Does your kid love Walls?

[Anonymous]

Nope.

[Anonymous]

11th grader - love, no. Wouldn't want to be at any other school, lots of work. Great friend group.

[Anonymous]

As others have said, the peer group is the strength of the school. The kids are focused, curious, hardworking. And street smart, as many commute by Metro or bus and move around the city easily. There are some great teachers, many strong teachers and a few real duds. The administration is weak; the principal is embarrassingly bad and the kids all realize this.

[Anonymous]

Freshman son who is in a bit of a funk and not sure he loves it. He has a small friend group there and plays sports but has made comments about it being too small and that there aren’t other friend options- ‘not my people’ sort of bibe. I’m not reading too much into it now but we’ll monitor. There’s also a grass is always greener element and freshman year can be rough wherever you are. He’s got 1-2 hours of work a night and more studying on the weekends. Travel for sports meant that he didn’t come home until 8:30’or 9 most days so he may just be a bit worn down.

[Anonymous]

PP I will say his teachers are great and zero behavioral disruptions. Everyone wants to be there/work hard. To the extent that they’re stressed about a B in freshman year so there’s a downside to that too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
As others have said, the peer group is the strength of the school. The kids are focused, curious, hardworking. And street smart, as many commute by Metro or bus and move around the city easily. There are some great teachers, many strong teachers and a few real duds. The administration is weak; the principal is embarrassingly bad and the kids all realize this.

What's so bad about the admin and principal?

[Anonymous]

Administrative capacity is fairly weak and the principal isn't too sharp, not a capable leader by any stretch of the imagination. She replaced a strong personality, the popular, long-serving head who used to push back against DCPS to protect his teachers. He got canned as a result during the pandemic. This empty suit replaced him. Right, not a secret that she sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Administrative capacity is fairly weak and the principal isn't too sharp, not a capable leader by any stretch of the imagination. She replaced a strong personality, the popular, long-serving head who used to push back against DCPS to protect his teachers. He got canned as a result during the pandemic. This empty suit replaced him. Right, not a secret that she sucks.

Empty, mean-spirited statement devoid of any substance/detail. What, specifically, are you upset about? From my perspective as a parent of a 9th grader, things seem to be running smoothly enough. Teachers show up; classes are conducted; grades entered in Aspen; field trips occur; special events take place some school days (so I hear). Very little interaction with administration/principal (why would there be?), so nothing to judge them on.

[Anonymous]

Come on, how could a 9th grade parent know what the school lost in the unjust dismissal of the previous independent-minded and super capable head, who was adored? He built the capacity the Walls runs on over almost two decades as a strong leader. This 12th grade parent knows that the statement above is anything but empty and mean-spirited. It's depressingly factual.

[Anonymous]

Walls won't be able to coast with this ineffectual head indefinitely. The inconvenient truth is that it's becoming harder to love the school with each passing year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Administrative capacity is fairly weak and the principal isn't too sharp, not a capable leader by any stretch of the imagination. She replaced a strong personality, the popular, long-serving head who used to push back against DCPS to protect his teachers. He got canned as a result during the pandemic. This empty suit replaced him. Right, not a secret that she sucks.

Empty, mean-spirited statement devoid of any substance/detail. What, specifically, are you upset about? From my perspective as a parent of a 9th grader, things seem to be running smoothly enough. Teachers show up; classes are conducted; grades entered in Aspen; field trips occur; special events take place some school days (so I hear). Very little interaction with administration/principal (why would there be?), so nothing to judge them on.

Teachers show up - not our experience. They have had hiring issues for key positions
When teachers go out on Family Leave for months they do not always have someone to take over the class. We had the experience for months that the kids were given on-line learning for the entire leave and a random teacher popped in to take daily attendance.

ASPEN - My kids grades went from all "As" to not "As" as all the grades were entered in the week after to grading period ended.

Field Trips - My kid was on a field trip and the bus dropped them off at the wrong location

I actually expect more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Freshman son who is in a bit of a funk and not sure he loves it. He has a small friend group there and plays sports but has made comments about it being too small and that there aren’t other friend options- ‘not my people’ sort of bibe. I’m not reading too much into it now but we’ll monitor. There’s also a grass is always greener element and freshman year can be rough wherever you are. He’s got 1-2 hours of work a night and more studying on the weekends. Travel for sports meant that he didn’t come home until 8:30’or 9 most days so he may just be a bit worn down.

Parent of freshman: Hang in there! My DD had a very rough freshman year at Walls (crying practically every night) but then things improved a lot in 10th grade. I think you're right that freshman year can be rough wherever--it's a big transition coming at a moment of hormonal chaos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Come on, how could a 9th grade parent know what the school lost in the unjust dismissal of the previous independent-minded and super capable head, who was adored? He built the capacity the Walls runs on over almost two decades as a strong leader. This 12th grade parent knows that the statement above is anything but empty and mean-spirited. It's depressingly factual.

I don't know anything about the current principal, but when we were looking at Walls 5 years ago the common refrain from parents that we knew (with kids enrolled) at the time was "The principal sucks, but don't worry because it doesn't really impact your kid".

So, let's just say it was not unanimous praise for that guy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Administrative capacity is fairly weak and the principal isn't too sharp, not a capable leader by any stretch of the imagination. She replaced a strong personality, the popular, long-serving head who used to push back against DCPS to protect his teachers. He got canned as a result during the pandemic. This empty suit replaced him. Right, not a secret that she sucks.

Empty, mean-spirited statement devoid of any substance/detail. What, specifically, are you upset about? From my perspective as a parent of a 9th grader, things seem to be running smoothly enough. Teachers show up; classes are conducted; grades entered in Aspen; field trips occur; special events take place some school days (so I hear). Very little interaction with administration/principal (why would there be?), so nothing to judge them on.

Teachers show up - not our experience. They have had hiring issues for key positions
When teachers go out on Family Leave for months they do not always have someone to take over the class. We had the experience for months that the kids were given on-line learning for the entire leave and a random teacher popped in to take daily attendance.

ASPEN - My kids grades went from all "As" to not "As" as all the grades were entered in the week after to grading period ended.

Field Trips - My kid was on a field trip and the bus dropped them off at the wrong location

I actually expect more.

Everyone has to realize that at the end of the day, Walls is a DCPS school. It isn't a charter school.

If a teacher goes on leave, you are then at the mercy of DCPS and it is frustrating. It's not school-specific, but perhaps felt more keenly at a smaller school.

It is not as though Walls has autonomy to just go out and hire someone...not the way it works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Administrative capacity is fairly weak and the principal isn't too sharp, not a capable leader by any stretch of the imagination. She replaced a strong personality, the popular, long-serving head who used to push back against DCPS to protect his teachers. He got canned as a result during the pandemic. This empty suit replaced him. Right, not a secret that she sucks.

Empty, mean-spirited statement devoid of any substance/detail. What, specifically, are you upset about? From my perspective as a parent of a 9th grader, things seem to be running smoothly enough. Teachers show up; classes are conducted; grades entered in Aspen; field trips occur; special events take place some school days (so I hear). Very little interaction with administration/principal (why would there be?), so nothing to judge them on.

Teachers show up - not our experience. They have had hiring issues for key positions
When teachers go out on Family Leave for months they do not always have someone to take over the class. We had the experience for months that the kids were given on-line learning for the entire leave and a random teacher popped in to take daily attendance.

ASPEN - My kids grades went from all "As" to not "As" as all the grades were entered in the week after to grading period ended.

Field Trips - My kid was on a field trip and the bus dropped them off at the wrong location

I actually expect more.

Everyone has to realize that at the end of the day, Walls is a DCPS school. It isn't a charter school.

If a teacher goes on leave, you are then at the mercy of DCPS and it is frustrating. It's not school-specific, but perhaps felt more keenly at a smaller school.

It is not as though Walls has autonomy to just go out and hire someone...not the way it works.

But Walls Leadership can plan for when teachers are going out on FMLA. It is not as if it is a surprise that there is a baby.