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DD will attend Walkersville High School this fall. Trying to get honest feedback on Walkersville High School. I am getting just that on facebook and so far it is 50/50 "ok/terrible" specifically in relation to bullying and general student environment.
So far I have heard that bullying is poorly handled. That kids are vaping in classrooms. And a greatschools statistic shows students with disabilities are suspended at three times the rate of the general student population (sketchy stat that I can't trace, but there it is.) I'm hoping to find more feedback from people with kids who are currently attending. Thanks in advance! |
| I’m not from Frederick county, but I’m very familiar with the school system there. I think Walkersville is generally considered a fine school academically, but culturally, I’ve heard of some issues with racism there. |
OP here, please give me some examples. My daughter is biracial, so, I'd be curious. THe biggest issue I am hearing about so far is vaping in the bathroom that has been so extreme for years that nonvaping kids, both boys and girls, find themselves unable to use the bathroom. Apparently in this school the solution was to shut down all the single occupant bathrooms as well as other bathrooms and leave only one by the main entrance for use. Naturally, this did not work. This is taking place all day long. Not just in between classes. This feedback is coming from people with several kids in that school over the past few years (prior to covid as well). |
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It is your typical Frederick County public school. Made up of mostly white kids but way more diverse than it was 20 years ago. There will be white kids that don't like your mixed kids, there will be white kids that love your mixed kids. Just like in life.
I personally think that vaping is a huge problem in all public schools, especially now that kids can steal THC pens from their parents. We have a new generation of kids smoking E Pot and E cigs in the bathroom... I wish you well, I have been if Frederick County most of my life Walkersville is an adequate public school. |
OP here. I went to the freshman orientation and having dropped DD off was able to see the kids filing in. I didn't get a terrible vibe. Just pretty much no masking and we are a medically high risk family so we have to mask. I saw a few other masked kids. Should be interesting to see what fall brings. |
Good luck, OP. We’re an Interracial family as well but in Middletown. Our kids are young so we don’t have direct experience with any of the local high schools yet. We’ve been in the area for about 3 years and have effectively heard that all of Frederick (excluding Urbana and Frederick city) have a racism problem. Old habits die hard but it is getting better as the county becomes more diverse basically because people are getting outpriced for Montgomery County. Walkersville, to my understanding is one of the more diverse and liberal areas for Frederick. Will there be racist jerks? Sadly, probably but it won’t be as prevalent as more northern parts of the county and the school staff may be more responsive to complaints. Vaping is a national problem in schools; middle schools as well as high schools. |
| I went to walkersville high school 20 years ago. I can't say too.much about what it is like now. It was an okay school then. Not diverse and minorities stuck together for the most part. But not overtly racist like I experienced in Carroll County. The neighborhood I grew up in was Discovery. It was a run down townhouse community but had alot of issues similar to a trailer park. Glad I got out of that area but that was a long time ago. My sister lived in Glade which is in Walkersville probably 10 years ago did not seem like alot changed in the area. The school is zoned for Woodsboro and more rural areas as well. The school would not be my first choice in Frederick but things may have changed alot. |
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OP here. Well, its started to happen. I noticed that there appear to be no minority representation among the teachers at this school. I don't know 100% that this is true, but DD reports not seeing a single teacher of color at the school.
I did some searching and found that this is a known long term problem for FCPS. We focused on the lack of diversity among the student body, but there is at least a tiny bit of it. I did not expect zero among the faculty. Again, this is not yet confirmed but it is highly probable. An article from Frederick News Post: shorturl.at/kGIZ7 |