Jonathan Paul Loomis
November 6, 1998
Field Experience: Education
Dr. Chace
School Without Walls
The student must have at least a C average, and be able to read at grade level. They can not have any problems with attendance or behavior. Other than these four items, the school admits DC students on a first come, first serve basis.
The school believes that their high school students will receive the best possible education if the entire city is the classroom. For this reason the school tries its best to make use of the resources available in the city. This is, of course, also the root of the school's name.
The school is primarily African-American. There was a noticeable minority of White students there as well, but I did not notice any Asian or Hispanic students. The principal indicated that after an almost 3-1 female to male ratio, the school had made significant progress toward evening out the balance between the sexes. I noted that there was still a majority of females. The school is home to about 350 students, of grades 9 through 12, and a variety of economic backgrounds. However, it did not appear that there were any wealthy or upper class students at the school.
The school has a combination of long and short periods, making it a sort of crossbreed between a standard schedule and a block schedule. Periods ranged from an hour to two and a half hours, with afternoons being entirely available to those students with internships.
The school's curriculum is centered around a core of math, science, humanities, and social studies, with a variety of electives. The school is unique in the DCPS in that it is the only school to require that students take and internship to graduate. Students are also required to do community service.
I really did not think that SWW was all that different from other high schools in its extra-curricular activities. They still did plays, albeit at a different location. They still had a variety of competitive sports teams, although they were started by the students and not the faculty. The only thing I found to be missing were after school clubs, which I found no mention of. This, of course, does not mean that there are none.
As I just mentioned, the students are responsible for founding those teams that interest them. I think this is an outstanding plan. Too many students go to high school just to play on the team. I also think it is great experience for students to have to organize groups and lobby for the creation of something they really want.
In most of the classroom settings I observed the students were holding discussions or were actively engaged with what the teacher was talking about. That is to say that he allowed their answers to his questions to do much of the guiding of what he was teaching. In the music class I noted that the teacher was working only with the sopranos, while the other students were just left to find something to occupy themselves. In the math class they were working alone on a set of problems while the teacher sat at her desk.
This is perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the school, and I would say the disciplinary code is mostly a result of the principal's personality. She will not take excuses. She holds the students accountable for their actions. She holds them to a high standard of self-control, and will not accept failing to live up to those expectations. She demands most of all, that the boys act like gentlemen and the girls like ladies. If there is a problem (and she does not just foolishly overlook a problem when it arises) she manages to come up with some extraordinarily embarrassing way of making the student feel guilty for letting her, and as she says, the school down. They seem to work because the students love her and they are exceptionally courteous to one another and to us as visitors.
I personally believe they are a wonderful idea. They offer a chance for students to go to a different school if they feel trapped in their old one, and they offer centers of expertise within the school district. However, they are also magnates for public money, good teachers, and attention, which could lead to administrative neglect of other equally needy public schools.