Wilson “hybrid” schedule next year?

[Anonymous]

So there was a little more on this in the principal’s remarks at Back to School Night.

AP will be full-year A/B schedule
“Core” courses (non-AP English, Science, Math, Social Studies) will be 4x4
Non-core courses with a failure rate below 10% can be full year

I assume this means foreign language can be full-year, which would be very good news.

Seems like this is guidance straight from DCPS. Still a lot that isn’t clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So there was a little more on this in the principal’s remarks at Back to School Night.

AP will be full-year A/B schedule
“Core” courses (non-AP English, Science, Math, Social Studies) will be 4x4
Non-core courses with a failure rate below 10% can be full year

I assume this means foreign language can be full-year, which would be very good news.

Seems like this is guidance straight from DCPS. Still a lot that isn’t clear.

At Back to School night he did clarify that this decision was coming straight from DCPS Central. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So there was a little more on this in the principal’s remarks at Back to School Night.

AP will be full-year A/B schedule
“Core” courses (non-AP English, Science, Math, Social Studies) will be 4x4
Non-core courses with a failure rate below 10% can be full year

I assume this means foreign language can be full-year, which would be very good news.

Seems like this is guidance straight from DCPS. Still a lot that isn’t clear.

It's still pretty unclear...are "core" classes only those that are needed to graduate (there are some non-AP classes in math and social studies that are not graduation requirements). Where is the actual guidance from DCPS? Is there a link? That is critical information.

[Anonymous]

THE ONLY WAY THIS WILL CHANGE IS IF FEREBEE GETS AN EARFUL...MIND YOU, HIS KID IS AT WALLS...WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM THE 4X4 MANDATE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:THE ONLY WAY THIS WILL CHANGE IS IF FEREBEE GETS AN EARFUL...MIND YOU, HIS KID IS AT WALLS...WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM THE 4X4 MANDATE.

What else needs to change? APs can go year round. Foreign languages can go year round. Chorus and yearbook and similar electives can go year round. The “honors for all” courses are a write-off for strong students, but that was true before the 4x4. I just don’t see the crisis. Better for Wilson to work with these rules to make them work as well as possible than to keep fighting a 4x4 hybrid schedule that works fine at a variety of similar high schools all around the country.

[Anonymous]

Complete newbie here. What is 4x4?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:THE ONLY WAY THIS WILL CHANGE IS IF FEREBEE GETS AN EARFUL...MIND YOU, HIS KID IS AT WALLS...WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM THE 4X4 MANDATE.

What else needs to change? APs can go year round. Foreign languages can go year round. Chorus and yearbook and similar electives can go year round. The “honors for all” courses are a write-off for strong students, but that was true before the 4x4. I just don’t see the crisis. Better for Wilson to work with these rules to make them work as well as possible than to keep fighting a 4x4 hybrid schedule that works fine at a variety of similar high schools all around the country.

Math needs to change. The course needs to be a year course. Otherwise, students can go six months or a year with no math at all, and then are thrust into an accelerated course (covering two semester’s material in one).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:THE ONLY WAY THIS WILL CHANGE IS IF FEREBEE GETS AN EARFUL...MIND YOU, HIS KID IS AT WALLS...WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM THE 4X4 MANDATE.

What else needs to change? APs can go year round. Foreign languages can go year round. Chorus and yearbook and similar electives can go year round. The “honors for all” courses are a write-off for strong students, but that was true before the 4x4. I just don’t see the crisis. Better for Wilson to work with these rules to make them work as well as possible than to keep fighting a 4x4 hybrid schedule that works fine at a variety of similar high schools all around the country.

Keeping non-AP math courses on 4x4 is a big problem for retention and continuity.

But also…the idea that we should shrug and “write off” the courses that the vast majority of students in the school are taking is pretty gross. (Also, my “strong student” has enjoyed most of his honors for all classes; the few that haven’t been good have suffered from poor teaching, not their student inclusivity.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Complete newbie here. What is 4x4?

There are a bunch of threads on it. I recommend searching.

[Anonymous]

Math is a huge, huge problem. Ask any math teacher or educational expert on the consequences of gaps in instruction with math--huge learning loss. With the 4x4, kids can go more than a year without a math class. It is unconscionable for DCPS to mandate this. I can live with the other "core" classes, but not math (is it clear that foreign languages are exempt?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:THE ONLY WAY THIS WILL CHANGE IS IF FEREBEE GETS AN EARFUL...MIND YOU, HIS KID IS AT WALLS...WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM THE 4X4 MANDATE.

What else needs to change? APs can go year round. Foreign languages can go year round. Chorus and yearbook and similar electives can go year round. The “honors for all” courses are a write-off for strong students, but that was true before the 4x4. I just don’t see the crisis. Better for Wilson to work with these rules to make them work as well as possible than to keep fighting a 4x4 hybrid schedule that works fine at a variety of similar high schools all around the country.

Math needs to change. The course needs to be a year course. Otherwise, students can go six months or a year with no math at all, and then are thrust into an accelerated course (covering two semester’s material in one).

Yes. My daughter is in a DC private high school and spent about 4 weeks on logarithms in honors Algebra 2 this year. Her best friend at Wilson spent 2 days total. The girl has barely any idea what a logarithm is (by her own admission).
I have a younger kid in DCPS middle school and this is really concerning to me as we consider high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:THE ONLY WAY THIS WILL CHANGE IS IF FEREBEE GETS AN EARFUL...MIND YOU, HIS KID IS AT WALLS...WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM THE 4X4 MANDATE.

What else needs to change? APs can go year round. Foreign languages can go year round. Chorus and yearbook and similar electives can go year round. The “honors for all” courses are a write-off for strong students, but that was true before the 4x4. I just don’t see the crisis. Better for Wilson to work with these rules to make them work as well as possible than to keep fighting a 4x4 hybrid schedule that works fine at a variety of similar high schools all around the country.

Math needs to change. The course needs to be a year course. Otherwise, students can go six months or a year with no math at all, and then are thrust into an accelerated course (covering two semester’s material in one).

Yes. My daughter is in a DC private high school and spent about 4 weeks on logarithms in honors Algebra 2 this year. Her best friend at Wilson spent 2 days total. The girl has barely any idea what a logarithm is (by her own admission).
I have a younger kid in DCPS middle school and this is really concerning to me as we consider high schools.

PLEASE send this information to leadership at DCPS.

[Anonymous]

It is also going to be a scheduling mess. Some courses are 4x4, some are not. More confusion for everyone

[Anonymous]

I don't think scheduling will be that hard...you can have some classes on a year-long A/B schedule and some on a 4x4 semester schedule...the big problem is the fact that too many classes will still be compressed into one semester.

[Anonymous]

I don't know, I think a combination of full year and half year courses will work out well. Maybe people need to take a breath and not just knee jerk explode at every decision made by DCPS.