Moving to Orange County from India - good school for 5 yr old son (Irvine: apartments)

[akbansal]

Hi,

I am moving to Orange county from India. I have a 5 year old son. He will start in Kindergarten and I am looking for some good elementary schools for him. I have heard that schools are good in Irvine. I have zeroed in on Stone creek Elementary and Deerfield as there are walking distance apartments near these schools.

My concern is that since my son has grown up in India, he doesn't speak good English though he understands. His language proficiency has been delayed. I am concerned that how will he cope up in the school. I want to know what are the good schools in Irvine which cater to kids who doesn't speak good English. What help do they get in school for this need. I don't want him to lose his confidence due to this.

Please suggest what are the other challenges we can face here.

Thanks in advance
Adi

[russlancea]

I can't speak about Irvine schools specifically, but in general, young kids like yours will pick up new languages very quickly. He will be around English-speaking kids, playing with them, etc. so he'll be jabbering away in English before you know it. I'm sure the schools will offer him some extra help he needs in the beginning.

[luxelife]

Hi Adi, Irvine has very good schools with a very culturally mix of children. Besides Stonecreek & Deerfield, you may look into Alderwood Elementary School, Bonita Canyon Elementary School, Canyon View Elementary School, Northwood Elementary School. Another community other than Irvine is Aliso Viejo. It is a upscale lifestyle community has a great school system, great community, 5 miles to laguna beach and great housing that tends to be more affordable than Irvine.

[harhar]

Call the schools and talk to the administration.

Your son will most likely be placed in ELD (english language develpment) classes; classes for students who speak little to no English. They may or may not test or assess him first.

Depending on the area, a majority of students in these classes will be Hispanic. So most ELD classes cater to that demographic.

[crouching_tiger]

Originally Posted by Uh-Huh

"Good" school is code word for "asian" school. The rankings are partially determined by "diversity" only in the modern "everything but white" sense i.e. not truly diverse - just another Diamond Bar / Westminster. Just check the O.C. Register's criteria to see what I mean. The schools sell the homes and the homes sell the schools and that's all there is to it. It's just a bunch of marketing gibberish. A public school is a public school. There is nothing special about it.

Huh Asians are very smart, hardworking and come from a very ancient and rich culture. China and India are 5000 year old civilizations. You jealous or something?