Sports at Walls (WaPo article)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't believe there's no mention of Jelleff in this story. It's walkable from Walls.

I don’t think there’s a baseball field there, so it might not have seemed relevant to the story. But I agree that it should have been referenced as an example of DCPS priorities and precedents.

There isn't a dedicated baseball field there, but the Maret baseball team practices on it (which pushes back use of the field by other D.C. organizations who pay to rent the space...). They have portable turf pitchers' mound that they bring on.

if DCPS kids really cared, they’d go to Maret games and practices and disrupt them to they point that the fields are untenable.

I’m black and have never understood the frame that white people should be rightfully denied certain things on account of being white, but this seems to be view that is coming up AMONG white folks more often. I’ve never heard this kind of thinking from black folks. In fact, we’d prefer if if the white kids got their field because then it strengthens the argument that (all) “our” kids should get one. The concept that UMC white kids should be denied seems to accept a reality when all of us are denied better lest we can afford Maret, etc. That is not striking a blow for equity.

It just plain racism. White people talk like this so they can pretend that they aren't racist, but if they were the white person in the situation, you better believe they'd be complaining -- or making sure their own snowflake goes to private.

Meritt poster please go away and stop absurdly trying to stir up animosity. This forum is for people who have kids in DCPS, not people where ever you are.

[Anonymous]

It’s interesting they did this one for SWW. Now what do you have for baseball at Anacostia? A much less compelling, sadder story, I am sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Should a parent not complain in this situation? Would you complain? Why/why not?

Complain to whom?
The chancellor? He doesn’t give an f.

[Anonymous]

This is an embarrassing story for DCPS and the mayor but I guess they have bigger embarrassing issues to worry about - like the millions of dollars of unauthorized spending without any oversight or accountability

[Anonymous]

I guess I have a hard time really understanding the story.

Walls was created on the GW campus under a specific philosophy. It was never expected to have much in the way of athletic facilities and didn’t really offer much of anything with respect to athletics.

It has now transitioned to kind of a public “private” school where athletics are more prominent. The issue is its location was never created for this.

Seems like Walls needs to move its campus elsewhere…perhaps to an under-enrolled comprehensive HS that comes with its own athletic fields and other traditional HS facilities.

This may mean it’s relationship with GW is altered or terminated… not sure…and not sure if most of the students/parents care more about that than sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't believe there's no mention of Jelleff in this story. It's walkable from Walls.

I don’t think there’s a baseball field there, so it might not have seemed relevant to the story. But I agree that it should have been referenced as an example of DCPS priorities and precedents.

There isn't a dedicated baseball field there, but the Maret baseball team practices on it (which pushes back use of the field by other D.C. organizations who pay to rent the space...). They have portable turf pitchers' mound that they bring on.

if DCPS kids really cared, they’d go to Maret games and practices and disrupt them to they point that the fields are untenable.

I’m black and have never understood the frame that white people should be rightfully denied certain things on account of being white, but this seems to be view that is coming up AMONG white folks more often. I’ve never heard this kind of thinking from black folks. In fact, we’d prefer if if the white kids got their field because then it strengthens the argument that (all) “our” kids should get one. The concept that UMC white kids should be denied seems to accept a reality when all of us are denied better lest we can afford Maret, etc. That is not striking a blow for equity.

It just plain racism. White people talk like this so they can pretend that they aren't racist, but if they were the white person in the situation, you better believe they'd be complaining -- or making sure their own snowflake goes to private.

Wait sorry, your argument is that white people in D.C. are racist against white people? Talk about problems that don’t need fixing until EVERY other problem is fixed first…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I have a hard time really understanding the story.

Walls was created on the GW campus under a specific philosophy. It was never expected to have much in the way of athletic facilities and didn’t really offer much of anything with respect to athletics.

It has now transitioned to kind of a public “private” school where athletics are more prominent. The issue is its location was never created for this.

Seems like Walls needs to move its campus elsewhere…perhaps to an under-enrolled comprehensive HS that comes with its own athletic fields and other traditional HS facilities.

This may mean it’s relationship with GW is altered or terminated… not sure…and not sure if most of the students/parents care more about that than sports.

I don’t know. In the exam era, it felt like Walls’s whole identity was as “the school for smart kids.” And if you’re going to have a school for smart kids, I agree it should offer sports too. But since dropping the exam, it seems like Walls is refocusing on its original “alternative school” philosophy. (With plenty of smart kids, obviously.) Which is well-suited to the building and location they already have.

At this point if you want a school in DC where students aiming for selective colleges can play sports, there’s J-R and Banneker, plus MacArthur athletics will come online over the next few years. The honors/AP track at McKinley Tech is a workable option for student athletes as well. Given all that, it’s hard to see why the city would or should put the resources into moving Walls and equipping it with athletic facilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I have a hard time really understanding the story.

Walls was created on the GW campus under a specific philosophy. It was never expected to have much in the way of athletic facilities and didn’t really offer much of anything with respect to athletics.

It has now transitioned to kind of a public “private” school where athletics are more prominent. The issue is its location was never created for this.

Seems like Walls needs to move its campus elsewhere…perhaps to an under-enrolled comprehensive HS that comes with its own athletic fields and other traditional HS facilities.

This may mean it’s relationship with GW is altered or terminated… not sure…and not sure if most of the students/parents care more about that than sports.

The relationship with GW is misleading. DCPS sold land to GW for new dorms in exchange for giving Walls access to GW facilities. So the assumption was it didn't need more facilities since it was co-located on GW's campus. But I agree it would be better off with a campus of its own like Banneker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I have a hard time really understanding the story.

Walls was created on the GW campus under a specific philosophy. It was never expected to have much in the way of athletic facilities and didn’t really offer much of anything with respect to athletics.

It has now transitioned to kind of a public “private” school where athletics are more prominent. The issue is its location was never created for this.

Seems like Walls needs to move its campus elsewhere…perhaps to an under-enrolled comprehensive HS that comes with its own athletic fields and other traditional HS facilities.

This may mean it’s relationship with GW is altered or terminated… not sure…and not sure if most of the students/parents care more about that than sports.

The relationship with GW is misleading. DCPS sold land to GW for new dorms in exchange for giving Walls access to GW facilities. So the assumption was it didn't need more facilities since it was co-located on GW's campus. But I agree it would be better off with a campus of its own like Banneker.

This is where it's leading. The relationship is tenious at best. Sports will never be huge at SWW but it should at least be fair to the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I have a hard time really understanding the story.

Walls was created on the GW campus under a specific philosophy. It was never expected to have much in the way of athletic facilities and didn’t really offer much of anything with respect to athletics.

It has now transitioned to kind of a public “private” school where athletics are more prominent. The issue is its location was never created for this.

Seems like Walls needs to move its campus elsewhere…perhaps to an under-enrolled comprehensive HS that comes with its own athletic fields and other traditional HS facilities.

This may mean it’s relationship with GW is altered or terminated… not sure…and not sure if most of the students/parents care more about that than sports.

I don’t know. In the exam era, it felt like Walls’s whole identity was as “the school for smart kids.” And if you’re going to have a school for smart kids, I agree it should offer sports too. But since dropping the exam, it seems like Walls is refocusing on its original “alternative school” philosophy. (With plenty of smart kids, obviously.) Which is well-suited to the building and location they already have.

At this point if you want a school in DC where students aiming for selective colleges can play sports, there’s J-R and Banneker, plus MacArthur athletics will come online over the next few years. The honors/AP track at McKinley Tech is a workable option for student athletes as well. Given all that, it’s hard to see why the city would or should put the resources into moving Walls and equipping it with athletic facilities.

You guys exam focus is comical. SWW is still the same school. The kids just shouldn't have to jump to hoops for basics. I really would like to know who manages the relationship with GW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I have a hard time really understanding the story.

Walls was created on the GW campus under a specific philosophy. It was never expected to have much in the way of athletic facilities and didn’t really offer much of anything with respect to athletics.

It has now transitioned to kind of a public “private” school where athletics are more prominent. The issue is its location was never created for this.

Seems like Walls needs to move its campus elsewhere…perhaps to an under-enrolled comprehensive HS that comes with its own athletic fields and other traditional HS facilities.

This may mean it’s relationship with GW is altered or terminated… not sure…and not sure if most of the students/parents care more about that than sports.

I don’t know. In the exam era, it felt like Walls’s whole identity was as “the school for smart kids.” And if you’re going to have a school for smart kids, I agree it should offer sports too. But since dropping the exam, it seems like Walls is refocusing on its original “alternative school” philosophy. (With plenty of smart kids, obviously.) Which is well-suited to the building and location they already have.

At this point if you want a school in DC where students aiming for selective colleges can play sports, there’s J-R and Banneker, plus MacArthur athletics will come online over the next few years. The honors/AP track at McKinley Tech is a workable option for student athletes as well. Given all that, it’s hard to see why the city would or should put the resources into moving Walls and equipping it with athletic facilities.

You guys exam focus is comical. SWW is still the same school. The kids just shouldn't have to jump to hoops for basics. I really would like to know who manages the relationship with GW.

When did an on-campus baseball diamond became “the basics”? What DCPS/PCS high schools have on-campus regulation fields? Which even have on-campus practice fields?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I have a hard time really understanding the story.

Walls was created on the GW campus under a specific philosophy. It was never expected to have much in the way of athletic facilities and didn’t really offer much of anything with respect to athletics.

It has now transitioned to kind of a public “private” school where athletics are more prominent. The issue is its location was never created for this.

Seems like Walls needs to move its campus elsewhere…perhaps to an under-enrolled comprehensive HS that comes with its own athletic fields and other traditional HS facilities.

This may mean it’s relationship with GW is altered or terminated… not sure…and not sure if most of the students/parents care more about that than sports.

I don’t know. In the exam era, it felt like Walls’s whole identity was as “the school for smart kids.” And if you’re going to have a school for smart kids, I agree it should offer sports too. But since dropping the exam, it seems like Walls is refocusing on its original “alternative school” philosophy. (With plenty of smart kids, obviously.) Which is well-suited to the building and location they already have.

At this point if you want a school in DC where students aiming for selective colleges can play sports, there’s J-R and Banneker, plus MacArthur athletics will come online over the next few years. The honors/AP track at McKinley Tech is a workable option for student athletes as well. Given all that, it’s hard to see why the city would or should put the resources into moving Walls and equipping it with athletic facilities.

You guys exam focus is comical. SWW is still the same school. The kids just shouldn't have to jump to hoops for basics. I really would like to know who manages the relationship with GW.

Agree. They are obsessed with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good question. Wasn’t the school supposed to be a partnership between DCPS and GW?

Also, DCPS does not help the school at all with figuring out playing space.
DC parks and recs gives the school zero priority in reserving field space. Instead they prefer to lease field space to private schools who can pay more money. The Walls PTA has to give money to lease field space as DCPS does not include any money in the Walls budget to deal with this issue.

This! Why doesn't this city work to support its schools? This should be a no-brainer (see: Jelleff, Maret, ECC...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good question. Wasn’t the school supposed to be a partnership between DCPS and GW?

Also, DCPS does not help the school at all with figuring out playing space.
DC parks and recs gives the school zero priority in reserving field space. Instead they prefer to lease field space to private schools who can pay more money. The Walls PTA has to give money to lease field space as DCPS does not include any money in the Walls budget to deal with this issue.

This! Why doesn't this city work to support its schools? This should be a no-brainer (see: Jelleff, Maret, ECC...)

It’s truly a mystery. If a school is doing a halfway decent job, DCPS takes that as a sign that no additional support or resources are needed…for anything!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't believe there's no mention of Jelleff in this story. It's walkable from Walls.

I don’t think there’s a baseball field there, so it might not have seemed relevant to the story. But I agree that it should have been referenced as an example of DCPS priorities and precedents.

Absolutely there's a baseball field at Jelleff. That's why Maret squatted on the property.