Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 12:11     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
Anonymous wrote:So Walls is just like BASIS? Terrible building, crowded, no fields.
For those who answered, has the experience been positive overall?


Curriculum wise it is different, as there is more freedom to pick your classes at Walls. But physically, yes, it’s pretty much the same.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 12:05     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
Anonymous wrote:So Walls is just like BASIS? Terrible building, crowded, no fields.
For those who answered, has the experience been positive overall?


Yes. Building is more attractive though. Overall positive (kid attended middle school at basis) though I think coursework more demanding at basis
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 11:56     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
Most public high schools have been phasing out lockers: https://www.k12dive.com/news/high-school-lockers-school-design-architecture/707649/

No high school is perfect on all aspects. Walls is a wonderful high school and a great fit for my kid; However, it may not be the best fit for every kid if their priorities are lockers, or an athletic field.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 11:56     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
So Walls is just like BASIS? Terrible building, crowded, no fields.
For those who answered, has the experience been positive overall?
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 11:24     Subject: Re:Does your kid love Walls?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s a space issue. Walls is incredibly crowded, teachers all float and share rooms, teacher copiers are out in the hallway. Just not space for 300 lockers (assuming stacked lockers before someone says 600 kids attend thr school).


That in itself is a question, though. You'd think they could have provided the school an adequate facility.

Only in DC is the high school for the highest performers the one given the least resources.


No athletic fields either and DCPS doesn’t help them find field space. They’re mostly on their own.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 11:08     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes, you drag your work laptop to home to do work remotely- even if you have your personal laptop!
There is nothing wrong with high schoolers dragging their school laptop. They need consistency in the medium they use to conduct their school work, plus it is a good practice for professional life.
First day of school of a Walls child, who loves their high school.


People come up with the weirdest things to feel better about DCPS's underperformance.

First, a student can easily use a different computer. A student can easily access Aspen, the Microsoft cloud, whatever other apps they use at school from any computer. It is not complicated. (Yay DCPS for this!)

Second, a student does not need to "practice" for professional life in high school. They've got years to learn how to stand comfortably and successfully on a bus or metro while weighing down their backs with multiple bags.

It's stupid that Walls doesn't have lockers (and stupid that its teachers don't have adequate desk and class space).

Not the biggest deal in the world, but stupid.


Not sure about “stupid”! Really, you seem stuck on the smallest and irrelevant thing- if your child is angry about the absence of lockers, they could have chosen a different school with lockers. And you knew there were no lockers before signing on to the school. This is so silly.


I actually didn't know there were no lockers before signing on. It never occurred to me that a public high school wouldn't have lockers!

I agree it's not a big deal, just a small-medium one. It's hard to understand how something so basic could just be waved off.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 11:03     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes, you drag your work laptop to home to do work remotely- even if you have your personal laptop!
There is nothing wrong with high schoolers dragging their school laptop. They need consistency in the medium they use to conduct their school work, plus it is a good practice for professional life.
First day of school of a Walls child, who loves their high school.


People come up with the weirdest things to feel better about DCPS's underperformance.

First, a student can easily use a different computer. A student can easily access Aspen, the Microsoft cloud, whatever other apps they use at school from any computer. It is not complicated. (Yay DCPS for this!)

Second, a student does not need to "practice" for professional life in high school. They've got years to learn how to stand comfortably and successfully on a bus or metro while weighing down their backs with multiple bags.

It's stupid that Walls doesn't have lockers (and stupid that its teachers don't have adequate desk and class space).

Not the biggest deal in the world, but stupid.


Not sure about “stupid”! Really, you seem stuck on the smallest and irrelevant thing- if your child is angry about the absence of lockers, they could have chosen a different school with lockers. And you knew there were no lockers before signing on to the school. This is so silly.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 10:50     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
Anonymous wrote:Yes, you drag your work laptop to home to do work remotely- even if you have your personal laptop!
There is nothing wrong with high schoolers dragging their school laptop. They need consistency in the medium they use to conduct their school work, plus it is a good practice for professional life.
First day of school of a Walls child, who loves their high school.


People come up with the weirdest things to feel better about DCPS's underperformance.

First, a student can easily use a different computer. A student can easily access Aspen, the Microsoft cloud, whatever other apps they use at school from any computer. It is not complicated. (Yay DCPS for this!)

Second, a student does not need to "practice" for professional life in high school. They've got years to learn how to stand comfortably and successfully on a bus or metro while weighing down their backs with multiple bags.

It's stupid that Walls doesn't have lockers (and stupid that its teachers don't have adequate desk and class space).

Not the biggest deal in the world, but stupid.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 10:42     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
Yes, you drag your work laptop to home to do work remotely- even if you have your personal laptop!
There is nothing wrong with high schoolers dragging their school laptop. They need consistency in the medium they use to conduct their school work, plus it is a good practice for professional life.
First day of school of a Walls child, who loves their high school.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 10:06     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are there really no lockers at Walls?!

Do kids drag computers around all day, across the city for sports practice, and on the hour commute to/from home?

Do kids use computers at school during the day?


IME, most kids don't go back to the school after practice, so this is always the case. And of course computers are on the commute because they are needed for homework.


Things not needed at home overnight could be left in the locker, were there lockers.

Kids could use a home computer, if their family has one, at home and a school computer at school, were there lockers. It would cut way down on damage to and loss of computers.

Do you drag *all* of your papers, folders, mug, whatever, back and forth on your commute everyday?
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 10:00     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
Anonymous wrote:Are there really no lockers at Walls?!

Do kids drag computers around all day, across the city for sports practice, and on the hour commute to/from home?

Do kids use computers at school during the day?


IME, most kids don't go back to the school after practice, so this is always the case. And of course computers are on the commute because they are needed for homework.
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2025 17:10     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
Anonymous wrote:Are there really no lockers at Walls?!

Do kids drag computers around all day, across the city for sports practice, and on the hour commute to/from home?

Do kids use computers at school during the day?


They sure do and it totally sucks!
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2025 16:28     Subject: Re:Does your kid love Walls?
Anonymous wrote:It’s a space issue. Walls is incredibly crowded, teachers all float and share rooms, teacher copiers are out in the hallway. Just not space for 300 lockers (assuming stacked lockers before someone says 600 kids attend thr school).


That in itself is a question, though. You'd think they could have provided the school an adequate facility.

Only in DC is the high school for the highest performers the one given the least resources.
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2025 16:23     Subject: Re:Does your kid love Walls?
It’s a space issue. Walls is incredibly crowded, teachers all float and share rooms, teacher copiers are out in the hallway. Just not space for 300 lockers (assuming stacked lockers before someone says 600 kids attend thr school).
Anonymous
Post 08/24/2025 15:43     Subject: Does your kid love Walls?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are there really no lockers at Walls?!

Do kids drag computers around all day, across the city for sports practice, and on the hour commute to/from home?

Do kids use computers at school during the day?


I have a kid who is a rising Jr at Jackson Reed and another that will be attending Walls starting this year. At JR they also don't have lockers (I believe you can special request) and the kids carry their items with them through the day. This wasn't the way it was when I was younger, but it does seem to be the norm now.


I sorta understand why they're inclined to just keep a bunch of stuff in their backpacks and not frequently visit a locker. It's not like they have actual textbooks.

But it seems it would be really useful to store the sports practice clothes or the instrument during the day and to leave the school computer in overnight.