As colder temperatures and cloudier skies quickly approach, many students at Walls experience something known as seasonal depression. Weighing in on the aspects of seasonal depression, SWW school psychologist Dr. Lori McDowell described the occurrence with the term “Seasonal Affective Depression,” or SAD. “When the time changes, people might begin to feel some internal and psychological changes.” She explained how this can cause mood fluctuations, fatigue, prolonged sadness,

New Walls students soon come to dread a certain pile of papers: copious homework assignments. Students turn this dreaded part of the day into their own routine to maximize efficiency. After a few months of school this year, students from all grade levels have figured out what works for them. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors take similar and different techniques with some long and short homework tasks:

Gleaming new banners, the smell of warm mozzarella sticks, and shiny bright yellow wallpaper. A new off-campus lunch spot has opened for SWW students in our own Western Market.  Gigi’s Pasta is the latest venture from Constantina Economides and Stephanos Andreou, a Greek-American couple well known in D.C. 's dining and nightlife scene. The pair previously ran Barcode and Sakerum and currently operate Tokyo Pearl. Gigi’s marks their first Italian restaurant, inspired by their

When you enter into a School Without Walls open house, one of the first things you see is that it is truly a school, without walls. The city is our classroom, but not just the city, the world. This might sound appealing in the moment, but after closer consideration, it might not be as plausible as before. As of January 2nd, DCPS established a new policy regarding field trips. All educational overland travel now needs to be executed through the new central field trip policy wh

In the media, lunch managers are often portrayed as distant and careless to what is being put on student’s lunch trays. There is no question: lunch managers often have a bad reputation. But in the corner of Commons A, Ms. Ashly leads the cafeteria at Walls. While she creates a welcoming environment that students get school lunch from, she also breaks stereotypes about what a “lunch lady” should be.

When Wall’s senior, Lucy Crino woke up on October 15th, she didn’t know that by the end of the week she would become a national champion.

On Nov. 4, School Without Walls’ Bike Club hosted its first bike to school day of the year. Around twenty students participated, meeting up at different points along the Rock Creek Multi-Use Trail or at Lincoln Park. On November 20, they held another, less successful one, with half the amount of students participating.

On November 8th, 2025, the Recording Academy revealed the nominees for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards. Kendrick Lamar leads this year’s nominations with 9, largely for his album GNX. Close behind is Lady Gaga with 7, and Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, and Leon Thomas with 6 each. 

November 12th marked the end of the longest government shutdown the United States has ever seen. Although shutdowns are fairly common at the beginning of a fiscal year, the effects of this year’s are more serious than many may realize. It lasted 43 days and affected people's lives in many ways, spanning from government furlough, to travel delays, to food stamp programs shutting down. 

On Nov. 6, Sean Dunn, aka the ‘Sandwich Guy,’ was found not guilty by a jury after almost 3 months of legal proceedings.  Dunn, who threw a subway sandwich at a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officer in August, was charged with felony assault by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia after the D.C. Superior Court informed Dunn they would not prosecute him. However, a grand jury found insubstantial grounds for Dunn’s prosecution, and therefore refused to ind