An excerpt from an article in the American Council for Immersion Education publication by Daunna Minnich, Parent, Palo Alto Unified School District, Palo Alto, CA
Immersion Education is in such demand that most programs hold a lottery, and others rely on a first-come, first-served policy. Either method makes for winners and losers. People may grumble about the fairness of the selection method, but the issue of fairness can turn shrill when the number of openings is severely limited by sibling preference.
Sibling preference is hardly unique to immersion programs. School districts typically grant preference to siblings in neighborhood schools, charter schools, and alternative programs for the simple reason that keeping students and their families together is commonly viewed as desirable. Everyone benefits: students, parents, and the school.
Lack of sibling preference fragments parent support and erodes commitment to immersion programs in a number of ways:
Keeping siblings at the same school focuses parent energies on one school, one set of practice, one school culture…. Parents with children in separate schools sometimes must choose which event to attend or which school to contribute to in various ways.
Immersion programs depend on long-term commitment to control attrition. Not keeping siblings together would be like divorce in a family, at times forcing parents to choose between children and schools.
Drop-off and Pick-up—Most schools in a district start and end the day at about the same time. Having children in different schools several miles apart creates stress and complications, especially if parents have to provide transportation.
Parent time and support—Immersion programs depend on strong parent support—as language modes (in English, and in some cases, the target language), classroom helpers, advocates, and volunteers. Immersion education is a family commitment. The parents who give the most of themselves are the ones with children all attending the same school.
Sibling expectations—Younger siblings want to do what their older siblings do, and their expectations of school are based on their siblings’ experiences. When kindergartners bring home their homework…, their preschool siblings start learning the immersion language, too…As the siblings get older, they practice theirsecond language with each other.
In short, immersion is a family experience, a family commitment, and a family investment. Sibling preference keeps families together and promotes program stability, strength and success.