Considering pulling kid from Wilson
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Anonymous
A few years ago a committee was commissioned to look at overcrowding in the Wilson feeder pattern. It was supposed to be a 3 month intensive discussion with all Principals, DCPS staff and community members with advice that would actually be listened to and implemented reporting back to the Mayor. A year later a report was writer, some members of the committee refused to approve it, others simply gave up. NOTHING was implemented. At the first few meetings details about capacity were presented and it was uncovered that there was no official way that capacity was determined. Often it included all square footage in the building including administrative offices and bathrooms, not classrooms only. Sometimes it included adults in the count, sometimes just students. Some schools reported that they had not undergone any facilities improvements yet over time their official capacity went up. Nothing was ever done about this. At the time Wilson was at official capacity 1500-1600. Now acceptable capacity is 1800+. Case in point. The next issue was that all feeder schools were all expected to increase occupancy over the next decade by leaps and bounds, except Wilson. When pressed about where these ES and MS kids were expected to go, the overall attitude of DCPS staff was do nothing and make no improvements, and those who can will leave, thereby making increased occupancy a non issue. Wilson now has 2200 kids, not enough classes, not enough teachers, not enough space, the general practice is that seniors will not and do not take a full load (some last year had no classes during the 4x4 schedule and had the issue that they could not play sports because they were not technically students - a DCPS rule). Wilson is still considered the “best” DCPS high school but one grade is larger than any other school in the district and the disparity in educational outcomes with other schools is still great enough that any conversation about what Wilson needs turns into a conversation about how much better the Wilson kids have it. The discussion needs to be about fixing the system. Improving the disparities but also elevating the success of each school from the starting point every school is at. |
Anonymous
| Wow! Are there really 2200 kids now enrolled in Wilson? We are considering Wilson for High School but if the school is 700 kids over capacity, that has to have a negative impact. What do kids do if they can't take classes due to space/logistics? |
Anonymous
They are slid into crappy classes with 30+ kids and teachers who can’t deal. Also, seniors attend school only a couple classes a day. It sucks and is a pathetic education. |