GW’s Dynamic Relationship with School Without Walls

An influx of students that appear under the age of 18 on GW’s campus does not necessarily mean that freshmen are getting smaller.

With the completion of the new School Without Walls building on G Street this summer, there has been an increased presence of high school students around campus, particularly during the lunchtime rush. Students from School Without Walls, oftentimes simply referred to as Walls, are allowed to leave their school’s campus for lunch, and many take advantage of the GW dining venues, particularly those in the basement of Ivory Tower.

Some students have complained amongst themselves about the long lines during the Walls lunch hour and the overall rowdiness of Walls students in the Ivory Commons.

“Most of the time I go to hop in line at Potbelly or Pita Pit and after looking at it or waiting for a minute and seeing how slowly it’s moving, I abandon my lunch plans,” said Kristen Sereci ’12. “Even when I’m not eating, but it’s around lunch time, there are SWW kids on the sidewalks and they just tend to be loud and kind of annoying when I’m just trying to get through my day.”

Walls is one of the top schools in the D.C. Public Schools system based on graduation rate, average SAT scores, and attendance, and while some of the students might let off some steam around lunchtime, these interactions are only a small part of the integrated relationship between Walls and GW.

“[GW and Walls] have been collaborating for years,” said Sheila Harris, the former principal of SWW and current director of the GW Early College Program. “The relationship began as a use agreement, then we decided to expand the agreement to be more programmatic.”

GW used to use the Walls building after hours and Walls was given use of GW classrooms for extra class space during the day. Students at Walls continue to use the Lerner Health and Wellness Center for physical education classes, and students use GW dining venues for lunch because Walls lacks its own cafeteria.

Over the years, the two schools have collaborated in other ways as well, such as student teaching partnerships between walls and GW’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development and various mentoring programs.

A new program was introduced this year that takes the relationship between GW and Walls to the next level. This fall, 14 high school juniors from The School Without Walls enrolled in GW classes as part of the first cohort of the GW Early College Program.

Students apply at the end of their sophomore year to take college courses throughout their last two years of high school. When they graduate, these students receive an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts alongside their high school diploma.

The majority of this year’s Walls junior class applied for the program and GW admissions decided who was accepted. Harris said, “There’s 14 of them and they are a very diverse group of students.”

These students are given full scholarship for their college courses but still have to pay for books and supplies. This year, however, the program was given a grant that covered much of these costs.

“There are so many people supporting and investing in this program, and I wanted to be a part of it,” said Erica Lamberson, a student in the program. “I am honored to have been selected, and I am trying to make the most out of these two years.”

Upon the completion of their program, the students are encouraged to apply to GW and other universities to continue their education and work toward a Bachelor’s degree.

“I will definitely continue my education to get a Bachelor’s degree, whether it is at GW or another university,” said Lamberson. “There is no doubt about it.”

“The students must go through the same admissions process after the program,” said Harris. “It doesn’t hurt, however, that they have an Associate’s Degree, and the fact that the admission people already know them doesn’t hurt either.”

The students in the pre-college program are fully integrated into Walls but also full-time freshman at GW. “We’ve aligned what they need to graduate high school with GW courses,” said Harris. Any classes that for which a college course replacement could not be found the students can take at Walls, such as physical education.

“I feel somewhat integrated into both GW and SWW, and I probably fall somewhere in between,” said Lamberson. “I don’t really know where my educational identity lies at this point, but I feel connected to both places.”

These students also received a Walls advisor and a GW Guide to Personal Success (GPS) guide. Harris said, “They have the best of both world’s.”

“I am definitely gaining early experience in college life, academically and socially, that will help me in the future,” said Lamberson. “Also, having all of these people supporting and investing in us…is really motivating and inspiring and it will help propel me through life’s opportunities and challenges to come.”