Experience with Spanish immersion schools? (Arlington, Reston: neighborhoods, school district, living in)

[JMSjulie]

We are planning to move back to the NoVA area nest year, and would like to put our children into one of the Spanish immersion programs in the area. I would really appreciate any feedback from anyone who has personal experience with Lake Anne Elementary in Reston, Key and Claremont in Arlington, and London Towne in Centreville. We're trying to narrow down neighborhoods to search in for our realtor.

Thanks so much!

Julie

[Nancy in Nokomis]

I would like to know about any experinces also - my son starts Spanish partial immerision next year.

We had to get in a lottery way back in January in order to get into Spanish immersion next year - we were lucky enough to get in.
I dont think you can automatically get in it in any of the the schools but not sure.

[ChristineVA]

My daughter did spanish immersion from 1st grade through 5th. I thought it sounded really "neat" and she did learn a lot of Spanish. She never became fluent though. The other issue was that, at least in Prince William County, where we did it, the program sort of fizzled out in middle school. So the county didn't really take the program seriously, I thought, and have many options for the higher grades.

Also, I found that the school had a hard time finding good teachers that were both fluent Spanish speakers and decent teachers. At that time (which was about 8-10 years ago) they did not have a decent pool of qualified teachers to choose from. It was also a struggle for many of the kids to learn their basic math concepts in Spanish. Only a few really, really bright kids glided through.

Overall, I would not do it again and did not put my younger child in the program.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Thanks ChristineVA - I am still debating it - at my schools they carry the Spanish immersion all through middle school and high school. My son is very bright so I might give it a try and see how he does.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by Fairfax Mom

Thanks ChristineVA - I am still debating it - at my schools they carry the Spanish immersion all through middle school and high school. My son is very bright so I might give it a try and see how he does.

In Prince William County they did tell us that they were "carrying" it through, but the program became much weaker and less supported at the middle school level.

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Interesting - how long has Prince William had the program? Our particular school pyramid has had it for 15 years.

I guess I am still debating. I really think it is easier to learn a language the younger a child is.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by Fairfax Mom

Interesting - how long has Prince William had the program? Our particular school pyramid has had it for 15 years.

I guess I am still debating. I really think it is easier to learn a language the younger a child is.

My daughter went into when she was 7 years old (she is now just about 18), so that is at least 10 years ago and it was fully established then.

Yes, you can learn a language much easier as a child and that is why we did it, with hopes that it would really work into something. My daughter is still in touch with many of the kids she went through immersion with and none of them kept it up because it was not the easiest thing within the middle school. None of them wanted to move forward to the particular middle school that continued it and so they went into regular middle schools but went into a higher level of Spanish. Since that was not immersion, they sort of equalized with the other kids.

Not one of the kids was a phenomenal Spanish speaker at the end of elementary school. Also, there are so many different accents within the the Spanish language that they had a hard time between the different teachers.

Maybe Prince William County just can't do it correctly, but I have a feeling that is not the case.

[MacUser85]

I know the program at Key ES in Arlington is legendary and loved. I guess it all comes down to what you want. Have you looked into the studies that have looked at children in immersion programs. I imagine there is a lot of good data in those studies and maybe that can help you narrow down your search. I will just say that everyone here in Arlington knows about Key's program (even if you don't have kids like me) and there seems to be strong parent-teacher involvement. I think that's probably the key to any educational success--both parents and teachers breaking a sweat to make a difference in a child's life....

[JMSjulie]

Thanks for all of your input.

We have been living in South America for about two years and my daughter (currently 3 years old) is completely bilingual. I thought that going to the immersion schools would help her keep her language skills up. She's been in a fully Spanish immersion preschool here, and it's been a fabulous experience.

We've been specifically looking at the Lake Anne Elementary in Reston - as I'm not sure we'd be able to find something in our price bracket in the Key ES school district.

[JMSjulie]

Fairfax mom,

Can you tell me which school your child will be going into?

Thanks.