+100. Sick of low standards in DCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walls is comparable to a mediocre neighborhood high school in the surrounding burbs. It is what it is.

It is not comparable to the selective and magnet high schools in the surrounding burbs.

The sooner you realize and accept that, the better. Want a mediocre school then Walls if you get in. Want a top school, move to the burbs in good school pyramid where you also get the benefit of a very good middle school.

Not true because practically 💯 of class cohort is very motivated/on task/and a large percent are quite high performing (my Walls soph just scored 1490 on October PSAT). There are no (or very very few) disruptive kids. No way this is the case for your garden variety public school in the suburbs.

Just because your kid did well on one test doesn’t mean that the school is good.

You are ignoring the critical component of my comment - that the class cohort is extremely well behaved. If you don't think that is a huge advantage over most public high schools (and a fabulous learning environment if you have a high-performing smart kid), then I don't know what to tell you.

Sorry but you exemplify the low standards in DC.

You do realize that with tracking, there are no behavior issues in the highest level classes. So you can absolutely have a well behaved class and tracking in any typical average suburban high schools.

Add in their magnets and test in, you also have standardized testing so all 3

You're painting with too broad a brush, PP. My spouse teaches at an Arlington middle school. In Arlington, students in any of the six neighborhood middle schools can take honors classes for science, social studies, English and math from the 7th grade. These cohorts are also extremely well behaved. In Arlington high schools, only students who perform well (a B+ or better) in pre AP and pre IB classes can take AP and IB classes as upperclassmen. The way DCPS continues to resists academic tracking hurts our schools. Sure, Walls is OK, but throwing your hands in the air calling it futile to push to make it better, particularly by adding feeder middle school challenge and bringing back standardized testing in the admissions process, is a copout.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walls is comparable to a mediocre neighborhood high school in the surrounding burbs. It is what it is.

It is not comparable to the selective and magnet high schools in the surrounding burbs.

The sooner you realize and accept that, the better. Want a mediocre school then Walls if you get in. Want a top school, move to the burbs in good school pyramid where you also get the benefit of a very good middle school.

Not true because practically 💯 of class cohort is very motivated/on task/and a large percent are quite high performing (my Walls soph just scored 1490 on October PSAT). There are no (or very very few) disruptive kids. No way this is the case for your garden variety public school in the suburbs.

Just because your kid did well on one test doesn’t mean that the school is good.

You are ignoring the critical component of my comment - that the class cohort is extremely well behaved. If you don't think that is a huge advantage over most public high schools (and a fabulous learning environment if you have a high-performing smart kid), then I don't know what to tell you.

+1. Based on CAPE scores, about a third of Walls is below grade level in math.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walls is comparable to a mediocre neighborhood high school in the surrounding burbs. It is what it is.

It is not comparable to the selective and magnet high schools in the surrounding burbs.

The sooner you realize and accept that, the better. Want a mediocre school then Walls if you get in. Want a top school, move to the burbs in good school pyramid where you also get the benefit of a very good middle school.

Not true because practically 💯 of class cohort is very motivated/on task/and a large percent are quite high performing (my Walls soph just scored 1490 on October PSAT). There are no (or very very few) disruptive kids. No way this is the case for your garden variety public school in the suburbs.

Just because your kid did well on one test doesn’t mean that the school is good.

Anonymous wrote:Walls is comparable to a mediocre neighborhood high school in the surrounding burbs. It is what it is.

It is not comparable to the selective and magnet high schools in the surrounding burbs.

The sooner you realize and accept that, the better. Want a mediocre school then Walls if you get in. Want a top school, move to the burbs in good school pyramid where you also get the benefit of a very good middle school.

Not true because practically 💯 of class cohort is very motivated/on task/and a large percent are quite high performing (my Walls soph just scored 1490 on October PSAT). There are no (or very very few) disruptive kids. No way this is the case for your garden variety public school in the suburbs.

Anonymous wrote:Walls is comparable to a mediocre neighborhood high school in the surrounding burbs. It is what it is.

It is not comparable to the selective and magnet high schools in the surrounding burbs.

The sooner you realize and accept that, the better. Want a mediocre school then Walls if you get in. Want a top school, move to the burbs in good school pyramid where you also get the benefit of a very good middle school.

This has not been our experience at Walls, but it probably depends on how engaged and self motivated your kid is to begin with.

Walls is comparable to a mediocre neighborhood high school in the surrounding burbs. It is what it is.

It is not comparable to the selective and magnet high schools in the surrounding burbs.

The sooner you realize and accept that, the better. Want a mediocre school then Walls if you get in. Want a top school, move to the burbs in good school pyramid where you also get the benefit of a very good middle school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where was the insult? The point is fair. DCPS students should be better prepped for admission to Walls, particularly poor kids. Interviews can't fix weak prep.

Who said they aren’t prepared? You make a lot of assumptions about kids at Walls and yes it is insulting.

Absolutely not. Look at the magnet schools in San Fran and NYC, and how they set up lower-income, highly-intelligent (often first gen immigrant) kids to succeed (by offering free test prep and then sending them to rigorous, challenging schools.)

I'm entirely sure that you are a white liberal woman.

+100. Exactly right. This NYC magnet high school grad looked into Walls. Kid got a spot but didn't take it. The interview was a complete joke.

This is not NYC. Why is everyone on this board comparing the two? You all went to Bronx Science. Congrats. Move to NYC and apply there. Some of your kids’ classmates at Ivies will have graduated from Walls.

I went to Lowell San Fran, my spouse to Brooklyn Tech.

Why compare anything when it's easier not to compare? Why not just whitewash the reality that Walls is seriously second rate as compared to bona fide urban magnet programs in other large US cities if it makes you feel good? While you're at it, wish not away the truth that Walls is on a downward trajectory, graduating the first class comprised without standardized testing in admissions, a shameful, highly politicized development.

The fact that a small number of Walls students crack Ivies and other highly competitive colleges nonetheless, mainly by dint of their hard work outside the classroom, is neither here nor there.

You're completely wrong about the downward trajectory, at least as of this year's senior class. More than "a small number" have already gotten into Ivies and other highly competitive colleges, and we're only in early decision time right now.

But based on my family's 3.5 years of experience there, I completely agree that Walls is second rate. HOWEVER, it's what we've got. We don't have Bronx Science or Lowell and never will, at least not in a reasonable time frame. Wouldn't it make more sense to try to press for things we maybe *could* have, like a more meaningful selection process and more challenging academic offerings?

Sure, look elsewhere after 25 years EotP. Look to BASIS when you didn't get a spot? Look to a 40-50L private when you can hardly afford summer camps? Look to JR witihout access unless you go the dodgy address route. One can hope for Walls or Banneker, but the odds aren't great and McKinnley doesn't seem worth it. Our tax dollars at work.

Anonymous wrote:Jealous.

Of what? The suburban option? Can you move?

We have one kid at Walls and have been happy with the core classes so far. It is not a STEM-focused curriculum so if you are prioritizing that I would look elsewhere.

Jealous.

Suburban school where my ex resides offering much more serious STEM. Kid will stay with my ex on weeknights. I'd have gone for Walls w/out the option. I'll see less of my kid than I'd like during high school years this way and he'll have to make new school friends, but undoubtedly worth it. Kid says he wants to be a doctor.

+100. Exactly right. This NYC magnet high school grad looked into Walls. Kid got a spot but didn't take it. The interview was a complete joke.