Anonymous wrote:Northwood is getting a new and larger building. Kennedy just got a larger building. Their space will alleviate Blair's overcrowding, and probably some of Wheaton's and Einstein's. Woodward is reopening as a new building. Its space will alleviate WJ's overcrowding and probably the rest of Wheaton's and Einstein's. BCC and Whitman are in the study too to allow for additional options that may make things work better.
Look at the projections (currently to 2029-30):
WW/BCC/WJ
Capacity 6992
Enrollment 7359 (367 over capacity, or 5%)
Blair/Northwood/Kennedy
Capacity 7308
Enrollment 7302 (6 under capacity, or 0%)
Einstein/Wheaton
Capacity 3839
Enrollment 4756 (917 over capacity, or 24%)
This includes new Northwood capacity but not Woodward. And WJ has all the overage in the first set -- WW & BCC remain under capacity (and could take on some small amount of shift). And Blair has all the overage in the second set, while both Wheaton and Einstein are over in the third. This is versus current catchments.
Even to get to that enrollment = capacity for the middle three, you'd need to bus large numbers past Blair and up to Northwood, shifting some of Northwood to Kennedy. And that's with none of the overage from Einstein & Wheaton -- all that Northwood & Kennedy capacity is used already.
This means large portions of Einstein and Wheaton will need to go to Woodward or shift to BCC, presuming Woodward naturally assumes more of the existing WJ catchment than needed to alleviate WJ's overcrowding. Possibly even some of the lower Northwood and Blair catchments to even out the enrollment vs. capacity once Woodward's 2160 comes online after Northwood moves out (the additional 540 might come online in a later phase, now, if funded). That's 882 seats across 8 high schools in 2029-30, and we know that the DCC is likely to continue growing faster than WW/BCC/WJ after the current projection timeline, so there might be greater shifts than some anticipate.
Unless the Ws keep up the pressure, of course. Then we'll have the expected: overcrowded DCC and under capacity Ws, with no solution for inside-the-beltway/east of the MARC tracks.
Why is it expected that Ws will be under capacity and DCC over when Woodward is being built to relieve overcrowding at WJ AND DCC?
Isn’t that why there will be a massive boundary study involving all these schools?
Woodward is not going to be just for WJ students. Current DCC students will go there too
It's about that "don't send those students over here" influence that has WW folks trying to keep out of the study altogether (they don't want the hoi polloi from BCC), the BCC folks trying to limit any consequent shift from Silver Spring and the WJ folks on the Woodward side saying, "Sure, maybe nicer parts of Kensingson, but not further over -- they're much closer to Einstein and Wheaton so they should stay there!" in the face of the prospect of larger swaths of those catchments being shifted to be with them. And then there's the prospect of a broader or reconfigured consortium arrangement that might result from all of that.
MCPS, for its part, has been swayed in the past by such influence (e.g., BCC being "saved" from being part of the original DCC, with focus shifting more north-south than east-west). It also has walked back rhetoric that brought Woodward reopening to the table in the first place, initially more broadly inclusive of handling DCC overcrowding, then more limited, with thoughts that DCC-area draw to an eventual magnet at Woodward might be all they would implement. (That might get placed elsewhere, now, with the last Woodward phase in jeopardy, or abandoned altogether.)
We'll have to see, given the numbers, but if past is prologue, then the expected might be as above.
Citation needed.
Yes, it's misleading to say that since Woodward isn't even in the DCC or near it. It would make almost no sense to bus DCC kids crosscounty. There are much easier solutions.
Great.
Take your time machine back a dozen years or so and convince MCPS, the BOE, the County Council and the W clusters that additional capacity for DCC in excess of any possible single renovation to Northwood or Einstein has to come before or at the very same time as building a new school (that became the reopened Woodward) addressing WJ overcrowding.
Or take it two decades farther back and convince them not to convert/lease out all the local school facilities that they closed so that there would be more options.
Or get on your horse to get an adequate new facility or expansion in the DCC area right quick so that it's presence can be figured in to the pending boundary study.
Oh, and ve willing to cover any of that with county funds, either shifting from other priorities or increasing taxation.
Then there wouldn't be a need to shift populations such that you clutch your pearls.
Or accept that this is what is being reaped from having sown the current situation. They'd rather be close to home, but not if it means in an overcrowded facility, inadequate or inequitable one. And if you think Georgia Ave to Old Georgetown Rd is really cross-county, I invite you to study a map.
Georgia Ave to Old Georgetown isn’t cross county which is why DCC kids will go to Woodward
Yes, it is really far and you pass Einstein and other HS to get to Woodward. I don't know why W families think DCC families WANT to go to a W school or even BCC. Many of us don't for a variety of reasons.
I was addressing the comments along the lines of WJ families don’t want DCC kids at Woodward, which is not true. But so many people on this board cling so desperately to the W v DCC paradigm that they can’t see any discussion or issue except through that lense.
I have no idea whether DCC parents want their kids to go to Woodward. Some probably do, some probably don’t care, and some are probably opposed. You know like everything in life
I am trying not to be too invested in the outcome of the boundary study as a parent in the WJ cluster. I take it on face value that since the study will involve 9 high schools, my kids could end up at a lot of different places.
I am surprised to hear people from DCC express concerns about bus rides though. I Guess it goes to show that these issues are complex.
Why would you be surprised? You have to remember in HS there are lots of after-school activities. Sometimes they don't start till later, like 5 so kids need to go back and forth, which is a nightmare if it's that far and traffic. The after school buses are limited and don't go back and forth for everything.
I don't get why W parents assume we want our kids at your schools. We don't, or we'd move so we could attend.
Agreed! But when anyone from a W school says they are worried about bus rides because of activities etc we are told we are hoarding privilege, racist and whatever else
W parents do not assume DCC parents want their kids at W schools. But many people a few comments ago were concerned DCC would be over crowded and W under enrolled, which seems inconsistent with the stated purpose of Woodward being to serve WJ and DCC areas
The problem is there are not bus rides for everyone. It’s two miles as a rule. Our kids would have to cross several major roads, sometimes during rush hour and most streets don’t have sidewalks. And, if they have activities at school the activity bus, if you have one has limited times and stops. We are often driving our kids twice a day to school, so four to six trips daily with two kids. Sone activities don’t start till 4 or 5 pm. It’s much more doable with two mikes than four to five miles.
I don’t care if your school is under enrolled. I care about distance as between school, school activities and outside activities already spend several hours a day driving. It may work for a kid in no activities who can just catch the bus but with no bus service, school and outside activities those few extra mikes each way add a huge time difference for us.
A good argument for more public buses and more sidewalks. The county and state don't provide adequate transit service and adequate facilities for kids who walk, skateboard, scoot, or bike to or from school. Then MCPS has to make up for that failure in their capital and operating budgets.
More sidewalks would be helpful but public buses would not fully work as they don’t go everywhere and it’s not realistic for the county to provide. We’ve petitioned the county multiple times over the years for sidewalks and we’re told no. We ere lucky after many tries just to get stop signs put in.
Mcps has the responsibility to provide buses for schools.
"More public buses" does not mean "Eliminate all MCPS school bus service for everyone everywhere in the county", it simply means "more public buses". Public buses help high school kids get places, before and after school. The county has a whole program for this, called Kids Ride Free.
Thats great if it would work for your kids, but it wouldn't where we live.
That
is
the
whole
point
of
more
sidewalks
and
more
public transit.
Ok, that doesn’t work in all neighborhoods and it does not address crossing major roads at rush hour with no crossing guards.
Are you seriously arguing against sidewalks and more public transit, on the basis that more sidewalks and more public transit won't fix every single problem for every single person in Montgomery County? Is that where we're at now? If it doesn't fix every problem for every person everywhere, it's trash and we shouldn't do it?
That’s all nice but realistically there will not be bus routes from the schools to all neighborhoods and multiple times a day. Nor would a lot of families want their kids on it at night. Sidewalks would be nice but will not fix the crossing of several major roads to get to school too. MOCO does transit studies. Transit for students is mcps or parents.
Transit for lots of students is RideOn and Metrobus. Even at night. Students also walk, ride bikes, ride scooters, ride skateboards. Even at night. If you haven't seen them, start looking.
Nobody, at least on this thread, has called for the wholescale abolition of MCPS school bus transportation. However, it's an undeniable fact, or at least I would have thought it was undeniable, that if MCPS could REDUCE the amount of school bus transportation, MCPS would then be able to do a lot of other things better - not least because there would be money to spend on those other things that wasn't being spend on school bus transportation.
But go off on your "transit for students is mcps or parents" beliefs, I guess.
Anonymous wrote:I don't see the problem here. So what if they delay an auditorium for a couple of years?
Are they delaying the courses that require an auditorium? No. They are trying to pretend like every school will play nice and share what limited space they have available. It’s such as a shame how little MCPS values or understands the performing arts. Have you not paid attention to decades of brain research?
Most kids who are in the arts do it outside of mcps.
No no no no - arts and music in school is essential
They are good but most programs are ok at best and kids who are good are in private lessons and outside organizations too. Be real, you think the top playing musicians only do mcps. Nope.
Sorry MCPS kids, no arts or music in school for you, you might enjoy it, you might benefit from it, but if you're not the best, some random on DCUM thinks there's no point in it for you.
The schools can still have it without an auditorium. That is the point. Private orchestras and theater companies do it all the time. And mcps schools can share the auditorium. It’s easy to get from wj to Woodward, for example.
Anonymous wrote:I don't see the problem here. So what if they delay an auditorium for a couple of years?
Are they delaying the courses that require an auditorium? No. They are trying to pretend like every school will play nice and share what limited space they have available. It’s such as a shame how little MCPS values or understands the performing arts. Have you not paid attention to decades of brain research?
Most kids who are in the arts do it outside of mcps.
No no no no - arts and music in school is essential
They are good but most programs are ok at best and kids who are good are in private lessons and outside organizations too. Be real, you think the top playing musicians only do mcps. Nope.
Sorry MCPS kids, no arts or music in school for you, you might enjoy it, you might benefit from it, but if you're not the best, some random on DCUM thinks there's no point in it for you.
The schools can still have it without an auditorium. That is the point. Private orchestras and theater companies do it all the time. And mcps schools can share the auditorium. It’s easy to get from wj to Woodward, for example.
I believe area churches still let out their spaces for public school madrigal recitals, wind ensembles, etc. They used to 20 years ago. So that’s another decent option for certain productions.
Many U.S. public high schools and junior highs don’t have purpose built auditoria. Often outdoor amphitheaters and cafetoria suffice for cash strapped districts. We are very lucky in this area.
Anonymous wrote:I don't see the problem here. So what if they delay an auditorium for a couple of years?
Are they delaying the courses that require an auditorium? No. They are trying to pretend like every school will play nice and share what limited space they have available. It’s such as a shame how little MCPS values or understands the performing arts. Have you not paid attention to decades of brain research?
Most kids who are in the arts do it outside of mcps.
No no no no - arts and music in school is essential
They are good but most programs are ok at best and kids who are good are in private lessons and outside organizations too. Be real, you think the top playing musicians only do mcps. Nope.
Sorry MCPS kids, no arts or music in school for you, you might enjoy it, you might benefit from it, but if you're not the best, some random on DCUM thinks there's no point in it for you.
The schools can still have it without an auditorium. That is the point. Private orchestras and theater companies do it all the time. And mcps schools can share the auditorium. It’s easy to get from wj to Woodward, for example.
I believe area churches still let out their spaces for public school madrigal recitals, wind ensembles, etc. They used to 20 years ago. So that’s another decent option for certain productions.
Many U.S. public high schools and junior highs don’t have purpose built auditoria. Often outdoor amphitheaters and cafetoria suffice for cash strapped districts. We are very lucky in this area.
It’s not that we’re lucky. It’s that we pay a lot for the services we have so we have nice things and expect to continue to have nice things.
Anonymous wrote:I don't see the problem here. So what if they delay an auditorium for a couple of years?
Are they delaying the courses that require an auditorium? No. They are trying to pretend like every school will play nice and share what limited space they have available. It’s such as a shame how little MCPS values or understands the performing arts. Have you not paid attention to decades of brain research?
Most kids who are in the arts do it outside of mcps.
No no no no - arts and music in school is essential
They are good but most programs are ok at best and kids who are good are in private lessons and outside organizations too. Be real, you think the top playing musicians only do mcps. Nope.
Sorry MCPS kids, no arts or music in school for you, you might enjoy it, you might benefit from it, but if you're not the best, some random on DCUM thinks there's no point in it for you.
The schools can still have it without an auditorium. That is the point. Private orchestras and theater companies do it all the time. And mcps schools can share the auditorium. It’s easy to get from wj to Woodward, for example.
I believe area churches still let out their spaces for public school madrigal recitals, wind ensembles, etc. They used to 20 years ago. So that’s another decent option for certain productions.
Many U.S. public high schools and junior highs don’t have purpose built auditoria. Often outdoor amphitheaters and cafetoria suffice for cash strapped districts. We are very lucky in this area.
I have never heard of a madrigal recital in MCPS. Have they been going on all around me and I somehow missed it?
Anonymous wrote:I don't see the problem here. So what if they delay an auditorium for a couple of years?
Are they delaying the courses that require an auditorium? No. They are trying to pretend like every school will play nice and share what limited space they have available. It’s such as a shame how little MCPS values or understands the performing arts. Have you not paid attention to decades of brain research?
Most kids who are in the arts do it outside of mcps.
No no no no - arts and music in school is essential
They are good but most programs are ok at best and kids who are good are in private lessons and outside organizations too. Be real, you think the top playing musicians only do mcps. Nope.
Sorry MCPS kids, no arts or music in school for you, you might enjoy it, you might benefit from it, but if you're not the best, some random on DCUM thinks there's no point in it for you.
The schools can still have it without an auditorium. That is the point. Private orchestras and theater companies do it all the time. And mcps schools can share the auditorium. It’s easy to get from wj to Woodward, for example.
It's easy to get from WJ to Woodward, how? Do you mean "It doesn't take me long to drive from WJ to Woodward"? Because obviously that is not a solution that will work for routinely transporting lots of kids from Woodward to WJ and back, during the school day.
Anonymous wrote:I don't see the problem here. So what if they delay an auditorium for a couple of years?
Are they delaying the courses that require an auditorium? No. They are trying to pretend like every school will play nice and share what limited space they have available. It’s such as a shame how little MCPS values or understands the performing arts. Have you not paid attention to decades of brain research?
Most kids who are in the arts do it outside of mcps.
No no no no - arts and music in school is essential
They are good but most programs are ok at best and kids who are good are in private lessons and outside organizations too. Be real, you think the top playing musicians only do mcps. Nope.
Sorry MCPS kids, no arts or music in school for you, you might enjoy it, you might benefit from it, but if you're not the best, some random on DCUM thinks there's no point in it for you.
The schools can still have it without an auditorium. That is the point. Private orchestras and theater companies do it all the time. And mcps schools can share the auditorium. It’s easy to get from wj to Woodward, for example.
Private orchestras rehearse at night and charge fees. Schools ensembles meet during the school day. You’re not understanding or valuing the fact that the performing arts are a curricular subject that meets during the school day.
Anonymous wrote:I don't see the problem here. So what if they delay an auditorium for a couple of years?
Are they delaying the courses that require an auditorium? No. They are trying to pretend like every school will play nice and share what limited space they have available. It’s such as a shame how little MCPS values or understands the performing arts. Have you not paid attention to decades of brain research?
Most kids who are in the arts do it outside of mcps.
No no no no - arts and music in school is essential
They are good but most programs are ok at best and kids who are good are in private lessons and outside organizations too. Be real, you think the top playing musicians only do mcps. Nope.
Sorry MCPS kids, no arts or music in school for you, you might enjoy it, you might benefit from it, but if you're not the best, some random on DCUM thinks there's no point in it for you.
The schools can still have it without an auditorium. That is the point. Private orchestras and theater companies do it all the time. And mcps schools can share the auditorium. It’s easy to get from wj to Woodward, for example.
Private orchestras rehearse at night and charge fees. Schools ensembles meet during the school day. You’re not understanding or valuing the fact that the performing arts are a curricular subject that meets during the school day.
DP. My understanding is that Woodward will have music classrooms next year, and smaller performance spaces on site.
Not to mention the WJ auditorium is likely booked/planned for most of the year for the 3,000 WJ students, for those participating in the orchestra, band, multiple choirs, dramas, musicals, etc.
The 2,000+ kids from Northwood and the eventual 2,000+ kids from what is eventually the Woodward catchment area should have access to the same.
Kind of how when they re-did BCC it was going to be without a track until the community rallied and Seth Adams realized, "Gee, they do need a track, just like every other HS has." Well Seth, Woodward, for both Northwood and Woodward, needs an auditorium, just like every other HS has.
Anonymous wrote:I don't see the problem here. So what if they delay an auditorium for a couple of years?
Are they delaying the courses that require an auditorium? No. They are trying to pretend like every school will play nice and share what limited space they have available. It’s such as a shame how little MCPS values or understands the performing arts. Have you not paid attention to decades of brain research?
Most kids who are in the arts do it outside of mcps.
No no no no - arts and music in school is essential
They are good but most programs are ok at best and kids who are good are in private lessons and outside organizations too. Be real, you think the top playing musicians only do mcps. Nope.
Sorry MCPS kids, no arts or music in school for you, you might enjoy it, you might benefit from it, but if you're not the best, some random on DCUM thinks there's no point in it for you.
The schools can still have it without an auditorium. That is the point. Private orchestras and theater companies do it all the time. And mcps schools can share the auditorium. It’s easy to get from wj to Woodward, for example.
Look, y'all who keep saying share the WJ spaces: these kids are from Northwood. Do you think it is at all convenient for them to have extra late hours at WJ? Plus the WJ fields and auditorium are about 100% booked.
Anonymous wrote:Northwood is getting a new and larger building. Kennedy just got a larger building. Their space will alleviate Blair's overcrowding, and probably some of Wheaton's and Einstein's. Woodward is reopening as a new building. Its space will alleviate WJ's overcrowding and probably the rest of Wheaton's and Einstein's. BCC and Whitman are in the study too to allow for additional options that may make things work better.
Look at the projections (currently to 2029-30):
WW/BCC/WJ
Capacity 6992
Enrollment 7359 (367 over capacity, or 5%)
Blair/Northwood/Kennedy
Capacity 7308
Enrollment 7302 (6 under capacity, or 0%)
Einstein/Wheaton
Capacity 3839
Enrollment 4756 (917 over capacity, or 24%)
This includes new Northwood capacity but not Woodward. And WJ has all the overage in the first set -- WW & BCC remain under capacity (and could take on some small amount of shift). And Blair has all the overage in the second set, while both Wheaton and Einstein are over in the third. This is versus current catchments.
Even to get to that enrollment = capacity for the middle three, you'd need to bus large numbers past Blair and up to Northwood, shifting some of Northwood to Kennedy. And that's with none of the overage from Einstein & Wheaton -- all that Northwood & Kennedy capacity is used already.
This means large portions of Einstein and Wheaton will need to go to Woodward or shift to BCC, presuming Woodward naturally assumes more of the existing WJ catchment than needed to alleviate WJ's overcrowding. Possibly even some of the lower Northwood and Blair catchments to even out the enrollment vs. capacity once Woodward's 2160 comes online after Northwood moves out (the additional 540 might come online in a later phase, now, if funded). That's 882 seats across 8 high schools in 2029-30, and we know that the DCC is likely to continue growing faster than WW/BCC/WJ after the current projection timeline, so there might be greater shifts than some anticipate.
Unless the Ws keep up the pressure, of course. Then we'll have the expected: overcrowded DCC and under capacity Ws, with no solution for inside-the-beltway/east of the MARC tracks.
Why is it expected that Ws will be under capacity and DCC over when Woodward is being built to relieve overcrowding at WJ AND DCC?
Isn’t that why there will be a massive boundary study involving all these schools?
Woodward is not going to be just for WJ students. Current DCC students will go there too
It's about that "don't send those students over here" influence that has WW folks trying to keep out of the study altogether (they don't want the hoi polloi from BCC), the BCC folks trying to limit any consequent shift from Silver Spring and the WJ folks on the Woodward side saying, "Sure, maybe nicer parts of Kensingson, but not further over -- they're much closer to Einstein and Wheaton so they should stay there!" in the face of the prospect of larger swaths of those catchments being shifted to be with them. And then there's the prospect of a broader or reconfigured consortium arrangement that might result from all of that.
MCPS, for its part, has been swayed in the past by such influence (e.g., BCC being "saved" from being part of the original DCC, with focus shifting more north-south than east-west). It also has walked back rhetoric that brought Woodward reopening to the table in the first place, initially more broadly inclusive of handling DCC overcrowding, then more limited, with thoughts that DCC-area draw to an eventual magnet at Woodward might be all they would implement. (That might get placed elsewhere, now, with the last Woodward phase in jeopardy, or abandoned altogether.)
We'll have to see, given the numbers, but if past is prologue, then the expected might be as above.
Citation needed.
Yes, it's misleading to say that since Woodward isn't even in the DCC or near it. It would make almost no sense to bus DCC kids crosscounty. There are much easier solutions.
Great.
Take your time machine back a dozen years or so and convince MCPS, the BOE, the County Council and the W clusters that additional capacity for DCC in excess of any possible single renovation to Northwood or Einstein has to come before or at the very same time as building a new school (that became the reopened Woodward) addressing WJ overcrowding.
Or take it two decades farther back and convince them not to convert/lease out all the local school facilities that they closed so that there would be more options.
Or get on your horse to get an adequate new facility or expansion in the DCC area right quick so that it's presence can be figured in to the pending boundary study.
Oh, and ve willing to cover any of that with county funds, either shifting from other priorities or increasing taxation.
Then there wouldn't be a need to shift populations such that you clutch your pearls.
Or accept that this is what is being reaped from having sown the current situation. They'd rather be close to home, but not if it means in an overcrowded facility, inadequate or inequitable one. And if you think Georgia Ave to Old Georgetown Rd is really cross-county, I invite you to study a map.
Georgia Ave to Old Georgetown isn’t cross county which is why DCC kids will go to Woodward
Yes, it is really far and you pass Einstein and other HS to get to Woodward. I don't know why W families think DCC families WANT to go to a W school or even BCC. Many of us don't for a variety of reasons.
I was addressing the comments along the lines of WJ families don’t want DCC kids at Woodward, which is not true. But so many people on this board cling so desperately to the W v DCC paradigm that they can’t see any discussion or issue except through that lense.
I have no idea whether DCC parents want their kids to go to Woodward. Some probably do, some probably don’t care, and some are probably opposed. You know like everything in life
I am trying not to be too invested in the outcome of the boundary study as a parent in the WJ cluster. I take it on face value that since the study will involve 9 high schools, my kids could end up at a lot of different places.
I am surprised to hear people from DCC express concerns about bus rides though. I Guess it goes to show that these issues are complex.
Why would you be surprised? You have to remember in HS there are lots of after-school activities. Sometimes they don't start till later, like 5 so kids need to go back and forth, which is a nightmare if it's that far and traffic. The after school buses are limited and don't go back and forth for everything.
I don't get why W parents assume we want our kids at your schools. We don't, or we'd move so we could attend.
Agreed! But when anyone from a W school says they are worried about bus rides because of activities etc we are told we are hoarding privilege, racist and whatever else
W parents do not assume DCC parents want their kids at W schools. But many people a few comments ago were concerned DCC would be over crowded and W under enrolled, which seems inconsistent with the stated purpose of Woodward being to serve WJ and DCC areas
The problem is there are not bus rides for everyone. It’s two miles as a rule. Our kids would have to cross several major roads, sometimes during rush hour and most streets don’t have sidewalks. And, if they have activities at school the activity bus, if you have one has limited times and stops. We are often driving our kids twice a day to school, so four to six trips daily with two kids. Sone activities don’t start till 4 or 5 pm. It’s much more doable with two mikes than four to five miles.
I don’t care if your school is under enrolled. I care about distance as between school, school activities and outside activities already spend several hours a day driving. It may work for a kid in no activities who can just catch the bus but with no bus service, school and outside activities those few extra mikes each way add a huge time difference for us.
A good argument for more public buses and more sidewalks. The county and state don't provide adequate transit service and adequate facilities for kids who walk, skateboard, scoot, or bike to or from school. Then MCPS has to make up for that failure in their capital and operating budgets.
More sidewalks would be helpful but public buses would not fully work as they don’t go everywhere and it’s not realistic for the county to provide. We’ve petitioned the county multiple times over the years for sidewalks and we’re told no. We ere lucky after many tries just to get stop signs put in.
Mcps has the responsibility to provide buses for schools.
"More public buses" does not mean "Eliminate all MCPS school bus service for everyone everywhere in the county", it simply means "more public buses". Public buses help high school kids get places, before and after school. The county has a whole program for this, called Kids Ride Free.
Thats great if it would work for your kids, but it wouldn't where we live.
That
is
the
whole
point
of
more
sidewalks
and
more
public transit.
Ok, that doesn’t work in all neighborhoods and it does not address crossing major roads at rush hour with no crossing guards.
Are you seriously arguing against sidewalks and more public transit, on the basis that more sidewalks and more public transit won't fix every single problem for every single person in Montgomery County? Is that where we're at now? If it doesn't fix every problem for every person everywhere, it's trash and we shouldn't do it?
That’s all nice but realistically there will not be bus routes from the schools to all neighborhoods and multiple times a day. Nor would a lot of families want their kids on it at night. Sidewalks would be nice but will not fix the crossing of several major roads to get to school too. MOCO does transit studies. Transit for students is mcps or parents.
Transit for lots of students is RideOn and Metrobus. Even at night. Students also walk, ride bikes, ride scooters, ride skateboards. Even at night. If you haven't seen them, start looking.
Nobody, at least on this thread, has called for the wholescale abolition of MCPS school bus transportation. However, it's an undeniable fact, or at least I would have thought it was undeniable, that if MCPS could REDUCE the amount of school bus transportation, MCPS would then be able to do a lot of other things better - not least because there would be money to spend on those other things that wasn't being spend on school bus transportation.
But go off on your "transit for students is mcps or parents" beliefs, I guess.
Maybe your kids but not where we are.
That's sad for the kids where you are. I'm sorry to hear it.
Anonymous wrote:Not to mention the WJ auditorium is likely booked/planned for most of the year for the 3,000 WJ students, for those participating in the orchestra, band, multiple choirs, dramas, musicals, etc.
The 2,000+ kids from Northwood and the eventual 2,000+ kids from what is eventually the Woodward catchment area should have access to the same.
Kind of how when they re-did BCC it was going to be without a track until the community rallied and Seth Adams realized, "Gee, they do need a track, just like every other HS has." Well Seth, Woodward, for both Northwood and Woodward, needs an auditorium, just like every other HS has.
That's completely silly. Nobody needs a track. Track shouldn't be part of the public school curriculum. They need to focus on the basics and get that done before adding all these extras.
Anonymous wrote:Not to mention the WJ auditorium is likely booked/planned for most of the year for the 3,000 WJ students, for those participating in the orchestra, band, multiple choirs, dramas, musicals, etc.
The 2,000+ kids from Northwood and the eventual 2,000+ kids from what is eventually the Woodward catchment area should have access to the same.
Kind of how when they re-did BCC it was going to be without a track until the community rallied and Seth Adams realized, "Gee, they do need a track, just like every other HS has." Well Seth, Woodward, for both Northwood and Woodward, needs an auditorium, just like every other HS has.
That's completely silly. Nobody needs a track. Track shouldn't be part of the public school curriculum. They need to focus on the basics and get that done before adding all these extras.
Yes, you have stated your personal opinion about high school extracurricular activities many times already on this thread.
Anonymous wrote:Einstein's modernization and addition cost $24.5 million in 1997 and won at least two architectural awards.
"The Board recognized Stephen Parker of Grimm and Parker Architects, who received the
Honor Award for Architectural Excellence from the Potomac Valley Chapter of the
American Institute of Architects (AIA). The project was chosen for the AIA award from
among more than 133 projects locally and throughout the country. The award was
presented to the Montgomery County Public Schools and the firm of Grimm and Parker
Architects, located in Calverton, Maryland. The $25.4 million modernization and addition
project was completed in two years for the opening of Albert Einstein High School in
September 1997. The Albert Einstein High School project will also receive an award for
architectural design from the National Association of School Boards at the organization's
annual conference in March."
There is no way they spent that much. And, if they did it needs to be redone again.
Whatever they spent, a façade is a...façade. Window dressing. May be nice to view from the parking lot. Walk just inside and...very uninspiring.
It needs to be expanded (with whatever on-par updates would make it not need such consideration for many years, as should any major capital project) unless significant population is shifted west with the Woodward boundary study or a new HS is created very quickly to address continued DCC-area population growth.
+1. If you have never been in the school come on over and see a show in the auditorium. You'll be magically transported back to the 1960s. Just because something won an architectural award (I am guessing there wasn't much competition BTW) doesn't mean it won't need to be updated again (or that parts of the school were neglected when they renovated the facade and built a 2nd gym).
Anonymous wrote:Einstein's modernization and addition cost $24.5 million in 1997 and won at least two architectural awards.
"The Board recognized Stephen Parker of Grimm and Parker Architects, who received the
Honor Award for Architectural Excellence from the Potomac Valley Chapter of the
American Institute of Architects (AIA). The project was chosen for the AIA award from
among more than 133 projects locally and throughout the country. The award was
presented to the Montgomery County Public Schools and the firm of Grimm and Parker
Architects, located in Calverton, Maryland. The $25.4 million modernization and addition
project was completed in two years for the opening of Albert Einstein High School in
September 1997. The Albert Einstein High School project will also receive an award for
architectural design from the National Association of School Boards at the organization's
annual conference in March."
There is no way they spent that much. And, if they did it needs to be redone again.
Whatever they spent, a façade is a...façade. Window dressing. May be nice to view from the parking lot. Walk just inside and...very uninspiring.
It needs to be expanded (with whatever on-par updates would make it not need such consideration for many years, as should any major capital project) unless significant population is shifted west with the Woodward boundary study or a new HS is created very quickly to address continued DCC-area population growth.
+1. If you have never been in the school come on over and see a show in the auditorium. You'll be magically transported back to the 1960s. Just because something won an architectural award (I am guessing there wasn't much competition BTW) doesn't mean it won't need to be updated again (or that parts of the school were neglected when they renovated the facade and built a 2nd gym).
Of course. But still, schools which had $24 million in renovations in the late 90s are less overdue for attention than schools which have not been renovated since the 70s or 80s.
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}