SWW - when do notices go out about interviews?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if SWW prioritizes DCPS students over ones applying from privates?

No preference.

That stinks. They should prioritize kids coming out of the dcps system over those that are opting in now.

That I am dead against! Already a very coveted school with very little spots and we are giving them to kids from private schools? BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if SWW prioritizes DCPS students over ones applying from privates?

No preference.

That stinks. They should prioritize kids coming out of the dcps system over those that are opting in now.

That I am dead against! Already a very coveted school with very little spots and we are giving them to kids from private schools? BS.

Some families didn't strike gold in the lottery and went private vs moving. These are not the Upper NW apartment renters but long time home owners. Are their tax dollars being refunded? What do you have to say to them?

[Anonymous]

Parents are sh*tting on a parent of an otherwise qualified kid who didn’t get an interview just because the kid climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but no one is saying that this climb makes the kid qualified.

The fact is that the Walls admissions process is not only opaque, subjective, and unfair but absurd. Two teacher recommendations--graded subjectively by overworked Walls admissions staff--count three times more than GPA. And a three-question interview (“Pick a number between 1 and 20”) and one paragraph “essay”--the interview graded by a Walls teenager and Walls staff member and the “essay” graded by admission staff--count for six times more than GPA.

No magnet school outside of DC has an admissions process even remotely as dumb as this.

And the results are already in: Last year, over 30% of Walls 9th graders scored below grade level in math on the PARCC.

Does anyone seriously think that the Walls admissions process is selecting the top students in the application pool?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents are sh*tting on a parent of an otherwise qualified kid who didn’t get an interview just because the kid climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but no one is saying that this climb makes the kid qualified.

The fact is that the Walls admissions process is not only opaque, subjective, and unfair but absurd. Two teacher recommendations--graded subjectively by overworked Walls admissions staff--count three times more than GPA. And a three-question interview (“Pick a number between 1 and 20”) and one paragraph “essay”--the interview graded by a Walls teenager and Walls staff member and the “essay” graded by admission staff--count for six times more than GPA.

No magnet school outside of DC has an admissions process even remotely as dumb as this.

And the results are already in: Last year, over 30% of Walls 9th graders scored below grade level in math on the PARCC.

Does anyone seriously think that the Walls admissions process is selecting the top students in the application pool?

+1 million.

And with massive grade inflation in DC (especially during the pandemic years) the best thing for Walls to have done would have been to bring back the admissions test or at least factor in PARCC results or some more objective metric.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if SWW prioritizes DCPS students over ones applying from privates?

No preference.

That stinks. They should prioritize kids coming out of the dcps system over those that are opting in now.

That I am dead against! Already a very coveted school with very little spots and we are giving them to kids from private schools? BS.

Some families didn't strike gold in the lottery and went private vs moving. These are not the Upper NW apartment renters but long time home owners. Are their tax dollars being refunded? What do you have to say to them?

Public school children should be favored for a public magnet school. And regarding your tax refund, new flash! the money doesn't just go to schools and even if it did, what a ridiculous thought. Just because you're too afraid to send your precious spawn to public school like the rest of us doesn't mean you, who clearly has money as a long-time homeowner should be considered equally in a PUBLIC school magnet program. Stay in private school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents are sh*tting on a parent of an otherwise qualified kid who didn’t get an interview just because the kid climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but no one is saying that this climb makes the kid qualified.

The fact is that the Walls admissions process is not only opaque, subjective, and unfair but absurd. Two teacher recommendations--graded subjectively by overworked Walls admissions staff--count three times more than GPA. And a three-question interview (“Pick a number between 1 and 20”) and one paragraph “essay”--the interview graded by a Walls teenager and Walls staff member and the “essay” graded by admission staff--count for six times more than GPA.

No magnet school outside of DC has an admissions process even remotely as dumb as this.

And the results are already in: Last year, over 30% of Walls 9th graders scored below grade level in math on the PARCC.

Does anyone seriously think that the Walls admissions process is selecting the top students in the application pool?

So true. This is an embarrassing process for our top magnet school, especially compared to comparable cities. We need to make sure the mayor/chancellor etc understand that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents are sh*tting on a parent of an otherwise qualified kid who didn’t get an interview just because the kid climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but no one is saying that this climb makes the kid qualified.

The fact is that the Walls admissions process is not only opaque, subjective, and unfair but absurd. Two teacher recommendations--graded subjectively by overworked Walls admissions staff--count three times more than GPA. And a three-question interview (“Pick a number between 1 and 20”) and one paragraph “essay”--the interview graded by a Walls teenager and Walls staff member and the “essay” graded by admission staff--count for six times more than GPA.

No magnet school outside of DC has an admissions process even remotely as dumb as this.

And the results are already in: Last year, over 30% of Walls 9th graders scored below grade level in math on the PARCC.

Does anyone seriously think that the Walls admissions process is selecting the top students in the application pool?

Actually, the parent is literally saying that. They literally included it in a letter to Walls as part of a complaint that their deserving kid didn’t get an interview and cited climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, along with a couple of other things, as evidence that the kid should have been considered. They also cited that the kid is well traveled internationally as proof of his deserving an interview. Other parents here are calling out the way this privileged entitlement is highly problematic, which I agree with, especially in light of the fact that Walls is a free public school. Being rich and paying for your kid to go on expensive trips is not something that a free public school should EVER take into account for admissions. If someone is clueless enough to post that on DCUM, they are rightly called out for it. If they had simply said that they were disappointed for their kid and left it at that, they may have received some sympathy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if SWW prioritizes DCPS students over ones applying from privates?

No preference.

That stinks. They should prioritize kids coming out of the dcps system over those that are opting in now.

That I am dead against! Already a very coveted school with very little spots and we are giving them to kids from private schools? BS.

Some families didn't strike gold in the lottery and went private vs moving. These are not the Upper NW apartment renters but long time home owners. Are their tax dollars being refunded? What do you have to say to them?

Public school children should be favored for a public magnet school. And regarding your tax refund, new flash! the money doesn't just go to schools and even if it did, what a ridiculous thought. Just because you're too afraid to send your precious spawn to public school like the rest of us doesn't mean you, who clearly has money as a long-time homeowner should be considered equally in a PUBLIC school magnet program. Stay in private school!

So you counting somebody else's money....Hilarious! I know you mean taxes NOT refund. But you can't even quantify the stupidity of this line of reasoning. Two kids finished at SWW and you should know there were few kids that came from private school kids. There not that many now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if SWW prioritizes DCPS students over ones applying from privates?

No preference.

That stinks. They should prioritize kids coming out of the dcps system over those that are opting in now.

That I am dead against! Already a very coveted school with very little spots and we are giving them to kids from private schools? BS.

Some families didn't strike gold in the lottery and went private vs moving. These are not the Upper NW apartment renters but long time home owners. Are their tax dollars being refunded? What do you have to say to them?

Why do they deserve to have their tax dollars refunded? The idea that education should operate on a customer service model for the wealthy who “deserve” it is part of why we’re in this mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents are sh*tting on a parent of an otherwise qualified kid who didn’t get an interview just because the kid climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but no one is saying that this climb makes the kid qualified.

The fact is that the Walls admissions process is not only opaque, subjective, and unfair but absurd. Two teacher recommendations--graded subjectively by overworked Walls admissions staff--count three times more than GPA. And a three-question interview (“Pick a number between 1 and 20”) and one paragraph “essay”--the interview graded by a Walls teenager and Walls staff member and the “essay” graded by admission staff--count for six times more than GPA.

No magnet school outside of DC has an admissions process even remotely as dumb as this.

And the results are already in: Last year, over 30% of Walls 9th graders scored below grade level in math on the PARCC.

Does anyone seriously think that the Walls admissions process is selecting the top students in the application pool?

Actually, the parent is literally saying that. They literally included it in a letter to Walls as part of a complaint that their deserving kid didn’t get an interview and cited climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, along with a couple of other things, as evidence that the kid should have been considered. They also cited that the kid is well traveled internationally as proof of his deserving an interview. Other parents here are calling out the way this privileged entitlement is highly problematic, which I agree with, especially in light of the fact that Walls is a free public school. Being rich and paying for your kid to go on expensive trips is not something that a free public school should EVER take into account for admissions. If someone is clueless enough to post that on DCUM, they are rightly called out for it. If they had simply said that they were disappointed for their kid and left it at that, they may have received some sympathy.

I couldn’t agree more.

With that said, I think transparency is definitely lacking. My kid was selected for an interview. They are generally an A/B student but worked hard last year and ended with all As—a first. But their parcc scores are pretty average. Virtually no extracurriculars. Not a high flyer in any sense. Maybe their recs were amazing. Not a kid who loves school and applied only because other people were.

I debated posting this. I can feel the very understandable pain and disappointment of a kid who has worked hard to get there, and didn’t make the cut. Sharing to shed some light; maybe it really is random.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I debated posting this. I can feel the very understandable pain and disappointment of a kid who has worked hard to get there, and didn’t make the cut. Sharing to shed some light; maybe it really is random.

Thanks for sharing - I hope your kid has a good outcome. And yes, I think the key takeaway is that it IS arbitrary/random and there is nothing a kid can do to ensure that they are in the interview pool. Which is a hard lesson, given how many kids do not have a by-right or feeder school with classes that will meet their needs.

Congrats to Latin and Basis, I guess. Their applicant pools will only get stronger with this change. I imagine it will negatively effect some of the tenuous progress at other middle schools in the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents are sh*tting on a parent of an otherwise qualified kid who didn’t get an interview just because the kid climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but no one is saying that this climb makes the kid qualified.

The fact is that the Walls admissions process is not only opaque, subjective, and unfair but absurd. Two teacher recommendations--graded subjectively by overworked Walls admissions staff--count three times more than GPA. And a three-question interview (“Pick a number between 1 and 20”) and one paragraph “essay”--the interview graded by a Walls teenager and Walls staff member and the “essay” graded by admission staff--count for six times more than GPA.

No magnet school outside of DC has an admissions process even remotely as dumb as this.

And the results are already in: Last year, over 30% of Walls 9th graders scored below grade level in math on the PARCC.

Does anyone seriously think that the Walls admissions process is selecting the top students in the application pool?

Wondering: Where are you getting this information? PARCC tests algebra or geometry specifically, not "grade level" for 9th graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents are sh*tting on a parent of an otherwise qualified kid who didn’t get an interview just because the kid climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but no one is saying that this climb makes the kid qualified.

The fact is that the Walls admissions process is not only opaque, subjective, and unfair but absurd. Two teacher recommendations--graded subjectively by overworked Walls admissions staff--count three times more than GPA. And a three-question interview (“Pick a number between 1 and 20”) and one paragraph “essay”--the interview graded by a Walls teenager and Walls staff member and the “essay” graded by admission staff--count for six times more than GPA.

No magnet school outside of DC has an admissions process even remotely as dumb as this.

And the results are already in: Last year, over 30% of Walls 9th graders scored below grade level in math on the PARCC.

Does anyone seriously think that the Walls admissions process is selecting the top students in the application pool?

Wondering: Where are you getting this information? PARCC tests algebra or geometry specifically, not "grade level" for 9th graders.

If you go to the OSSE spreadsheets, you can pull the pass rate for all students enrolled in any given grade at any given school, regardless of which math PARCC they took. But if you believe that it’s better for a 9th grader to fail the Geometry exam than to pass the Algebra I exam, then the overall pass rate isn’t meaningful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if SWW prioritizes DCPS students over ones applying from privates?

No preference.

That stinks. They should prioritize kids coming out of the dcps system over those that are opting in now.

That I am dead against! Already a very coveted school with very little spots and we are giving them to kids from private schools? BS.

Some families didn't strike gold in the lottery and went private vs moving. These are not the Upper NW apartment renters but long time home owners. Are their tax dollars being refunded? What do you have to say to them?

Why do they deserve to have their tax dollars refunded? The idea that education should operate on a customer service model for the wealthy who “deserve” it is part of why we’re in this mess.

The post asked the question. It's pointless because it will never happen. Pretty sure it would be illegal...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents are sh*tting on a parent of an otherwise qualified kid who didn’t get an interview just because the kid climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but no one is saying that this climb makes the kid qualified.

The fact is that the Walls admissions process is not only opaque, subjective, and unfair but absurd. Two teacher recommendations--graded subjectively by overworked Walls admissions staff--count three times more than GPA. And a three-question interview (“Pick a number between 1 and 20”) and one paragraph “essay”--the interview graded by a Walls teenager and Walls staff member and the “essay” graded by admission staff--count for six times more than GPA.

No magnet school outside of DC has an admissions process even remotely as dumb as this.

And the results are already in: Last year, over 30% of Walls 9th graders scored below grade level in math on the PARCC.

Does anyone seriously think that the Walls admissions process is selecting the top students in the application pool?

Wondering: Where are you getting this information? PARCC tests algebra or geometry specifically, not "grade level" for 9th graders.

If you go to the OSSE spreadsheets, you can pull the pass rate for all students enrolled in any given grade at any given school, regardless of which math PARCC they took. But if you believe that it’s better for a 9th grader to fail the Geometry exam than to pass the Algebra I exam, then the overall pass rate isn’t meaningful.

Thanks!