Sidwell vs Walls

[Anonymous]

Walls parent here: If your child is "already very excited about the private school and some of its offerings," then send the child to the private!

Most important thing, IMHO, is the child's agency (with firm and gentle guidance) over the high school decision.

[Anonymous]

Walls parent here: If your child is "already very excited about the private school and some of its offerings," then send the child to the private!

Most important thing, IMHO, is the child's agency (with firm and gentle guidance) over the high school decision.

[Anonymous]

Also, Walls has dances - homecoming and prom.

[Anonymous]

Walls sporting events are very well attended and the concentrated cheering and rally around are non stop. There’s a sports information channel, lead by students, and it will provides (hilarious) colorful play by play commentary. There is no shortage of school spirit, even though there are no facilities.

There is a lot of work, though. My guess is the students differ in amount of time spent on it. I am not sure I would send a good but not gifted student to Walls. The kids who seem to soar at Walls are the gifted ones, the ones seeking out the extra academic experience.

A last thing: there is a free trip each year to some exotic location. I think the kids went to India (?) this year for 2 weeks. My kid opted out so I don’t know the details.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Walls sporting events are very well attended and the concentrated cheering and rally around are non stop. There’s a sports information channel, lead by students, and it will provides (hilarious) colorful play by play commentary. There is no shortage of school spirit, even though there are no facilities.

There is a lot of work, though. My guess is the students differ in amount of time spent on it. I am not sure I would send a good but not gifted student to Walls. The kids who seem to soar at Walls are the gifted ones, the ones seeking out the extra academic experience.

A last thing: there is a free trip each year to some exotic location. I think the kids went to India (?) this year for 2 weeks. My kid opted out so I don’t know the details.

I disagree about Walls sporting events being well attended. I have attended a few of the baseball and soccer games recently, and Walls had very few fans present, besides parents. It’s understandable that fellow students are unwilling or unable to schlep all over DC to be spectators at random games.

[Anonymous]

I'm one of the parents who posted earlier about the difficult decision. Can someone tell us more about sports practices? Are they usually right after school? The idea of an already high academic work load plus having to commute to practices seems really tough. How difficult is it to make the teams?

[Anonymous]

Sports practices locations and times depend on the sport. I would suggest having your student ask these questions at shadow day or, if the day has passed, calling the school and asking the questions about the specific sports directly to the receptionist (who knows EVERYTHING) or better yet asking whether there are Walls students you may talk to and they can give you the tailored info you need.

Good luck with your decision! You can’t go wrong!

[Anonymous]

I’m a Walls parent and am shocked by the comments of some of the other Walls parents. Their experiences are definitively not our experiences. We have found the education to be mediocre at best. Lots of busy work and a lot of apathy from teachers and admin. The main advantage is the student body is generally a well-behaved, bright, and motivated group but that’s it. I assume less entitled than a lot of kids at Sidwell too.

But the comments about the depth and breadth of learning and great opportunities are just not reflective of what our experience has been.

[Anonymous]

We are considering Walls for next year and I have noted the differences in posts here vs many of the posts about Walls in the public school forum. Those aren't all negative but seem to paint a less rosy picture for sure!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are considering Walls for next year and I have noted the differences in posts here vs many of the posts about Walls in the public school forum. Those aren't all negative but seem to paint a less rosy picture for sure!

Take everything on this site with a grain of salt. It could very well be that someone is trying to get into Sidwell off the waitlist and thinks that they might be able to persuade a few kids to go to Walls instead.

Anyone who has spent anytime in these two schools knows there is no comparison in terms of the quality of teachers/edu/rigor…. Having said that, if finances are an issue (or if your kid hanging out among very wealthy and entitled kids for four years is an issue), then Walls might make sense. But understand the tradeoff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ Only rich people can afford to pay $55,000/year PER CHILD.

And don’t try to argue with me about this fact.

Only rich people can afford to buy $2M houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a Walls parent and am shocked by the comments of some of the other Walls parents. Their experiences are definitively not our experiences. We have found the education to be mediocre at best. Lots of busy work and a lot of apathy from teachers and admin. The main advantage is the student body is generally a well-behaved, bright, and motivated group but that’s it. I assume less entitled than a lot of kids at Sidwell too.

But the comments about the depth and breadth of learning and great opportunities are just not reflective of what our experience has been.

Exactly! People need to move any talk about SWW to the DC Public School forum. There is no comparison to Sidwell. Most DC Publics are horrible compared to elite privates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sports practices locations and times depend on the sport. I would suggest having your student ask these questions at shadow day or, if the day has passed, calling the school and asking the questions about the specific sports directly to the receptionist (who knows EVERYTHING) or better yet asking whether there are Walls students you may talk to and they can give you the tailored info you need.

Good luck with your decision! You can’t go wrong!

Shadow day? I wish! Walls has done away with the shadow day. Now, all they offer is a 50 minute tour 2 days before you’re expected to make a decision. We’re going to accept the spot for our rising 9th grader, but that’s only because we don’t have a better option. I fear the school’s administration will offer 4 years of the bare minimum. The upside is that I hear nothing but great things about the student body.

Why is a shadow day too much to ask for? Can’t this school at least offer a “Welcome to Walls” social? Jeez!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've watched this play out very closely for 3 years: I have DCPS kids (3) who are in Big3 high schools. best friends are at Walls.

Your kids will work much harder at Sidwell and learn more but they'll get into a better college from Walls. (But does high school have to be this challenging? That is the question.) The school spirit part of high school may be better at Sidwell.

Why do you think a student will get into a better college from Walls? Do you have data that indicates students from these two schools, with similar stats, do better coming from Walls? Where’s the proof?

I'm not the PP you are referring to but I agree with their assessment re college admissions.

Walls is certainly NOT doing better than Sidwell in college admissions this year. Check out the huge difference between the two on Instagram.

[Anonymous]

Sorry there is no shadow day. That is a bummer. Pro tip, though, there are quite a few things about DCPS that are frustrating (eg still don’t know where graduation will be), and if you are sending your kid to Walls get ready to pick your battles. If you want to actually help improve a situation, you will only be able to do it with openness, persistence and kindness. Walls is what you and your family make of it - and it can be an incredible enriching learning experience where the city (its splendor and its authentic and raw edginess) is your kid’s muse, as it has been for us.

(Exasperation “no shadow day, jeez,” before you even walk in the door isn’t a good sign for you or your child. )