Walls admissions requirements for 2021 Applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that is unfortunate

my SWW was at Deal and never made Principal's Honor Role. Friends who were on Principal's Honor Role took the test and did not make the cut-off.

We are close enough to some of this to know how much work parent's did for assignments significantly impacted grades at Deal.

I am being 100% sincere in asking this: what would be a better way to do this knowing that entrance exam can’t be given securely?

Top 300 students by GPA and then go by lottery. The interviews are BS and no one should be meeting up inside regardless.

I’m sure the interviews will be virtual. But I don’t disagree with the fact that they are totally subjective.

It says at the school, not virtual. And yes the subjectivity is a problem. Teacher refs or even writing an essay covering the interview questions would be better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that is unfortunate

my SWW was at Deal and never made Principal's Honor Role. Friends who were on Principal's Honor Role took the test and did not make the cut-off.

We are close enough to some of this to know how much work parent's did for assignments significantly impacted grades at Deal.

I am being 100% sincere in asking this: what would be a better way to do this knowing that entrance exam can’t be given securely?

Top 300 students by GPA and then go by lottery. The interviews are BS and no one should be meeting up inside regardless.

I’m sure the interviews will be virtual. But I don’t disagree with the fact that they are totally subjective.

It says at the school, not virtual. And yes the subjectivity is a problem. Teacher refs or even writing an essay covering the interview questions would be better.

The interviews will be virtual. And even having students write an essay has issues- how can you verify it was the student who wrote the essay? Who so going to read and grade 500 essays in two months?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that is unfortunate

my SWW was at Deal and never made Principal's Honor Role. Friends who were on Principal's Honor Role took the test and did not make the cut-off.

We are close enough to some of this to know how much work parent's did for assignments significantly impacted grades at Deal.

I am being 100% sincere in asking this: what would be a better way to do this knowing that entrance exam can’t be given securely?

Top 300 students by GPA and then go by lottery. The interviews are BS and no one should be meeting up inside regardless.

I’m sure the interviews will be virtual. But I don’t disagree with the fact that they are totally subjective.

It says at the school, not virtual. And yes the subjectivity is a problem. Teacher refs or even writing an essay covering the interview questions would be better.

The interviews will be virtual. And even having students write an essay has issues- how can you verify it was the student who wrote the essay? Who so going to read and grade 500 essays in two months?

Seriously---essays are almost always "written" by parents. And teacher reqs are wildly unfair. We've had teachers in DCPS who are incredibly conscientious and currently have one for a core subject in 8th who is never showing up for class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No easy answers this year, but this is tough. Not all schools in the area are equally hard/easy, and GPA doesn't give the full story.

Especially when DCPS adopted a massive extra credit policy and a ton of kids ended up with inflated grades at the end of the last school year. The lowest grade my 8th grader got term 4 last year was 170.3

and my ADHD student who performed really well in the classroom tanked during DL

i am curious how 504 students did the 3rd and 4th advisory.
I know that for the 1st advisory this year the data shows that students with IEPs, 504s, or at-risk have performed worse vs peers. How can this be a equitable manner of selection?

Walls doesn’t take kids with IEPS and barely takes kids with 504s. So in this sense it doesn’t matter how these kids are performing. They aren’t welcomed at the school.

I hope this isn't a true statement!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No easy answers this year, but this is tough. Not all schools in the area are equally hard/easy, and GPA doesn't give the full story.

Especially when DCPS adopted a massive extra credit policy and a ton of kids ended up with inflated grades at the end of the last school year. The lowest grade my 8th grader got term 4 last year was 170.3

and my ADHD student who performed really well in the classroom tanked during DL

i am curious how 504 students did the 3rd and 4th advisory.
I know that for the 1st advisory this year the data shows that students with IEPs, 504s, or at-risk have performed worse vs peers. How can this be a equitable manner of selection?

Walls doesn’t take kids with IEPS and barely takes kids with 504s. So in this sense it doesn’t matter how these kids are performing. They aren’t welcomed at the school.

I hope this isn't a true statement!

If you look at the school "report card": https://www.dcschoolreportcard.org/schools/1-0466
the school profile: https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/School+Without+Walls+High+School
The historical PARCC results broken down by group. The data is consistent that there are not any students with IEPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No easy answers this year, but this is tough. Not all schools in the area are equally hard/easy, and GPA doesn't give the full story.

Especially when DCPS adopted a massive extra credit policy and a ton of kids ended up with inflated grades at the end of the last school year. The lowest grade my 8th grader got term 4 last year was 170.3

and my ADHD student who performed really well in the classroom tanked during DL

i am curious how 504 students did the 3rd and 4th advisory.
I know that for the 1st advisory this year the data shows that students with IEPs, 504s, or at-risk have performed worse vs peers. How can this be a equitable manner of selection?

Walls doesn’t take kids with IEPS and barely takes kids with 504s. So in this sense it doesn’t matter how these kids are performing. They aren’t welcomed at the school.

I hope this isn't a true statement!

If you look at the school "report card": https://www.dcschoolreportcard.org/schools/1-0466
the school profile: https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/School+Without+Walls+High+School
The historical PARCC results broken down by group. The data is consistent that there are not any students with IEPs.

Thanks and very interesting.

[Anonymous]

Did anyone attend the virtual open house tonight?
Any additional information or insight about the admissions process and criteria?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone attend the virtual open house tonight?
Any additional information or insight about the admissions process and criteria?

I did. It was kind of unorganized but I enjoyed the counseling session. They were very detailed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that is unfortunate

my SWW was at Deal and never made Principal's Honor Role. Friends who were on Principal's Honor Role took the test and did not make the cut-off.

We are close enough to some of this to know how much work parent's did for assignments significantly impacted grades at Deal.

I am being 100% sincere in asking this: what would be a better way to do this knowing that entrance exam can’t be given securely?

Top 300 students by GPA and then go by lottery. The interviews are BS and no one should be meeting up inside regardless.

I’m sure the interviews will be virtual. But I don’t disagree with the fact that they are totally subjective.

It says at the school, not virtual. And yes the subjectivity is a problem. Teacher refs or even writing an essay covering the interview questions would be better.

The same people who graded the essay portion of the old exam. Do it like AP - give question simultaneously AMD students have an hour to complete it. Their 8th grade school can assist with the tech. For APs last spring students could write in longhand and submit it. Y taking a picture they emailed.

The interviews will be virtual. And even having students write an essay has issues- how can you verify it was the student who wrote the essay? Who so going to read and grade 500 essays in two months?

[Anonymous]

where do I find the GPA? DC has 2 B's, the rest A's. algebra was P (passed I guess).

[Anonymous]

This is what I understood but I am still confused. Does this sound right?

1. Complete the application through myschooldc by Feb 1
- include seventh grade transcript
- must show 7th grade GPA 3.0 or above
- if from DCPS, it will be sent from MS
- if outside DCPS must be official school transcript (school letterhead)
- no essays, no teacher recs, no test scores

2. Of those who applied, the students with the top 500 GPAs will be invited for an interview

3. Interviews will be conducted after Feb 1 - mid-March
- virtual, not in-person
- student interview first, then parents join (parent interview will not be held against the student ; )
- interview will be scored - 31 possible points

4. Walls will assign each student a score - interview can be scored up to 31, GPA can be scored up to 5 for a total possible score of 36.

5. Students with the top 250 scores (GPA + interview) will be eligible and be placed in a lottery

6. Approx 140 students of the 250 eligible will be matched to Walls through a lottery and the rest will be waitlisted.

6. Students will be notified of a match and have to indicate acceptance

7. Students will be pulled from the WL when a matched student declines the offered spot.

[Anonymous]

PP - Walls should take your summary and post it to their website!

I took away the same major themes. Still have questions about their ranking system, allocation of points in the interview and the exact match process (not sure if we will get any clarification on these aspects), but in a nutshell I think you have captured it!

[Anonymous]

Thank you, PP - very helpful summary.

I'm bummed for my kid. He has friends at other schools with easier classes, easier grading. He's doing his best but it's a tough academic load, and we have a feeling he won't make the top 500 GPA but would have done well on the test, and would really enjoy Walls. I know they are doing the best they can during the pandemic, but I'm guessing there are going to be a number of people in this situation.

[Anonymous]

Interviews are a really crappy way to determine admissions to a HS program. So subjective and open to prejudice on many levels. Just do a lottery of the top GPAs, and them adjust for demographics. Done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you, PP - very helpful summary.

I'm bummed for my kid. He has friends at other schools with easier classes, easier grading. He's doing his best but it's a tough academic load, and we have a feeling he won't make the top 500 GPA but would have done well on the test, and would really enjoy Walls. I know they are doing the best they can during the pandemic, but I'm guessing there are going to be a number of people in this situation.

Sorry about your DC. Mine might even get in, but he won't stay in. He does not have the work ethic. He wants to go, but has no idea how much work the school is.