A venerable and valued West High School academic institution has been cut from next year’s schedule, and this time the immediate blame lies with dwindling enrollment projections for Madison high schools and middle schools, not the perennial budget cuts caused by state-imposed revenue caps.
The Writing Lab, a 30-year tradition at West which provides students with one-on-one help for writing papers and college essays, will be cut next year, Principal Ed Holmes confirmed.
John Howe, chair of West’s English department, said the Writing Lab gets about 900 visits a year from students seeking help for everything from developing early ideas or themes to preparing final drafts.
Students get help, he said, with English papers, but also with writing assignments from virtually every other class that has a written component.
“Every year, we have students who have graduated that come back to West, telling us how well they were prepared for college writing assignments because of the Writing Lab,” Howe said.
Much more on the demise of West’s writing lab here.