[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Robbinsdale's Spanish Immersion

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Robbinsdale's Spanish Immersion 
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1231985244.shtml


   Much of the public input Tuesday night was about District 281's
   Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion (RSI) program. Currently, this is housed
   in part of the Robbinsdale Area Learning Campus (RALC), the former
   Robbinsdale High School closed in 1982. The Robbinsdale Middle School
   (RMS) is housed in another part of the RALC building.
   As I understand it, RSI is currently a K-8 program. Students spend
   most if not all of their day taking classes using Spanish, not
   English. Demand is so high that a lottery was set up, with over 100
   candidates turned away I believe.
   I don't really understand the appeal of this program. In fact, I have
   a relative who nearly "drowned" in this program. When his parents
   relented, his grades shot up from D's to B's. So it's not for
   everyone. But who is it for, and how does it compare with a more
   traditional Spanish program, like I took from 4th through 12th grade
   in St. Louis Park?
   The obvious difference would be fluency. How valuable is that as an
   employment skill? Some, but don't forget, you would be competing with
   "ESL" (English as a Second Language) graduates, who may in fact have
   the superior bilingual abilities. And, the global marketplace deals in
   many languages, not just Spanish.
   Getting back to the right-sizing questions and the public input, it
   looks like RSI would be changed from a K-8 to a K-5 with some enhanced
   but otherwise traditional middle school language classes. Some said
   this appears to be a broken commitment, and I'm inclined to agree.
   Effectively Open Enrolling your student at RSI, up to 3 miles further
   away than your neighborhood school is a multi-year commitment by the
   parents. Part of that consideration is the understanding that RSI is a
   K-8 program. It's not a hard or enforceable contract, but the District
   should nonetheless consider refining the right-sizing decision.
   In the K-5 recommendation, K-5 RSI leaves the RALC, but 6-8 RSI could
   be grandfathered there. All new RSI students would use the modified
   RSI structure, but existing RSI students could be allowed to finish,
   at RALC. Or, the Plymouth Middle School and RMS 6-8 RSI programs could
   be beefed up a bit, as one parent suggested. (Sorry for all these
   abbreviations!)
   The K-5 plan is a sound recommendation, but I think the RSI parents
   have a point, one that a small change or two should resolve.