Considering pulling kid from Wilson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, what's your other option? Would you homeschool? Could you get him into a private school somewhere?

I homeschooled my child last year and it was great. I kept my child socially connected with positive friends and activities. There is a homeschooling page on dcum as well as lots on Facebook like SEA (secular, eclectic, academic). What are your means like? DC is great about homeschooling in one regard - very hands off. However, they don't provide resources- other states do. We used the library a LOT.

NP. What is your feeling about homeschooling in HS and then college? I am interested in doing longterm homeschooling but worried it might make the college application process more difficult (no GPA, no recs from teachers, etc.).

Also, beyond activities, do homeschooling resources in DC enable you to find other homeschooling families and do some joint coursework? I know this is possible at the elementary level, but I worry there are not enough homeschooling high schoolers in the area to do something similar at this level. It would be nice to be able to pool resources for science learning, for instance.

There are such large contingents of homeschoolers in almost every area of the country hence many many opportunities for all of the things you mentioned . It’s the best thing I’ve ever done, especially made clear when I read the posts below the one I’m replying to. It’s a disgrace what children today are being subjected to on a daily basis .

[Anonymous]

I know someone whose kid kinda sunk to the lowest common denominator in any social setting. Wilson was a disaster and she switched to private mid-freshman year. I don't think she would have graduated HS if not for that change, and fortunately her parents had the $$ to make it happen and still pay for college. OP, if your kid wants to switch and you can handle homeschooling or private, go for it. Bard Early College and Banneker also have short waitlists...not sure what the possibilities of applying now are though, or if your kid would qualify.

[Anonymous]

Has the behavior chaos always been there, or is it new?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, what's your other option? Would you homeschool? Could you get him into a private school somewhere?

I homeschooled my child last year and it was great. I kept my child socially connected with positive friends and activities. There is a homeschooling page on dcum as well as lots on Facebook like SEA (secular, eclectic, academic). What are your means like? DC is great about homeschooling in one regard - very hands off. However, they don't provide resources- other states do. We used the library a LOT.

NP. What is your feeling about homeschooling in HS and then college? I am interested in doing longterm homeschooling but worried it might make the college application process more difficult (no GPA, no recs from teachers, etc.).

Also, beyond activities, do homeschooling resources in DC enable you to find other homeschooling families and do some joint coursework? I know this is possible at the elementary level, but I worry there are not enough homeschooling high schoolers in the area to do something similar at this level. It would be nice to be able to pool resources for science learning, for instance.

I would visit the homeschool pages (DCUM and FB) and ask that there. As far as a teen, my greatest concern would be keeping them socially connected and sports. No, I don't think DC is a terribly homeschool community "rich" environment, but I think if your kid has established neighborhood and social circles you could make it work. I would tap into all the groups, cool summer programs, neighborhood list serve to connect to other homeschool families and pooling resources, local college offerings etc. As far as I can tell, many homeschool kids do quite well with college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD and her friends report there are pretty bad fights at Wilson multiple times a day. Fights in hallways, in class. Boy on girl, kids getting jumped etc. I know this is “normal” high school behavior but it’s become quite disruptive for DD.

It isn't normal. This behavior doesn't happen in all high schools. Teenagers don't have to be violent.

DD showed me a video of a few of the fights that are going around Instagram. It’s so sad. Some are in class, some are at the Whole Foods corridor after school.

Neighbors have begged the school to engage with the community and community police over this corridor. Why can't the principal / administrators stand out there after school Stand and Deliver style and work WITH the police, businesses, neighborhood. Why the "what happens outside the school gates stays outside the school gates" attitude? Such a culture of low expectations, ugh.

[Anonymous]

Please, where exactly is the Whole Foods corridor? I know where Wilson is, and Whole Foods, but where is the corridor?

Signed,
Dcum (on undercover patrol)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please, where exactly is the Whole Foods corridor? I know where Wilson is, and Whole Foods, but where is the corridor?

Signed,
Dcum (on undercover patrol)

The parking strep between the school and the whole food parking lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has the behavior chaos always been there, or is it new?

NP. My kid, who shares a lot about school and really likes Wilson, has not talked about “behavior chaos” at all. Like, not once. The only thing I see on this thread that I’ve heard from him is weed-smoking in the bathrooms, which sounds to me like the Gen Z version of cigarette smoking in the bathrooms that was prevalent at my high school in the late 80s. (Not here for a debate about the relative dangers of cigarette smoking vs weed smoking—simply analogizing the rule-flaunting behavior.)

I’m not saying that fights don’t happen or that there aren’t disruptive classroom incidents. But this thread makes it seem like they are pervasive, and that’s simply not my kid’s experience.

[Anonymous]

There seems to be a lot of crazy behavior by my 9th grader's friends from an upper NW DC elementary school.
My kid is on the periphery of this friend group and also sees it all play out on social media.
Tons of drugs (pot, acid) and alcohol and also a lot of sexual behavior, especially from girls to both 9th grade boys and older boys. Most disturbingly, an alleged rape.
I don't know if this is just normal for early high school (I'm sure much of it is) or is more pronounced this year because the kids are coming of 18 months of home school.

Regardless, I think it 's really sobering. These kids are mostly 14. 14 is really, really young for sex with multiple partners (which is happening) and/or drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, what's your other option? Would you homeschool? Could you get him into a private school somewhere?

I homeschooled my child last year and it was great. I kept my child socially connected with positive friends and activities. There is a homeschooling page on dcum as well as lots on Facebook like SEA (secular, eclectic, academic). What are your means like? DC is great about homeschooling in one regard - very hands off. However, they don't provide resources- other states do. We used the library a LOT.

NP. What is your feeling about homeschooling in HS and then college? I am interested in doing longterm homeschooling but worried it might make the college application process more difficult (no GPA, no recs from teachers, etc.).

Also, beyond activities, do homeschooling resources in DC enable you to find other homeschooling families and do some joint coursework? I know this is possible at the elementary level, but I worry there are not enough homeschooling high schoolers in the area to do something similar at this level. It would be nice to be able to pool resources for science learning, for instance.

My parents pulled me out of 10th grade in my public school, where I was miserable, homeschooling me through a mail-in program pre-Internet for the spring semester. For junior year, I went away as an exchange student to Europe before returning to the US to finish HS at a different public school. I did HS over 5 years. Things worked out very well, and I went on to an Ivy for college, then a PhD at a different Ivy.

In your shoes, PP, I'd get the kid away from a toxic Wilson scene without looking back, regardless of how, and where, the rest of HS pans out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There seems to be a lot of crazy behavior by my 9th grader's friends from an upper NW DC elementary school.
My kid is on the periphery of this friend group and also sees it all play out on social media.
Tons of drugs (pot, acid) and alcohol and also a lot of sexual behavior, especially from girls to both 9th grade boys and older boys. Most disturbingly, an alleged rape.
I don't know if this is just normal for early high school (I'm sure much of it is) or is more pronounced this year because the kids are coming of 18 months of home school.

Regardless, I think it 's really sobering. These kids are mostly 14. 14 is really, really young for sex with multiple partners (which is happening) and/or drugs.

I don’t know how normal this is but it is disturbing none the less. Doing acid and having multiple sexual partners would make me really worried as a parent of a 14 year old. Because those situations are breeding grounds for sexual assault and other behaviors that can affect a person for the rest of their life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has the behavior chaos always been there, or is it new?

NP. My kid, who shares a lot about school and really likes Wilson, has not talked about “behavior chaos” at all. Like, not once. The only thing I see on this thread that I’ve heard from him is weed-smoking in the bathrooms, which sounds to me like the Gen Z version of cigarette smoking in the bathrooms that was prevalent at my high school in the late 80s. (Not here for a debate about the relative dangers of cigarette smoking vs weed smoking—simply analogizing the rule-flaunting behavior.)

I’m not saying that fights don’t happen or that there aren’t disruptive classroom incidents. But this thread makes it seem like they are pervasive, and that’s simply not my kid’s experience.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, what's your other option? Would you homeschool? Could you get him into a private school somewhere?

I homeschooled my child last year and it was great. I kept my child socially connected with positive friends and activities. There is a homeschooling page on dcum as well as lots on Facebook like SEA (secular, eclectic, academic). What are your means like? DC is great about homeschooling in one regard - very hands off. However, they don't provide resources- other states do. We used the library a LOT.

PP, no offense, but as someone who has homeschooled nieces and nephews, and other homeschooled kids, it is very difficult to provide any social interactions that really resemble, and teach the lessons, of the day to day, unsupervised socializing that occurs among kids in school. I hate to say it, I know many homeschooled parents are good parents, they try hard, they teach their kids academically fine...but there is a reason why homeschooled kids are a bunch of weirdos. You simply cannot learn how to act in society unless you are in society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, what's your other option? Would you homeschool? Could you get him into a private school somewhere?

I homeschooled my child last year and it was great.[b] I kept my child socially connected with positive friends and activities. There is a homeschooling page on dcum as well as lots on Facebook like SEA (secular, eclectic, academic). What are your means like? DC is great about homeschooling in one regard - very hands off. However, they don't provide resources- other states do. We used the library a LOT.

PP, no offense, but as someone who has homeschooled nieces and nephews, and other homeschooled kids, it is very difficult to provide any social interactions that really resemble, and teach the lessons, of the day to day, unsupervised socializing that occurs among kids in school. I hate to say it, I know many homeschooled parents are good parents, they try hard, they teach their kids academically fine...but there is a reason why homeschooled kids are a bunch of weirdos. You simply cannot learn how to act in society unless you are in society.

Yes, PP, your social skills are extraordinary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, what's your other option? Would you homeschool? Could you get him into a private school somewhere?

I homeschooled my child last year and it was great. I kept my child socially connected with positive friends and activities. There is a homeschooling page on dcum as well as lots on Facebook like SEA (secular, eclectic, academic). What are your means like? DC is great about homeschooling in one regard - very hands off. However, they don't provide resources- other states do. We used the library a LOT.

PP, no offense, but as someone who has homeschooled nieces and nephews, and other homeschooled kids, it is very difficult to provide any social interactions that really resemble, and teach the lessons, of the day to day, unsupervised socializing that occurs among kids in school. I hate to say it, I know many homeschooled parents are good parents, they try hard, they teach their kids academically fine...but there is a reason why homeschooled kids are a bunch of weirdos. You simply cannot learn how to act in society unless you are in society.

NP. I agree with you. But even social lack is better than some of what is described on this thread.

OP, changing high schools is hard on a kid but it can be necessary. And it sounds like it might be necessary for your family. There are options, including moving, applying to a charter school or private school, or homeschooling for a short or extended period of time.