Going to the mattresses

I never get to use that phrase, 'Going to the mattresses,' so I am happy to do so now. After a 72 hour brainstorming/research period we came up with a plan of action. The strategy: raise the issue's profile to effect change. Our tactic: file official complaints and make some noise.

Today I and at least one other parent filed public complaints with the Montgomery County School system and State Superintendent, Dr. Nancy Grasmick keeping in line with our simple, truthful, standard messaging-- our kids are in a county funded Spanish immersion pre-kindergarten , they should have unfettered access to a county funded Spanish immersion Kindergarten. I emailed mine and dropped hard copies in the mail so we'll see what happens...

In the meantime, I wan to talk about something that's been bothering me almost as much as this issue. What I have learned about the school system during this process is eye opening and discouraging all at he same time. The Montgomery County schools definitely appear to be a well oiled machine. Amid grueling budget cuts that have caused teacher pay freezes, expanding class sizes and looming threats of furloughs, the system always emerges as one of the best in the state.

I use to think that the Montgomery County schools were so good because they were always on the leading edge of innovation. I thought they were a nimble organization commited to responding to population changes, educational trends and technology to continuously tweak and build upon their success and ensure

But, now that I am trudging through this, I don't feel that way at all. I feel like the Montgomery County School system's success is exactly what impedes its ability to make some common sense adjustments for the benefit of students. It's like, they have a formula that works, so why mess with it?

When I began fighting for this, I knew that we may not get results right away, but it bothers me that even after writing letters and testifying, not one person in the school system or on the board concedes that there should probably be a migration plan for kids graduating from a newly established county funded Spanish immersion preschool.

That's where I'll leave off for now. It's getting late and I can tell my husband wants me to turn off the light because of the production he just made out of putting the pillow over his head.

Lots of 'wait' to go around

Today we celebrated Andrew's 5th birthday. It was so much fun. I let Andrew decide what to serve and we compromised and settled on a menu of Ledo's pizza, corn on the cob and single serving bags of pre-sliced apples. From a parent's perspective it was blissfully easy. All I had to do was boil the corn, pack up the car and head over to the Takoma Park Community Center, where we had booked a room for the festivities.



As Andrew's friends arrived, all us CentroNia parents began chatting about the lottery-- apparently none of our children got in to any of the county's Spanish immersion programs. One parent had placed a hopeful #3 on the waitlist for Burnt Mills, but that was the closest any of us got. We were all mildly depressed about it but we're also brianstorming about what a 'plan B' might look like.



One of my friends mentioned Sacred Heart catholic school on Park Rd. I didn't know the place existed, but I googled it and emailed the admissions director to schedule a tour.

I'm down but not out. I'll keep you posted.

Montgomery County immersion = fail

Well today we got the note I was highly anticipating in the mail. It was the notification of where Andrew placed in the lotteries. We put him in the lottery for the Spanish immersion programs at Rock Creek Forest, Rolling Terrace and Burnt Mills elementary. He did not make it into a single one. Not a single one. In fact, the lowest he placed on a waitlist was #54 at Rolling Terrace.

This is devastating news, yet I must keep heart. I have 4 months to find my child a kindergarten class where he can continue his immersion education or he will no doubt lose the Spanish he has learned over the last 3 years.

Where do I begin, oh man, I wish I knew...