New DCPS school on former Georgetown Day site will be a high school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are they putting a school in this area? The population does not justify it. The area around there is just parkland, big institutions, federal land, etc. That section of DC is classified as rural on maps. On top of that the traffic is bad. So it will be very hard for teachers and students.

Duke Ellington is already in the area and their athletic field is only used by dogs walkers. Seems like another build it and no one will use it.

Maps from the early 1900s?

DC needs another HS somewhere west of RCP. There is no more land to buy, so DC has to take whatever it can get. The school age population is absolutely on the verge of exploding, demographic projections for the latter half of this decade in Ward 3 and western part of Ward 2 are absolutely insane.

When we moved to Burleith five years ago, we were one of the few couples under the age of 35 in the neighborhood who were not associated with the university. There's been a crazy surge of young families with babies here in the last two years, pandemic be damned.

Why not lean into redistricting then? A number of high schools are under-enrolled. Lafayette and Shepherd to Coolidge, Oyster and Bancroft to Macfarland/CHEC, etc. Send some kids to Cardozo.
I know this will never happen but it’s frustrating to watch the mayor earmark money to build classrooms that already exist in other parts of NW. Especially in such a remote, inaccessible part of the city.

This makes the most sense, but of course it will never happen. I've once suggest those OOB for the elementary schools should also do the lottery for Deal and then Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So basically they are solving the 'by right' dc high school challenge by building a high ses school and having some opportunity for low ses to attend, and by default doing that at Wilson too. Its solving the wrong problems. And it's terrible to put a high school in such an inaccessible location. What happened to equity? This is akin to people sleeping out to get a spot at a charter school. You shouldn't be allowed to make something open for all and then build in barriers to make it not open for all.

The cynic in me says that this isn't so much about "having some opportunity for low SES to attend" as much as it is about creating another OOB lottery opportunity for higher income/higher educated households east of Rock Creek park. Back in the 1980s-1990s, when it was still possible to send 2 kids to Sidwell on a two fed salary, the residents of upper NW opted for privates instead of Wilson, leaving Wilson and Deal to be the OOB schools of choice for middle class families EOTP who wanted to escape their failing neighborhood schools. Over 30 years, the IB populations at the upper NW schools has ramped back up: first Deal, then Wilson, then Hardy. But there is still a desire to have an OOB safety valve for middle/higher income families east of the park, because there is not enough of a critical mass of them zoned for any particular middle/high school pyramid to cause the school to care about their concerns. The percentage of kids who attend DCPS MS and HS EOTP are disproportionately at-risk compared to the overall at-risk % of children in the city overall. That means that there is a middle class EOTP "drain" from DCPS MS and HS.

Thanks for this smart, fair-minded, accurate and succinct but thorough analysis.

Agreed that this is huge for UMC EOTP families because it will provide them a DCPS option other than Walls.

But there is Banneker, Ellington and how many other Magnet schools? 6 others? So UMC eotp, like myself, have plenty of options other than Walls. It makes trying to get kids into Cardozo a lost cause.

[Anonymous]

Wilson is extremely overcrowded. This provides a solution to that overcrowding. Seems like a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Thats nutty. If there are only 500 seats for inbounds this will not relieve pressure on Wilson significantly. This would only work if other new high schools were created.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are they putting a school in this area? The population does not justify it. The area around there is just parkland, big institutions, federal land, etc. That section of DC is classified as rural on maps. On top of that the traffic is bad. So it will be very hard for teachers and students.

Duke Ellington is already in the area and their athletic field is only used by dogs walkers. Seems like another build it and no one will use it.

Maps from the early 1900s?

DC needs another HS somewhere west of RCP. There is no more land to buy, so DC has to take whatever it can get. The school age population is absolutely on the verge of exploding, demographic projections for the latter half of this decade in Ward 3 and western part of Ward 2 are absolutely insane.

When we moved to Burleith five years ago, we were one of the few couples under the age of 35 in the neighborhood who were not associated with the university. There's been a crazy surge of young families with babies here in the last two years, pandemic be damned.

Why not lean into redistricting then? A number of high schools are under-enrolled. Lafayette and Shepherd to Coolidge, Oyster and Bancroft to Macfarland/CHEC, etc. Send some kids to Cardozo.
I know this will never happen but it’s frustrating to watch the mayor earmark money to build classrooms that already exist in other parts of NW. Especially in such a remote, inaccessible part of the city.

This makes the most sense, but of course it will never happen. I've once suggest those OOB for the elementary schools should also do the lottery for Deal and then Wilson.

I think it is frustrating for DCPS staff who build fancy high schools which don't get enough enrollment from neighborhood kids, and politicians making decisions on school boundaries and feeder rights which keeps things that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are they putting a school in this area? The population does not justify it. The area around there is just parkland, big institutions, federal land, etc. That section of DC is classified as rural on maps. On top of that the traffic is bad. So it will be very hard for teachers and students.

Duke Ellington is already in the area and their athletic field is only used by dogs walkers. Seems like another build it and no one will use it.

Maps from the early 1900s?

DC needs another HS somewhere west of RCP. There is no more land to buy, so DC has to take whatever it can get. The school age population is absolutely on the verge of exploding, demographic projections for the latter half of this decade in Ward 3 and western part of Ward 2 are absolutely insane.

When we moved to Burleith five years ago, we were one of the few couples under the age of 35 in the neighborhood who were not associated with the university. There's been a crazy surge of young families with babies here in the last two years, pandemic be damned.

Why not lean into redistricting then? A number of high schools are under-enrolled. Lafayette and Shepherd to Coolidge, Oyster and Bancroft to Macfarland/CHEC, etc. Send some kids to Cardozo.

I know this will never happen but it’s frustrating to watch the mayor earmark money to build classrooms that already exist in other parts of NW. Especially in such a remote, inaccessible part of the city.

This makes the most sense, but of course it will never happen. I've once suggest those OOB for the elementary schools should also do the lottery for Deal and then Wilson.

I think it is frustrating for DCPS staff who build fancy high schools which don't get enough enrollment from neighborhood kids, and politicians making decisions on school boundaries and feeder rights which keeps things that way.

People respond to carrots, not sticks. So many middle and UMC families of all colors drive right by high performing charters everyday to shlep to Walls, Wilson, and soon-to-be MacArthur HS in a few years.

I guarantee that the MacArthur HS will be a wild success from the outset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So basically they are solving the 'by right' dc high school challenge by building a high ses school and having some opportunity for low ses to attend, and by default doing that at Wilson too. Its solving the wrong problems. And it's terrible to put a high school in such an inaccessible location. What happened to equity? This is akin to people sleeping out to get a spot at a charter school. You shouldn't be allowed to make something open for all and then build in barriers to make it not open for all.

The cynic in me says that this isn't so much about "having some opportunity for low SES to attend" as much as it is about creating another OOB lottery opportunity for higher income/higher educated households east of Rock Creek park. Back in the 1980s-1990s, when it was still possible to send 2 kids to Sidwell on a two fed salary, the residents of upper NW opted for privates instead of Wilson, leaving Wilson and Deal to be the OOB schools of choice for middle class families EOTP who wanted to escape their failing neighborhood schools. Over 30 years, the IB populations at the upper NW schools has ramped back up: first Deal, then Wilson, then Hardy. But there is still a desire to have an OOB safety valve for middle/higher income families east of the park, because there is not enough of a critical mass of them zoned for any particular middle/high school pyramid to cause the school to care about their concerns. The percentage of kids who attend DCPS MS and HS EOTP are disproportionately at-risk compared to the overall at-risk % of children in the city overall. That means that there is a middle class EOTP "drain" from DCPS MS and HS.

Thanks for this smart, fair-minded, accurate and succinct but thorough analysis.

Agreed that this is huge for UMC EOTP families because it will provide them a DCPS option other than Walls.

But there is Banneker, Ellington and how many other Magnet schools? 6 others? So UMC eotp, like myself, have plenty of options other than Walls. It makes trying to get kids into Cardozo a lost cause.

?? What DCPS options? How old are your kids? They must be younger than PK for you to think there are plenty of DCPS options other than Walls.

[Anonymous]

I guess the idea is to ise the Hardy boundary. Hence about 125 graduating Hardy students get spots combined with the same number some students graduating from Hardy get spots in ninety grade, combined with 125 out of boundary. This way the deal students all still go onto Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are they putting a school in this area? The population does not justify it. The area around there is just parkland, big institutions, federal land, etc. That section of DC is classified as rural on maps. On top of that the traffic is bad. So it will be very hard for teachers and students.

Duke Ellington is already in the area and their athletic field is only used by dogs walkers. Seems like another build it and no one will use it.

Maps from the early 1900s?

DC needs another HS somewhere west of RCP. There is no more land to buy, so DC has to take whatever it can get. The school age population is absolutely on the verge of exploding, demographic projections for the latter half of this decade in Ward 3 and western part of Ward 2 are absolutely insane.

When we moved to Burleith five years ago, we were one of the few couples under the age of 35 in the neighborhood who were not associated with the university. There's been a crazy surge of young families with babies here in the last two years, pandemic be damned.

Ward 2+3 schools are bursting at the seams!

Hardy currently has more than 250 kids in-boundary, 500 total, and bigger shares of the IB kids are in 6th and 7th - more and more families with kids are moving into these areas and more and more are going to public schools. If you look across the 5 feeder schools, nearly 400 kids go to those schools in 3rd grade... that drops to around 250 by 5th grade ... but those numbers are going up quickly as Hardy is now seen as a strong and attractive option ... and then if you add in an attractive HS alternative... it has a cumulative effect.
Key, Mann, and Stoddert are all overcrowded now.

In terms of the population, there's at least double the number of kids in just this area of the city whose parents opt for privates currently.

Understand no one wanting more traffic in their own neighborhood. Remember that GDS was there for years. Families with kids from these neighborhoods currently fight to get into schools across the city (Latin for instance) or other commutes.

[Anonymous]

The neighbors.will go crazy over having 1000 students. The scale is needed though to offer AP classes. I hope the city wins on this one.

[Anonymous]

I think the mom upthread saying "don't say it's remote or there are no kids, we live here" isn't thinking about how child-dense Georgetown is compared to the rest of the city and where it is compared to the rest of the city.

It's relatively transit-inaccessible. Clearly not central. Not central to current Hardy enrollment, not central to current Wilson enrollment. The neighborhood is single family homes and the occasional rowhouse. Few homes have more than 2 kids, half the houses are empty nests. Many local children are in private school systems.

This is not student rich on relative terms. It is not accessible on relative terms. I'm not saying you can't have your school. Just own the facts, don't try to distort them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the mom upthread saying "don't say it's remote or there are no kids, we live here" isn't thinking about how child-dense Georgetown is compared to the rest of the city and where it is compared to the rest of the city.

It's relatively transit-inaccessible. Clearly not central. Not central to current Hardy enrollment, not central to current Wilson enrollment. The neighborhood is single family homes and the occasional rowhouse. Few homes have more than 2 kids, half the houses are empty nests. Many local children are in private school systems.

This is not student rich on relative terms. It is not accessible on relative terms. I'm not saying you can't have your school. Just own the facts, don't try to distort them.

Wilson isn't central for most of Hardy's enrollment. MacArthur will actually be closer for most Hardy families.

[Anonymous]

I'm actually curious, not trolling. Are elementary schools EOTP overflowing and in need of additional feeder MS and HS? From what I understand, there are plenty of spots at a number of options, but I could be wrong.

Forgive my ignorance on this. But WOTP ES, MS AND HS are overflowing. Unless you live on a main corridor like Wisc/Conn. there is practically no public transit, but we manage to get our kids to school anyway, so this doesn't seem like a larger lift than normal. Regardless of how technically dense "in relative terms" the area is, it is a population that needs more school spots for an exploding population of young families who want to send their kids to PS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So basically they are solving the 'by right' dc high school challenge by building a high ses school and having some opportunity for low ses to attend, and by default doing that at Wilson too. Its solving the wrong problems. And it's terrible to put a high school in such an inaccessible location. What happened to equity? This is akin to people sleeping out to get a spot at a charter school. You shouldn't be allowed to make something open for all and then build in barriers to make it not open for all.

The cynic in me says that this isn't so much about "having some opportunity for low SES to attend" as much as it is about creating another OOB lottery opportunity for higher income/higher educated households east of Rock Creek park. Back in the 1980s-1990s, when it was still possible to send 2 kids to Sidwell on a two fed salary, the residents of upper NW opted for privates instead of Wilson, leaving Wilson and Deal to be the OOB schools of choice for middle class families EOTP who wanted to escape their failing neighborhood schools. Over 30 years, the IB populations at the upper NW schools has ramped back up: first Deal, then Wilson, then Hardy. But there is still a desire to have an OOB safety valve for middle/higher income families east of the park, because there is not enough of a critical mass of them zoned for any particular middle/high school pyramid to cause the school to care about their concerns. The percentage of kids who attend DCPS MS and HS EOTP are disproportionately at-risk compared to the overall at-risk % of children in the city overall. That means that there is a middle class EOTP "drain" from DCPS MS and HS.

Thanks for this smart, fair-minded, accurate and succinct but thorough analysis.

Agreed that this is huge for UMC EOTP families because it will provide them a DCPS option other than Walls.

But there is Banneker, Ellington and how many other Magnet schools? 6 others? So UMC eotp, like myself, have plenty of options other than Walls. It makes trying to get kids into Cardozo a lost cause.

?? What DCPS options? How old are your kids? They must be younger than PK for you to think there are plenty of DCPS options other than Walls.

Middle school age in fact. Smart kids, not white, in case you wanted to know. There are more options in DCPS than Walls which are EOTP which I like. Not many sure, but saying Walls is all there is not correct.

[Anonymous]

But yet nothing about Foxhall ES . . .