WIS - Middle and Upper School spirit and community

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former WIS parent. We left bc my kids wanted more school spirit. Not the cheer team pep rally things, but traditions and the overall pride of being an alum. Notice it’s rare to see kids sporting WIS swag around town. My kids like sporting their current schools stuff.

+1. I think it gets to the "internationalness" of the school. Schools abroad largely don't get into the whole school spirit thing. While only an example, other than for tourists at Oxford and Cambridge, you don't see students in universities even wearing swag. Many schools (both high school and college) don't have sports teams at all and if they do, it's purely recreational.

WIS is that. People show up for their soccer games but that's about it. Parents show up for "grill day" but they rarely donate (and, for better or worse, there's not much an expectation to do so although they have an annual fund), they are limited in their volunteering, etc...

It's just what happens when you have a parent community that is more accustomed to how things are done elsehwere.

It's not a criticism. I quite like not being hounded for money. But, it is materially different both for students and parents than their neighboring schools.

“Not being hounded for money”, that’s a joke, right?

I've had kids at WIS for a long time, and I did notice an uptick in requests for donations last year, as the school was finishing its Destination WIS project and in the last stages of securing funding. That seems to have died back down now to a very low level again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former WIS parent. We left bc my kids wanted more school spirit. Not the cheer team pep rally things, but traditions and the overall pride of being an alum. Notice it’s rare to see kids sporting WIS swag around town. My kids like sporting their current schools stuff.

+1. I think it gets to the "internationalness" of the school. Schools abroad largely don't get into the whole school spirit thing. While only an example, other than for tourists at Oxford and Cambridge, you don't see students in universities even wearing swag. Many schools (both high school and college) don't have sports teams at all and if they do, it's purely recreational.

WIS is that. People show up for their soccer games but that's about it. Parents show up for "grill day" but they rarely donate (and, for better or worse, there's not much an expectation to do so although they have an annual fund), they are limited in their volunteering, etc...

It's just what happens when you have a parent community that is more accustomed to how things are done elsehwere.

It's not a criticism. I quite like not being hounded for money. But, it is materially different both for students and parents than their neighboring schools.

“Not being hounded for money”, that’s a joke, right?

Having been in the private school system my whole life, it definitely feels like a lot less. There is actually a cap on how much you can give per year on certain things like teachers gifts and while donations are accepted at any time, there aren't nearly as many random moments where they ask popping up.

If you came from a public system, I could totally see how maybe it still seems like a lot, but from a private system, it feels like a relief.

I’m not sure how you can seriously say that in light of their most recent capital campaign. Every single inch of the campus has a donor family’s named attached to it. As in every single classroom, water fountain, stairwell and maybe even the janitor’s closet.

Are you even a current parent or a parent at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former WIS parent. We left bc my kids wanted more school spirit. Not the cheer team pep rally things, but traditions and the overall pride of being an alum. Notice it’s rare to see kids sporting WIS swag around town. My kids like sporting their current schools stuff.

+1. I think it gets to the "internationalness" of the school. Schools abroad largely don't get into the whole school spirit thing. While only an example, other than for tourists at Oxford and Cambridge, you don't see students in universities even wearing swag. Many schools (both high school and college) don't have sports teams at all and if they do, it's purely recreational.

WIS is that. People show up for their soccer games but that's about it. Parents show up for "grill day" but they rarely donate (and, for better or worse, there's not much an expectation to do so although they have an annual fund), they are limited in their volunteering, etc...

It's just what happens when you have a parent community that is more accustomed to how things are done elsehwere.

It's not a criticism. I quite like not being hounded for money. But, it is materially different both for students and parents than their neighboring schools.

“Not being hounded for money”, that’s a joke, right?

Having been in the private school system my whole life, it definitely feels like a lot less. There is actually a cap on how much you can give per year on certain things like teachers gifts and while donations are accepted at any time, there aren't nearly as many random moments where they ask popping up.

If you came from a public system, I could totally see how maybe it still seems like a lot, but from a private system, it feels like a relief.

I’m not sure how you can seriously say that in light of their most recent capital campaign. Every single inch of the campus has a donor family’s named attached to it. As in every single classroom, water fountain, stairwell and maybe even the janitor’s closet.

Are you even a current parent or a parent at all?

Lol do you know how incredibly normal that is in private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former WIS parent. We left bc my kids wanted more school spirit. Not the cheer team pep rally things, but traditions and the overall pride of being an alum. Notice it’s rare to see kids sporting WIS swag around town. My kids like sporting their current schools stuff.

+1. I think it gets to the "internationalness" of the school. Schools abroad largely don't get into the whole school spirit thing. While only an example, other than for tourists at Oxford and Cambridge, you don't see students in universities even wearing swag. Many schools (both high school and college) don't have sports teams at all and if they do, it's purely recreational.

WIS is that. People show up for their soccer games but that's about it. Parents show up for "grill day" but they rarely donate (and, for better or worse, there's not much an expectation to do so although they have an annual fund), they are limited in their volunteering, etc...

It's just what happens when you have a parent community that is more accustomed to how things are done elsehwere.

It's not a criticism. I quite like not being hounded for money. But, it is materially different both for students and parents than their neighboring schools.

“Not being hounded for money”, that’s a joke, right?

Having been in the private school system my whole life, it definitely feels like a lot less. There is actually a cap on how much you can give per year on certain things like teachers gifts and while donations are accepted at any time, there aren't nearly as many random moments where they ask popping up.

If you came from a public system, I could totally see how maybe it still seems like a lot, but from a private system, it feels like a relief.

I’m not sure how you can seriously say that in light of their most recent capital campaign. Every single inch of the campus has a donor family’s named attached to it. As in every single classroom, water fountain, stairwell and maybe even the janitor’s closet.

Are you even a current parent or a parent at all?

Lol do you know how incredibly normal that is in private schools.

Buildings? Yes. Bathrooms? No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former WIS parent. We left bc my kids wanted more school spirit. Not the cheer team pep rally things, but traditions and the overall pride of being an alum. Notice it’s rare to see kids sporting WIS swag around town. My kids like sporting their current schools stuff.

+1. I think it gets to the "internationalness" of the school. Schools abroad largely don't get into the whole school spirit thing. While only an example, other than for tourists at Oxford and Cambridge, you don't see students in universities even wearing swag. Many schools (both high school and college) don't have sports teams at all and if they do, it's purely recreational.

WIS is that. People show up for their soccer games but that's about it. Parents show up for "grill day" but they rarely donate (and, for better or worse, there's not much an expectation to do so although they have an annual fund), they are limited in their volunteering, etc...

It's just what happens when you have a parent community that is more accustomed to how things are done elsehwere.

It's not a criticism. I quite like not being hounded for money. But, it is materially different both for students and parents than their neighboring schools.

“Not being hounded for money”, that’s a joke, right?

Having been in the private school system my whole life, it definitely feels like a lot less. There is actually a cap on how much you can give per year on certain things like teachers gifts and while donations are accepted at any time, there aren't nearly as many random moments where they ask popping up.

If you came from a public system, I could totally see how maybe it still seems like a lot, but from a private system, it feels like a relief.

I’m not sure how you can seriously say that in light of their most recent capital campaign. Every single inch of the campus has a donor family’s named attached to it. As in every single classroom, water fountain, stairwell and maybe even the janitor’s closet.

Are you even a current parent or a parent at all?

Lol do you know how incredibly normal that is in private schools.

Buildings? Yes. Bathrooms? No.

Literally anything they can think of during a build.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former WIS parent. We left bc my kids wanted more school spirit. Not the cheer team pep rally things, but traditions and the overall pride of being an alum. Notice it’s rare to see kids sporting WIS swag around town. My kids like sporting their current schools stuff.

+1. I think it gets to the "internationalness" of the school. Schools abroad largely don't get into the whole school spirit thing. While only an example, other than for tourists at Oxford and Cambridge, you don't see students in universities even wearing swag. Many schools (both high school and college) don't have sports teams at all and if they do, it's purely recreational.

WIS is that. People show up for their soccer games but that's about it. Parents show up for "grill day" but they rarely donate (and, for better or worse, there's not much an expectation to do so although they have an annual fund), they are limited in their volunteering, etc...

It's just what happens when you have a parent community that is more accustomed to how things are done elsehwere.

It's not a criticism. I quite like not being hounded for money. But, it is materially different both for students and parents than their neighboring schools.

“Not being hounded for money”, that’s a joke, right?

Having been in the private school system my whole life, it definitely feels like a lot less. There is actually a cap on how much you can give per year on certain things like teachers gifts and while donations are accepted at any time, there aren't nearly as many random moments where they ask popping up.

If you came from a public system, I could totally see how maybe it still seems like a lot, but from a private system, it feels like a relief.

I’m not sure how you can seriously say that in light of their most recent capital campaign. Every single inch of the campus has a donor family’s named attached to it. As in every single classroom, water fountain, stairwell and maybe even the janitor’s closet.

Are you even a current parent or a parent at all?

Lol do you know how incredibly normal that is in private schools.

Buildings? Yes. Bathrooms? No.

🤣 you should see the Cathedral schools, you can get your name on rocks in the woods over here! It isn't cheap either!