Yes, I am so, so, so nervous about this! As you know, we’re in the process of applying to dual language immersion programs in our area and we’ve got our heart set in our girl being accepted into the Spanish dual immersion program at Franklin Magnet School, aka International Foreign Language Academy of Glendale. Today is the day the public lottery is held and we’ll know if our girl’s name gets drawn to be amongst the 24 or so children to enter this Spanish immersion program this upcoming school year.

I’m glad the lottery is public and I can attend to find out immediately if it’s a yay or a nay. The waiting is killing me because so much is pending for us based on this lottery. Basically, if she doesn’t get placed into this school we’ll most likely move to another district where our 2nd and 3rd choices are. There is another Spanish immersion program in this district, so there´s also that option. I do recognize we’re lucky to even have these choices (and to be renters, at that!), but the thought of everything that comes along with a move is just daunting to even think about right now.

In any case, I really am writing this just to ask all of you to please send positive thoughts our way and make changuitos (fingers crossed) around 10am Pacific time. Seriously, at this point this is all based on luck and we need all your amazing and loving positive bilingual vibes!!!

I’ll send them your way any time you need them as well. :)

Oh, and I promise to let you all know on our Facebook page as soon as I know!

¡Deséennos suerte!

Update!

We got in!!!!!! Yes, we are now officially one of the 40-something new kindergarten families in the Spanish immersion program at Franklin Magnet!

Siting in that room waiting to see if our name had made the list was very intense. In the room there were three representatives from each of the three magnet schools in our district. Basically, the computer guy (that´s what they called him!) hit the enter button in our presence to randomize and select the names for each school and each program. Then, the machine spit out sheets of papers with the list and those were handed out to each school´s representatives. We were then given the green light to rush over to the school we had applied to and tell them our child´s name so they could look it up.

Well, I told them my daughter´s last name and she said, “I’m sorry, she didn’t make it, but don’t despair because she can be added to the wait list.”

I began to shake and my heart just fell. Like, seriously fell. My eyes teared up and was about to walk away when Ana Jones, Franklin’s immersion program’s coordinator asked me to repeat the last name again. I did, and I spelled it out. My girl’s last name is Dutch and does not sound at all as it is spelled. They looked again, and there she was!!! Now I seriously teared up with joy!

My head is already spinning (as is Roxana’s) with all the ideas we have to document and share my family’s life from inside the classroom. I plan on being a class volunteer and as involved as possible with this amazing group of parents and teachers. You are officially warned that you will be hearing a lot about our new life as Franklin Magnet school parents!!

Thanks to all of you who helped us with your thoughts and prayers!

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It’s hard to believe that in just seven months my girl will be starting a whole new stage in life: kindergarten. That means that we are now deep in the process of touring dual language immersion programs, applications and crossing fingers to get a spot in one of our top choices.

Just three years ago when we launched this blog, I visited what was then Benjamin Franklin Elementary school in the Glendale Unified District in California. We wrote a series of posts about this school and the district because they were one of the few in the Los Angeles County area to successfully implement dual language, or two-way, immersion programs. This particular school, Franklin, had just launched with the German program and were already getting huge requests to launch a Spanish and an Italian program. Thanks to the parents and the district working closely together, the school has now become so wildly popular that in 2011 it received funding to become a language magnet school.

The School We Really Want

Beautiful for them, not the best news for us since we had moved to the Glendale district two years ago just to be eligible to enter Franklin. Now, we will have to join the hundreds of parents praying that luck is with them on February 9th when the public lottery is held to fill the 24 or so spots available in the Spanish DL program in what’s now known as the Franklin Elementary Magnet School.

As you can imagine, we really, really want to get into this school. Not only because it’s a four minute drive from our house, but because the quality of parent and teacher involvement is amazing. Since the school is now only a language magnet (German, Italian, Spanish and, starting in 2012, French), every single parent there is completely invested in making the program a success, and many have emotional and cultural ties to their children being educated in their native languages.

The Draw of the Luck

The way the lottery works is that the first priority goes to siblings. Every single sibling has the right to be placed. Once those slots are taken (and apparently there are a lot of siblings entering this year, much to our chagrin), then the second priority goes to balance out the proportion of native English-language speakers versus Spanish speakers to maintain the 50/50 proportion, as much as possible.

Camila had to attend a language proficiency test in order to place her in the fluent category. I was so nervous because I felt this is our best chance at securing a spot. Thankfully, she totally passed as fluent; marking this as a milestone of the first time her bilingual skills opened up a door for her.

On February 9th we’ll know if she’ll make it in or not. For us, this also means that we’ll know if we’ll have to move or not. Yes, move. We know it’s drastic, but we really want her to attend a dual language immersion program. Luckily, there have been so many DL programs launched in the Los Angeles County area in the last years, but they are scattered all around and most of them are charters or magnets, meaning our girl’s bilingual education and our next neighborhood is bound to be decided by sheer luck.

I’ll keep you posted as to what happens the day of the lottery and which are the other schools on our radar if we don’t get picked for Franklin Elementary Magnet. I’ll also remind you on Feb. 9th to help us with your positive thoughts to get that lottery to pick our name!!

Share:  Would love to read your kindergarten-enrollment stories, especially if your child made it into a charter or magnet.

UPDATE (2/9/12): We got in!!!!