Washington Episcopal School -- what is it like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current parent, again, from the previous post.

Of course, WES does not emphasize providing a special education program or anything remotely similar to that. Per grade, there are maybe 5-7 kids (out of 36-38) who are part of the ASC program. They receive special assistance, and (especially) the MS learning specialist is talented. But again, WES is very traditional not a special-ed focused school based on factors such as resources and the small class sizes.

What is the ASC program?

[Anonymous]

ASC is a MS program for students who need extra support. Students in ASC do not take a foreign language. So each day, while other students go to either French or Spanish class, the ASC students attend a class with the learning specialist. They work on homework and get learning support. The number of students in a grade who are enrolled in ASC varies, from 5 - 7 up to 10 - 11 students (out of 30 - 36). It's a wonderful option for some students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the English reading/writing education like? Finding that MCPS does not have strengths in this area. Thank you!

The 6th-grade English teacher is a published writer and former college/university professor. The 7th/8th grade English teacher has been there for over 15 years, and her classes are typically writing and discussion-based. Almost all 7th/8th-grade teachers organize courses that are freshman year-level material, and alumni consistently report honors class preparedness.

Current WES parent here. The school is amazing at recruiting talented faculty. Especially in the 7th and 8th grade years, the teachers expect constant improvement and self-advocacy. High school preparedness is consistently mentioned in classes.

WES is a great school for students with learning challenges, and there are many middle school students who need and get extra support. The school is easy going on workload, with lots of grace shown on late or missing assignments.

Can you expand on this? I talked with admissions last spring and they told me that WES is not the best place for kids with LDs that need support.

Your kid may have needed more support than they could provide, or they may have “maxed out” on the number of kids in a particular grade with some LDs.

[Anonymous]

My oldest has graduated from college, and I still think sending him to WES for middle school was the best thing we ever did for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ASC is a MS program for students who need extra support. Students in ASC do not take a foreign language. So each day, while other students go to either French or Spanish class, the ASC students attend a class with the learning specialist. They work on homework and get learning support. The number of students in a grade who are enrolled in ASC varies, from 5 - 7 up to 10 - 11 students (out of 30 - 36). It's a wonderful option for some students.

That doesn't seem quite right to me. I have one current and one former WES student. In one grade there's one kid that doesn't take a foreign language and in the other grade there were 3.

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure how many kids in our DCs grade are in ASC vs taking a foreign language. I know of certain kids who are in ASC because of carpools or random comments, but it’s not a widely publicized detail. If I had to guess, I’d say 5-6 for our grade of 36.

All eighth graders go to either France or Spain which is determined by which language they’ve been studying and kids who are in the ASC program pick which one they want to do since they do not take a FL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure how many kids in our DCs grade are in ASC vs taking a foreign language. I know of certain kids who are in ASC because of carpools or random comments, but it’s not a widely publicized detail. If I had to guess, I’d say 5-6 for our grade of 36.

All eighth graders go to either France or Spain which is determined by which language they’ve been studying and kids who are in the ASC program pick which one they want to do since they do not take a FL.

5-6 would be very high for a grade. In my kids grades it was 2 and 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the English reading/writing education like? Finding that MCPS does not have strengths in this area. Thank you!

The 6th-grade English teacher is a published writer and former college/university professor. The 7th/8th grade English teacher has been there for over 15 years, and her classes are typically writing and discussion-based. Almost all 7th/8th-grade teachers organize courses that are freshman year-level material, and alumni consistently report honors class preparedness.

Current WES parent here. The school is amazing at recruiting talented faculty. Especially in the 7th and 8th grade years, the teachers expect constant improvement and self-advocacy. High school preparedness is consistently mentioned in classes.

WES is a great school for students with learning challenges, and there are many middle school students who need and get extra support. The school is easy going on workload, with lots of grace shown on late or missing assignments.

Can you expand on this? I talked with admissions last spring and they told me that WES is not the best place for kids with LDs that need support.

Your kid may have needed more support than they could provide, or they may have “maxed out” on the number of kids in a particular grade with some LDs.

Yeah I feel like people are not giving a realistic picture. There are a couple of students in ASC each year, but those tend to be kids that have been in the school since they were young. WES is not set up to handle learning challenges beyond very mild ADHD and the like that most every school can deal with. If you report learning differences it is likely you will get the same message this applicant did. It’s a very small school and they just don’t have the resources for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the English reading/writing education like? Finding that MCPS does not have strengths in this area. Thank you!

The 6th-grade English teacher is a published writer and former college/university professor. The 7th/8th grade English teacher has been there for over 15 years, and her classes are typically writing and discussion-based. Almost all 7th/8th-grade teachers organize courses that are freshman year-level material, and alumni consistently report honors class preparedness.

Current WES parent here. The school is amazing at recruiting talented faculty. Especially in the 7th and 8th grade years, the teachers expect constant improvement and self-advocacy. High school preparedness is consistently mentioned in classes.

WES is a great school for students with learning challenges, and there are many middle school students who need and get extra support. The school is easy going on workload, with lots of grace shown on late or missing assignments.

Can you expand on this? I talked with admissions last spring and they told me that WES is not the best place for kids with LDs that need support.

Your kid may have needed more support than they could provide, or they may have “maxed out” on the number of kids in a particular grade with some LDs.

Yeah I feel like people are not giving a realistic picture. There are a couple of students in ASC each year, but those tend to be kids that have been in the school since they were young. WES is not set up to handle learning challenges beyond very mild ADHD and the like that most every school can deal with. If you report learning differences it is likely you will get the same message this applicant did. It’s a very small school and they just don’t have the resources for that.

Perhaps PP's DC has a lot of kids who have been in the class for a long time? I agree that I would not categorize WES as a school that excels in supporting kids with LDs, but if LDs are minor, they can and do accommodate students. The kids we know mostly have challenges around executive function/ADHD, but they are very much the minority in our class. We like the differentiation in math (three levels most years in MS) and have been happy with STEM and English curriculum. DC has a decent amount of homework each night, but its not busy work and they have study hall a couple times a week which helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure how many kids in our DCs grade are in ASC vs taking a foreign language. I know of certain kids who are in ASC because of carpools or random comments, but it’s not a widely publicized detail. If I had to guess, I’d say 5-6 for our grade of 36.

All eighth graders go to either France or Spain which is determined by which language they’ve been studying and kids who are in the ASC program pick which one they want to do since they do not take a FL.

5-6 would be very high for a grade. In my kids grades it was 2 and 1.

In one MS class this year, there are least 10 students in ASC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure how many kids in our DCs grade are in ASC vs taking a foreign language. I know of certain kids who are in ASC because of carpools or random comments, but it’s not a widely publicized detail. If I had to guess, I’d say 5-6 for our grade of 36.

All eighth graders go to either France or Spain which is determined by which language they’ve been studying and kids who are in the ASC program pick which one they want to do since they do not take a FL.

5-6 would be very high for a grade. In my kids grades it was 2 and 1.

In one MS class this year, there are least 10 students in ASC.

Yes. It's completely different every single year.

[Anonymous]

In one middle school grade this year, there is one ASC student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's vibe is like William and Mary

What does this mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's vibe is like William and Mary

What does this mean?

From Google: "William & Mary is a tough academic school. However the school recognizes that, and provides de-stressing activities like 'pet-a-puppy' and massage chairs in the library during finals. The on-campus community takes care of one another, and the students make W&M a place to love."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's vibe is like William and Mary

What does this mean?

From Google: "William & Mary is a tough academic school. However the school recognizes that, and provides de-stressing activities like 'pet-a-puppy' and massage chairs in the library during finals. The on-campus community takes care of one another, and the students make W&M a place to love."

The description is half right for WES. It's definitely committed to de-stressing activities, but those who know the local private school landscape would not call WES "a tough academic school." That's not a criticism of WES -- it focuses on keeping kids happy, and it prepares them well for schools like Bullis and St. Andrews.