and dual lotteries, so aren't turning away bilingual kids like we are. Says visionary NC supports no less than 7 dual-immersion Chinese schools, 1/3 the US total. They just take as many ethnic Chinese & bilingual kids as they can find.
Sounds like a wise move to wait until Henderson's gone - things will change once she's out. And she may not stay much longer. Gray is already sort of out. You're the troll to trash a concept that could absorb some off YY's long waiting list. play nicely for a change.
So go ahead and DO SOMETHING. Obviously you care a lot but not enough to do anything about it... except complain and give excuses about why you aren't doing anything.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 18:11
Subject: Re:CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
13:10 jerk is too polite, you are a bigoted a--hole(being AA, I can spot 'em). What's in for you to rain on the parade of Asians with a sound idea? YY has yet to make a serious effort to attract Chinese speakers, so man up, shut up adn let others consider doing it.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 17:49
Subject: Re:CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
"No, it doesn't have the requisite population. Posters keep mentioning NYC - Flushing, Chinatown; San Fran; Vancouver; Sydney, etc. DC has a population just over 600,000."
Whoah. My college roommate, and current house guest, is a prof at Chapel Hill. Sends his kids to a Chinese immersion school at "Glenwood ES."
When I mentioned that yy has around a dozen bilingual kids of 400, he was surprised. Says the CH Chinese population can't be half DCs, but they have 3 or 4 times as many as we do. They have a Chinese administrator and dual lotteries, so aren't turning away bilingual kids like we are. Says visionary NC supports no less than 7 dual-immersion Chinese schools, 1/3 the US total. They just take as many ethnic Chinese & bilingual kids as they can find.
Sounds like a wise move to wait until Henderson's gone - things will change once she's out. And she may not stay much longer. Gray is already sort of out. You're the troll to trash a concept that could absorb some off YY's long waiting list. play nicely for a change.
Whoah. My college roommate, and current house guest, is a prof at Chapel Hill. Sends his kids to a Chinese immersion school at "Glenwood ES."
When I mentioned that yy has around a dozen bilingual kids of 400, he was surprised. Says the CH Chinese population can't be half DCs, but they have 3 or 4 times as many as we do. They have a Chinese administrator and dual lotteries, so aren't turning away bilingual kids like we are. Says visionary NC supports no less than 7 dual-immersion Chinese schools, 1/3 the US total. They just take as many ethnic Chinese & bilingual kids as they can find.
Sounds like a wise move to wait until Henderson's gone - things will change once she's out. And she may not stay much longer. Gray is already sort of out. You're the troll to trash a concept that could absorb some off YY's long waiting list. play nicely for a change.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 17:37
Subject: CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
for the 2,000th time- GO CHANGE THE CHARTER LAWS. Get on it. Lots of YY and other schools have tried. Changing laws is challenging. Bitching, however, is easy. Preferential admissions aren't going to happen any time soon.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 17:17
Subject: CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
Anonymous wrote: No, it doesn't have the requisite population. Posters keep mentioning NYC - Flushing, Chinatown; San Fran; Vancouver; Sydney, etc. DC has a population just over 600,000. The population of Queens, NY - only one of the boroughs, not NYC - is over 2 million. The Chinese population in DC is less than 1%, under 6,000 people most of whom are not 4/5 yr olds - entry yr for YY, and most of them are not bilingual Mandarin speakers.
I'm not Chinese but your assessment doesn't sound fair. They're not talking about preference for Cantonese speakers, that's been made clear. They're talking about a lottery for bilingual kids using any dialect, they could even be non-Chinese kids who learned Mandarin while living in China, or from nannies.
They haven't argued that they could find enough bilingual kids to reach a 50/50 balance with English speakers, they think they could find 1/4 tops. That would be more than the Hebrew speakers at their charter, a lot more.
Moreover, the school could be smaller than YY, like MV. Doesn't sound like they're bitching, sounds like they're looking ahead. If the charter board were reasonable enough to allow two lotteries for immersion schools, as in other US cities, and if YY had built strong ties to the DC Chinese community, this fraught discussion wouldn't be taking place.
What is your concern, that the two-way immersion model might actually fly? It is the one used in the majority of the other Chinese immersion schools in the country. Give 'em a break, the more Chinese-speaking kids in DC the better.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 13:10
Subject: CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
The school would be a Mandarin immersion school, w/dialect transition support for kids like ours. Mandarin is rapidly becoming the Chinese lingua franca for dialect speakers around the world. There are two-way Mandarin immersion elementary schools in cities as far flung as Vancouver, Sydney and Singapore for this reason. But I'd be really surprised if DCPS would play ball for now. We'll almost certainly have to wait until Gray and Kaya go. We'll ask but they'll tell us no money, little interest, we're closing schools, YY is enough.
Does DC have the requisite population to sustain a PK-6 school in this model. Or, will parents in MoCo who could not get into their Chinese immersion school use fake DC addresses and leases to attend this proposed chinese school. I get Oyster as DC has a very large Latino population, so the Latino bodies are there.
In addition, why stop at such preferences for Chinese dialect. Can we get a school that gives a 50% preference for Amharic, Arabic, French speaking Senagalese children.
No, it doesn't have the requisite population. Posters keep mentioning NYC - Flushing, Chinatown; San Fran; Vancouver; Sydney, etc. DC has a population just over 600,000. The population of Queens, NY - only one of the boroughs, not NYC - is over 2 million. The Chinese population in DC is less than 1%, under 6,000 people most of whom are not 4/5 yr olds - entry yr for YY, and most of them are not bilingual Mandarin speakers.
I think let's give Cantonese speakers preference pp will do better trying to improve Thompson... but it looks like they don't want to do anything at all except bitch about YY on DCUM.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 12:47
Subject: Re:CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: Well I don't want just anybody's uncle around my little boy. Has dear uncle been vetted or is he a pervert. Also, Who pays for the dear uncle and grandma's liability insurance.
Not sure but luckily for us, the charter DC is at does not do this. It's a question for the new Mandarin charter school catering to Cantonese speakers.
MV poster. This paranoia is ridiculous. Involving parents and other family members who know the culture is a normal part of what makes immersion schools great. Ours doesn't need to hire professionals to teach Latino crafts, dance, cooking etc., although it sometimes does, because family members of students and "professionals" tend to be one and the same! Of course it's wonderful when skilled Latino family members get involved to share their culture - the grandmothers add a lot. Makes no sense to the rest of us. Really goofy.
At our school, we don't agree that the number of language immersion schools feeding into DCI should be limited. We'd much rather see as many immersion graduates as possible at DCI than have the majority of students lottery in from random schools. The point is to build the strongest international school possible, not to be territorial about which immersion schools can send kids.
Do you think that WIS administrators and parents think like you guys? Heck no, they just want the best suited kids/strongest students.
Why, you are being territorial but in a differnt way. Why do you think your precious DC should have any more advantages than another child who was not so damn lucky to have their number picked for one of the immersion schools. You got lucky and now you want to keep other kids from foreign language. Heck, some of those kids who did not get into MV could probably read and speak Spanish better than your child. Entitled much. You are comparing MV to WIS. LOL. How do you know that your little precious is a strong fit for MV or the future DCI.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 12:39
Subject: CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So start one! It would be great to see in action and there would be a lot to be learned on all sides. I'm sure if the new school is up to snuff like the 4 already involved then those schools would be keen to have more speakers of Chinese (whatever dialect you chose to have for the school).
The school would be a Mandarin immersion school, w/dialect transition support for kids like ours. Mandarin is rapidly becoming the Chinese lingua franca for dialect speakers around the world. There are two-way Mandarin immersion elementary schools in cities as far flung as Vancouver, Sydney and Singapore for this reason. But I'd be really surprised if DCPS would play ball for now. We'll almost certainly have to wait until Gray and Kaya go. We'll ask but they'll tell us no money, little interest, we're closing schools, YY is enough.
Does DC have the requisite population to sustain a PK-6 school in this model. Or, will parents in MoCo who could not get into their Chinese immersion school use fake DC addresses and leases to attend this proposed chinese school. I get Oyster as DC has a very large Latino population, so the Latino bodies are there.
In addition, why stop at such preferences for Chinese dialect. Can we get a school that gives a 50% preference for Amharic, Arabic, French speaking Senagalese children.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 12:37
Subject: CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So start one! It would be great to see in action and there would be a lot to be learned on all sides. I'm sure if the new school is up to snuff like the 4 already involved then those schools would be keen to have more speakers of Chinese (whatever dialect you chose to have for the school).
The school would be a Mandarin immersion school, w/dialect transition support for kids like ours. Mandarin is rapidly becoming the Chinese lingua franca for dialect speakers around the world. There are two-way Mandarin immersion elementary schools in cities as far flung as Vancouver, Sydney and Singapore for this reason. But I'd be really surprised if DCPS would play ball for now. We'll almost certainly have to wait until Gray and Kaya go. We'll ask but they'll tell us no money, little interest, we're closing schools, YY is enough.
So many excuses without even trying... for not starting your ideal two way immersion Mandarin school. Makes you look like you'll rather bitch about YY than DO anything. Well, at least we know where you're coming from...
Anonymous
07/24/2012 11:55
Subject: CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
If Thomson Elementary is enough trouble, you might be able to get a contract to operate it. All kinds of advantages there.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 11:48
Subject: CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So start one! It would be great to see in action and there would be a lot to be learned on all sides. I'm sure if the new school is up to snuff like the 4 already involved then those schools would be keen to have more speakers of Chinese (whatever dialect you chose to have for the school).
The school would be a Mandarin immersion school, w/dialect transition support for kids like ours. Mandarin is rapidly becoming the Chinese lingua franca for dialect speakers around the world. There are two-way Mandarin immersion elementary schools in cities as far flung as Vancouver, Sydney and Singapore for this reason. But I'd be really surprised if DCPS would play ball for now. We'll almost certainly have to wait until Gray and Kaya go. We'll ask but they'll tell us no money, little interest, we're closing schools, YY is enough.
seriously, after all your posts you are now going to make excuses for not attempting to do this? oh troll, you have just lost all credibility.
Well, let's give them a chance. When you ask, take notes and report back. If we don't hear anything we'll assume it never happened.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 11:45
Subject: CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So start one! It would be great to see in action and there would be a lot to be learned on all sides. I'm sure if the new school is up to snuff like the 4 already involved then those schools would be keen to have more speakers of Chinese (whatever dialect you chose to have for the school).
The school would be a Mandarin immersion school, w/dialect transition support for kids like ours. Mandarin is rapidly becoming the Chinese lingua franca for dialect speakers around the world. There are two-way Mandarin immersion elementary schools in cities as far flung as Vancouver, Sydney and Singapore for this reason. But I'd be really surprised if DCPS would play ball for now. We'll almost certainly have to wait until Gray and Kaya go. We'll ask but they'll tell us no money, little interest, we're closing schools, YY is enough.
seriously, after all your posts you are now going to make excuses for not attempting to do this? oh troll, you have just lost all credibility.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 11:43
Subject: Re:CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"And you'd get a host of ethnic parents happy to teach Tai Chi, Chinese chess, cooking, brush painting, folk/Lion dance and music, Chinese knotting etc. With considerable community input, a school can have a lot of fun with the culture. "
uh, Yu Ying offers all this and more from native Chinese folks..
Yea, sort of hired help. Rarely parents, uncles, grandparents. We've established that there isn't a Chinese community behind the school.
Well I don't want just anybody's uncle around my little boy. Has dear uncle been vetted or is he a pervert. Also, Who pays for the dear uncle and grandma's liability insurance.
relax. school volunteers (at least at YY and i'm sure all other responsible charters) have to go through a background check. school insurance requires it.
Anonymous
07/24/2012 11:25
Subject: Re:CHARTERS MAY MERGE AT WALTER REED (The DC International School, IB Diploma Programme)
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote: Well I don't want just anybody's uncle around my little boy. Has dear uncle been vetted or is he a pervert. Also, Who pays for the dear uncle and grandma's liability insurance.
Not sure but luckily for us, the charter DC is at does not do this. It's a question for the new Mandarin charter school catering to Cantonese speakers.
MV poster. This paranoia is ridiculous. Involving parents and other family members who know the culture is a normal part of what makes immersion schools great. Ours doesn't need to hire professionals to teach Latino crafts, dance, cooking etc., although it sometimes does, because family members of students and "professionals" tend to be one and the same! Of course it's wonderful when skilled Latino family members get involved to share their culture - the grandmothers add a lot. Makes no sense to the rest of us. Really goofy.
At our school, we don't agree that the number of language immersion schools feeding into DCI should be limited. We'd much rather see as many immersion graduates as possible at DCI than have the majority of students lottery in from random schools. The point is to build the strongest international school possible, not to be territorial about which immersion schools can send kids.
Do you think that WIS administrators and parents think like you guys? Heck no, they just want the best suited kids/strongest students.
What makes you think the number of language immersion school feeding in would be limited? As I understand it, the only limit is how many there actually are and whether they decide to participate.