How do I get my child in a different school (Herndon: daycare, house)

[Haushappy]

I am not happy at all with the school that is assigned to us. It is less an ethnicity problem than the fact that only 50% of the students are english sufficient. We are trying to move but have had no luck so far. There is a lack of inventory or it is well over our price range. What can I do to get my child into a differnt public school, my five year old son will be starting Kindergarten in september. I would like to get him into public school but we will consider private school as last option, it will just take more funds away from our house buying budget. We are in Herndon, the school we are assigned to is Lutie Lewis Coats and I would very much prefer Floris or Oak Hill. We are caucasian if that matters and our children are bilingual. Thanks for your input, I am very stressed over this.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by Haushappy

I am not happy at all with the school that is assigned to us. It is less an ethnicity problem than the fact that only 50% of the students are english sufficient. We are trying to move but have had no luck so far. There is a lack of inventory or it is well over our price range. What can I do to get my child into a differnt public school, my five year old son will be starting Kindergarten in september. I would like to get him into public school but we will consider private school as last option, it will just take more funds away from our house buying budget. We are in Herndon, the school we are assigned to is Lutie Lewis Coats and I would very much prefer Floris or Oak Hill. We are caucasian if that matters and our children are bilingual. Thanks for your input, I am very stressed over this.

The FCPS information about student transfers can be found at this link:

Fairfax County Public Schools: Special Services: Student Transfer Information

My general impression is that, in FCPS, it's not easy to transfer to an elementary or middle school to which you're not assigned, and much easier to transfer to another high school with a different curriculum. But you'd have to look at the specifics to see how the regulations apply to your situation and whether there's a basis to arrange for a transfer.

Moreover, have you visited Coates or considered some of the positives? It's a new school (built within last five years); there appears to be an active PTA; roughly 55% of the students are English-proficient; the school is very diverse; and if your son tests into the AAP program, he would eventually move to some of the best-regarded AAP centers in the county (McNair ES and Carson MS).

http://www.fcps.edu/coateses/

If you think you're going to be "stuck" at Coates, and remain unhappy about the prospect, Loudoun is probably calling your name.

[mlv311]

Another option is to apply for full immersion (K) or partial immersion program (1st grade) for your child. The downside is that if your child is accepted in the program out-of-boundary, you'll need to provide transportation to school. World Languages: Immersion Programs . Our oldest is in a language immersion program out-of-boundary and we've been very pleased with the teachers and the program.

[Haushappy]

Thank you, will look into this. I don't know if I would call it diverse when a school exists of basicaly two ethnicities but that is not my concern, the english proficiency is. I think 55% is really low and a major concern. Yes, it is a new school, that is all I can find positive about it. Yes, I have been to the school for Kindergarten orientation meeting and that was what got me so concerned.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by Haushappy

Thank you, will look into this. I don't know if I would call it diverse when a school exists of basicaly two ethnicities but that is not my concern, the english proficiency is. I think 55% is really low and a major concern. Yes, it is a new school, that is all I can find positive about it. Yes, I have been to the school for Kindergarten orientation meeting and that was what got me so concerned.

Coates is 36% Asian, 16% Black, 32% Hispanic, 13% White, and 3% multi-racial this year, according to FCPS. Given that some parents of students in some of those sub-groups likely come from many different countries around the world, I'd think that's pretty diverse.

If you've not done so, I'd make a concerted effort to talk to other parents of English-proficient there, and not make judgments based on impressions formed from an orientation session, before jumping through a lot of hoops to change schools. At the end of the day, isn't the issue whether the school will take care of your kid or instead devote most of its energies and resources to students who aren't English speakers?

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by Haushappy

Thank you, will look into this. I don't know if I would call it diverse when a school exists of basicaly two ethnicities but that is not my concern, the english proficiency is. I think 55% is really low and a major concern. Yes, it is a new school, that is all I can find positive about it. Yes, I have been to the school for Kindergarten orientation meeting and that was what got me so concerned.

ok, I am NOT a parent, so I'm sure my question is loaded with ignorance...but why does the level of english proficiency matter? If your son is proficient, and the teachers are proficient; isn't that all that is needed to do well in school? He doesn't need to chat with the other students to excel, does he?

[Middlin]

My Mom was a teacher and I heard this a lot growing up -"teaching to the lowest common denominator"
Studies have been done on how long it takes a student to catch up to his peers when learning a new language and academic proficiency is 4-7 years.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by spencgr

ok, I am NOT a parent, so I'm sure my question is loaded with ignorance...but why does the level of english proficiency matter? If your son is proficient, and the teachers are proficient; isn't that all that is needed to do well in school? He doesn't need to chat with the other students to excel, does he?

We had a few elementary schools like this in Prince William County. Lots of ESL students. The problem is, when the numbers are too high, they are more often the mains kids in the class (or in this case, at least half the kids will be ESL). This tends to slow the classroom instruction down. ESL is in every school but when it becomes the majority, they can't have special instruction for it. Every parent I know that has been involved in one of these schools knows that the instructions slows down. Most parents I know used private schools.

To the OP, as you can see, there's not much you can do. I moved into my home when my oldest child was 3 years old and my youngest wasn't born. I took "schooling" for granted and did NOT do my homework. I got a very nice house but in a very subpar school district (at least for middle school) so I used private schools at that point. I do feel your frustration but as having been there, done that you've kind of put yourself in this position and I don't think you are going to be able to get out of it without moving.

I do believe at the elementary school level you can change school systems due to daycare arrangements. Not sure if that's still true. Can you work with that?

[hilsmom]

You have missed all the deadlines for applying to the public magnet and immersion programs. Unless you have a hardship reason for sending your kid out of boundary, it is rather unlikely at this point that you can do so.

There are private K programs, but a lot of them are also already done with their application processes.

St. Veronica's is not far from you and had a rolling admissions deadline when we were looking 2 years ago (of course, we were trying to figure out the half-day vs. full-day nonsense, which the county then fixed in time for my kid to start K). Might be worth a look, but you also have to buy into the Catholic education system. Enrollment

[JD984]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

We had a few elementary schools like this in Prince William County. Lots of ESL students. The problem is, when the numbers are too high, they are more often the mains kids in the class (or in this case, at least half the kids will be ESL). This tends to slow the classroom instruction down. ESL is in every school but when it becomes the majority, they can't have special instruction for it. Every parent I know that has been involved in one of these schools knows that the instructions slows down. Most parents I know used private schools.

To the OP, as you can see, there's not much you can do. I moved into my home when my oldest child was 3 years old and my youngest wasn't born. I took "schooling" for granted and did NOT do my homework. I got a very nice house but in a very subpar school district (at least for middle school) so I used private schools at that point. I do feel your frustration but as having been there, done that you've kind of put yourself in this position and I don't think you are going to be able to get out of it without moving.

I do believe at the elementary school level you can change school systems due to daycare arrangements. Not sure if that's still true. Can you work with that?

Coates is not a school where the majority of the students are classified as having limited English proficiency (that percentage is 45%) or receive English language services (around 40%). There are such schools in Fairfax County and neighboring jurisdictions, but Coates is not one of them.