KIPP DC WILL Academy - PCS

Our daughter goes to PRE-K3 here... I am so impressed by the quality of the teachers, administration, and staff. Great playground, both the larger one for the older kids and the dedicated Pre-K playground. Couldn't be happier!

This is the worse school year for Walker jones 2021-2022. I don't know what is in the water ,but this school is not the same within the previous years of my children attending there. I mean the teacher turnover is the worse and i never seen that before. Its to the point where a teacher come and then in the next month they are gone. Every-time I turn around a teacher is leaving because they can't control the children there or they just can't deal with how the staff is being treated with limited resources. There been fights after fights left to right with the children and people coming up to the school to jump them or fights in the bathrooms. No resources for the children or anything or any after school activities activities( Art Club,Chess Club,Beyond The Bell). Granted they have Saturday School, but what children come to that? And of course a basketball team but thats every school. But what about those who want another outlet? I do give credit to the teachers who are there for the children and trying their best to come together for the children, but they can't do it all alone. I really miss the old days of Walker Jones. It was more parent and teacher involvement. They use to have Girls On The Run,Girl Scouts and even a School Garden that is now overgrown and just sitting there. The children in there are going crazy because they are bored with no resources at all and no one not even the principle is doing anything. I don't know if the budget is low because enrollment or what. But they need to fix it before they lose more children and shutdown for good. I just know my children will no longer being attending. Which is sad they been there since Headstart and this is the lowest this school ever been.

I had an incredible experience while teaching under the leadership of Principal Mair for seven years. Those years spent with her and my associates were truly amazing. When she was replaced by our new principal everything changed for the worse. I only hope the very best to all of the remaining staff.

We had high hopes for our son's first year at Garrison Elementary, particularly after Principal Kip spoke so highly of the staff and described the 4thgrade class that my son would be joining as "unusually kind" . My son's experience has been far from kind. Garrison failed to meet my expectations of providing a safe learning environment for my child, which has now resulted in an unexpected mid-year withdrawal.Bullying/School SafetyBetween August-December, my son has been bullied on more than one occasion. I met with with Principal Kip after the first incident to express myconcern regarding my son's safety and more specifically, that no one from the school had contacted me to inform me of the incident. Theschool officer was on the playground during recess and was aware of the incident, but the incident was never reported.It's now January and yet another bullying incident recently occurred on the playground during recess. An adult eventually intervened and escorted my son to see the school nurse. The school officer was made aware of the incident and yet again, no one contacted me to inform me that my son was being seen by the school nurse in relation to this incident (not the nurse, the school officer, or anyone else from the school).CommunicationCommunication needs improvement, in addition to the lack of communication related to the above-mentioned incidents. I raised concern with not having a parent teacher's conference. Principal Kip assured me that a parent teacher conference would be scheduled the following week. Still no parent teacher conference was ever scheduled. Communication concerning field trips has been minimal. For example, permission slips have been sent home for signature, seemingly more so focused on waiving liability to DCPS rather than providing adequate details beyond the date and location. Other pertinent info (i.e., departure and return time, plans for lunch, method of transportation) was never shared. The fourth grade class rode the Metrobus for their last field trip due to financial constraints rather than for a learning experience. While I can appreciate the creativity of the teachers making it happen, perhaps the PTO or individual parents may have been willing to support if this was communicated in advance.On a positive note, I do have to say the IEP team (Ms. Dorn, Mr Saxton, and Mr. H in particular) were genuinely committed to doing what was in the best interest of my son throughout the IEP evaluation process.

Teachers yell at the kids and this not good at all The Principal should have a word with the teacher who yells or may intervene in other ways. This will affects kids mental and emotional behavior.

This school is very poorly run and is disorganized and lacks basic communication with families and teachers. There is no active coaching for teachers. They have a crazy turnover rate and have no plan in place to keep good teachers. There is no social emotional support for students or tier one behavior protocols. Incidents would happen and admin would ignore the issues at hand and refuse to talk to families. I would not recommend this school to anyone.

Overall our experience has been great. The teachers truly go the extra mile for all the students, regardless of whether they are behind or advanced. Most of the kids in my child's class are right on grade level and there is also an advanced reading group. My child has loved all of the teachers and also loves the family events. We are so excited and proud to be part of a school that is improving.

10, I love kipp and I always love what they stand for