Wilson in the fall. Any thoughts/ideas/concerns about what model it will be?

[Anonymous]

I have a kid at Deal and one at Wilson and I think the schools have done a good job given the awful situation. my concern is that I have read that even if kids go back to school next year (which frankly I though it was a no brainer), Wilson will still keep the 4X4 schedule. I hope this is changed because that schedule is really awful and if kids go back we should go back to a normal schedule. with the 4X4 scheudule in the first semester my kid took her first AP class. she liked it and the teacher was outstanding and very organized, but now the A: exam will be in May or June and the class ended in January. so not only she had to cram a year long AP class in 4.5 months, but then she will have to wait 4 month for the exam, likely forgetting half of what she did (she will try to study on weekends but this is not easy). kid also had Geometry and found that again having a science class that was supposed to last a year concentrated in 4 months was bad, teacher had to pile formulas over formulas daily and move quickly from one subject to another one so after a while kid was just trying to survive by using the formulas of the day to solve problems and then forget everything the day after. this year was an exceptional year but having to awful schedule one more year would be really bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid at Deal and one at Wilson and I think the schools have done a good job given the awful situation. my concern is that I have read that even if kids go back to school next year (which frankly I though it was a no brainer), Wilson will still keep the 4X4 schedule. I hope this is changed because that schedule is really awful and if kids go back we should go back to a normal schedule. with the 4X4 scheudule in the first semester my kid took her first AP class. she liked it and the teacher was outstanding and very organized, but now the A: exam will be in May or June and the class ended in January. so not only she had to cram a year long AP class in 4.5 months, but then she will have to wait 4 month for the exam, likely forgetting half of what she did (she will try to study on weekends but this is not easy). kid also had Geometry and found that again having a science class that was supposed to last a year concentrated in 4 months was bad, teacher had to pile formulas over formulas daily and move quickly from one subject to another one so after a while kid was just trying to survive by using the formulas of the day to solve problems and then forget everything the day after. this year was an exceptional year but having to awful schedule one more year would be really bad.

Unfortunately, it looks like 4x4 next year is a done deal; it was a DCPS decision, not a Wilson decision. I agree that there are a lot of issues to work out. One thing that will be better once we’re back in person on a more normal schedule is that they’ll have Wednesday class; that’s 20% more class time off the bat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid at Deal and one at Wilson and I think the schools have done a good job given the awful situation. my concern is that I have read that even if kids go back to school next year (which frankly I though it was a no brainer), Wilson will still keep the 4X4 schedule. I hope this is changed because that schedule is really awful and if kids go back we should go back to a normal schedule. with the 4X4 scheudule in the first semester my kid took her first AP class. she liked it and the teacher was outstanding and very organized, but now the A: exam will be in May or June and the class ended in January. so not only she had to cram a year long AP class in 4.5 months, but then she will have to wait 4 month for the exam, likely forgetting half of what she did (she will try to study on weekends but this is not easy). kid also had Geometry and found that again having a science class that was supposed to last a year concentrated in 4 months was bad, teacher had to pile formulas over formulas daily and move quickly from one subject to another one so after a while kid was just trying to survive by using the formulas of the day to solve problems and then forget everything the day after. this year was an exceptional year but having to awful schedule one more year would be really bad.

Unfortunately, it looks like 4x4 next year is a done deal; it was a DCPS decision, not a Wilson decision. I agree that there are a lot of issues to work out. One thing that will be better once we’re back in person on a more normal schedule is that they’ll have Wednesday class; that’s 20% more class time off the bat.

Wilson parent here...I liked the 4x4 for distance learning but agree that there are shortcomings for "normal" times. I share your concerns re: APs but also don't love that kids may go a year without a core subject (like math or a language), e.g., if they had that subject in the fall of one year but not until the spring of the following year. Having said that, there are a lot of school districts that do this system for high school--including some very wealthy ones--all over the country and there seem to be some benefits in having kids focus on fewer topics. We'll see.

[Anonymous]

I imagine that doing a 4 x 4 schedule in the fall will prove particularly challenging for the teachers if this is in person. It takes quite a bit of stamina to teach for an hour and 20 minutes. Or will the teacher bail out after an hour with the kids getting used to not doing much of anything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I imagine that doing a 4 x 4 schedule in the fall will prove particularly challenging for the teachers if this is in person. It takes quite a bit of stamina to teach for an hour and 20 minutes. Or will the teacher bail out after an hour with the kids getting used to not doing much of anything?

Actually, Wilson's classes were the same length most days under their old system. That is, they already had a "block" schedule under the prior 8 period schedule (they had all classes on Mondays and then half on Tues & Thurs and the other half on Weds & Fridays)...on the days they had only four classes, each class was an hour and twenty minutes.

[Anonymous]

What about Wilson renting additional space for the fall, to allow for spreading out. Has anyone heard this be suggested or discussed?

[Anonymous]

DC schools will be open in the fall. They are already an anomaly in the US in terms of how long they have been closed.
Plus schools in most other countries managed to stay mostly open so have good data.
DC school management already looks absurd.
The pressure to open will be too huge.
They will offer DL for those who want it.
The survey done at my kids private school has 95% of kids returning full time after spring break.
People are ready to go back as they can assess the data for themselves and almost all the teachers are vaccinated by now

[Anonymous]

My greatest fear right now is that of DCPS will be open in the fall, but the cohort rule will keep Wilson essentially closed for another year. I keep reading about how so many school districts that have been closed for a year are now opening up full time, 5 days a week, yet DCPS is showing no desire to make any real changes this year. Everyone else see how damaging this has been and is saying "Enough." Everyone but Mayor Bower and the Chancellor that is. For all I know, Wilson HS will be the last school in the US to open up.

I've been pretty resilient about this whole thing, but this is the first week that I've actually started welling up about my own kids' experience. I feel more hopeless and helpless now than I've felt in a long time.

[Anonymous]

Everyone over 16 will be eligible for the vaccine on May 1st.
People’s attitudes will change and everyone will want schools to open
They will open with DL option.
There is no other rational path

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone over 16 will be eligible for the vaccine on May 1st.
People’s attitudes will change and everyone will want schools to open
They will open with DL option.
There is no other rational path

Why do you expect DCPS to act rationally?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone over 16 will be eligible for the vaccine on May 1st.
People’s attitudes will change and everyone will want schools to open
They will open with DL option.
There is no other rational path

Why is it rational to offer a DL option? Diverting attention to Zoomies degrades the classroom experience and will be wholly unnecessary once adults have universal vaccine access. In-person schools should be 100% in-person this fall. Online schools can accommodate any students who don't want to attend physical school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone over 16 will be eligible for the vaccine on May 1st.
People’s attitudes will change and everyone will want schools to open
They will open with DL option.
There is no other rational path

Why is it rational to offer a DL option? Diverting attention to Zoomies degrades the classroom experience and will be wholly unnecessary once adults have universal vaccine access. In-person schools should be 100% in-person this fall. Online schools can accommodate any students who don't want to attend physical school.

Valid points but DCPS has not created a virtual school nor has it equiped all classrooms for simulcast. The fall is less than six months away and no plan for five day in person learning has been communicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone over 16 will be eligible for the vaccine on May 1st.
People’s attitudes will change and everyone will want schools to open
They will open with DL option.
There is no other rational path

Why is it rational to offer a DL option? Diverting attention to Zoomies degrades the classroom experience and will be wholly unnecessary once adults have universal vaccine access. In-person schools should be 100% in-person this fall. Online schools can accommodate any students who don't want to attend physical school.

Valid points but DCPS has not created a virtual school nor has it equiped all classrooms for simulcast. The fall is less than six months away and no plan for five day in person learning has been communicated.

They won’t communicate until they know. I’m sure they have multiple plans for different scenarios

[Anonymous]

If they don't open then they will literally be the only school district in the country to remain closed and I don't think that is likely. MCPS have already said they are going back 5 days everyone else around the country is opening.
They will open because the inequality of staying closed will be too much to bear.
All DC private schools will be back 5 days, many of them from after spring break and VA and MD will be back next year. The pressure on DC will be ENORMOUS.
They will have to offer in person school for those that want it

[Anonymous]

Mayor and Chancellor are already acting like all schools are open and full of kids. I don’t think they give a fig if Wilson and Walls can open more fully in the fall. They only care about optics not actual learning and schools are open in their view. School board or mayoral control. It is pretty sad how nothing really changes