Indulge my fantasy - top private vs. Walls

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the trolls have arrived. Yes, yes, Sidwell and GDS are full of kids from trailer parks whose families just really happen to value education. Sure.

This. Private school family here. There’s literally one single parent in my kid’s grade and it’s a mom whose husband died a few years ago (and they are like legit billionaires).

The story that there are multiple kids at a GDS or Sidwell who are super poor is such a myth. Very few kids are on full FA and the average FA award is like 25% of tuition.

Sidwell HS alum parent here. A divorced one, with a middle class job such as a social worker (ex does well tho)

There are plenty of parents of **incoming 9th graders** who aren’t top 10%, like me. That is probably not true in K, but in 9th the admissions team is looking for the very best candidates who have built their own portfolios in academics or sports - and sometimes those kids have parents who work for nonprofits, the Washington Post, WMATA or Kaiser Permanente. There was also a gig musician parent and a contract documentary film writer I recall. Plenty of smart, interesting and definitely not wealthy parents among us.

Of course. Sidwell and other private schools will happily take all the money you can give them. They don’t care that you could get a similar education for free. They don’t care that the money would be better saved for grad school or a house.

Also … don’t be fooled, most of those “gig musicoans” are not on FA - they have trust funds.

You are a public school parent or student, so I will never convince you that the 9-12 education offered at Sidwell is similar in any way to the 9-12 education offered at either Walls or JR. It has nothing to do with country clubs, wealth or whatever else my DCPS neighbors and DCUM seem to think is the Only Difference between the two environments. English class = English class. No.

Must really burn you up when your neighbor’s kid at JR got into the same schools your kid at Sidwell did …

Look I come from a background with extremely smart people with extreme levels of success. All public school kids (some all the way through grad school).

There are some scenarios where an opportunity at Sidwell could make a huge difference for a kid as compared to their other opportunities. But Walls v Sidwell ain’t it.

And then that JR kid will struggle to get Bs freshman year in college and all the pre-med dreams will die.
Ask me how I know. I can give you a half dozen examples.

I'm sure there are many countervailing examples. There are just no hard and fast rules to all this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had kids at Alice Deal and most of the brightest kids in the grade left for private in 9th grade. Sidwell took about 5, the Cathedral schools took a handful, GDS took another half dozen.

These are all kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th, were active in debate, were on the Principal's honor roll for all 12 quarters, etc.

Walls has kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th grade, excel in school, score perfect or near perfect SAT scores as well. I’d wager there are just as many of those kids at Walls from Deal as Sidwell.

My kid is one of them! Scored a 5 on AP calc BC exam in 10th grade; 790 math SAT score. Even so, I will concede that academics at Walls are WEAK! Not much reading; no writing ….my understanding is the privates are much more challenging/require actual effort and hard work. But - the cohort at walls is fantastic. And, the smart kids (from whatever school) all end up at the same jobs down the road, so I guess not the worst thing to coast through high school. Life is long.

Thanks for this info. I see that you mention less writing and reading which in general I can imagine is true at public schools if for no other reason than class sizes are so much bigger. How are the math and science academics though?

Walls is not known for their math and science. It is more if a humanities school. They don’t even offer the full AP science courses every year. About 1/3rd of the kids there are below grade level in math.

Above is not going to get any better because they dropped the testing. It is actually going to get worst.

[Anonymous]

On a per student basis, Sidwell had fewer national merit semifinalists this year than Latin.

Remind me: Does Sidwell sent a bus every day to Anacostia to pick up and drop off its students? Or is that just Latin?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had kids at Alice Deal and most of the brightest kids in the grade left for private in 9th grade. Sidwell took about 5, the Cathedral schools took a handful, GDS took another half dozen.

These are all kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th, were active in debate, were on the Principal's honor roll for all 12 quarters, etc.

Walls has kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th grade, excel in school, score perfect or near perfect SAT scores as well. I’d wager there are just as many of those kids at Walls from Deal as Sidwell.

My kid is one of them! Scored a 5 on AP calc BC exam in 10th grade; 790 math SAT score. Even so, I will concede that academics at Walls are WEAK! Not much reading; no writing ….my understanding is the privates are much more challenging/require actual effort and hard work. But - the cohort at walls is fantastic. And, the smart kids (from whatever school) all end up at the same jobs down the road, so I guess not the worst thing to coast through high school. Life is long.

Thanks for this info. I see that you mention less writing and reading which in general I can imagine is true at public schools if for no other reason than class sizes are so much bigger. How are the math and science academics though?

Walls is not known for their math and science. It is more if a humanities school. They don’t even offer the full AP science courses every year. About 1/3rd of the kids there are below grade level in math.

Above is not going to get any better because they dropped the testing. It is actually going to get worst.

Walls math and science are stronger than their reputation for it. For example, my 9th grader has an excellent biology teacher, a very good math teacher, and a meh English teacher (the other 9th grade one is better, I think). It also has a decent-size cohort of students who are strong in math and science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the trolls have arrived. Yes, yes, Sidwell and GDS are full of kids from trailer parks whose families just really happen to value education. Sure.

This. Private school family here. There’s literally one single parent in my kid’s grade and it’s a mom whose husband died a few years ago (and they are like legit billionaires).

The story that there are multiple kids at a GDS or Sidwell who are super poor is such a myth. Very few kids are on full FA and the average FA award is like 25% of tuition.

Sidwell HS alum parent here. A divorced one, with a middle class job such as a social worker (ex does well tho)

There are plenty of parents of **incoming 9th graders** who aren’t top 10%, like me. That is probably not true in K, but in 9th the admissions team is looking for the very best candidates who have built their own portfolios in academics or sports - and sometimes those kids have parents who work for nonprofits, the Washington Post, WMATA or Kaiser Permanente. There was also a gig musician parent and a contract documentary film writer I recall. Plenty of smart, interesting and definitely not wealthy parents among us.

Of course. Sidwell and other private schools will happily take all the money you can give them. They don’t care that you could get a similar education for free. They don’t care that the money would be better saved for grad school or a house.

Also … don’t be fooled, most of those “gig musicoans” are not on FA - they have trust funds.

You are a public school parent or student, so I will never convince you that the 9-12 education offered at Sidwell is similar in any way to the 9-12 education offered at either Walls or JR. It has nothing to do with country clubs, wealth or whatever else my DCPS neighbors and DCUM seem to think is the Only Difference between the two environments. English class = English class. No.

Must really burn you up when your neighbor’s kid at JR got into the same schools your kid at Sidwell did …

Look I come from a background with extremely smart people with extreme levels of success. All public school kids (some all the way through grad school).

There are some scenarios where an opportunity at Sidwell could make a huge difference for a kid as compared to their other opportunities. But Walls v Sidwell ain’t it.

And then that JR kid will struggle to get Bs freshman year in college and all the pre-med dreams will die.
Ask me how I know. I can give you a half dozen examples.

This is so goofy. You can find lots of examples of kids excelling, lots of kids doing fine, some kids struggling. Like, the idea that JR kids as a group can't hack it at "elite" colleges is just the laziest, dumbest stereotype. Ask me how I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some parents possess an amusing proclivity for self-deception. Having occupied teaching positions at both Walls and Sidwell -Sidwell’s purported advantages exist exclusively within the realm of the already affluent.
Let us be intellectually honest: nepotism and privilege are not abstract concepts but concrete mechanisms of social reproduction. These students would flourish equally well in public institutions, as success tends to correlate remarkably with generational wealth rather than solely institutional affiliation.

Walls prepares students academically, certainly, but offers no particular entrée into the rarefied echelons of wealth or the arcane arts of wealth accumulation. Attending Walls will not magically transmute your offspring into the next titan of industry, just as Sidwell enrollment fails to guarantee upward mobility for those lacking sufficient capital -unless, of course, your child demonstrates exceptional aptitude for social climbing.

Though one must question whether cultivating the skills of an obsequious courtier to the wealthy represents the pinnacle of parental aspiration for one’s child.

You are trolling from a troll farm in the Philippines with the help of AI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some parents possess an amusing proclivity for self-deception. Having occupied teaching positions at both Walls and Sidwell -Sidwell’s purported advantages exist exclusively within the realm of the already affluent.
Let us be intellectually honest: nepotism and privilege are not abstract concepts but concrete mechanisms of social reproduction. These students would flourish equally well in public institutions, as success tends to correlate remarkably with generational wealth rather than solely institutional affiliation.

Walls prepares students academically, certainly, but offers no particular entrée into the rarefied echelons of wealth or the arcane arts of wealth accumulation. Attending Walls will not magically transmute your offspring into the next titan of industry, just as Sidwell enrollment fails to guarantee upward mobility for those lacking sufficient capital -unless, of course, your child demonstrates exceptional aptitude for social climbing.

Though one must question whether cultivating the skills of an obsequious courtier to the wealthy represents the pinnacle of parental aspiration for one’s child.

“Having occupied teaching positions”? Come on. This is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had kids at Alice Deal and most of the brightest kids in the grade left for private in 9th grade. Sidwell took about 5, the Cathedral schools took a handful, GDS took another half dozen.

These are all kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th, were active in debate, were on the Principal's honor roll for all 12 quarters, etc.

Walls has kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th grade, excel in school, score perfect or near perfect SAT scores as well. I’d wager there are just as many of those kids at Walls from Deal as Sidwell.

My kid is one of them! Scored a 5 on AP calc BC exam in 10th grade; 790 math SAT score. Even so, I will concede that academics at Walls are WEAK! Not much reading; no writing ….my understanding is the privates are much more challenging/require actual effort and hard work. But - the cohort at walls is fantastic. And, the smart kids (from whatever school) all end up at the same jobs down the road, so I guess not the worst thing to coast through high school. Life is long.

Thanks for this info. I see that you mention less writing and reading which in general I can imagine is true at public schools if for no other reason than class sizes are so much bigger. How are the math and science academics though?

Walls is not known for their math and science. It is more if a humanities school. They don’t even offer the full AP science courses every year. About 1/3rd of the kids there are below grade level in math.

Above is not going to get any better because they dropped the testing. It is actually going to get worst.

Walls math and science are stronger than their reputation for it. For example, my 9th grader has an excellent biology teacher, a very good math teacher, and a meh English teacher (the other 9th grade one is better, I think). It also has a decent-size cohort of students who are strong in math and science.

+1

I feel like half of the posters on this site don’t have kids at the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had kids at Alice Deal and most of the brightest kids in the grade left for private in 9th grade. Sidwell took about 5, the Cathedral schools took a handful, GDS took another half dozen.

These are all kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th, were active in debate, were on the Principal's honor roll for all 12 quarters, etc.

Walls has kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th grade, excel in school, score perfect or near perfect SAT scores as well. I’d wager there are just as many of those kids at Walls from Deal as Sidwell.

My kid is one of them! Scored a 5 on AP calc BC exam in 10th grade; 790 math SAT score. Even so, I will concede that academics at Walls are WEAK! Not much reading; no writing ….my understanding is the privates are much more challenging/require actual effort and hard work. But - the cohort at walls is fantastic. And, the smart kids (from whatever school) all end up at the same jobs down the road, so I guess not the worst thing to coast through high school. Life is long.

Thanks for this info. I see that you mention less writing and reading which in general I can imagine is true at public schools if for no other reason than class sizes are so much bigger. How are the math and science academics though?

Math (calc etc) at walls is good; science is pretty mid. No AP chem; AP bio is only offered every 2-3 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had kids at Alice Deal and most of the brightest kids in the grade left for private in 9th grade. Sidwell took about 5, the Cathedral schools took a handful, GDS took another half dozen.

These are all kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th, were active in debate, were on the Principal's honor roll for all 12 quarters, etc.

Walls has kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th grade, excel in school, score perfect or near perfect SAT scores as well. I’d wager there are just as many of those kids at Walls from Deal as Sidwell.

My kid is one of them! Scored a 5 on AP calc BC exam in 10th grade; 790 math SAT score. Even so, I will concede that academics at Walls are WEAK! Not much reading; no writing ….my understanding is the privates are much more challenging/require actual effort and hard work. But - the cohort at walls is fantastic. And, the smart kids (from whatever school) all end up at the same jobs down the road, so I guess not the worst thing to coast through high school. Life is long.

Thanks for this info. I see that you mention less writing and reading which in general I can imagine is true at public schools if for no other reason than class sizes are so much bigger. How are the math and science academics though?

Math (calc etc) at walls is good; science is pretty mid. No AP chem; AP bio is only offered every 2-3 years.

Wow, I find this very surprising. JR offers AP Bio and AP Chem every year (but does not offer math above AP Calc BC; kids who want to go beyond AP Calc BC take classes at Georgetown, GW, Catholic, etc via dual enrollment). Must be a numbers thing.

[Anonymous]

We know the following:

1. Walls gets a lot more applicants than Sidwell.

2. People generally don't bother applying to Walls unless their kid is an outstanding student.

3. People generally don't bother applying to Sidwell if their parents aren't rich.

4. Sidwell generally has to prefer kids from families who can pay its tuition because it has bills to pay like everyone else and the school doesn't get tax dollars.

Given all of that, you think the cream of the crop of Walls' applicants is much creamier than Sidwell's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had kids at Alice Deal and most of the brightest kids in the grade left for private in 9th grade. Sidwell took about 5, the Cathedral schools took a handful, GDS took another half dozen.

These are all kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th, were active in debate, were on the Principal's honor roll for all 12 quarters, etc.

Walls has kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th grade, excel in school, score perfect or near perfect SAT scores as well. I’d wager there are just as many of those kids at Walls from Deal as Sidwell.

My kid is one of them! Scored a 5 on AP calc BC exam in 10th grade; 790 math SAT score. Even so, I will concede that academics at Walls are WEAK! Not much reading; no writing ….my understanding is the privates are much more challenging/require actual effort and hard work. But - the cohort at walls is fantastic. And, the smart kids (from whatever school) all end up at the same jobs down the road, so I guess not the worst thing to coast through high school. Life is long.

Thanks for this info. I see that you mention less writing and reading which in general I can imagine is true at public schools if for no other reason than class sizes are so much bigger. How are the math and science academics though?

Math (calc etc) at walls is good; science is pretty mid. No AP chem; AP bio is only offered every 2-3 years.

Wow, I find this very surprising. JR offers AP Bio and AP Chem every year (but does not offer math above AP Calc BC; kids who want to go beyond AP Calc BC take classes at Georgetown, GW, Catholic, etc via dual enrollment). Must be a numbers thing.

SWW does not offer Physics C (Mech and E&M) on a regular basis as well. JR does (along with Physics 1 and 2). They have a healthy cohort of kids taking AP Chem and CSA. Walls did offer Linear Alg in the past (at least a couple of years ago) but if JR kids are so inclined they can take those classes through Dual Enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are people on here really saying that the academics at Walls is just as good as Sidwell or GDS?? Sorry but rose colored glasses are not going to help you.

Walls is a like mediocre suburb school at best, not even great but with all the headaches of DCPS.

Your top performing kid will most likely reach their full potential by going to the top privates where there are really high performing motivated kids in an environment of teachers with very high expectations and standards. It’s not going to be easy. They are going to have to work really hard but they will be very well prepared for college and beyond. In addition, they will get small class sizes, more individualized support, and more offerings in curriculum, EC, sports, and facilities, etc…

In contrast, sure your kid will do fine in DCPS at Walls but it is because it is easier, standards are lower, and they will not be pushed to their full potential. You will have to supplement for that. Course offerings are limited and some teachers are checked out and just going thru the motions. Leadership is not good.

If you can’t afford private, then Walls is what you can get. But if you have the funds for private, this should not even be a question to go. If you don’t want to send your kid, just admit OP that you value your vacations or whatever over a better education for your kid. That is fine if that is your priority but let’s be real here.

What is your experience with Walls? Sounds like you are talking based on presumptions, not first-hand knowledge.

People who pay for private are often truly delusional about the quality of public high schools and in denial that the smartest and most ambitious kids generally go to publics. Private schools exist to give privileged kids additional advantages (in terms of grades, connections to college, etc) but absolutely do not have the smartest and best kids. The very top schools like Sidwell are more academic but not “privates” in general.

You are in denial. Sidwell and GDS does have the smartest and best kids. They can come in elementary, middle, or high school. Of course not every kid there is the smartest and best but if you compare the top kids coming out of Sidwell and GDS and what they have gained from their experience in critical thinking, analysis, writing, etc… it is much better than Walls.

Maybe not TJ but for sure Walls.

No it doesn’t. The smartest kids are in the selective public schools which most private school kids don’t stand a chance of getting into.

I don’t think this is true in DC. Maybe in VA (TJ) and NYC (Stuyvesant, Bronx Science etc) but the best test in public schools in DC don’t compare to the best private schools in DC. Also I’m sure most kids who are high performers at Sidwell etc could meet the standard to get into Walls.

And most of the high performers at Walls could get into Sidwell.

No they couldn’t. If nothing else, it’s a numbers game. Sidwell only has space for 35-40 new 9th graders. Walls takes ~175 9th graders. In addition, most Walls families can’t afford Sidwell’s tuition.

Hope your level of reading comprehension isn’t representative of sidwell. She didn’t say all 175 were high performers and she didn’t say all of the high performers could get in simultaneously. Just on the margin, which may or may not be true but it doesn’t help your position to obviously misstate hers.

Instead of engaging in petty (envy-based) insults, perhaps you should sharpen YOUR reading comprehension skills. The PP said, “And most of the high performers at Walls could get into Sidwell.” The PP didn’t engage in the verbal reinterpretation you’re trying to do now.

As I said before, most high performers at Walls could not get into Sidwell. Case in point: When my oldest son applied to both Walls and Sidwell several years ago, from a DCUM-popular DCPS middle school, he was the only student admitted to both schools. There were at least a dozen other students who applied from his school that year. About 2/3 of the students (from his school) who were denied admission to Sidwell, were admitted to Walls. Sidwell routinely admits 0-2 students from my son’s middle school annually, while Walls takes at least 10/year. Does that sound like “most of the high performers at Walls could get into Sidwell?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had kids at Alice Deal and most of the brightest kids in the grade left for private in 9th grade. Sidwell took about 5, the Cathedral schools took a handful, GDS took another half dozen.

These are all kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th, were active in debate, were on the Principal's honor roll for all 12 quarters, etc.

Walls has kids who took Algebra 2 in 8th grade, excel in school, score perfect or near perfect SAT scores as well. I’d wager there are just as many of those kids at Walls from Deal as Sidwell.

My kid is one of them! Scored a 5 on AP calc BC exam in 10th grade; 790 math SAT score. Even so, I will concede that academics at Walls are WEAK! Not much reading; no writing ….my understanding is the privates are much more challenging/require actual effort and hard work. But - the cohort at walls is fantastic. And, the smart kids (from whatever school) all end up at the same jobs down the road, so I guess not the worst thing to coast through high school. Life is long.

Thanks for this info. I see that you mention less writing and reading which in general I can imagine is true at public schools if for no other reason than class sizes are so much bigger. How are the math and science academics though?

Math (calc etc) at walls is good; science is pretty mid. No AP chem; AP bio is only offered every 2-3 years.

Wow, I find this very surprising. JR offers AP Bio and AP Chem every year (but does not offer math above AP Calc BC; kids who want to go beyond AP Calc BC take classes at Georgetown, GW, Catholic, etc via dual enrollment). Must be a numbers thing.

And the intro science classes are fine, but kind of lackluster. No (or extremely limited) labs in either biology or chemistry, for example. It feels like a waste given that lots of the kids have the intellectual firepower to handle more interesting and more rigorous material. Walls (DCPS?) seems content to offer a fairly basic science curriculum in which half the cohort earns As.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are people on here really saying that the academics at Walls is just as good as Sidwell or GDS?? Sorry but rose colored glasses are not going to help you.

Walls is a like mediocre suburb school at best, not even great but with all the headaches of DCPS.

Your top performing kid will most likely reach their full potential by going to the top privates where there are really high performing motivated kids in an environment of teachers with very high expectations and standards. It’s not going to be easy. They are going to have to work really hard but they will be very well prepared for college and beyond. In addition, they will get small class sizes, more individualized support, and more offerings in curriculum, EC, sports, and facilities, etc…

In contrast, sure your kid will do fine in DCPS at Walls but it is because it is easier, standards are lower, and they will not be pushed to their full potential. You will have to supplement for that. Course offerings are limited and some teachers are checked out and just going thru the motions. Leadership is not good.

If you can’t afford private, then Walls is what you can get. But if you have the funds for private, this should not even be a question to go. If you don’t want to send your kid, just admit OP that you value your vacations or whatever over a better education for your kid. That is fine if that is your priority but let’s be real here.

What is your experience with Walls? Sounds like you are talking based on presumptions, not first-hand knowledge.

People who pay for private are often truly delusional about the quality of public high schools and in denial that the smartest and most ambitious kids generally go to publics. Private schools exist to give privileged kids additional advantages (in terms of grades, connections to college, etc) but absolutely do not have the smartest and best kids. The very top schools like Sidwell are more academic but not “privates” in general.

You are in denial. Sidwell and GDS does have the smartest and best kids. They can come in elementary, middle, or high school. Of course not every kid there is the smartest and best but if you compare the top kids coming out of Sidwell and GDS and what they have gained from their experience in critical thinking, analysis, writing, etc… it is much better than Walls.

Maybe not TJ but for sure Walls.

No it doesn’t. The smartest kids are in the selective public schools which most private school kids don’t stand a chance of getting into.

I don’t think this is true in DC. Maybe in VA (TJ) and NYC (Stuyvesant, Bronx Science etc) but the best test in public schools in DC don’t compare to the best private schools in DC. Also I’m sure most kids who are high performers at Sidwell etc could meet the standard to get into Walls.

They actually do compare in that the best kids at Walls will do just the same if not better as the best kids at Sidwell. And they will have a $500k downpayment gift from their parents when they are ready to buy a house in their 30s, since that money would not have been wasted on private school tuition.

If OP said she had a $100 mil trust fund who cares. But she is putting money into a luxury instead of into savings if she chooses this route.

🤣 Lol—you think that Walls’ students who turn down spots at private schools “will have a $500k downpayment gift from their parents when they are ready to buy a house”?! You clearly know very little about Walls’ student body. The vast majority of Walls’ families can’t afford to provide even $10k in down payment assistance. Their child is at Walls because it’s “the best” and MOST AFFORDABLE school they were admitted to.