Why We Picked Immersion Preschool

Okay here we go. I guess I should start this story at the beginning, as in—why did we put our first born son in a Spanish immersion preschool to begin with? The answer is simple; because it seemed like the smartest thing we could do as parents. On the surface, just look around; you’d have to be living in a cave in Iceland somewhere not to see that the world is changing. With every new technological advance the world gets smaller.

Our region alone is a vibrant melting pot of cultures and languages and we can’t afford to ignore that reality at the expense of our kids and their potential. My husband and I talked about it and we both felt strongly, personally, that both our kids should have an opportunity to be at least bilingual. My husband, Mike, played for the Harlem Globetrotters for 10 years before retiring in 2006. During his time as a “world famous” Globetrottin’ baller, he travelled to more than 65 countries. He’s been everywhere—from entertaining Arabic speaking kids in an orphanage in Dubai, to being blessed by Pope John Paul II in Italian. There’ve been many times he’s had or needed a translator.

Then there’s me—while not at all famous, I worked for 10 years as a reporter at TV stations in across the Southeast. As a hungry journalist, I can’t begin to tell you how much it hurt when something awful happened in a neighborhood where hardly anyone spoke English. I can’t get the story if I can’t understand what witnesses and others are saying. And as you can imagine, it happened more than a few times during the 3 years I was at WTTG here in DC. I despised and regretted feeling handicapped by a language barrier. In those instances I’d always beat myself up for not paying more attention in Spanish class.

Then there’s the research. Studies show that learning a foreign language early can rewire a child’s brain and make them better learners and more intellectual. According to Center for Applied Linguistics, “in addition to developing a lifelong ability to communicate with more people, children may derive other benefits from early language instruction, including improved overall school performance and superior problem-solving skills.” Research also shows that when they are exposed to language early, they’re like sponges, they just soak it up. With all this in mind, we said let’s do it and we set out to find a preschool. Let me tell you, in DC that’s no small task. Bilingual education and immersion programs are in HIGH demand. We found 2 year wait lists at most places we checked out, including CentroNia in Columbia Heights.

I won’t say I had given up, but I honestly felt that I had exhausted my options and I was depressed about it. I wasn’t worried about Andrew, he was at an AMAZING early learning center in downtown Silver Spring where the owner/director, Richard Crump, had made sure the early learning curriculum was one year AHEAD of where Montgomery County public schools said students should be. The kids at Quality Time Early Learning Center were reading at age 4. It was amazing. But I yearned for more for my Andrew. I have a vision for him– not that I am nor will ever push him toward anything, but I want him to always have the tools to help him determine what his higher good is and the abilities to achieve it.

I was comfortable in the knowledge I was doing the best I could do with planning for his education but still disapointed and then it happened. I was driving down University Blvd through Langley Park, MD and what did I see? A bright shiny sign that read “CentroNia!” I had never seen it before and I drove that route all the time. The next morning, I called CentroNia in Columbia Heights and asked what the sign was about and they replied, “that’s our new school, we’re expanding into Montgomery County.” I asked if there were still openings and they directed me to call CentroNia Montgomery County directly. Guess what guys? Andrew got one of the last TWO slots left at the Montgomery County center for his age group (2 year olds.) I felt like God had answered a prayer. The center is amazing. When you walk into the bright, cheerful space every morning, you’re greeted by wonderful, caring staff and imaginative, colorful art, pictures and drawings surround you, real illustrations of the joy, love and creativity within the school’s walls. Over the course of Andrew’s 2.5 years at CentroNia he has become bilingual. It’s a fact I can hardly believe myself. But the first time I saw him have a conversation with one of his teachers the skin on my arms tingled. He is learning something that can’t come from me; he can naturally understand another language. My baby? Yes, my baby! I am thrilled and encouraged and determined to keep him on this course.

Last year we began wondering where he could go to continue on a bilingual educational path. Here’s what we came up with as a tentative exploratory elementary school plan:

» Washington International School—private foreign language immersion school in Georgetown

» Rolling Terrace Elementary School—Montgomery County public Spanish immersion program within the school, admission by lottery only

» Burnt Mills Elementary— Montgomery County public Spanish immersion program within the school, admission by lottery only.

That’s it. That seemed to be the exhaustion of our options considering where we live and where we may move—which is only going to be somewhere in Montgomery County. So here we are. What will happen, we’ll see. I have lots more to tell you, but this seems like a good place to stop tonight. But please do swing back through tomorrow. I’ll tell you about my letter to the Montgomery County school system about the admissions requirements for the immersion elementary school programs and what the application process is like at WIS. These are exciting times for this Montgomery County mommy of a preschooler!