Any thoughts about WIS?

[Anonymous]

Hah!

This sentance is HILARIOUS!
"And besides, if you are saying that you turned down Beauvoir, Maret, and Sidwell for WIS, then you are either stretching the truth or out of your mind."

This is a prime example of how people can't see beyond the confines of their own beliefs and values to imagine that others think differently. I see many, many logical reasons why a family would turn down the above schools for WIS. Same goes for people choosing to live in Northern Virginia or Maryland and letting their children attend excellent public schools for FREE. Same for people choosing DC Public Schools when they have a good public or charter option.

News flash: People think differently, and getting into the three schools listed isn't a priority for everyone.

Disclosure: I don't have a child at WIS, but my next door neighbor's two kids attend there and they are lovely children.

[Anonymous]

I visited WIS a while ago and they have a very interesting program, but not for my son. While my DH loved the international feel, I felt like the school was a bit...intense is the word. But again, a very cool curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hah!

This sentance is HILARIOUS!
"And besides, if you are saying that you turned down Beauvoir, Maret, and Sidwell for WIS, then you are either stretching the truth or out of your mind."

This is a prime example of how people can't see beyond the confines of their own beliefs and values to imagine that others think differently. I see many, many logical reasons why a family would turn down the above schools for WIS. Same goes for people choosing to live in Northern Virginia or Maryland and letting their children attend excellent public schools for FREE. Same for people choosing DC Public Schools when they have a good public or charter option.

News flash: People think differently, and getting into the three schools listed isn't a priority for everyone.

Disclosure: I don't have a child at WIS, but my next door neighbor's two kids attend there and they are lovely children.

Go ask your next door neighbor whether she applied to any of the above. If she did, and got accepted, find out why. That'll be of interest to some of us.

Otherwise, News Flash, your attack on PP is simply without teeth.

[Anonymous]

Is it proper etiquette to ask someone why they chose a certain school and to ask if they chose that school because they were turned down by others?

Personally, I never go into details like that with my friends and neighbors. Do others? It seems kind of tacky to me and could lead to hurt feelings.

Back to the WIS thread, I toured the school and as a child of two teachers, I always focus in on the teaching staff. My parents are both teachers and they constantly remind me that the most important thing in choosing a school is excellence in teachers. I asked a lot of questions about the teachers, and met with a number. I was very impressed with the ones I met. This probably doesn't differentiate WIS from other great private schools, but I really liked what I saw.

[Anonymous]

I'm not the person you're asking. But I know four families who turned down either Sidwell or NCS for other schools. Our family is one of these four. Three went public in MD, one went to another private. Actually, if you count a family that got off the wait list at one of these two and decided to stay with the private that had accepted them in April, I know five families.

I can't say that any of these families turned down these schools for WIS, but that's not the point. The point is that many sane, well-adjusted families see sterling qualities in schools that aren't what are known on DCUM as "the big 3".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not the person you're asking. But I know four families who turned down either Sidwell or NCS for other schools. Our family is one of these four. Three went public in MD, one went to another private. Actually, if you count a family that got off the wait list at one of these two and decided to stay with the private that had accepted them in April, I know five families.

I can't say that any of these families turned down these schools for WIS, but that's not the point. The point is that many sane, well-adjusted families see sterling qualities in schools that aren't what are known on DCUM as "the big 3".

To the last two posters: thank you for restoring some sane evidence, balance, and politeness to this thread.

[Anonymous]

Back to the WIS discussion.

I'm an educator with 17 years of experience, including teaching in IB diploma programs in two countries. WIS was the ONLY private school we applied to. I looked at all the big names and thought they were not worth the money. Language immersion and an IB program were my top priorities. If we didn't get into WIS, we would have gone to our excellent neighborhood schools (Pyle-Whitman cluster in Bethesda). We are in our fourth year at WIS and couldn't be happier. Most WIS parents I know feel the same and WIS was their first choice as well. I know many other families who would have gone pubic if they didn't get into WIS. It is a not school that people choose because they didn't get into other schools, like previous posters (ignorant ones at that) make it out to be. It is a school that is number one on many families' list because of its academics, language immersion and IB program.

[Anonymous]

Bit of perspective from a parent who is interested in WIS and and who brings personal experience of private schools to the table.

As a kid in public school, I applied to the "top" prep school in my home town-- my brother was already there-- and a less prestigious but very good private school. I loved my visit to the second; found the first stuffy and intimidating. I wanted the more low-key school and my parents wanted the more prestigious one, which fortunately did me the favor of rejecting me. I spent seven happy years at the school I'd always preferred; learned a ton and flourished. By ninth grade, the other school was asking me to consider applying again, and I turned them down. Then I went to an Ivy League college, an Ivy League law school, a judicial clerkship, one of the nation's top law firms, and now I run the legal department at a major civil rights organization. My brother did okay in high school and hasn't succeeded at anything since.

I'm not saying that it proves that my school was better.

I'm saying that there is no "best" school in town. There is a best school for your child. And if you attend a fairly good school that's appropriate, you can and will achieve what you would at the "top" school. It might seem, right now as you are applying for and investing in prep school, that the choice of school is monumentally important. In fact, the difference is largely on this board and at cocktail parties. All of these kids are getting a good education.

And on WIS, I am considering it, but I'm not considering Sidwell or NCS for my child who taught herself to read at age 4 and can spell in sign language. They're great schools that are not good fits for her personality, as my brother's school was not a good fit for mine.

DOn't denigrate parents who make choices on factors other than prestige.

[Anonymous]

Someone recently told me that your child has a better chance of getting into WIS if the parents are non U.S. Citizens. Is there any truth to this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Someone recently told me that your child has a better chance of getting into WIS if the parents are non U.S. Citizens. Is there any truth to this?

My husband is from the UK, our daughter was not accepted into pre-k at WIS.

[Anonymous]

"Someone recently told me that your child has a better chance of getting into WIS if the parents are non U.S. Citizens. Is there any truth to this?"


No. As WIS will tell you on their tour, they try to maintain a balance of one-third non-US families, one-third American parent families, and one-third mixed (one American parent, one non-American parent). My experience as a WIS parent is that this balance is pretty accurate. There are plenty of 100% American families who are accepted.

They also try to have a balance of native speaking kids (Spanish or French) and native English speaking kids in each class. My experience in the Spanish program is that it is probably more like one-quarter to one-third native Spanish and the rest native English or another language. I can't speak for the French classes.

I know since Rock Creek International closed a couple of years ago, WIS's applicant pool has gone up a lot so it is much harder to get into in both PreK and K.

As the PP 9:38 said, you have to look for the best fit for your child. WIS is not for everyone - not everyone has multilingualism as a priority. For those who do - WIS is a great place for you.

Good luck to everyone on their search!

[Anonymous]

Our child has been at WIS for 4 years, and we are quite happy. For what it's worth to this discussion, it was the only school we applied to. If our child hadn't been accepted at WIS, we would have gone the public school route. We visited several other private schools and thought that WIS offered an academic and arts program to rival most of them, but it also offered something that no other school did, and that we can not offer at home: the opportunity to become fluent in at least one more language. In 4 years, that's already been achieved, and we look forward to the middle and upper school years, when most students add a third and even a fourth language.

Of course WIS isn't for everyone. No school is. Our child happens to be quite academic (not necessarily a bent inherited from the parents!) and very much language- and arts-focused, and we have found it a near perfect fit.

[Anonymous]

To any WIS parents whose chlildren started in the three year old program, can you post a bit about the experience? For example, does your family already speak a second language? How intense is the program? Did your child attend another preschool prior to enrolling? How is your child adjusting to the language immersion?

Though not quite ready to apply, WIS is our first choice. Thanks in advane for any insight you can provide.

[Anonymous]

Our child started pre-K three last year in Spanish. My husband has knowledge of Spanish at best and I don't know any Spanish. I was of course a bit apprehensive about what my daughter's experience would be - how would she know what was going on?!

But I can't tell you how pleased I am with the results. The first year was really just about understanding the language but this year, her teachers are telling me she is really starting to speak Spanish and her pronunciation is very good. We are just delighted with the results. She only attended a coop preschool before where I went with her so this was really her first experience in school. I signed her up for the Spanish summer camp to get her adjusted. She loves WIS and so do we - it is a loving, nurturing environment with the added benefit of giving your child the gift of a second language in a diverse environment that celebrates all cultures.

[Anonymous]

I know this sounds crazy, because we are just applying for K. But I am concerned as I have noticed that the SAT scores for WIS are relatively low (i.e., not unlike your average suburban public high school). Is this one of the negatives to an immersion program (i.e., emphasizing foreign language at expense of English?).