Private school admission-bilingual (elementary school, live, area)

[katerinaver]

I am not sure if this has been already discussed, but I was wondering if someone can help me with the admission requirement to a bilingual school.
My child will be in 4th grade and I really want him to attend a bilingual school. He spoke the second language a bit when we lived abroad several years ago but since then he has not talked "fluently" for some time. Now his school offers a class 1x week in the language but it isn't really enough. I really want him to go to this bilingual school but since most schools in my area and in US in general are very rigorous about their language requirements they all require children after grade 1 to be fluent in the language and to be up to grade level.
I was wondering if anyone has come across this problem. Is it possible at all to get the child up to speed on the language, say with a year of intensive tutoring?

I really find this a bit too much that they refuse to accept children who are not fluent especially in the elementary school level.
I myself went to an international school and in fact entered 4th grade with no language knowledge! Please help if you have ever come across this!

[yodel]

I think that a child could "get up to speed" in one year before school starts, maybe with a nanny who spoke it to him if you don't speak the language.

Unfortunately, I doubt that any class would be able to get the child prepared to the level that they seem to require.

Not what you are looking for, but I have a friend whose daughter went here:

Amistad Dual Language School

She had no Spanish before entering school and speaks fluently now (at 12)

[katerinaver]

I speak it but it is not my native language and it would require a lot of time commitment and since my work schedule is quiet hectic, I don't think just me talking to him 2-3 hours a day would do it