Public schools, language immersion (Cambridge, Somerville: school district, live, moving to)

[ARC3]

Hello,
Our family will be relocating to Eastern Massachusetts next year. We have flexible jobs so one of our top priorities will be school district, our son will be starting kindergarten at that time. I have been very impressed with what I read about the language immersion programs in Holliston and Milton, however I am gathering from my research that it is a lottery system in both places and it might not be the best idea to plan to move there just in the hopes of being able to get into the programs (not that moving to either of those towns would be a sacrifice if he did not get into the program, they both seem lovely). Can anyone provide some insight on the chances a child has of getting into the programs and whether it seems reasonable to move there in hopes of getting in? We are looking very broadly right now, so many options are on the table. Also, does anyone know of any other elementary age private schools offering language immersion in Eastern Mass? I very much appreciate your time.

[Peabody99]

I heard that one elementary school in Acton offers language, yet it is a lottery to get in. There is a Chinese school in Acton as well that offers weekend classes. I live near Acton and it is a great town.

[westcedar]

Maynard has Spanish immersion in their public schools too.

[edsox15]

Info about Milton's French Immersion can be found here,
Milton Public Schools /

[CaseyB]

Millis has a Spanish immersion program at the Clyde Brown school.

Spanish Immersion | Millis Public Schools

[ARC3]

Thank you, I will look into those places as well.

[00na]

Douglas School in Acton offers Japanese immersion. It is one of the public elementary schools in the Acton-Boxborough school district. From the school handbook -
Douglas attracts an international population. We take every opportunity to learn from and celebrate
our diversity, including our 27% international student population representing 22 different countries.
Douglas has a strong social justice curriculum and strives to teach children to be caring and
intellectually reflective citizens; who can recognize problems both locally and globally and realize that
they can each affect change. We have also taught the Japanese culture and language to our students for
the past thirteen years. This year, our Japanese Cultural Classes are taught using an immersion and
traditional teaching approach to students from Kindergarten to Fourth Grade.

As mentioned by Peabody99, enrollment at Douglas is by lottery.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by 00na

Douglas School in Acton offers Japanese immersion. It is one of the public elementary schools in the Acton-Boxborough school district. From the school handbook -
Douglas attracts an international population. We take every opportunity to learn from and celebrate
our diversity, including our 27% international student population representing 22 different countries.
Douglas has a strong social justice curriculum and strives to teach children to be caring and
intellectually reflective citizens; who can recognize problems both locally and globally and realize that
they can each affect change. We have also taught the Japanese culture and language to our students for
the past thirteen years. This year, our Japanese Cultural Classes are taught using an immersion and
traditional teaching approach to students from Kindergarten to Fourth Grade.

As mentioned by Peabody99, enrollment at Douglas is by lottery.

That doesn't sound like an immersion program to me. What you describe is one class being taught in Japanese. The French immersion program in Milton, for example, teaches core subjects such as math and social studies in French.

[semiurbanite]

If you are looking for Spanish, we have friends in the Cambridge Amigos program and they love it. We also have friends in the Somerville Unidos program and they are quite happy.

For private French school, there is ISB, we also know one family there that swears by it. Gotta admit though, unless my family was from France or Quebec, why would I put my kid in French school? http://www.isbos.org/

[00na]

Originally Posted by Parsec

That doesn't sound like an immersion program to me. What you describe is one class being taught in Japanese. The French immersion program in Milton, for example, teaches core subjects such as math and social studies in French.

Yeah, I'm not sure if it's immersion or not. They say "immersion" in the description, but I'd definitely confirm this with the school.