Walls admissions article in the Post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This this board is anonymous I'll share that my 4.0 Deal kid in Algebra 2 last year was accepted to Sidwell, Potomac, St. Albans, GDS, Maret and the Scholar's program at St. Johns but not Walls. Quite a few of these schools had 9th grade acceptance rates around 5% last year (so we have since learned).
He was waitlisted at Walls. He is now doing extremely well at one of the privates. He's an outgoing kid, travel athlete who is now on a varsity team, national-level debater, and had 99% PARCC scores from 3rd grade on.
His Walls interview was literally 90 seconds long last year.

Similar experience (though my slightly less high-flying DC was in geometry not Algebra 2 and didn't get admitted to quite as many privates, though some). FWIW, I have heard rumors that Walls prefers to not take too many advanced math students--they see themselves as a "humanities" school. Whatever, DC reads voraciously and actually loves ELA and history far more than math...and if they had spent more than 3 minutes with her in the interview, they would have known this. But I wonder if they see the higher math tracks as some sort of flag and those kids have a harder time getting in.

My DC took geometry in 8th and got in (and there are others) so it's definitely not a screen. Having said that, it definitely does have a reputation as being weaker in STEM than Wilson so maybe they limit the number of kids on those tracks? Hard to know. We were in boundary for Wilson and ended up choosing Walls but remember having some conversations about this issue with friends who had kids at both...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This this board is anonymous I'll share that my 4.0 Deal kid in Algebra 2 last year was accepted to Sidwell, Potomac, St. Albans, GDS, Maret and the Scholar's program at St. Johns but not Walls. Quite a few of these schools had 9th grade acceptance rates around 5% last year (so we have since learned).
He was waitlisted at Walls. He is now doing extremely well at one of the privates. He's an outgoing kid, travel athlete who is now on a varsity team, national-level debater, and had 99% PARCC scores from 3rd grade on.
His Walls interview was literally 90 seconds long last year.

Similar experience (though my slightly less high-flying DC was in geometry not Algebra 2 and didn't get admitted to quite as many privates, though some). FWIW, I have heard rumors that Walls prefers to not take too many advanced math students--they see themselves as a "humanities" school. Whatever, DC reads voraciously and actually loves ELA and history far more than math...and if they had spent more than 3 minutes with her in the interview, they would have known this. But I wonder if they see the higher math tracks as some sort of flag and those kids have a harder time getting in.

Geometry was once a sticking point because Walls included some questions on the entrance exam but not every MS feeder offered Geometry and thus some candidates were at a disadvantage unless they learned it independently of school or the school offered it as an elective supplement. Not many MS even offer Algebra 2 so that's definitely beyond anything a Walls test would cover.

The mediocre students at above private schools start younger. By HS admission process they can get more selective. The mediocre students never leave.

The geometry on the entrance exam was from the 8th grade common core standards. If 8th grade teachers didn’t teach the standards that is not Walls’ fault. But this rumor that geometry was on the test just out of the blue is nonsense. The test was an 8th grade test. 8th grade includes several strand of math including probability, number sense and basic geometry.

[Anonymous]

DCPS doesn’t want an entrance exam for Walls. The administration at the school is not strong and therefore does not push back on anything DCPS wants. So there will not be an entrance exam again. If you want one, start with pressuring DCPS. They ultimately control that decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This this board is anonymous I'll share that my 4.0 Deal kid in Algebra 2 last year was accepted to Sidwell, Potomac, St. Albans, GDS, Maret and the Scholar's program at St. Johns but not Walls. Quite a few of these schools had 9th grade acceptance rates around 5% last year (so we have since learned).
He was waitlisted at Walls. He is now doing extremely well at one of the privates. He's an outgoing kid, travel athlete who is now on a varsity team, national-level debater, and had 99% PARCC scores from 3rd grade on.
His Walls interview was literally 90 seconds long last year.

Similar experience (though my slightly less high-flying DC was in geometry not Algebra 2 and didn't get admitted to quite as many privates, though some). FWIW, I have heard rumors that Walls prefers to not take too many advanced math students--they see themselves as a "humanities" school. Whatever, DC reads voraciously and actually loves ELA and history far more than math...and if they had spent more than 3 minutes with her in the interview, they would have known this. But I wonder if they see the higher math tracks as some sort of flag and those kids have a harder time getting in.

My DC took geometry in 8th and got in (and there are others) so it's definitely not a screen. Having said that, it definitely does have a reputation as being weaker in STEM than Wilson so maybe they limit the number of kids on those tracks? Hard to know. We were in boundary for Wilson and ended up choosing Walls but remember having some conversations about this issue with friends who had kids at both...

The school doesn’t limit the number of advanced track math students. There are plenty of kids in calculus in junior or sophomore years at the school. They increased math electives this year to accommodate the large number of advanced math students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This this board is anonymous I'll share that my 4.0 Deal kid in Algebra 2 last year was accepted to Sidwell, Potomac, St. Albans, GDS, Maret and the Scholar's program at St. Johns but not Walls. Quite a few of these schools had 9th grade acceptance rates around 5% last year (so we have since learned).
He was waitlisted at Walls. He is now doing extremely well at one of the privates. He's an outgoing kid, travel athlete who is now on a varsity team, national-level debater, and had 99% PARCC scores from 3rd grade on.
His Walls interview was literally 90 seconds long last year.

Similar experience (though my slightly less high-flying DC was in geometry not Algebra 2 and didn't get admitted to quite as many privates, though some). FWIW, I have heard rumors that Walls prefers to not take too many advanced math students--they see themselves as a "humanities" school. Whatever, DC reads voraciously and actually loves ELA and history far more than math...and if they had spent more than 3 minutes with her in the interview, they would have known this. But I wonder if they see the higher math tracks as some sort of flag and those kids have a harder time getting in.

My DC took geometry in 8th and got in (and there are others) so it's definitely not a screen. Having said that, it definitely does have a reputation as being weaker in STEM than Wilson so maybe they limit the number of kids on those tracks? Hard to know. We were in boundary for Wilson and ended up choosing Walls but remember having some conversations about this issue with friends who had kids at both...

The school doesn’t limit the number of advanced track math students. There are plenty of kids in calculus in junior or sophomore years at the school. They increased math electives this year to accommodate the large number of advanced math students.

OK, good to know! Back to having no clue how they select/rank students. Except for the fact that the teachers can divine "fit". Based on 3-10 minute video interviews. During a pandemic. Also "strong family support."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

Thanks. What written records are available? What kind of information could we get with a FOIA request?

This was posted earlier. Basically:

Keep your request simple. Ask for all "records" that contain:
- the formal process by which Walls candidates were ranked
- all guidance for interviewers on how questions they were to ask and how they were to rate candidates
- all records that provides training for interviewers
- all records that provides the weighting for interviews vs GPA and how candidates are ranked in the event of a tie.
Also ask for an example of the interview matrix or rubric that is used for each interview.

There are some exceptions for what has to be disclosed but this is the type of information that has to be released because it's of public interest. If it exists, they will have to provide it. It is likely it doesn't exist and it will show it was capricious.

Thanks, but I asking the SWW teacher who is part of the process, not you.

That's not how publicly disclosable information works. This is why FOIA exists

Huh? You must be new to DCUM. This is an anonymous blog where people disclose information all the time.

Feel free to file your FOIA request and pay applicable fees to DC for searching, reviewing, and reproducing records.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

Thanks. What written records are available? What kind of information could we get with a FOIA request?

This was posted earlier. Basically:

Keep your request simple. Ask for all "records" that contain:
- the formal process by which Walls candidates were ranked
- all guidance for interviewers on how questions they were to ask and how they were to rate candidates
- all records that provides training for interviewers
- all records that provides the weighting for interviews vs GPA and how candidates are ranked in the event of a tie.
Also ask for an example of the interview matrix or rubric that is used for each interview.

There are some exceptions for what has to be disclosed but this is the type of information that has to be released because it's of public interest. If it exists, they will have to provide it. It is likely it doesn't exist and it will show it was capricious.

Thanks, but I asking the SWW teacher who is part of the process, not you.

That's not how publicly disclosable information works. This is why FOIA exists

Huh? You must be new to DCUM. This is an anonymous blog where people disclose information all the time.

Feel free to file your FOIA request and pay applicable fees to DC for searching, reviewing, and reproducing records.

My favorite thing is posters snarkily declaring that other people don’t understand DCUM and then calling it a “blog” like they’re 150 years old. LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

Thanks. What written records are available? What kind of information could we get with a FOIA request?

This was posted earlier. Basically:

Keep your request simple. Ask for all "records" that contain:
- the formal process by which Walls candidates were ranked
- all guidance for interviewers on how questions they were to ask and how they were to rate candidates
- all records that provides training for interviewers
- all records that provides the weighting for interviews vs GPA and how candidates are ranked in the event of a tie.
Also ask for an example of the interview matrix or rubric that is used for each interview.

There are some exceptions for what has to be disclosed but this is the type of information that has to be released because it's of public interest. If it exists, they will have to provide it. It is likely it doesn't exist and it will show it was capricious.

Thanks, but I asking the SWW teacher who is part of the process, not you.

That's not how publicly disclosable information works. This is why FOIA exists

Huh? You must be new to DCUM. This is an anonymous blog where people disclose information all the time.

Feel free to file your FOIA request and pay applicable fees to DC for searching, reviewing, and reproducing records.

Actually, fees are generally waived if something is in the public interest. Which this is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

Thanks. What written records are available? What kind of information could we get with a FOIA request?

This was posted earlier. Basically:

Keep your request simple. Ask for all "records" that contain:
- the formal process by which Walls candidates were ranked
- all guidance for interviewers on how questions they were to ask and how they were to rate candidates
- all records that provides training for interviewers
- all records that provides the weighting for interviews vs GPA and how candidates are ranked in the event of a tie.
Also ask for an example of the interview matrix or rubric that is used for each interview.

There are some exceptions for what has to be disclosed but this is the type of information that has to be released because it's of public interest. If it exists, they will have to provide it. It is likely it doesn't exist and it will show it was capricious.

Thanks, but I asking the SWW teacher who is part of the process, not you.

That's not how publicly disclosable information works. This is why FOIA exists

Huh? You must be new to DCUM. This is an anonymous blog where people disclose information all the time.

Feel free to file your FOIA request and pay applicable fees to DC for searching, reviewing, and reproducing records.

Feel free to ignore the previous poster who, for some reason, is opposed to the public getting information on Walls selection process. The facts are:

1. There is no fee to file a FOIA request.
2. There is usually no fee for the first two hours of research or the first 100 pages of records...
3. If there is going to be a fee, you will be notified and you can narrow your search BUT you can request a waiver if the request is in the public interest ( (which this most definitely is).
"Under the FOIA, fee waivers are limited to situations in which a requester can show that the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS doesn’t want an entrance exam for Walls. The administration at the school is not strong and therefore does not push back on anything DCPS wants. So there will not be an entrance exam again. If you want one, start with pressuring DCPS. They ultimately control that decision.

Fine...then they should just use a GPA cutoff and a lottery. I am increasingly disturbed that a teacher just admitted they can determine "fit" based on this interview ESPECIALLY given that these have been video interviews during a pandemic. Which kids were dealing with (or were simply nervous about dealing with) unstable Wifi or glitchy cameras on old laptops during their interviews? Which kids are self conscious about the backgrounds that might appear during their videos? Would like to hear more about how Walls is thinking about equity while at the same time using these interviews to determine "fit" and "strong family support"...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous person claims to be a teacher on an anonymous board and board goes nuts 😂😂😂😂

[Anonymous]

Unsurprising plot twist, the earlier 'teacher' is a troll. Interviews were not conducted during the school day, but rather after school and on Saturdays. I refuse to interview because it's not fair that so much is riding on one interview with me.

[Anonymous]

OMG - the solutions proposed by the Chancellor are ridiculous. No mention of actually supporting kids from Wards 7 and 8 to become more competitive, and instead seeks to just lower the standards. How about programs to support high achieving kids from low income schools??

From the article:

“In 2019, Ferebee announced he would overhaul application requirements for the city’s eight selective high schools, eliminating most testing requirements and reducing the minimum grade-point average from middle school necessary to gain entrance.”

[Anonymous]

If they wanted to clear everything up and stop the speculation, DCPS/Walls could release the process/guidelines/rubric tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG - the solutions proposed by the Chancellor are ridiculous. No mention of actually supporting kids from Wards 7 and 8 to become more competitive, and instead seeks to just lower the standards. How about programs to support high achieving kids from low income schools??

From the article:

“In 2019, Ferebee announced he would overhaul application requirements for the city’s eight selective high schools, eliminating most testing requirements and reducing the minimum grade-point average from middle school necessary to gain entrance.”

DCPS does not care at all about kids actually being prepared for the rigorous academics. They don’t try to improve middle schools and don’t see a lack of student enrollment from certain wards as a sign that those schools need to improve. They also don’t care if kids enroll at Walls thinking they are prepared and then those kids lose confidence and/or transfer.