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Thanks for the info everyone! It looks like Chapel Hill would be the best bet so far, especially with the immersion option... based on housing prices and commute, it's not really the answer I was hoping for
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I was wrong. I just asked my kids and they said they have Spanish 3 times per week. They are in 2nd and 4th grades. The kids are definitely not learning it to be fluent, but they are picking up basics. They can say simple sentences. And they learn the words for different categories - clothes, food, continents, etc through games. We have one awesome Spanish teacher who is definitely not a person here on a short-term visa. She's been at Scroggs for a few years. We have a second Spanish teacher who is new to the school, but I think she is permanent here, too.
Pc324, the best bet for learning Spanish would be to enroll them in the Frank Porter Graham immersion program. I don't know how hard it is to get in but I don't *think* it's terribly hard. Last year it was easy, anyway, because it was their first year as a full-time program. My son got in, but after careful consideration and for several different reasons, we opted not to go. Most people I've spoken to seem to like it - and I've asked a lot of people (because I like to second guess myself!). There are two options I believe - "full immersion" which is something like 90% Spanish the first year, then 80% the following year, then 70% the next. The remainder being in English. The other program is 50% - half English/half Spanish.
I think the Chinese program is more difficult to get into since it's much smaller.
My 5th grader said they have it 3 times a week for 30 min each time. I think she is learning a little bit this year, but previous years it was just counting, days of the week, colors, etc. We were just listening to the local spanish radio station in the car and none of us (my 8th grader, my 5th grader and me) could keep up with much of what was said, but we could recognize words and phrases. My 5th grader heard ciento uno punto uno and told me that was 101.1, the station's frequency.
I had a child who received Spanish instruction at Carrboro elementary - not the immersion program. Truthfully, I think it's of minimal value. The instruction level is basic, and what little language they learn is not significantly retained beyond elementary school, other than a few words and phrases. It might help a small bit when they take the language up more seriously, but it doesn't seem like it's a huge head start.
My kid likes the traditional track Spanish teacher they have this year at CES the best of any she's had in the past 4 years and feels like she is learning stuff, but she's not reading novels in Spanish or anything. I think it helps to have been exposed to the sounds for years so when she takes it later in middle or high school she will be able to pick it up quicker, but she definitely is not fluent, but she's not in the dual language program either.
BTW, in CHCCS middle schools they offer Spanish, French, Latin, and Mandarin depending on the school. At Smith the French program has a sister school in Belgium and they take a group of kids over there and to France every other year I believe. They also have opportunities to go to China and Costa Rica.
Jeffreys Grove Elementary in Wake Co (Raleigh) has a Spanish Immersion magnet program. There are 2 classes (24 kids each) each year, with 24 slots from the base attendance area and 24 filled from the magnet applications.
My son will be a K student in the program next year. So far we love what we see of the program and when we were researching it the feedback we heard was really good. We gave up a spot at one of the best schools in Wake to go there, which was scary, but we were very serious about wanting immersion.
Feel free to PM me if you have more questions. But basically, if you want to get in, you either need to live in the base and win a lottery or live in an area of Wake County that gives you a good chance in terms of magnet placement and again win a lottery. It helps to come from an area with good performing schools/nodes/etc. I don't think you can move knowing you'll get in to the program, so I'd recommend having a back up plan you're pretty happy with too.
If you aren't certain where to relocate to and have just picked this area out of a hat, I'd say look more to Florida, Texas etc where there are surely lots more Spanish-English dual classes. Are you tied to this area for sure?
Thanks for all of this great info! The Wake County immersion magnet school options seem really interesting, but maybe not much of a guarantee. If you don't go to your base school in Wake County, do they have bussing for students?
Also, can anyone tell me if a commute from Chapel Hill to Morrisville would be completely miserable?
Jeffreys Grove Elementary in Wake Co (Raleigh) has a Spanish Immersion magnet program. There are 2 classes (24 kids each) each year, with 24 slots from the base attendance area and 24 filled from the magnet applications.
My son will be a K student in the program next year. So far we love what we see of the program and when we were researching it the feedback we heard was really good. We gave up a spot at one of the best schools in Wake to go there, which was scary, but we were very serious about wanting immersion.
Feel free to PM me if you have more questions. But basically, if you want to get in, you either need to live in the base and win a lottery or live in an area of Wake County that gives you a good chance in terms of magnet placement and again win a lottery. It helps to come from an area with good performing schools/nodes/etc. I don't think you can move knowing you'll get in to the program, so I'd recommend having a back up plan you're pretty happy with too.
This sounds like exactly the type of program we are looking for! Immersion is very popular in the public schools where we are in MN. The parents and students here love the programs and I think it such an amazing opportunity for kids to have! It's become somewhat of a requirement for a move, though not necessarily a realistic requirement, unfortunately. My husband and I have lived overseas at various points, and it is kind of embarrassing to only know one language when so much of the world is bi and tri-lingual!
Last edited by Pc324; 05-12-2015 at 07:42 PM..
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