Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yu Ying doesn't accept kids past 2nd grade because the law does not allow them to be selective in admissions and it would be too hard for kids to catch up after that point. All DC charters are bound by this law. Yu Ying's hands are tied. They can't admit anyone new in third grade or above. If they allowed it they would have to admit kids by strictly by lottery, so they don't.

I believe there are Mandarin immersion schools in both Potomoc (Montgomery County) and College Park (PG County).

I contacted both Potomac and College Park, but I don't know if I want to commit to suburban living. I can understand that selective admissions are unlawful, but it should be possible to test for competency, then apply to the lottery for spaces that may come available due to attrition, if the student's level of learning is equal to or greater than that of grade level peers.

Federal law. Chinese or any language proficiency cannot be screened for public lottery admissions.

I don't think that the law is federal. Other public/magnet/ charter schools in the DC area and nationwide allow students with language proficiency to test into the program or to test into the lottery wait pool.

At least I now know that I can remove Yu Ying from our list of prospective schools.

I believe the DC charter law is federal. Does not apply to other states

To OP - I also want to apologize for the nastiness of the DCUM citizenry on this thread. In person, we're more civilized. Online and anonymously, we're not. Good luck with your move!

Anonymous wrote:Per the law, charters can't turn students away but the law doesn't preclude them from having entrance exams and placement according to how they did on the exam.

You can give an exam after the child is admitted and enrolled to determine specific classes like Algebra vs. Geometry but not grade level.

Anonymous wrote:OP, any chance we can convince you not to move to DC? We have quite a lot of self-entitled, officious douchebags here already. No need to add to the count, especially someone who would be at the head of the list.

What's worse...

Those "douchebags" who feel "entitled" just because they work their asses off, pay in huge amounts of taxes, get actively involved in improving the schools, put in hundreds of hours volunteering, who host fundraisers to benefit the school, raise funds for teacher gifts, for student activities, for trips, and so on - and then have the arrogant audacity to expect good things of those schools?

Or.... the ones who feel "entitled" to reap the benefits even though they haven't done jack squat to help or contribute in any way?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yu Ying doesn't accept kids past 2nd grade because the law does not allow them to be selective in admissions and it would be too hard for kids to catch up after that point. All DC charters are bound by this law. Yu Ying's hands are tied. They can't admit anyone new in third grade or above. If they allowed it they would have to admit kids by strictly by lottery, so they don't.

I believe there are Mandarin immersion schools in both Potomoc (Montgomery County) and College Park (PG County).

I contacted both Potomac and College Park, but I don't know if I want to commit to suburban living. I can understand that selective admissions are unlawful, but it should be possible to test for competency, then apply to the lottery for spaces that may come available due to attrition, if the student's level of learning is equal to or greater than that of grade level peers.

Federal law. Chinese or any language proficiency cannot be screened for public lottery admissions.

How does Oyster get around this "federal law". They screen for admissions and hold two separate lotteries. Cherrypicking at it's best, eh?

Oyster's not a charter school. The Federal Law only applies to Charters.

Could you post the federal statute that dictates this. Never heard of this before.

Per the law, charters can't turn students away but the law doesn't preclude them from having entrance exams and placement according to how they did on the exam.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yu Ying doesn't accept kids past 2nd grade because the law does not allow them to be selective in admissions and it would be too hard for kids to catch up after that point. All DC charters are bound by this law. Yu Ying's hands are tied. They can't admit anyone new in third grade or above. If they allowed it they would have to admit kids by strictly by lottery, so they don't.

I believe there are Mandarin immersion schools in both Potomoc (Montgomery County) and College Park (PG County).

I contacted both Potomac and College Park, but I don't know if I want to commit to suburban living. I can understand that selective admissions are unlawful, but it should be possible to test for competency, then apply to the lottery for spaces that may come available due to attrition, if the student's level of learning is equal to or greater than that of grade level peers.

Federal law. Chinese or any language proficiency cannot be screened for public lottery admissions.

How does Oyster get around this "federal law". They screen for admissions and hold two separate lotteries. Cherrypicking at it's best, eh?

Oyster's not a charter school. The Federal Law only applies to Charters.

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, I do feel your pain. We are facing a job relocation move this summer and I've been researching public Mandarin-speaking schools in other major cities (all West Coast). All of them do allow for test-in so it is hard to understand DC's weird rules. Best of luck to you and your family.

Best of luck to you! Hopefully we will both find schools that meet our families needs.

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, not everyone in DC is this rude. Hope you find a great place for your family!

Thank you! I am sure that there are plenty of great people in DC (and the surrounding areas), and I can't wait to meet them

"Move somewhere else?"

DC isn't your average town. DC is a unique US city, it's at the center of international and domestic policy and governance. DC draws the best and brightest, not only from all around the US, but also internationally.

It stands to reason that there will be not only many speakers of foreign languages, but also demand for foreign language to be taught, to support some of those functions in diplomacy and foreign policy.

Perhaps it's people who don't understand that who should be the ones moving away, as you can find a far more generic town and a far more generic school just about anywhere to suit your needs.

Anonymous wrote:OP, any chance we can convince you not to move to DC? We have quite a lot of self-entitled, officious douchebags here already. No need to add to the count, especially someone who would be at the head of the list.

NP. PP, Any chance we could convince you to move out of DC. It'd be nice to remove at least one of the "self-entitled, officious douchebags here already". It's totally reasonable for a person with a Mandarin speaking child to investigate that he/she would be able to transfer to a Mandarin school in his/her new area. This also benefits the kids at the Mandarin school and combats attrition. Just because you're jealous and hateful and can probably barely speak any language, let alone Mandarin, doesn't mitigate the point. If we had less douches here and more proactive parents, a transfer to YuYing would already have been made a possibility. Matter of fact, take some douchebags with you when you roll. Time to clean house of the scum mucking up our schools and DCUM.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yu Ying doesn't accept kids past 2nd grade because the law does not allow them to be selective in admissions and it would be too hard for kids to catch up after that point. All DC charters are bound by this law. Yu Ying's hands are tied. They can't admit anyone new in third grade or above. If they allowed it they would have to admit kids by strictly by lottery, so they don't.

I believe there are Mandarin immersion schools in both Potomoc (Montgomery County) and College Park (PG County).

I contacted both Potomac and College Park, but I don't know if I want to commit to suburban living. I can understand that selective admissions are unlawful, but it should be possible to test for competency, then apply to the lottery for spaces that may come available due to attrition, if the student's level of learning is equal to or greater than that of grade level peers.

Federal law. Chinese or any language proficiency cannot be screened for public lottery admissions.

How does Oyster get around this "federal law". They screen for admissions and hold two separate lotteries. Cherrypicking at it's best, eh?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, any chance we can convince you not to move to DC? We have quite a lot of self-entitled, officious douchebags here already. No need to add to the count, especially someone who would be at the head of the list.

+2

May I suggest McLean? You sound like you'd fit in nicely there.

Noooooooo, we have our quota already!

Hey OP, I do feel your pain. We are facing a job relocation move this summer and I've been researching public Mandarin-speaking schools in other major cities (all West Coast). All of them do allow for test-in so it is hard to understand DC's weird rules. Best of luck to you and your family.

Hey OP, not everyone in DC is this rude. Hope you find a great place for your family!