No one said STEM kids can’t go to Walls but sorry, you are deluding yourself if you think that your kid is going to get the same STEM exposure and opportunities as other schools with better programs. That is the reality. |
And you know this because...? |
Are you seriously trying to advocate that Walls is a STEM school and that it is strong in STEM??? Even Walls parents on here admit it is not. Guess you didn’t know that it is more a humanities school when your kid applied……. |
I don't think it's a "STEM" school. I think it's a fine choice for STEM kids. I know it's what DCPS has labelled as their "humanities magnet school." That's a nice way to carve out ann identity niche for McKinley, but that doesn't make Walls weak on STEM. (Nor does it mean that Walls science and math is weaker than Walls ELA and history.) |
What classes do other schools offer past Calculus? Linear algebra is not a “past Calculus” course. You don’t need to take calculus to take that course. Are high schools offering differential equations or something? |
Linear algebra is commonly taken after Calculus. This is the typical order because it is a more difficult course. Many schools require Calculus first even if not necessary. The typical high schools in the burbs offer courses past Calculus such as linear Algebra, differential equations, and/or multivariable calculus. Some schools offer 1 of these, others 2, some all 3. This is your standard high schools. Of course the magnets offer courses past Calculus. It is not tecommeb |
Well there is one Walls parent on here in complete denial, who likely has a freshman saying otherwise that the school is as strong in STEM courses as humanities courses which we all know is not true. Oh the naïveté of it all….. |
Probably the same parent on the other thread who keeps insisting that kids who don’t get interviews at walls have defects in their personalities. |
| Walls is definitely not a STEM focused school. On the other hand, the only science class I can think of that it doesn’t offer that one would expect is AP Chemistry. Kids can (and do) take multivariate in 12th grade. What else is missing /should be offered to meet DCUM STEM standards (for a non-TJ/BASIS type) school? I wouldn’t call walls a humanities school (so far as parent of a junior I have been very unimpressed by humanities offerings/teachers) I would call it a normal school (with a fantastic cohort). |
This is very helpful - thank you |
Oh come on, few kids who take two languages at DCI are going to emerge truly bilingual. We're a bilingual home with a bunch of DCI/feeder families and DCI teenagers living nearby in the past 15 years. We know these families well. When I chat with their teens in one of the target languages (not Spanish), it's clear that they're not fully bilingual, not even close. They're certainly not trilingual either. As others have pointed out, you can't do true immersion without a large cohort of native speakers in a program. I'm told that DCI doesn't even run its own immersion summer camps and neither do its feeders. Sure, language study at DCI is going to be stronger than in DCPS but don't exaggerate. |
My personal anecdotal experience is not relevant so I won’t share. For informational purposes, DCI does run language camps (I believe they might even be open to the public). They have numerous study abroad programs both on the shorter end and on the longer end (semester to year long). They also offer volunteer opportunities in the target languages and celebrate that, so at least anecdotally they were very popular in my home. I also encourage you to research what the language IB exam process looks like because it is very strong. Finally DCI is not an immersion school the way elementary schools are. But in middle school more advanced kids took social studies and other electives in their target languages which was great. Your mileage may vary but those are the facts. No AP spanish mandarin or French classes though which I always found odd. |
Also there are two-three week DCI sponsored study abroad programs for 8/9th graders. I can’t remember my children’s ages but children apply to attend based on language ability and behavior. The school sponsored this (maybe we paid for the flight?). |
Walls offers calculus 3. It doesn’t offer linear algebra, but the most advanced kids take it at GW. |
| And the typical hs in the suburbs does not offer linear algebra. |