The Whittle school
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Anonymous
I agree with you PP. some of this stuff is incredibly mean spirited and racist. My kids are at a K-8 private and I sometimes wish there was a school that seemed different from the usual DC bubble schools. I had been watching Whittle to see how it is doing because I would consider it for HS, it's a great location, if it has a decent curriculum, has that international thing going for it. Sure there's downsides, but it seems to be an honest vision. |
Anonymous
| Anyone else think it's strange that the Director of Admissions will not tell me the enrollment of the school? I've told them I'm interested in applying but wanted basic info like school population. We spoke by phone and she avoided answering over and over. Apparently the classes will be tiny by design... (or because so few people are enrolled?) |
Anonymous
| Probably both. 63 kids In upper school. 9-11th grade. |
Anonymous
| I was curious because 2 new teachers at my DD’s school came from Whittle. Why did they leave after one year? I heard a lot of teachers left- don’t know if it was because of Covid or other reasons, but far more turnover than other privates it seems. |
Anonymous
| I think they had something like 170 kids total last year. They recruited a bunch from Yu Ying. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Whittle parent here : Just finishing up what has been a fantastic year for my middle schooler. There is an enormous amount of misinformation on this thread. The school got off to a rocky start. Teachers are awesome but the systems were not in place and the communication with parents was lacking. But the responsiveness of the administration to any issue raised has been great and the actual academics have been rigorous interesting and truly multi disciplinary. We started the year hopeful and skeptical and we are ending it very happy. The inaugural group of kids are very tight and proud to be part of the school. [b]It’s truly a different approach than standard education a[/b]nd the expectations on the kids are high. [/quote]
What does a different approach mean in practice? Could you give us some examples? [/quote] Different approach is what is marketed but execution failed miserably. I know many teachers as well as students who are NOT returning. And expectations are high? Completely false. Just ask what really happens during advisory? Or during acceleration. Too many watching YouTube or playing games. Yep, your kid LOVED it probably because you don’t know what they really did during these so called individualized learning times. Nothing was as so wonderfully described in their very high end marketing books. And interdisciplinary project based learning? It was slapped together in two weeks for the first exhibition. Embarrassing and so disappointing. So few clubs and the ones that did exist were so poorly run or very poorly attended. And the language program? Chinese was ok but that should be a given. We heard the Spanish was a joke. With so few students in each grade/ level they couldn’t meet the needs of all the students in that track. This school has a LONG way to go before putting out a solid education that they market so well. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous]Anyone else think it's strange that the Director of Admissions will not tell me the enrollment of the school? I've told them I'm interested in applying but wanted basic info like school population. We spoke by phone and she avoided answering over and over. Apparently the classes will be tiny by design... (or because so few people are enrolled?)[/quote]
What does your gut tell you. Well, you said it actually. They had projected to double each year. That would mean over 375 students for this second year. I highly doubt they were able to do that given the number of people I actually know who are not returning. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What is it with you nasty myopic Washingtonians all so eagerly waiting for a new and different school to fail? These are real people teaching there and sending kids there. And if you thinks it is weird that it’s for-profit then you’re naive about what a racket the privates are in these cities. Sidwell’s financial management is absolutely shocking, as we have all learned during COVID.
And at the privates all we get is bombarded by fundraising, hypocritical vows of progressive and equitable reform (while none of the families actually make real changes to the system.. (See Nice White Parents podcast!). Whether or not a a school is for profit or not-for-profit is the least of my concerns about school choice. Perhaps you are concerned about the impact of China on the curriculum or COVID on the financials. I get that. By why the Mr Burns-like hand-rubbing glee at the idea of whittle’s downfall? Why do you care and why are you so so mean about it? Not all of the posters above are like this— but many are :([/quote] I agree with you PP. some of this stuff is incredibly mean spirited and racist. My kids are at a K-8 private and I sometimes wish there was a school that seemed different from the usual DC bubble schools. I had been watching Whittle to see how it is doing because I would consider it for HS, it's a great location, if it has a decent curriculum, has that international thing going for it. Sure there's downsides, but it seems to be an honest vision.[/quote] Regret we left our previous school for whittle. Curriculum is not time tested and is not comprehensive or cohesive. And international? Did you research what happened to Chris whittle’s Avenues? How many Avenues ever actually opened? |
Anonymous
Chris Whittle has been ripping people off for decades, so calling it an honest vision is a bit misinformed. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What is it with you nasty myopic Washingtonians all so eagerly waiting for a new and different school to fail? These are real people teaching there and sending kids there. And if you thinks it is weird that it’s for-profit then you’re naive about what a racket the privates are in these cities. Sidwell’s financial management is absolutely shocking, as we have all learned during COVID.
And at the privates all we get is bombarded by fundraising, hypocritical vows of progressive and equitable reform (while none of the families actually make real changes to the system.. (See Nice White Parents podcast!). Whether or not a a school is for profit or not-for-profit is the least of my concerns about school choice. Perhaps you are concerned about the impact of China on the curriculum or COVID on the financials. I get that. By why the Mr Burns-like hand-rubbing glee at the idea of whittle’s downfall? Why do you care and why are you so so mean about it? Not all of the posters above are like this— but many are :([/quote] I agree with you PP. some of this stuff is incredibly mean spirited and racist. My kids are at a K-8 private and I sometimes wish there was a school that seemed different from the usual DC bubble schools. I had been watching Whittle to see how it is doing because I would consider it for HS, it's a great location, if it has a decent curriculum, has that international thing going for it. Sure there's downsides, but it seems to be an honest vision.[/quote] Regret we left our previous school for whittle. Curriculum is not time tested and is not comprehensive or cohesive. And international? Did you research what happened to Chris whittle’s Avenues? How many Avenues ever actually opened? [/quote] The facts are that the school has laid off 75% of staff, many with no real notice prior to the start of the new academic year leaving them in a terrible spot of trying to find a position in the current economy. The head of school has departed. Several students have left as parents have seen the writing on the wall. The parent organization has also seen large scale firings and lay-offs, many of those in their education planning function raising the very real question of who is in charge. Very few of these issues are pandemic related. More due to poor planning and flawed assumptions on which the pandemic has shone a harsh spotlight |
Anonymous
| I think they are committed to making it through the year but I am not hopeful that they will make it the following year. |
Anonymous
I'm sorry to hear this, as we knew several families that started there last year for high school. I'd hate for the school to dissolve beneath them, especially for the kids mid-HS. |
Anonymous
Given what people are posting, I am not sure how they can make it to Halloween. |
Anonymous
+1000 Also, the teachers are great, and the have the facilities to open safely in person. Our dc’s are virtual at schools without that ability. Honestly, for all the clamoring here for in-person learning here, hello—there is a great program available. |
Anonymous
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I do not have a child at Whittle, but to those who think people cheer on the failure of a school:
I can't speak for everyone, but privates have no obligation to inform their families when they are failing. When they do, they wait until the last possible second. Privates have shuttered in this area before in the last financial crisis in 08. At one, the parents found out when they drove their children to school in the morning and the utilities had been cut off. The former head of that school who oversaw that mismanagement is still working in administration at another area private. At another, employees showed up at work to teach one day and were turned away. This happened in the summer, when students were not on campus but faculty and staff were. Those families were left scrambling for a new school with less than three months until the first day of school. Parents have to be aware in order to ensure that their children can have continuity of education. |