Mandarin in Austin

[gogogo35]

Thanks again. I'm a little torn bc I love the idea of living in the UT family housing (around other grad students with kids, all in the same boat) but I think I would rather have my kid at Doss.

[zhugeliang1]

By all means call the principal and chat about this. Maybe discuss some options that could work out. In the meantime here is a link to the Chinese teacher blog at Doss:

http://owls.dosspta.org/

[gogogo35]

Thanks! I think I will call her, and the person who coordinates the immersion program. I appreciate the help. Doss is frozen for transfers, so I think the only way to get in would be to live in the neighborhood.

[zhugeliang1]

Maybe not for applicants to the immersion program, the principal would be the best person to ask about that. Let us know how things go.

[giveitaname]

Originally Posted by gogogo35

Thanks so much! No, I haven't. I see they offer language classes -- thank you. (We're not Asian, but we would like our kids to learn Mandarin.)

to tell you the truth, they will hate you for now, but may thank you very much for later
But my opinion is not to teach them Chinese but to teach them SPANISH
¡Viva el español!

[gogogo35]

I talked with the Doss principal, and she said only one of the eight K classes will be Mandarin immersion, and there will be a lottery in February for kids already living in the Doss district to see who gets to be in that class. No chance for us, since we don't live in Doss.

[zhugeliang1]

So, if they can't fill that class with Doss only kids would they open the lottery to non-Doss kids? And I guess you can't set up house in the Doss area?

[gogogo35]

I think they would open the lottery to non-Doss kids, but the principal implied that they won't have trouble filling it with Doss kids (bc it's only 1 of 8 kindergarten classes). We'd need to set up a house in the Doss area by early Feb, and we can't do that.

[zhugeliang1]

Well then maybe just wait and see if they do fill with Doss kids. See if you can submit an application to be on a wait list if it ends up someone just simply cancels or changes mind or whatever. To my experience (of kind of watching the Chinese immersion trend in the US) the first year not everyone rushes up to apply because they want to see first if the program works, if it meets expectations, most programs have a hard time filling all slots when they first open. So this being the first year, if I were you, I would prepare an application and then be ready to go in if they open it to non Doss.