Those who can leave WES do. That's just how it goes.

Anonymous wrote:OK, 1:38. It's 14:02 here again. I wonder if you are the same person who always posts these negative comments in the wee hours of the morning. I am not sure why you need to expend so much negative energy. If you have left the school, we realize it was not right for your DC or for your family, and we hope that you can move on and find what works.

To respond to the specific point you raise this time, I have no reason to doubt any facts the AD or other administrators share, and of course we will see the numbers come fall. It is a small school that does not work for everyone, and apparently not for you. I wish you well.

I'm not the poster you're referring to, but we also left WES. The school has some real problems and is not for everyone.

Pp, I meant it IS a small school. Kids graduate st 8th grade. It's a small school. No disrespect!!!

Anonymous wrote:It is a very small school for sure!

Now that the 2013/14 admissions numbers turned out to be better than last year to the dismay of the negative poster, now the small class size is a problem?

It is a very small school for sure!

OK, 1:38. It's 14:02 here again. I wonder if you are the same person who always posts these negative comments in the wee hours of the morning. I am not sure why you need to expend so much negative energy. If you have left the school, we realize it was not right for your DC or for your family, and we hope that you can move on and find what works.

To respond to the specific point you raise this time, I have no reason to doubt any facts the AD or other administrators share, and of course we will see the numbers come fall. It is a small school that does not work for everyone, and apparently not for you. I wish you well.

16:15 Why would they tell you the truth? They (admin.) read these pages and sock-puppet with the best of them.

WES parent here. I spoke to the AD at WES and as of June 4, the number of students attending WES in 2013/14 is no less than 2012/13. Admittedly, I do not have longitudinal data but the statement "families are leaving WES in droves" does not sound true.

NTK was a great experience and I hear fairly positive things about MS--but DCs left before entering MS.

Who is this toxic teacher and what grade? We keep hearing about problems in third grade but no one specifies what is wrong with it. Is that the grade of this toxic teacher?

Our family was new to WES this year and we were very happy with DC's experience in NTK. On another thread where I expressed how great it has been, I was accused of being part of the school's "PR machine." However, we don't really know families of older children and cannot decipher the cryptic criticism. Eighth grade outplacement this year was as strong as ever, so it makes me wonder if the elementary years (or maybe just one grade) is/are what has made some parents unhappy.

Would love to know which teacher/grade you are referring to so that we can avoid them. I fully respect that every family has a different experience at WES/any school and am not belittling that at all. And I wasn't judging anyone for being negative, more commenting on the fact that some postings seem honestly negative, and others are so impossibly sunny and positive and come off sounding, to be honest, a bit planted . . .
Good luck next year!

One becomes "totally negative" when you feel your child is disliked and treated differently from favorite students. And when teachers behave unprofessionally (gossiping with parents about other students). This is relevant because people who are considering this school need to understand that these are long standing problems that are tolerated by the administration.

I was there today, too. My child was not Sad. To. Be. Leaving ...forever. We weren't crying.

Why is it that every poster on here is either totally negative or blindly positive? Its like being in the middle of a political campaign where no one can see anyone else's point of view . . . oh yeah we are in Washington.
We are a current WES family and are currently happy there, but I wouldn't say the school is without problems. Every school has problems, every individual has to decide for themselves what priorities in a school are important to them and determine if WES meets those expectations. Overall, we like WES and our kid/s have had great individualized experiences there, but it hasn't been perfect. I would NEVER say that WES is perfect, I would never say that about any school, but today was the last day of school and kids and teachers were crying because they were sad to be leaving.
Sad. To. Be. Leaving. For summer.
Now I am not saying that everyone across the board was crying, but some kids there truly love the school and are very happy there and that is what is important to me. As long as my kid/s are solidly in that category, we are at WES.

That captures our experience , pp, except we were in the "ok" crowd. One teacher in particular was very toxic and after a wasted year with her, we left. DCs went to far better schools which were professionally run. FYI, the teacher remains and continues to be a toxic part of WES. Too bad, because ES was really a fine experience.

we are another family leaving WES. our current teacher has her favorite children and families, gossips with favorite parents about children who she doesn't prefer, and has a one size fits all way of teaching. There is no motivation to do anything differently. I'm sure they think everything they are doing is perfectly fine. You fit in or you don't.

We had two other teachers approach us to refute this teacher's opinion of our DS, but clearly seemed afraid to stand up to her. They both were very telling interactions and helped me understand the power structure at the school. What you are sold by admissions has been very different from what we received.

We talked to another family who left WES after having this particular teacher and their DS used to report that he was unhappy. The teacher has the power to make our child's experience emotionally safe and loving or not based on how the teacher feels about him/her. All while starting whispering campaigns to faculty and preferred parents. The other child is in parochial school with 27 kids in the classroom and is doing well with an abundance of friends. Sometimes class size is not everything.

overall, I'm regarding this a learning experience.