Banneker versus School Without Walls
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Anonymous
| Banneker and School Without Walls have similar national rankings (close to 100) and among DC area schools (SWW number 2 and Banneker number 5). Both offer dual enrollment to similarly ranked universities (GW and Howard) and are similar in size. Banneker additionally offers an IB program making one of only about 1000 schools nationwide (Walls does not). Does anyone have any insights into these two options? Is there a positive culture among students at Banneker like people report about Walls? Is the instruction engaging? How are class sizes? I was also unable to confirm what the foreign language offerings were at Banneker, and foreign language was not listed among AP offerings (my daughter hopes to take AP Chinese). Thank you! |
Anonymous
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I can speak from personal experience about Walls and anecdotally about Banneker (I know several people who used to teach there).
Walls: Foreign language (through AP in all): Spanish, French, Latin, Chinese Highly motivated students Lack of structure in the school in general Class sizes: core classes 25, AP classes 20 The building is too small for the number of students so teachers float, kids take classes all over the place- library, commons, GW campus, small rooms with no windows, regular classrooms Lots of AP electives, two required APs for all: World History and Lang Lots of group work and group projects Kids have to be organized because the school is not Banneker: Highly motivated kids Very structured Heavy top down management from admin Strict behavior and dress code (old school) Strong academics Lots of homework |
Anonymous
| Thanks! |
Anonymous
| I think the first PP has an excellent list. I would note that most Banneker students also have a lot of group projects. |
Anonymous
| Neither take kids with IEPs. Equal opportunity discrimination! |
Anonymous
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Banneker doesn’t have Chinese.
Banneker has a lot of community service requirements. |
Anonymous
| Banneker’s facility is stunning. If you haven’t had a chance to drive/walk by at 9th & R and Rhode Island, do so. |
Anonymous
| Very few Banneker kids do the IB DP. Even fewer earn an an IB diploma. Check out the difference between DCI, an IB for all school, and Banneker’s IB DP graduation numbers (even with selective admissions. Mind Boggling. |
Anonymous
They only allow 25 students do the IB path. |
Anonymous
+1. The DCI booster(s) need to stop spreading misinformation. There can be more than one good school in the city. |
Anonymous
DCUMs love to tear down Banneker. They’ve been doing it for years. |
Anonymous
Is this a selection because they think the other students can’t hack it? Why don’t they open it to all like DCI? |
Anonymous
Banneker has 525 students and only 5% are capable of the IB path? So out of those 5%, how many actually earn the IB diploma? |
Anonymous
It’s a small school with a finite number of teachers. 25 is the number of kids that can do IB. They also have AP. DCI makes all the kids take one track. They’re different schools. I get it you love DCI. Great! I’m happy for you. |
Anonymous
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Hmm...seems something is missing:
SWW: mostly white Banneker: mostly black Not sure what that says to you OP, if anything, but it's what most people seem to talk about a lot on here. |