Question for Supporters of New WotP High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Changing the status of Ellington is under discussion simply because no one currently in-bounds for Wilson would consider narrowly re-drawing Wilson's boundaries closer to Wilson's neighborhood. Wilson's overcrowding problems would be solved, for example, if its eastern boundary ended at Connecticut Avenue. Then, everyone east of Connecticut avenue that had formerly been bound for Wilson, would go to Roosevelt.

The effect would be grand: A lot of high-SES kids from Cleveland Park and Adams-Morgan areas would go to Roosevelt and immediately increase the overall academic achievement there. Ellington would be left alone. Voila.

A huge geographic mass of DC is assigned to Wilson. Why move students from Cleveland Park which is closer to Wilson than many residences closer to the Ellington site?

Co-locating Ellington as a magnet program at Roosevelt is an efficient idea. Turning the Ellington site into a regular high school makes sense. Montco co-located the science/tech public exam magnet school program at Montgomery Blair.
Enrollment current/2002-03:
Coolidge 433/843, 99% FRL, in boundary 46%
Roosevelt 438/821, 99% FRL, in boundary 65%
Wilson 1696/1476 (overcapacity 10+years ago), 30% FRL, in boundary 54%
Ellington 541/485, 40% FRL- metro NA
Banneker 430/NA, 61% FRL - walkable from metro for teens, Howard U
School without Walls 585/NA, 20% FRL - metro, GW

Boundary maps : http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/Learn-About-Schools/Attn_Zones_High_2013_2014.pdf
2002-03 source: http://www.21csf.org/csf-home/DocUploads/DataShop/DS_143.pdf

Yes, excellent logic, what you are saying makes sense by geography. But many things that make sense using reason do not make sense when using emotion; so they are not politically possible. Moving Ellington from Georgetown falls into the latter category, as far as I can tell.

Moving Ellington from Georgetown to a more central, modern facility would be like Tony Williams' proposal to move UDC from Van Ness to St. E's. Logically it makes all the sense in the world, but unfortunately the political reality is that it is unlikely to happen. It's too bad, because there really aren't locations WOTP by a Metro or at least in a block or two of major bus routes that would work as a new western high school site.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Changing the status of Ellington is under discussion simply because no one currently in-bounds for Wilson would consider narrowly re-drawing Wilson's boundaries closer to Wilson's neighborhood. Wilson's overcrowding problems would be solved, for example, if its eastern boundary ended at Connecticut Avenue. Then, everyone east of Connecticut avenue that had formerly been bound for Wilson, would go to Roosevelt.

The effect would be grand: A lot of high-SES kids from Cleveland Park and Adams-Morgan areas would go to Roosevelt and immediately increase the overall academic achievement there. Ellington would be left alone. Voila.

You must be smoking some of the ex-Mayor-for-Life's private crack stash. There are not "a lot" of high SES from Cleveland Park or from Woodley who would stay in DCPS for high school under this scenario.

This is everyone's initial reaction, of course. But, give it a bit more thought. Is it completely impossible in your estimation that programs at Roosevelt could not be enhanced to the point that they could attract, if not lots, at least significant numbers across the park? What if Roosevelt provided every AP course that Wilson has, but classes were guaranteed to be half the size? What if graduating from Roosevelt gave a student a better shot at acceptance at a selective university (I don't know why this would be the case, but speaking hypothetically)?

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Changing the status of Ellington is under discussion simply because no one currently in-bounds for Wilson would consider narrowly re-drawing Wilson's boundaries closer to Wilson's neighborhood. Wilson's overcrowding problems would be solved, for example, if its eastern boundary ended at Connecticut Avenue. Then, everyone east of Connecticut avenue that had formerly been bound for Wilson, would go to Roosevelt.

The effect would be grand: A lot of high-SES kids from Cleveland Park and Adams-Morgan areas would go to Roosevelt and immediately increase the overall academic achievement there. Ellington would be left alone. Voila.

You must be smoking some of the ex-Mayor-for-Life's private crack stash. There are not "a lot" of high SES from Cleveland Park or from Woodley who would stay in DCPS for high school under this scenario.

This is everyone's initial reaction, of course. But, give it a bit more thought. Is it completely impossible in your estimation that programs at Roosevelt could not be enhanced to the point that they could attract, if not lots, at least significant numbers across the park? What if Roosevelt provided every AP course that Wilson has, but classes were guaranteed to be half the size? What if graduating from Roosevelt gave a student a better shot at acceptance at a selective university (I don't know why this would be the case, but speaking hypothetically)?

Yeah, sure it would work: there are enough high SESers to the east of Connecticut Avenue (a whole lot actually) whose kids would immediately create similar diversity to Wilson or Deal, if they were to attend a new Roosevelt with centralized boundaries. That is, "immediately," only if the parents would send their kids to Roosevelt, rather than leaving the city. It would be a leap of faith for them, but it would work if there were confidence that enough kids would attend.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Changing the status of Ellington is under discussion simply because no one currently in-bounds for Wilson would consider narrowly re-drawing Wilson's boundaries closer to Wilson's neighborhood. Wilson's overcrowding problems would be solved, for example, if its eastern boundary ended at Connecticut Avenue. Then, everyone east of Connecticut avenue that had formerly been bound for Wilson, would go to Roosevelt.

The effect would be grand: A lot of high-SES kids from Cleveland Park and Adams-Morgan areas would go to Roosevelt and immediately increase the overall academic achievement there. Ellington would be left alone. Voila.

You must be smoking some of the ex-Mayor-for-Life's private crack stash. There are not "a lot" of high SES from Cleveland Park or from Woodley who would stay in DCPS for high school under this scenario.

This is everyone's initial reaction, of course. But, give it a bit more thought. Is it completely impossible in your estimation that programs at Roosevelt could not be enhanced to the point that they could attract, if not lots, at least significant numbers across the park? What if Roosevelt provided every AP course that Wilson has, but classes were guaranteed to be half the size? What if graduating from Roosevelt gave a student a better shot at acceptance at a selective university (I don't know why this would be the case, but speaking hypothetically)?

What bothers me is that DCPS and DME don't even to be thinking along these lines. There seem to be only three possible solutions to crowding at Wilson:
1. Force people who want to attend Wilson to attend a lower-performing high school.
2. Force people out of DCPS and into charters, privates and suburbs.
3. Build a new high school.

No consideration seems to be given to making existing schools more attractive. DME Smith was dismissive of "throwing money at the problem" on Kojo yesterday, but that's exactly what they need to do. It's far cheaper than building a new high school. If you gave Roosevelt the mandate: "Get 150 kids who are currently attending Wilson to choose Roosevelt instead," and asked how much it would cost, what would the number be? I think for a million a year you could create something awfully tempting. Compared to the cost of building a new high school -- maybe $150 million? -- that's nothing.

I think part of the puzzle has to be giving DCPS principals what charter schools have, the ability to expel students who aren't able to learn in the environment and prevent others from learning. That doesn't mean throwing them out on the streets or into reform school, it means having a place for them to go where their needs are met. That costs money too, but it's small money when you look at the other options and how much has already been spent on modernizing schools that aren't attractive to large numbers of families.

[Anonymous]

I think part of the puzzle has to be giving DCPS principals what charter schools have, the ability to expel students who aren't able to learn in the environment and prevent others from learning. That doesn't mean throwing them out on the streets or into reform school, it means having a place for them to go where their needs are met. That costs money too, but it's small money when you look at the other options and how much has already been spent on modernizing schools that aren't attractive to large numbers of families.

I often wonder why there's never talk of a vocational school within DCPS. Charters are doing it with success.

I think our culture is so focused on test scores and college as markers of success that we've forgotten the original objective for public education was training a workforce.

[Anonymous]

Here's a draft for everyone work from.

#########

The Petworth Latin Academy @Roosevelt: A Test-In Magnet School

The Petworth Latin Academy offers a classical liberal arts curriculum with an emphasis on the classics and Latin language instruction. Instruction emphasizes core knowledge of the liberal arts that students will use as the basis for further, more detailed exploration. All students are required to adhere to a core curriculum, with four years of Latin, history, mathematics, English, science, and at least two years of a World Language. In all classes, students can expect a strong - and continuing - emphasis on structured writing and public speaking, as well as an overarching practice of the kind of analytical thinking that will ensure that all PLA@R students are prepared for the rigors of college work.

Our curriculum largely stresses the learning of valuable skills as well as the acquisition of content. In all humanities classes, students can expect a strong emphasis on writing, Socratic Seminars and public speaking exercises (declamation). Non-humanities classes feature labs, math interviews and other inquiry-based methods.

#########

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's a draft for everyone work from.

#########

The Petworth Latin Academy @Roosevelt: A Test-In Magnet School

The Petworth Latin Academy offers a classical liberal arts curriculum with an emphasis on the classics and Latin language instruction. Instruction emphasizes core knowledge of the liberal arts that students will use as the basis for further, more detailed exploration. All students are required to adhere to a core curriculum, with four years of Latin, history, mathematics, English, science, and at least two years of a World Language. In all classes, students can expect a strong - and continuing - emphasis on structured writing and public speaking, as well as an overarching practice of the kind of analytical thinking that will ensure that all PLA@R students are prepared for the rigors of college work.

Our curriculum largely stresses the learning of valuable skills as well as the acquisition of content. In all humanities classes, students can expect a strong emphasis on writing, Socratic Seminars and public speaking exercises (declamation). Non-humanities classes feature labs, math interviews and other inquiry-based methods.

#########

PS: I obviously stole this from a school in another city, but I left that out as to not introduce unnecessary bias.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Here's a draft for everyone work from.

#########

The Petworth Latin Academy @Roosevelt: A Test-In Magnet School

The Petworth Latin Academy offers a classical liberal arts curriculum with an emphasis on the classics and Latin language instruction. Instruction emphasizes core knowledge of the liberal arts that students will use as the basis for further, more detailed exploration. All students are required to adhere to a core curriculum, with four years of Latin, history, mathematics, English, science, and at least two years of a World Language. In all classes, students can expect a strong - and continuing - emphasis on structured writing and public speaking, as well as an overarching practice of the kind of analytical thinking that will ensure that all PLA@R students are prepared for the rigors of college work.

Our curriculum largely stresses the learning of valuable skills as well as the acquisition of content. In all humanities classes, students can expect a strong emphasis on writing, Socratic Seminars and public speaking exercises (declamation). Non-humanities classes feature labs, math interviews and other inquiry-based methods.

#########

Thank you for this. This is a constructive way to move the discussion forward. A couple of questions:

1) why did you choose a classical curriculum over IB or some sort of hybrid that might allow dual language (for Powell folks, I think that is important)?

2) rather than test in, how about the previously suggested DC-CAS proficient benchmark?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's a draft for everyone work from.

#########

The Petworth Latin Academy @Roosevelt: A Test-In Magnet School

The Petworth Latin Academy offers a classical liberal arts curriculum with an emphasis on the classics and Latin language instruction. Instruction emphasizes core knowledge of the liberal arts that students will use as the basis for further, more detailed exploration. All students are required to adhere to a core curriculum, with four years of Latin, history, mathematics, English, science, and at least two years of a World Language. In all classes, students can expect a strong - and continuing - emphasis on structured writing and public speaking, as well as an overarching practice of the kind of analytical thinking that will ensure that all PLA@R students are prepared for the rigors of college work.

Our curriculum largely stresses the learning of valuable skills as well as the acquisition of content. In all humanities classes, students can expect a strong emphasis on writing, Socratic Seminars and public speaking exercises (declamation). Non-humanities classes feature labs, math interviews and other inquiry-based methods.

#########

In order to build a successful high school, we need a middle school to feed it. Since Ward 4 & 1 (center city) need two middle schools to replace the horrid k-8s, we could make one (i.e. MacFarland) with a heavy academic/college prep focus and the other a General Education/Vo-tech. How's that for a "choice-set", DME?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's a draft for everyone work from.

#########

The Petworth Latin Academy @Roosevelt: A Test-In Magnet School

The Petworth Latin Academy offers a classical liberal arts curriculum with an emphasis on the classics and Latin language instruction. Instruction emphasizes core knowledge of the liberal arts that students will use as the basis for further, more detailed exploration. All students are required to adhere to a core curriculum, with four years of Latin, history, mathematics, English, science, and at least two years of a World Language. In all classes, students can expect a strong - and continuing - emphasis on structured writing and public speaking, as well as an overarching practice of the kind of analytical thinking that will ensure that all PLA@R students are prepared for the rigors of college work.

Our curriculum largely stresses the learning of valuable skills as well as the acquisition of content. In all humanities classes, students can expect a strong emphasis on writing, Socratic Seminars and public speaking exercises (declamation). Non-humanities classes feature labs, math interviews and other inquiry-based methods.

#########

Sure, that would result in a great school, and it would work immediately, but DCPS would never go for it. Why? Because a school like that would suck a lot of high-performing kids out of the school system; and as soon as the magnet schools becomes successful, there would be a push to create additional magnet schools. The result would be a more extreme form of segregation in the school system, not necessarily between the races (although there would be an aspect of that), but between a very few high-proficiency schools and a lot of more horribly performing schools than we have now.

It's about time that we recognize that DCPS is treating our kids like commodities, rather than young people. They see those test scores on a data sheet like dollars in a bankbook -- and they want to spread the test scores around. If they created more magnet schools, those scores would be too concentrated in very few schools, while throughout the rest of the city, schools would grow even worse.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's a draft for everyone work from.

#########

The Petworth Latin Academy @Roosevelt: A Test-In Magnet School

The Petworth Latin Academy offers a classical liberal arts curriculum with an emphasis on the classics and Latin language instruction. Instruction emphasizes core knowledge of the liberal arts that students will use as the basis for further, more detailed exploration. All students are required to adhere to a core curriculum, with four years of Latin, history, mathematics, English, science, and at least two years of a World Language. In all classes, students can expect a strong - and continuing - emphasis on structured writing and public speaking, as well as an overarching practice of the kind of analytical thinking that will ensure that all PLA@R students are prepared for the rigors of college work.

Our curriculum largely stresses the learning of valuable skills as well as the acquisition of content. In all humanities classes, students can expect a strong emphasis on writing, Socratic Seminars and public speaking exercises (declamation). Non-humanities classes feature labs, math interviews and other inquiry-based methods.

#########

Thank you for this. This is a constructive way to move the discussion forward. A couple of questions:

1) why did you choose a classical curriculum over IB or some sort of hybrid that might allow dual language (for Powell folks, I think that is important)?

2) rather than test in, how about the previously suggested DC-CAS proficient benchmark?

I don't have any preference for the curriculum, just the rigor. So feel free to update it.

The DC-CAS proficient benchmark is such a good idea that it must be illegal. But if you think it could fly, edit it in.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's a draft for everyone work from.

#########

The Petworth Latin Academy @Roosevelt: A Test-In Magnet School

The Petworth Latin Academy offers a classical liberal arts curriculum with an emphasis on the classics and Latin language instruction. Instruction emphasizes core knowledge of the liberal arts that students will use as the basis for further, more detailed exploration. All students are required to adhere to a core curriculum, with four years of Latin, history, mathematics, English, science, and at least two years of a World Language. In all classes, students can expect a strong - and continuing - emphasis on structured writing and public speaking, as well as an overarching practice of the kind of analytical thinking that will ensure that all PLA@R students are prepared for the rigors of college work.

Our curriculum largely stresses the learning of valuable skills as well as the acquisition of content. In all humanities classes, students can expect a strong emphasis on writing, Socratic Seminars and public speaking exercises (declamation). Non-humanities classes feature labs, math interviews and other inquiry-based methods.

#########

Sure, that would result in a great school, and it would work immediately, but DCPS would never go for it. Why? Because a school like that would suck a lot of high-performing kids out of the school system; and as soon as the magnet schools becomes successful, there would be a push to create additional magnet schools. The result would be a more extreme form of segregation in the school system, not necessarily between the races (although there would be an aspect of that), but between a very few high-proficiency schools and a lot of more horribly performing schools than we have now.

It's about time that we recognize that DCPS is treating our kids like commodities, rather than young people. They see those test scores on a data sheet like dollars in a bankbook -- and they want to spread the test scores around. If they created more magnet schools, those scores would be too concentrated in very few schools, while throughout the rest of the city, schools would grow even worse.

Yes, this is how DCPS has always worked, but they have to know that the day of reckoning is coming. The neighborhood High Schools (ie Ballou) can still be respectable b/c there will be families that just don't want to commute. They just need to figure out how to deal with the harder to educate kids and maybe the focus will help them get there.

[Anonymous]

I disagree that DCPS has always treated kids like commodities - because, if they did, there would have to be high-achieving commodities to pawn around in the first place. DC Schools always sucked, across the board except for a few charters, for 30 years. It's a recent phenomenon that high-achieving kids are moving in here.

[Anonymous]

Edit: when I wrote "charters" I meant "magnets" like Banneker and Walls. Otherwise, DCPS success is new.

[Anonymous]

It needs to be an IB high school. That we be a big draw for Deal families that want the option for their kids to continue on with the IB program.