Let's Make a Deal: The Failure of Bostonia Language Academy Blog 2

Military families move around quite a bit. In 2010, after a move from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, our family was settling into our new home in San Diego. 

We wanted to start a school with high standards and continuity for both our children. Both of them were embarking on their elementary school journey.  In my previous blog, I noted what we were looking for in schooling. We found an opportunity when the Cajon Valley Union School District advertised a dual language program that was to start at Jamacha Elementary with a group of 25 students. This program started right in time for one of my kids first year of school.

Our two students starting their new schools in 2012

In order for our family to be considered into the program, we had to first agree to have our child academically assessed. The other portion of the deal was that our student had to commit through the 5th grade. 

Not bad. Spanish immersion, the same group of kids for six years, and essentially a guarantee that my child would be bi-literate by 5th grade.  

In addition to the tangible benefits of his program, it was certain that we would build a community within our students and parents. Everyone became extremely involved in the classroom and dedicated to supporting teachers and the school.

Here's a summary of each of our school years. Watch what happens in 3rd Grade. The short story is that the school district failed to inform us that they were going to back out of the agreement and start a new school with our kids and three other schools. You can read about the uproar courtesy of ABC News here. They refused any input from teachers and parents and told us that the new school would be resource rich and better than ever. Spoiler alert; it was far below my wildest imagination on how poor a school can be after having three years of success. 

• Kindergarten 2012-2013: Our first teacher in kinder, was Senorita Moncada, a young and wonderful teacher. She worked very hard in class and had everyone believing that she did not speak English. As a first year teacher, she made everyone invested believe in the program. Principal Michael Serban, a solid leader met all our needs, concerns, and left no room for anything other than pleasantries on a daily basis.

• 1st Grade 2013-2014: The first grade teacher was Senora Soto, and she kept up the hard work of speaking only Spanish in class. Our students were doing great. We were so impressed with the quality of the education and their grasp of academic Spanish. Principal Kathy Skube took over the leadership at Jamacha Elementary and did a fantastic job showing she cared for her community, school, and families. 

• 2nd Grade 2014-2015: Our third year in the program was superb. Senora Zavala came into our classroom to teach 2nd grade. She was the best teacher I've had the privilege to watch in class. She reminded me of one Mrs. Pam Cotten, who was an amazing educator (and my 5th Grade Teacher). Senora Zavala was the most experienced dual language teacher with degrees in both Mexico and U.S. She was firm yet sweet to the kids. She treated our kids as if they were her own. And by the way, each of her three own kids went to Stanford University, Loyola Marymount University, and Santa Clara University. 

• 3rd Grade 2015-2016: Complete failure. Principal Izela Jacobo (I can't prove that she has a college degree) led the program we loved so much right into the ground. A Three teacher rotation began between Ms. Bradbury, Ms. Meier, and Ms. Caro. One teacher was responsible for English Literature, another Spanish Literature, and one responsible for Math. The teachers rotated around the students. Classroom was extremely sloppy and unorganized. We went from a classroom of 25 students to 75 and three teachers. No homework was graded and the kids sat in front of computers all day on a hodgepodge of software. They were also directed to spend hours in the evening on computers to toil away in easy software drills far below their grade level. High achieving kids were assigned as "in-class" tutors for students behind and lacking in the subjects. Some kids spoke only English and other kids spoke only Spanish. Some kids could not read in English or Spanish. The use of Google Translate was encouraged for Spanish writing assignments. Five teachers decided to resign from the school as of May 2016. What went wrong? Well this is only the wave tops of it all. I'll share more in my following blogs.