MacArthur High School opens 11 weeks from today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Palisades Trolley Trail goes directly behind the school. I'd like to make the new HS more bikeable and more walkable.
Here is a blog I wrote about it a few years back.
https://ggwash.org/view/71177/this-former-trolley-line-is-close-to-becoming-a-walking-and-biking-trail-from-the-palisades-to-georgetown

Map of Trail
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zUwgzrGxl4cY.k1qHhNCDWrRY

We want to restore the Foundry Branch Bridge
Photos of Foundry Branch Bridge
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jojopuppyfish/sets/72157636553295066/

I'd like to do a walk with the students and parents of the Palisades, Georgetown and Glover Archbold park to show them how we could reuse the trolley path and bridge to get the students to the HS via biking and cycling to it.
There were a few people here last year that were interested.
Thoughts are welcomed.
We are thinking about doing a walk in October.

I’ll come!! Not zones for McArthur but considering moving there.

[Anonymous]

If we do a walk we'll announce it in here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live nearby. Things I have heard from my ANC and other officials:
* Enrollment is 260, 200 9th graders and 60 10th graders, which is exactly what was projected when the lottery started.
* They did a survey of incoming families and got 170 responses. 47 families expected to drive.
* Traffic on MacArthur Boulevard was not noticeably heavier.

I live in the neighborhood and drove past today around 3:15. No appreciable uptick in traffic. I did spot a community leader (not a MacArthur parent) chatting with incoming cars at the entrance. Welcome to Palisades!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live nearby. Things I have heard from my ANC and other officials:
* Enrollment is 260, 200 9th graders and 60 10th graders, which is exactly what was projected when the lottery started.
* They did a survey of incoming families and got 170 responses. 47 families expected to drive.
* Traffic on MacArthur Boulevard was not noticeably heavier.

I live in the neighborhood and drove past today around 3:15. No appreciable uptick in traffic. I did spot a community leader (not a MacArthur parent) chatting with incoming cars at the entrance. Welcome to Palisades!

Agreed. I passed it about 3:30pm. Saw (probably) the same community leader. Traffic looked manageable. Saw dozens of kids waiting for the buses headed in both directions and a few on bikes. It all looked very orderly.

[Anonymous]

What a travesty that MHS is offering Italian as one of only two language options. Such a useless language to learn.

It's pathetic that DCPS is basically being bribed by the Italian embassy into wasting the precious time of their students with this crap. Basket weaving would be a more productive offering FFS.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn’t it make sense to offer Italian since its feeder (Hardy) has it as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live nearby. Things I have heard from my ANC and other officials:
* Enrollment is 260, 200 9th graders and 60 10th graders, which is exactly what was projected when the lottery started.
* They did a survey of incoming families and got 170 responses. 47 families expected to drive.
* Traffic on MacArthur Boulevard was not noticeably heavier.

The school isn’t at capacity yet, just 9 th graders and a few 10th graders. Give it another two years.

I live in the neighborhood and drove past today around 3:15. No appreciable uptick in traffic. I did spot a community leader (not a MacArthur parent) chatting with incoming cars at the entrance. Welcome to Palisades!

Agreed. I passed it about 3:30pm. Saw (probably) the same community leader. Traffic looked manageable. Saw dozens of kids waiting for the buses headed in both directions and a few on bikes. It all looked very orderly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t it make sense to offer Italian since its feeder (Hardy) has it as well?

Hardy also offers Mandarin but MacArthur does not.

Offering Spanish is essential, but to only offer another very similar language to Spanish is disappointing.

If MacArthur only has resources to offer one other language, it should be Mandarin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is bizarre that Italian is offered at the middle school level unless of course someone else (like the embassy) pays for it. Italian is spoken in only one country in the world right? Maybe there’s some Italian in Ethiopia. And from my time in Italy, the Italians I encountered spoke at least a little English. So
what’s the point??

Omg. Americans are so dumb. It's the third most common language in the European Union, and is a required language in many Latin American countries...because....Italians...traveled...and emigrated. It's an official language in several countries and a widely-spoken one in many more. It's one of the most widely studied languages in the world...I am sure had a drunken honeymoon in Venice and fancy yourself an authority. It's also mutually intelligible with Spanish, and given the number of ESL students in DC who speak Spanish as a mother tongue, probably more easily acquired.

Italian is an official language of Italy, San Marino, two of 26 cantons in Switzerland, and the Vatican City. Writing that Italian is an “official language in several countries” is technically correct but makes you look more than a little silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Palisades Trolley Trail goes directly behind the school. I'd like to make the new HS more bikeable and more walkable.
Here is a blog I wrote about it a few years back.
https://ggwash.org/view/71177/this-former-trolley-line-is-close-to-becoming-a-walking-and-biking-trail-from-the-palisades-to-georgetown

Map of Trail
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zUwgzrGxl4cY.k1qHhNCDWrRY

We want to restore the Foundry Branch Bridge
Photos of Foundry Branch Bridge
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jojopuppyfish/sets/72157636553295066/

I'd like to do a walk with the students and parents of the Palisades, Georgetown and Glover Archbold park to show them how we could reuse the trolley path and bridge to get the students to the HS via biking and cycling to it.
There were a few people here last year that were interested.
Thoughts are welcomed.
We are thinking about doing a walk in October.

There are always muggings or naked crazy guys in Glover Park trails. What kids would use the Foundry bridge?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Palisades Trolley Trail goes directly behind the school. I'd like to make the new HS more bikeable and more walkable.
Here is a blog I wrote about it a few years back.
https://ggwash.org/view/71177/this-former-trolley-line-is-close-to-becoming-a-walking-and-biking-trail-from-the-palisades-to-georgetown

Map of Trail
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zUwgzrGxl4cY.k1qHhNCDWrRY

We want to restore the Foundry Branch Bridge
Photos of Foundry Branch Bridge
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jojopuppyfish/sets/72157636553295066/

I'd like to do a walk with the students and parents of the Palisades, Georgetown and Glover Archbold park to show them how we could reuse the trolley path and bridge to get the students to the HS via biking and cycling to it.
There were a few people here last year that were interested.
Thoughts are welcomed.
We are thinking about doing a walk in October.

There are always muggings or naked crazy guys in Glover Park trails. What kids would use the Foundry bridge?

I walk the Glover Archbold trail south of Resevoir Rd a few times a month for a few years now, not once have I seen anyone crazy or naked. You probably better know the right places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Palisades Trolley Trail goes directly behind the school. I'd like to make the new HS more bikeable and more walkable.
Here is a blog I wrote about it a few years back.
https://ggwash.org/view/71177/this-former-trolley-line-is-close-to-becoming-a-walking-and-biking-trail-from-the-palisades-to-georgetown

Map of Trail
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zUwgzrGxl4cY.k1qHhNCDWrRY

We want to restore the Foundry Branch Bridge
Photos of Foundry Branch Bridge
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jojopuppyfish/sets/72157636553295066/

I'd like to do a walk with the students and parents of the Palisades, Georgetown and Glover Archbold park to show them how we could reuse the trolley path and bridge to get the students to the HS via biking and cycling to it.
There were a few people here last year that were interested.
Thoughts are welcomed.
We are thinking about doing a walk in October.

There are always muggings or naked crazy guys in Glover Park trails. What kids would use the Foundry bridge?

I walk the Glover Archbold trail south of Resevoir Rd a few times a month for a few years now, not once have I seen anyone crazy or naked. You probably better know the right places.

Same here. Never once, in ten years, encountered anything particularly fishy on Glover-Archbold or Battery Kembel trails.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t it make sense to offer Italian since its feeder (Hardy) has it as well?

Hardy also offers Mandarin but MacArthur does not.

Offering Spanish is essential, but to only offer another very similar language to Spanish is disappointing.

If MacArthur only has resources to offer one other language, it should be Mandarin.

But DCPS should make sure it has the resources to be a full service high school like JR.

[Anonymous]

I don't know why they are proposing new bus routes The weather is going to change and with covid increasing it is time to do something now .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a travesty that MHS is offering Italian as one of only two language options. Such a useless language to learn.

It's pathetic that DCPS is basically being bribed by the Italian embassy into wasting the precious time of their students with this crap. Basket weaving would be a more productive offering FFS.

The Italian embassy sponsors the language instruction in DCPS. Students can study Italian at Hardy, Jackson Reed, MacArthur, Duke Ellington, and CHEC. It's hugely popular at Hardy because the teacher there is one of the best in all of DCPS (and won that prize several years ago). It is required at Duke for all vocal music students.

It would be terrific if MacArthur offered more languages! Embassies, step up! The Italian embassy partnership is a great working model.