Reply to Walls admissions article in the Post

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am curious how many students were accepted that live in ward 7 or 8 but didn't go to middle school there.  Maybe part of the issue is that students from wards 7 or 8 who are academically inclined are looking for middle schools elsewhere.  Is that really Walls' fault?[/quote]

From the article:

“ Preliminary data shows the new freshman class includes four students from Wards 7 and 8, though the city says it does not have the ward of residence for 39 students. None of these students were enrolled in the traditional public school system.”

So it might be more than four, but based on demographics of the class as a whole, it’s unlikely to be much more. And yes, none from the public MSs in wards 7 and 8.

I think part of the problem is that if you live in a part of the city with mostly underperforming schools, being “academically inclined” is largely a function of whether your family is academically inclined, and thus works hard to get you into a better performing school via the lottery PLUS invests (or even has) the time and energy to get you to school at non-neighborhood schools. Kids in wealthier parts of the city who are naturally academically inclined can just go to their IB schools and take advantage of the opportunities presented. That’s much harder to do in Wards 7 and 8.[/quote]

How can they verify residency if they don't know what ward their kids live in? Sounds like Ward 9[/quote]

Doubt it's nefarious.  More likely students without a dcps 8th grade transcript coming for private schools.  Walls has always provided this onramp for families who bailed on DCPS for middle school to come back for HS, even if it's at the expense of denying qualified DCPS students.[/quote]

[b]How is at the expense of DCPS students? [/b]It's a public school and all residents that meet the criteria are eligible to apply. I've known kids that were home schooled, attended privates, etc. to attend Walls as well as Banneker.[/quote]

It's not like those families don't have other options -- they've already exercised those options.  Turning away highly qualified students from their own system is a pretty big self-own.
[/quote]

The main selling point to Walls is scarcity and whiteness[/quote]

How many do they turn away? Not many. [/quote]

They have about 1000 kids apply each year (I think this year it was 1200?) and they take 140.  This year the waistlist moved 90 spots.  So let's say they took 250 out of 1200 who wanted the school.  [/quote]

They normally offer a test a field that reduces the eligible field significantly.  This year they used a low bar for GPA and weighted heavily on a short perfunctory zoom interview.  There were many kids who never got off the waitlist who were far more qualified than many of those selected or with enough lottery luck.  The whole process was random and haphazard. [/quote]

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