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Anonymous wrote:
You have to be a troll. The school is the top academic school in the county other than the magnet programs but under the surface it has a lot of issues including race issues, and a community that covered up or was in denial about a sexually abusive coach because the parents want everything to appear like Pleasantville. This is why the disruptive or underachieving children we have known there find it extremely stressful and hate it. Heck even the ones that are high achieving sometimes hate it because of all the stress to be perfect.
Not a troll, honestly. what I am expressing here is out of genuine concern for my daughter - I am reaching out for insights to help me think things through. Not out of boredom and to have fun reading your responses, as a troll would do! the fact that it is the top academic school in the county is what drew me to it + Bethesda is lovely... I know my daughter could handle the academic side if she put her minds to it and if I am able to support her adequately
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I don't recognize any of these awful behaviors, and I have two kids currently at Whitman (one girl, one boy, different grades.) All of my kids' friends are well rounded, mature, respectful, care about their studies and about the world. Maybe friends in their outer circles smoke weed or vape, but that's not the dominant trait. Their cohort is probably what I love best about Whitman.
Teachers seem to be more lenient than not in the classroom, I wish they required more respect, though I get the sense that the school deals with serious issues very professionally.
I'm sure there are also bad kids or trouble makers or whatever other type of humans there are out there. But my impression overall of this school is not one of badly behaved kids.
Same. Two kids, have never seen this. If anything the teachers way over react to small things. We moved from another district and in the schools there the teacher were very busy dealing with really big infractions like kids skipping school and could care less if kids pulled out cell phones in class.
Sorry for the blunt question but do the teachers overreact or are they lenient? It should be one of the two, hopefully leniency, having to choose between the two!
Anonymous wrote:How old is your DD? You sound a bit in denial about your child's issues. Please take her to someone to be evaluated.
She is being supported - she is 15. Perhaps I sound on denial - helpful to hear that so I can reflect on it - but I am not 100% sure I am as I am actually genuinely concerned! I am not trying to be confrontative but i wonder why you came to the conclusion that I am on denial. It would helpful to know - sometime things are obviously in front out eyes and we don't see them until people draw our attention to them
Anonymous wrote:Your daughter needs an psychological evaluation, OP, to assess whether she has ADHD, or anxiety, or something else that is predisposing her to such behaviors. You would be a neglectful parent to ignore this and chalk it up to her friends' bad influences, because if she has untreated issues, she will continue to suffer and reduce her chances of creating healthy friendships and academic success.
Walt Whitman is an academic pressure cooker (read The Overachievers, by a Whitman alum, about the school), and most kids stay out of trouble because they're too busy working to get into selective universities.
MCPS and other public school systems are known for their failed restorative justice policies and lack of discipline when it comes to real crime and assault. MCPS has a rulebook, but I've got to say, it's rarely followed, particularly for classroom behavior issues and dress code issues. Children with behavior disorders (ex: who scream at teachers and throw chairs, we've know a few over the course of 12 years of MCPS) and who should really be in a contained classroom under special guidance, do not face much discipline because teachers and administrators' hands are tied, due to deliberate prioritization of graduation rates. Every student is pushed to graduate in the hopes they will be financially independent as adults, even if they haven't actually fulfilled academic requirements. So families flock to wealthy neighborhoods that place heavy importance on academics, in an attempt to get their kids in with a crowd of hard-working students. It usually works, which is why they keep doing it.
This is the reality of public school, where they can't select on entry, OP. So it behooves your child to exercise self-control and develop her own work ethic. Help her with that.
Thanks for this - I just wanted to reassure that DD is already under psychological support - I am just weighing in my mind whether she would thrive or she would struggle at WW. I am sure she has the brains to go through it academically - it is just a matter of whether she wants to put the hard work and deal with the pressure or become disruptive, that is what I am trying to work our in my mind which way will it go ... I already ordered the book, thanks.
I am confused as from one side I see all these posts about WW being pretty hard and academically rigorous (which I love it personally!) but on the other side I come across about the drug misuse, the terrible sexual allegations (including the coach and the annual ball, now cancelled), the revolting racists incidents and the incidents with the three kids from the youth shelter. The neighborhood seems amazingly safe - never had any concern walking around although admittingly I did not walk at night in the residential area, only in the Apple store area. t
I am mentally struggling to reconcile the diverging pictures (violence, allegations, racism on one side and academic excellence and well-behaved children on the other) which I get from the same school! Any help for me to go through this process would be great
Anonymous wrote:
Physical incidents are a form of bullying.
That is true, good point
Anonymous wrote:there aren't fights on campus that you need worry about - most kids are so busy doing their college level neuroscience classes that they are not social
otherwise there are sad boys who take fentanyl overdoses and their sports teams mourn them for the rest of the year
if your kid is normal they'll be fine, slipping through these cracks.
So are you saying that there are only focused children and those doing drugs and nothing in between?
Anonymous wrote:OP what kinds of behaviors did your DD have in her current school?
Replying back to teachers, general rudeness, being overexcited in corridors (being loud or running around), and some physical incidents too but nothing particularly malicious or bullying. She is good academically and really smart but negative about the way she is perceived by others and tends to hang around with troubling children. Maybe the high academic standards of WW will force her to get back on track or maybe she will feel rejected (as children are too focused on studying) and in that case, I wonder if her behavior might become an issue. Not really sure about how easy it is to get excluded from WW or in fact any other MoCO school...
Hello there
we are about to move to MoCo and thinking about the Whitman cluster. Attracted by the academic side of the school but concerned as my daughter has had a few behavioral problems in her previous school which was extra strict. Just wondering what the expectations about behavior in class look like at WW and how hard teachers come down with detentions, suspensions etc.
Also wondering about fights on campus and incidents. I feel some of the things I read over here about WW are quite appalling - it would be great to be reassured of how school life at WW would look like! Reading about those appalling things made me wonder if expectations of students behavior are quite low - which might be positive for my daughter but concerning for me!
we are about to move to MoCo and thinking about the Whitman cluster. Attracted by the academic side of the school but concerned as my daughter has had a few behavioral problems in her previous school which was extra strict. Just wondering what the expectations about behavior in class look like at WW and how hard teachers come down with detentions, suspensions etc.
Also wondering about fights on campus and incidents. I feel some of the things I read over here about WW are quite appalling - it would be great to be reassured of how school life at WW would look like! Reading about those appalling things made me wonder if expectations of students behavior are quite low - which might be positive for my daughter but concerning for me!