Dual Language/Spanish Immersion- Dallas/Coppell/Colleyville/Lewisville ISD/Westlake Academy Charter (Grapevine: how much)

[Sophie1975]

Does anyone know how hard it is to get into the dual language/Spanish immersion programs in these ISDs for kindergarden? For Dallas ISD, we are mostly interested in Walnut Hill. Does it help if my kids speak Spanish (they are not English learners.)? Are the dual language programs ok for bilingual kids? I want to be sure that my kids are not in a program mostly geared to English learners.


How hard is it to lottery into Westlake Charter? Any other charter schools you can recommend in these ISDs?

[bmlx]

Would say that the situation at Walnut Hill might be a little messy right now. Hopefully you are aware that their school was destroyed by the tornado on October 20th, and that they are operating out of a temporary facility (I should say a closed former DISD elementary school) west of I-35E in a mostly-industrial area at this moment.

[mandyttt]

Yes. But isn’t it changing to a K-8? Do you think it will be a good option for those years? Is their dual language Pre-k good?

[ChristieP]

Here's the info about the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD dual language program:
https://www.gcisd.net/departments/wo...uage_education

[NTXPerson]

OP - Have you looked into Withers Elementary as well? It is a part of DISD and is around 5 minutes up the road from Walnut Hill and they also provide a dual-language program. My friend's mother is a TA there and has spoken highly of the program for both students learning Spanish and those who already know it.

While Walnut Hill was able to accomplish a great deal by moving their whole campus in just a couple of days, I am not sure how much their move has affected the day to day there. However, I understand your interest in Walnut Hill, especially its being a Blue Ribbon school. I suggest finding out more information of their current environment.

[RogerWilco357]

We have kids at Westlake Academy (since almost six years ago through the lottery in Kindergarten), but I am not aware that they have any material language immersion program at the school.

Regarding the lottery, it depends on the grade. There were over 2,600 kids in the lottery when we applied. It's likely more now and they have been building significantly more houses in Westlake, which families get automatic admission, so less spots for lottery. I'd expect less than 15 new lottery spots to be open for each of the lower primary grades - some can be in the single digits. The most competition is in Kindergarten. Upper grades (middle (MYP) and high school (DP)) have more spots because some students transfer to Southlake and Keller schools for sports, extra curriculars, etc.

[mandyttt]

Have you been happy with the school?

[RogerWilco357]

Yes, we are very happy with it. The kids get a lot of personal attention and we are believers in the IB curriculum. We plan to be there until they graduate.

It's not for everyone. Reasonable minds may differ and think that more time should be spent on memorizing multiplication tables, etc . Also, if your kids are great athletes, they will not really be challenged there. If your kids are advanced way beyond, or are way behind, the standards for the grade, there are somewhat limited resources for them as it is still a small school. We know of some families that left Westlake for both of those reasons.