Anonymous wrote:Got one just now for a March 11 interview

We also got one last night for a March 11 interview. At least the SWW team seems to be putting in the hours to try to clean up the situation as best they can given the choices already made.

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Anonymous wrote:I think middle school grades can be weighted if students are taking classes like algebra two and Chinese 2.

No. Underwater dodgeball counts the same as Algebra 2 and Advanced Mandarin.

There is no “underwater dodgeball” elective in middle school. In fact, there aren’t any electives in middle school in DC that I am aware of. The only tracked classes are math and language for kids that had immersion language in elementary school.

You have heard of PE?

It is not an elective, the vast majority of students take the same amount of PE. Some students choose to take two math classes at once at Deal instead of PE/Art, I think Geometry and Algebra I so they can take algebra I in 8th. The elective there is the extra math. Maybe your student goes to private and has a different structure:

But again, no 7th grade student is signing up for a BS elective instead of a core class that gives their GPA an unreasonable grade bump as you imply. Almost all students take PE and no students take underwater anything. They will all take PE in high school too.

You claim that the “vast majority of students take the same amount of PE.” You are familiar with the courseload of the entire ecosystem of schools in DCPS and the area including charters and privates? Seriously? You have no idea. My kids’ took PE in 5th grade and that was it.

There is a huge difference between schools and classes. The point is that Walls doesn’t differentiate at all. So, yes, PE/art/whatever counts the same as Algebra 2. And no not every kid is taking PE and not every kid is taking Algebra 2. And, yes, math classes (and other classes) vary widely in rigor from school to school.

If you think that some kids aren’t taking easier electives, you are kidding yourself.

Seriously, given the rampant grade inflation in DCPS (compounded by the pandemic and by the perverse results of the DCPS IMPACT bonus system on student grades, as a PP noted), Walls’ selection system is just dumb. Moreover, magnet schools in other urban areas don’t do anything like it. Schools like Stuyvesant and Bronx High School of Science (NYC) and Lowell (SF) all require a test—as did Walls a couple of years ago. Walls should bring back the exam.

The key point here is that, with a GPA cutoff this high, every 7th grade teacher in town has the power to unilaterally disqualify any child just by giving them an A-. And that very much includes the PE teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think middle school grades can be weighted if students are taking classes like algebra two and Chinese 2.

No. Underwater dodgeball counts the same as Algebra 2 and Advanced Mandarin.

There is no “underwater dodgeball” elective in middle school. In fact, there aren’t any electives in middle school in DC that I am aware of. The only tracked classes are math and language for kids that had immersion language in elementary school.

You have heard of PE?

It is not an elective, the vast majority of students take the same amount of PE. Some students choose to take two math classes at once at Deal instead of PE/Art, I think Geometry and Algebra I so they can take algebra I in 8th. The elective there is the extra math. Maybe your student goes to private and has a different structure:

But again, no 7th grade student is signing up for a BS elective instead of a core class that gives their GPA an unreasonable grade bump as you imply. Almost all students take PE and no students take underwater anything. They will all take PE in high school too.

PE is an elective at my kids’ school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think middle school grades can be weighted if students are taking classes like algebra two and Chinese 2.

No. Underwater dodgeball counts the same as Algebra 2 and Advanced Mandarin.

There is no “underwater dodgeball” elective in middle school. In fact, there aren’t any electives in middle school in DC that I am aware of. The only tracked classes are math and language for kids that had immersion language in elementary school.

You have heard of PE?

It is not an elective, the vast majority of students take the same amount of PE. Some students choose to take two math classes at once at Deal instead of PE/Art, I think Geometry and Algebra I so they can take algebra I in 8th. The elective there is the extra math. Maybe your student goes to private and has a different structure:

But again, no 7th grade student is signing up for a BS elective instead of a core class that gives their GPA an unreasonable grade bump as you imply. Almost all students take PE and no students take underwater anything. They will all take PE in high school too.

+1

Thank you for this post. People keep acting like 7th graders are gaming the system when they really have very little choice in their schedules.