Anonymous grousing about SWW!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What explains this? Walls is supposed to be the crown jewel of DCPS. Why can’t they get good teachers??

Regarding teachers, and a warning to future parents: Do NOT sign up for AP Spanish. The teacher is horrendous.

Is this the AP Spanish Culture or Spanish Literature teacher? What’s the issue?

This really concerns me. My current 7th grader attends a DCPS Spanish immersion school, and Walls is at the top of his list.

AP Spanish Lit has only been offered one year ever. It’s a matter of demand for the course.

Ok, that’s not good.

So what’s the problem with the AP Spanish teacher? That’s an important class to take if you’re interested in taking Spanish all 4 years at Walls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Word for incoming Walls students. Walls is a decent school. As the parent of a current student, I will say, the almost uniformly high-achieving student body is an incredible asset - dare I say, the best thing about the school (and this is HUGE!). But I am so unimpressed by what DCPS does to educate this amazing cohort. You have this incredibly smart, interested group of kids, who for the most part all want to learn and comply and do the work .. . but as far as the school goes, about 50% of the teachers are REALLY BAD. My kid is actually pretty good at "humanities" type stuff. (in middle school, teachers would read kid's creative writing to other classes as an example of "this is how to do it."). But since being at Walls, kid has decided they "hate" humanities-type classes (e.g., English, History, language). Why? Because the teachers of those classes at Walls have been awful: Uninspired. Mean. Spiteful. Petty. I see the "curriculum"/assignments, and I hear the "feedback" given by teachers - SO BAD. SO UNIMPRESSIVE.

This is embarrassing DCPS, do better! I am still fine with choice/kid being at Walls. Kid is happy and has lots of friends and scores well on standardized tests (despite lackluster teaching in English/etc.). Kid is super smart and excelling (kicking ass in math - yay the math teachers at Walls are good, phew). But I am so irritated/borderline angry that Walls has managed to convince my very talented writer/student that they hate English/History/Humanities. I hope that someday (yes, even in high school) kid has an inspiring teacher in that area.

In sum, my kid is smart and appears poised to crush standardized tests/get straight A's so I suppose should do quite well in college apps in the next year. But I am still complaining because Walls has managed to suck the life/interest/fun out of humanities coursework for my kid. This makes me mad because, duh, this stuff (history! good novels!) is super fun/interesting/fascinating! So annoying that Walls has ruined it (so far) for my kid.
Saturday night rant over.

+1

Wait until senior year and AP Lit when your kid will have to make influencer-like videos and cook a dish as their final project. It’s ridiculous!

Prospective parents here. My DC would be thrilled for such a class. There is so much history connecting food themes with literature across the centuries and making a dish while giving it a context would certainly communicate the material, teach, and engage the audience about literature in a very creative way.

OK, but they already did that assignment ... in 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Walls has always been pretty clear that they want “independent” kids, that it’s a “sink or swim” environment, that the kids need to “demand their education” because no one is going to reach out to them. I don’t know why people keep expecting the school to be other than as advertised.

When a school says they want independent kids, sometimes they mean they want parents to shut up about what they aren't teaching. Kids don't know enough to know what they aren't learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Word for incoming Walls students. Walls is a decent school. As the parent of a current student, I will say, the almost uniformly high-achieving student body is an incredible asset - dare I say, the best thing about the school (and this is HUGE!). But I am so unimpressed by what DCPS does to educate this amazing cohort. You have this incredibly smart, interested group of kids, who for the most part all want to learn and comply and do the work .. . but as far as the school goes, about 50% of the teachers are REALLY BAD. My kid is actually pretty good at "humanities" type stuff. (in middle school, teachers would read kid's creative writing to other classes as an example of "this is how to do it."). But since being at Walls, kid has decided they "hate" humanities-type classes (e.g., English, History, language). Why? Because the teachers of those classes at Walls have been awful: Uninspired. Mean. Spiteful. Petty. I see the "curriculum"/assignments, and I hear the "feedback" given by teachers - SO BAD. SO UNIMPRESSIVE.

This is embarrassing DCPS, do better! I am still fine with choice/kid being at Walls. Kid is happy and has lots of friends and scores well on standardized tests (despite lackluster teaching in English/etc.). Kid is super smart and excelling (kicking ass in math - yay the math teachers at Walls are good, phew). But I am so irritated/borderline angry that Walls has managed to convince my very talented writer/student that they hate English/History/Humanities. I hope that someday (yes, even in high school) kid has an inspiring teacher in that area.

In sum, my kid is smart and appears poised to crush standardized tests/get straight A's so I suppose should do quite well in college apps in the next year. But I am still complaining because Walls has managed to suck the life/interest/fun out of humanities coursework for my kid. This makes me mad because, duh, this stuff (history! good novels!) is super fun/interesting/fascinating! So annoying that Walls has ruined it (so far) for my kid.
Saturday night rant over.

+1

Wait until senior year and AP Lit when your kid will have to make influencer-like videos and cook a dish as their final project. It’s ridiculous!

Prospective parents here. My DC would be thrilled for such a class. There is so much history connecting food themes with literature across the centuries and making a dish while giving it a context would certainly communicate the material, teach, and engage the audience about literature in a very creative way.

OK, but they already did that assignment ... in 5th grade.

Please tell us about that 5th grade assignment!
You know that the same idea can be simplified for elementary, and can be addressed with more layers of depth and complexity all the way to a thesis.
That’s why you have pre-algebra then algebra etc. Same for literature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Word for incoming Walls students. Walls is a decent school. As the parent of a current student, I will say, the almost uniformly high-achieving student body is an incredible asset - dare I say, the best thing about the school (and this is HUGE!). But I am so unimpressed by what DCPS does to educate this amazing cohort. You have this incredibly smart, interested group of kids, who for the most part all want to learn and comply and do the work .. . but as far as the school goes, about 50% of the teachers are REALLY BAD. My kid is actually pretty good at "humanities" type stuff. (in middle school, teachers would read kid's creative writing to other classes as an example of "this is how to do it."). But since being at Walls, kid has decided they "hate" humanities-type classes (e.g., English, History, language). Why? Because the teachers of those classes at Walls have been awful: Uninspired. Mean. Spiteful. Petty. I see the "curriculum"/assignments, and I hear the "feedback" given by teachers - SO BAD. SO UNIMPRESSIVE.

This is embarrassing DCPS, do better! I am still fine with choice/kid being at Walls. Kid is happy and has lots of friends and scores well on standardized tests (despite lackluster teaching in English/etc.). Kid is super smart and excelling (kicking ass in math - yay the math teachers at Walls are good, phew). But I am so irritated/borderline angry that Walls has managed to convince my very talented writer/student that they hate English/History/Humanities. I hope that someday (yes, even in high school) kid has an inspiring teacher in that area.

In sum, my kid is smart and appears poised to crush standardized tests/get straight A's so I suppose should do quite well in college apps in the next year. But I am still complaining because Walls has managed to suck the life/interest/fun out of humanities coursework for my kid. This makes me mad because, duh, this stuff (history! good novels!) is super fun/interesting/fascinating! So annoying that Walls has ruined it (so far) for my kid.
Saturday night rant over.

+1

Wait until senior year and AP Lit when your kid will have to make influencer-like videos and cook a dish as their final project. It’s ridiculous!

Prospective parents here. My DC would be thrilled for such a class. There is so much history connecting food themes with literature across the centuries and making a dish while giving it a context would certainly communicate the material, teach, and engage the audience about literature in a very creative way.

OK, but they already did that assignment ... in 5th grade.

Please tell us about that 5th grade assignment!
You know that the same idea can be simplified for elementary, and can be addressed with more layers of depth and complexity all the way to a thesis.
That’s why you have pre-algebra then algebra etc. Same for literature.

Right, but it's literature. Not cooking class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What explains this? Walls is supposed to be the crown jewel of DCPS. Why can’t they get good teachers??

Regarding teachers, and a warning to future parents: Do NOT sign up for AP Spanish. The teacher is horrendous.

Can someone please explain what’s wrong with the AP Spanish teacher?

[Anonymous]

Wow—Walls sounds like a dumpster fire!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow—Walls sounds like a dumpster fire!

And, yet, it's still the best of DCPS, a system unparalleled in its pursuit of low goals and low expectations.

[Anonymous]

I am a current senior at Walls and my experience has fallen short of the expectations I had for the school. It is safe to say that the school definitely has Walls and the focus of learning is no longer outside the classroom. I've gone on one field trip in the past school year and it was to the GWU library. When I was a freshmen, each class was supposed to take one field trip. The strength is certainly in the students and not the administration or the teachers. I feel as if I sit through a day of school and do not learn anything. This is not just me being a 2nd semester senior and already in college, I felt like this in the fall and even as a junior as well. A couple of my classes have been engaging but many of my teachers have fallen short. There is also an overwhelming lack of school community and culture due to the administration's focus on complying with DCPS standards instead of building community. This year I think we've had one assembly but no pep rallies or other school wide events. It is also important to note that in my experience the peers at Walls can create a negative and toxic learning environment that is much more competitive than collaborative. Overall, the school has been fine for me but definitely not the perfect facade it puts on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a current senior at Walls and my experience has fallen short of the expectations I had for the school. It is safe to say that the school definitely has Walls and the focus of learning is no longer outside the classroom. I've gone on one field trip in the past school year and it was to the GWU library. When I was a freshmen, each class was supposed to take one field trip. The strength is certainly in the students and not the administration or the teachers. I feel as if I sit through a day of school and do not learn anything. This is not just me being a 2nd semester senior and already in college, I felt like this in the fall and even as a junior as well. A couple of my classes have been engaging but many of my teachers have fallen short. There is also an overwhelming lack of school community and culture due to the administration's focus on complying with DCPS standards instead of building community. This year I think we've had one assembly but no pep rallies or other school wide events. It is also important to note that in my experience the peers at Walls can create a negative and toxic learning environment that is much more competitive than collaborative. Overall, the school has been fine for me but definitely not the perfect facade it puts on.

Thank you so much for sharing this! I'm so sorry this was your experience.

This whole forum, between this post and the middle school one and the science one, makes me think that all of DCPS needs to seriously rethink how they meet the needs of our best students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a current senior at Walls and my experience has fallen short of the expectations I had for the school. It is safe to say that the school definitely has Walls and the focus of learning is no longer outside the classroom. I've gone on one field trip in the past school year and it was to the GWU library. When I was a freshmen, each class was supposed to take one field trip. The strength is certainly in the students and not the administration or the teachers. I feel as if I sit through a day of school and do not learn anything. This is not just me being a 2nd semester senior and already in college, I felt like this in the fall and even as a junior as well. A couple of my classes have been engaging but many of my teachers have fallen short. There is also an overwhelming lack of school community and culture due to the administration's focus on complying with DCPS standards instead of building community. This year I think we've had one assembly but no pep rallies or other school wide events. It is also important to note that in my experience the peers at Walls can create a negative and toxic learning environment that is much more competitive than collaborative. Overall, the school has been fine for me but definitely not the perfect facade it puts on.

Thanks for sharing and I’m sorry for the lack of school community. Can you share any subjects or classes where you had strong teachers and learn things? Your comment on sitting through the day not learning anything is particularly sad for a high school experience.

[Anonymous]

This is what you get when you put the best of the best into one place. I think a version of this is happening with the Ivies too.

I don't necessarily think it's the school's fault, as they have so many applicants, they had to find a way to choose, but choosing based on teacher recommendations sounds like a cohort of pretty insufferable kids.

And yes, I'm very much bitter my kid got shut out, because of teacher recs. Feel free to judge!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what you get when you put the best of the best into one place. I think a version of this is happening with the Ivies too.

I don't necessarily think it's the school's fault, as they have so many applicants, they had to find a way to choose, but choosing based on teacher recommendations sounds like a cohort of pretty insufferable kids.

And yes, I'm very much bitter my kid got shut out, because of teacher recs. Feel free to judge!

Because they use teacher recs, the kids are insufferable, the teachers are uneven, and the principal is lackluster?

I think logic is perhaps not strong in your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a current senior at Walls and my experience has fallen short of the expectations I had for the school. It is safe to say that the school definitely has Walls and the focus of learning is no longer outside the classroom. I've gone on one field trip in the past school year and it was to the GWU library. When I was a freshmen, each class was supposed to take one field trip. The strength is certainly in the students and not the administration or the teachers. I feel as if I sit through a day of school and do not learn anything. This is not just me being a 2nd semester senior and already in college, I felt like this in the fall and even as a junior as well. A couple of my classes have been engaging but many of my teachers have fallen short. There is also an overwhelming lack of school community and culture due to the administration's focus on complying with DCPS standards instead of building community. This year I think we've had one assembly but no pep rallies or other school wide events. It is also important to note that in my experience the peers at Walls can create a negative and toxic learning environment that is much more competitive than collaborative. Overall, the school has been fine for me but definitely not the perfect facade it puts on.

Thanks for sharing and I’m sorry for the lack of school community. Can you share any subjects or classes where you had strong teachers and learn things? Your comment on sitting through the day not learning anything is particularly sad for a high school experience.

Thank you for sharing. It is sad that your experience has been as described. As a prospective parent, with a child who committed to and excited to join Walls in the Fall, I find this narrative very disheartening. And I am concerned about what you said regarding peer-to-peer toxicity and lack of community!
Where is this toxicity coming from? Peer-to-peer competitive and toxic attitudes don’t come from vacuum. They are typically nurtured from childhood either through a highly competitive home environment and/or prior schools that nurtured these behaviors.
For example, in a previous post, a poster (assuming it was a parent) wrote about kids “returning to their neighborhood high school”: This is a toxic mindset! If a parent thinks like that, how would their children operate? Add to it the fact that we do have other schools that are cultivating this mindset of pushing the “underperforming” students out, while directly or indirectly cultivating with the overperforming group a mindset of arrogance and an identity built on acceleration and entitlement. Then they come to Walls and bring this mindset with them. It is really unfortunate!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What explains this? Walls is supposed to be the crown jewel of DCPS. Why can’t they get good teachers??

Regarding teachers, and a warning to future parents: Do NOT sign up for AP Spanish. The teacher is horrendous.

Can someone please explain what’s wrong with the AP Spanish teacher?

I am not going to put anything in a public forum. Believe me, he is terrible and you do NOT want to be in his class.