Reply to Underwhelming appearance by Principal Martin at Wilson HS Open House

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm always a little baffled by the battles about Wilson.  I'm the parent of a senior this year.  I think I have a pretty realistic picture of what Wilson is and is not.  I'm underwhelmed by many things that I wish were different or better, but I'm also constantly appreciative of the many dedicated and high quality teachers, counselors and others who go the extra mile and have inspired my teen.  My teen's friends and classmates are also really good, smart, talented, but regular kids trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do and be in the world.  Mostly they are happy to be in a school that allows them both the structure and freedom to be challenged academically, but also to explore lots of interests and other sides of themselves.  That's what you hope for in a school.  Is it like a private school?  Of course not.  Are there kids that are not interested in school, get in trouble or are struggling?  Yes, there are and Wilson could do more to engage and support those students.  And, we as parents in the school community, could also get engaged to help more than we do.  I know I could have been more involved.  Wilson is big and diverse and you have to want that in order to find it a good fit for your family.  Because we are a multi-racial family, that was really important to us.  In our family's experience, Wilson has been a school where a student can be supported to get a quality education that prepares them well for college or other next steps, as well as a school community that helps prepare kids to navigate other aspects of life. But clearly the new test scores show that not all kids are benefiting.  However, needing to continue to improve doesn't negate the core of what is good and strong about the school.  [/quote]

Some great insights there, but not sure they are very relevant. This thread is not about the school itself, but about the leadership by Principal Martin. In fact, it is some people who appreciate the school the most, given all those things you say, the ones baffled by her.

Time will well. And I'm sure next year's PARCC results will be amazing compared to this year's -- worse, it's impossible.[/quote]

This is a slightly rosier picture than we've seen (our oldest is now in 10th at Wilson), although Wilson does have some nice strengths. The email yesterday from the principal about the PARCC scores points was a complete whitewash. According to the email, the awful test results were caused by the 2 factors below. Nothing else was mentioned.

"First, we need to do a better job of helping our community understand the importance of this assessment."

"Second, we need to work on resolving some of the test administration conflicts."

In other words, nothing is wrong with the curriculum, nothing is wrong with the administration or the teaching, and nothing is wrong with Wilson's overall academic standards.

Since this is our first child at Wilson, I can't compare last year to previous years, but I can say that 9th grade at Wilson is...inadequate. Even if your child is in the top classes, there is almost no homework, and there are very few opportunities to write essays or present to a group. My son's biology class had NO labs the entire year and in honors English class, they read a total of 4 books. There is almost no way in which the academics of 9th grade at Wilson resemble 9th grade at a top suburban public school (my niece and nephews are at Fairfax high schools) or at a DC-area private school. This should be the principal's focus, but unfortunately she has made clear in her emails to parents that it is not. Her welcome message stated that her priorities are the following:

1. "We will embark on several important initiatives this year, one of which will be to examine the role of unconscious bias and racism in our school."
2. "Implementation of the new teacher evaluation rubric."

These are both important issues but they don't matter a bit if Wilson's academic standards are levels below other "top" schools in the area, and it's becoming increasingly clear that they may be. This matters for smart, well-prepared kids, and it matters for kids who arrive at Wilson really far behind.

As far as the principal herself goes, she presents (to me) as capable and hard-working, but I think her priorities are all wrong, and I don't see any evidence that she knows it.
 [/quote]

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