Inspired Teaching?

[Anonymous]

I find the lackadaisical approach to filling key spots to be alarming. Our kids MS ELA teacher quit at the beginning of the year and they said they were hiring and putting in a longterm sub. Something like six months later the longterm sub is still there and no word ever on actually hiring a lead teacher for the spot. And then we just went without a principal for a year? I don't understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion: the new Walls application process benefits a school like ITS, where it isn't too difficult to get very good grades and the teachers have an interest in writing glowing recommendations (because the school likes the taut the walls admission rate at open houses).

Wonder how if it would change it Walls went back to test-in.

It would be interesting to look at Walls admission before and after the change wrt ITDS. I actually think I remember that more kids got in from ITDS before. I'm a long term parent at the school (8 years and counting) so I've kept track.

As much as I enjoy thinking about questions like that, I think the number of kids at ITDS who have a realistic shot at Walls is so small (and, before COVID, was even smaller due to the 8th grade enrollment being so small) that the data isn't actually that meaningful.

This is definitely a good point. But in case we want to throw in some estimates of those small numbers, ITDS has had ~8 kids go to Walls every year for the past three or four years. In this year's 8th grade class, however, only about 5 kids got interviews. (Results are TBD, obviously.) So yes, it's very small numbers and one year does not make a trend, but "unpopular opinion" does not seem to be correct at least so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find the lackadaisical approach to filling key spots to be alarming. Our kids MS ELA teacher quit at the beginning of the year and they said they were hiring and putting in a longterm sub. Something like six months later the longterm sub is still there and no word ever on actually hiring a lead teacher for the spot. And then we just went without a principal for a year? I don't understand.

It seems like we've been perfectly fine without a certain former principal. Not sure why we need a new one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion: the new Walls application process benefits a school like ITS, where it isn't too difficult to get very good grades and the teachers have an interest in writing glowing recommendations (because the school likes the taut the walls admission rate at open houses).

Wonder how if it would change it Walls went back to test-in.

It would be interesting to look at Walls admission before and after the change wrt ITDS. I actually think I remember that more kids got in from ITDS before. I'm a long term parent at the school (8 years and counting) so I've kept track.

As much as I enjoy thinking about questions like that, I think the number of kids at ITDS who have a realistic shot at Walls is so small (and, before COVID, was even smaller due to the 8th grade enrollment being so small) that the data isn't actually that meaningful.

This is definitely a good point. But in case we want to throw in some estimates of those small numbers, ITDS has had ~8 kids go to Walls every year for the past three or four years. In this year's 8th grade class, however, only about 5 kids got interviews. (Results are TBD, obviously.) So yes, it's very small numbers and one year does not make a trend, but "unpopular opinion" does not seem to be correct at least so far.

Was there are test 4 years ago?

I do remember asking in 2019, and the answer was either 0 or 1 student had gone to Walls the previous year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion: the new Walls application process benefits a school like ITS, where it isn't too difficult to get very good grades and the teachers have an interest in writing glowing recommendations (because the school likes the taut the walls admission rate at open houses).

Wonder how if it would change it Walls went back to test-in.

It would be interesting to look at Walls admission before and after the change wrt ITDS. I actually think I remember that more kids got in from ITDS before. I'm a long term parent at the school (8 years and counting) so I've kept track.

Do you remember how long ago ITDS expanded to 8th graded? It feels like looking back 8 years would not only be affected by changes in how walls did things but also covering the evolving ways ITDS MS does things and put together their HS prep (which we were impressed with compared to what friends received other places). Not to mention a pandemic in the middle in the middle of the window.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion: the new Walls application process benefits a school like ITS, where it isn't too difficult to get very good grades and the teachers have an interest in writing glowing recommendations (because the school likes the taut the walls admission rate at open houses).

Wonder how if it would change it Walls went back to test-in.

It would be interesting to look at Walls admission before and after the change wrt ITDS. I actually think I remember that more kids got in from ITDS before. I'm a long term parent at the school (8 years and counting) so I've kept track.

As much as I enjoy thinking about questions like that, I think the number of kids at ITDS who have a realistic shot at Walls is so small (and, before COVID, was even smaller due to the 8th grade enrollment being so small) that the data isn't actually that meaningful.

This is definitely a good point. But in case we want to throw in some estimates of those small numbers, ITDS has had ~8 kids go to Walls every year for the past three or four years. In this year's 8th grade class, however, only about 5 kids got interviews. (Results are TBD, obviously.) So yes, it's very small numbers and one year does not make a trend, but "unpopular opinion" does not seem to be correct at least so far.

Was there are test 4 years ago?

I do remember asking in 2019, and the answer was either 0 or 1 student had gone to Walls the previous year.

Current high school seniors were the last class admitted by exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion: the new Walls application process benefits a school like ITS, where it isn't too difficult to get very good grades and the teachers have an interest in writing glowing recommendations (because the school likes the taut the walls admission rate at open houses).

Wonder how if it would change it Walls went back to test-in.

It would be interesting to look at Walls admission before and after the change wrt ITDS. I actually think I remember that more kids got in from ITDS before. I'm a long term parent at the school (8 years and counting) so I've kept track.

Do you remember how long ago ITDS expanded to 8th graded? It feels like looking back 8 years would not only be affected by changes in how walls did things but also covering the evolving ways ITDS MS does things and put together their HS prep (which we were impressed with compared to what friends received other places). Not to mention a pandemic in the middle in the middle of the window.

I have a kid in the first graduating class with two classes' worth of 8th graders. DC graduated from 8th grade in 2021.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion: the new Walls application process benefits a school like ITS, where it isn't too difficult to get very good grades and the teachers have an interest in writing glowing recommendations (because the school likes the taut the walls admission rate at open houses).

Wonder how if it would change it Walls went back to test-in.

It would be interesting to look at Walls admission before and after the change wrt ITDS. I actually think I remember that more kids got in from ITDS before. I'm a long term parent at the school (8 years and counting) so I've kept track.

As much as I enjoy thinking about questions like that, I think the number of kids at ITDS who have a realistic shot at Walls is so small (and, before COVID, was even smaller due to the 8th grade enrollment being so small) that the data isn't actually that meaningful.

This is definitely a good point. But in case we want to throw in some estimates of those small numbers, ITDS has had ~8 kids go to Walls every year for the past three or four years. In this year's 8th grade class, however, only about 5 kids got interviews. (Results are TBD, obviously.) So yes, it's very small numbers and one year does not make a trend, but "unpopular opinion" does not seem to be correct at least so far.

Was there are test 4 years ago?

I do remember asking in 2019, and the answer was either 0 or 1 student had gone to Walls the previous year.

Current high school seniors were the last class admitted by exam.

The test disappeared during COVID, so in 2019 there was a test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion: the new Walls application process benefits a school like ITS, where it isn't too difficult to get very good grades and the teachers have an interest in writing glowing recommendations (because the school likes the taut the walls admission rate at open houses).

Wonder how if it would change it Walls went back to test-in.

It would be interesting to look at Walls admission before and after the change wrt ITDS. I actually think I remember that more kids got in from ITDS before. I'm a long term parent at the school (8 years and counting) so I've kept track.

As much as I enjoy thinking about questions like that, I think the number of kids at ITDS who have a realistic shot at Walls is so small (and, before COVID, was even smaller due to the 8th grade enrollment being so small) that the data isn't actually that meaningful.

This is definitely a good point. But in case we want to throw in some estimates of those small numbers, ITDS has had ~8 kids go to Walls every year for the past three or four years. In this year's 8th grade class, however, only about 5 kids got interviews. (Results are TBD, obviously.) So yes, it's very small numbers and one year does not make a trend, but "unpopular opinion" does not seem to be correct at least so far.

Was there are test 4 years ago?

I do remember asking in 2019, and the answer was either 0 or 1 student had gone to Walls the previous year.

Yeah, the numbers going to SWW have gone up a lot since the ITDS 8th grade doubled in size with the class that graduated in 2021.

I also would reiterate PP's point about small numbers and not reading too much into the data.

[Anonymous]

Kind of funny how a thread about a charter elementary/middle school has devolved into talking about School Without Walls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kind of funny how a thread about a charter elementary/middle school has devolved into talking about School Without Walls.

Try to see the relevance. It's there if you think a little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kind of funny how a thread about a charter elementary/middle school has devolved into talking about School Without Walls.

Try to see the relevance. It's there if you think a little.

Sure. But is SWW admission the one thing that matters about a kid's elementary/middle school experience? I definitely hope not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kind of funny how a thread about a charter elementary/middle school has devolved into talking about School Without Walls.

Try to see the relevance. It's there if you think a little.

Sure. But is SWW admission the one thing that matters about a kid's elementary/middle school experience? I definitely hope not.

Of course not, but it is something that matters a great deal to certain parents. Others don't care, and they have their reasons.

[Anonymous]

In particular it matters to people who are choosing ITS, because they likely don't have a very good IB high school option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kind of funny how a thread about a charter elementary/middle school has devolved into talking about School Without Walls.

In the end, all threads converge on school without walls. (Except the SWW thread.)