DCPS School Planning Team here -- ask us anything about Van Ness Elementary Schooll!

[DCPSschoolplanning]

Hi DC Urban Moms and Dads!

We’re writing to you from DC Public Schools Central Office on the School Planning and Implementation Team. We were inspired by a recent thread here on Brookland Middle School (opening Fall 2015) to give people an opportunity to ask some questions and give feedback on the school planning process.

This thread will focus on Van Ness Elementary, opening in the Navy Yard next fall. If you have questions/comments about the school planning process, boundaries, or anything else Van Ness, we’ll be checking in here today and tomorrow to try to answer any questions you may have.

If you’re interested in hearing about The Re-envisioning Roosevelt High School project or Brookland Middle School, check out the threads below:

Roosevelt: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/431508.page
Brookland: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/431504.page#6068516

[Anonymous]

Sorry to be off topic, but could you please tell us if Hearst Elementary will have PS3 next year? Strangely, no one at the school/PTA seems to know the answer to this question and DCPS has not made a peep. There is a long backstory here, but we will spare you the details. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

How can other schools get the guaranteed PK3 and PK4 admission that Van Ness has? I would like our Title I neighborhood school to have it.

[Anonymous]

Are there any publicly available documents describing decisions already made and the timeline moving forward?

My understanding is the school will open with pk3 through k students. Which school is the by right school for children living in the boundary who are in 1st through 5th grade?

Has a principal or person been identified who can begin engaging the community and making decisions on curriculum, teacher hiring, etc?

Thanks!

[DCPSschoolplanning]

Anonymous wrote:How can other schools get the guaranteed PK3 and PK4 admission that Van Ness has? I would like our Title I neighborhood school to have it.

Historically, Pre-K 3 and Pre-K 4 are all lottery-based in DCPS, including for in-boundary families. Per the boundaries and feeders recommendations, we plan to move towards universal neighborhood by-right Pre-K though as you can imagine, that takes aligning facilities to potential enrollment which may be a multi-year process. For SY15-16, we plan to pilot this effort in 5 of our schools – Amidon-Bowen, Van Ness, Brookland at Bunker Hill, Stanton, and Burroughs. More information can be found on pages 3-5 of the implementation summary: http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/COMMUNITY/Narrative%20Student%20Assignment%20FINAL.pdf

[Anonymous]

DCPSschoolplanning wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can other schools get the guaranteed PK3 and PK4 admission that Van Ness has? I would like our Title I neighborhood school to have it.

Historically, Pre-K 3 and Pre-K 4 are all lottery-based in DCPS, including for in-boundary families. Per the boundaries and feeders recommendations, we plan to move towards universal neighborhood by-right Pre-K though as you can imagine, that takes aligning facilities to potential enrollment which may be a multi-year process. For SY15-16, we plan to pilot this effort in 5 of our schools – Amidon-Bowen, Van Ness, Brookland at Bunker Hill, Stanton, and Burroughs. More information can be found on pages 3-5 of the implementation summary: http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/COMMUNITY/Narrative%20Student%20Assignment%20FINAL.pdf

Thanks but you didn't answer my question. If I want our school to have that in a future year, what could I do?

[DCPSschoolplanning]

Anonymous wrote:Are there any publicly available documents describing decisions already made and the timeline moving forward?

My understanding is the school will open with pk3 through k students. Which school is the by right school for children living in the boundary who are in 1st through 5th grade?

Has a principal or person been identified who can begin engaging the community and making decisions on curriculum, teacher hiring, etc?

Thanks!

While we have confirmed PK3 and PK4 for SY15, we are in the final stages of a decision for Kindergarten. More information on that to come soon! For 1st through 5th grade students, the school of right is Amidon-Bowen Elementary School, and students enrolled at Amidon who have younger siblings entering Pre-K 3 or Pre-K 4 will qualify for a sibling preference there, reducing inconvenience for families.

We have a team currently working with the community during the planning process, which includes the Office of Early Childhood Education. We are also grateful to community organizations like the Van Ness Parent Group, returning residents to the Capper Carrollsburg redevelopment, and the James Creek Resident Council for helping us connect with the community.

The Deputy Chief of Early Childhood Education, Monica Liang Aguirre, will be acting as school principal until that leader is hired in the spring. She has six years of experience as a principal at Oyster Adams Bilingual. For more specific information about lottery and curriculum, please take a look at the presentation we used at our November community meetings: https://vannesses.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/111814_112014-van-ness-es-community-meetings-presentation.pdf.

We plan to hold a meeting in early January to provide information on curriculum options at Van Ness and guidance on the MySchoolDC lottery, and we will widely advertise the dates once we have confirmed. In the meantime, if you would like to be added to our listserv, please email us at [e-mail].

[DCPSschoolplanning]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to be off topic, but could you please tell us if Hearst Elementary will have PS3 next year? Strangely, no one at the school/PTA seems to know the answer to this question and DCPS has not made a peep. There is a long backstory here, but we will spare you the details. Thank you.

Our office doesn't work on Hearst Elementary, so we're unfortunately not able to speak to that question. We've forwarded it to the Office of Early Childhood Education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

DCPSschoolplanning wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can other schools get the guaranteed PK3 and PK4 admission that Van Ness has? I would like our Title I neighborhood school to have it.

Historically, Pre-K 3 and Pre-K 4 are all lottery-based in DCPS, including for in-boundary families. Per the boundaries and feeders recommendations, we plan to move towards universal neighborhood by-right Pre-K though as you can imagine, that takes aligning facilities to potential enrollment which may be a multi-year process. For SY15-16, we plan to pilot this effort in 5 of our schools – Amidon-Bowen, Van Ness, Brookland at Bunker Hill, Stanton, and Burroughs. More information can be found on pages 3-5 of the implementation summary: http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/COMMUNITY/Narrative%20Student%20Assignment%20FINAL.pdf

Thanks but you didn't answer my question. If I want our school to have that in a future year, what could I do?

You will have it when it's time per the DME.

[Anonymous]

Will there be before and aftercare at Van Ness? What will the hours be? What will the price be? Who will operate it? Also,
Amidon-Bowen has an extended school day. Will Van Ness?

These will make a difference in which families can use the school, and thus who will pick it in the lottery.

Finally, will Van Ness have uniforms?

[DCPSschoolplanning]

Thanks so much for all your thoughtful questions! We've read through them all, and are working to reply to everyone. We're heading off to a community meeting now, but will be back tomorrow with more responses, so keep the questions coming!

[Anonymous]

Thanks DCPS for starting this discussion! It is great to reach families in all types of forums. As an alternate resource we welcome parents and caregivers to ask questions of the Van Ness Parent Group and join our community as we frequently send out updates to the "Parents on the Capitol Riverfront" listserv.

[e-mail]
www.facebook.com/VanNessParentGroup
@VNPG2015

[Anonymous]

I live in the Capitol Riverfront (within the Van Ness Boundary), and I want to know what we can do to influence what the chose curriculum will be at the school. Our family (and a lot of our neighbors) would really like to see a rigorous (maybe IB) program set up at Van Ness Elementary School. We want an elementary school that can prepare students to enter the more challenging middle schools, and eventually prepare students to enter the more challenging high schools in the city. What can we do to make sure Van Ness has a curriculum that provides this to students? We really believe that this will drive interest in Van Ness, and will have families living in the Capitol Riverfront to want to send their kids there. It also will have the effect of making the Capitol Riverfront a place for families to settle down and move to. There are literally thousands of units of housing planned for the area in the next 1 - 3 years, and ensuring that Van Ness has a challenging curriculum will absolutely make it a desirable DCPS Elementary School.

[DCPSschoolplanning]

Anonymous wrote:Will there be before and aftercare at Van Ness? What will the hours be? What will the price be? Who will operate it? Also,
Amidon-Bowen has an extended school day. Will Van Ness?

These will make a difference in which families can use the school, and thus who will pick it in the lottery.

Finally, will Van Ness have uniforms?

We realize that these are important considerations when submitting preferences in the lottery. We are working hard to answer these questions, and we plan to explore the extended day option at Van Ness. We do not have information on before/after care and uniforms at Van Ness right now, but we will take your questions into consideration as we are planning.

[DCPSschoolplanning]

Anonymous wrote:I live in the Capitol Riverfront (within the Van Ness Boundary), and I want to know what we can do to influence what the chose curriculum will be at the school. Our family (and a lot of our neighbors) would really like to see a rigorous (maybe IB) program set up at Van Ness Elementary School. We want an elementary school that can prepare students to enter the more challenging middle schools, and eventually prepare students to enter the more challenging high schools in the city. What can we do to make sure Van Ness has a curriculum that provides this to students? We really believe that this will drive interest in Van Ness, and will have families living in the Capitol Riverfront to want to send their kids there. It also will have the effect of making the Capitol Riverfront a place for families to settle down and move to. There are literally thousands of units of housing planned for the area in the next 1 - 3 years, and ensuring that Van Ness has a challenging curriculum will absolutely make it a desirable DCPS Elementary School.

For curriculum information, please take a look at our community meeting presentation, particularly pages 15-23: https://vannesses.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/111814_112014-van-ness-es-community-meetings-presentation.pdf

We are still looking for input on curriculum from the community. You can take a look at the presentation and email us at [e-mail] with your thoughts, or come to our follow-up meeting in January to join the conversation there. We will be posting more information through our twitter feed (@VanNessDCPS) and via email as well. We look forward to seeing you then!