Ward 6 Middle Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What??? History lesson please. Pp is mighty confused

I will paste the link in a moment, but first I'd like to ask a serious question: What school do you think the founder of Brent was in bounds for when she and her neighbors started two rivers?

Her kid attended SWS.

[Anonymous]

huh? There was no "founder of Brent" - do you mean "founder of two rivers"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:huh? There was no "founder of Brent" - do you mean "founder of two rivers"?

The poster corrected herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes and this is why the Cluster-centered opposition to Two Rivers opening long ago is relevant. There was a lawsuit very ugly that was thrown out of court as baseless. The legacy continues with CHPSPO opposition to middle school charters that may threaten the Cluster school. But here is the thing. Two Rivers thrived and SO DID Brent and Tyler came on and Maury and.... ALL SINCE Two Rivers opened.

Excellence breeds excellence. Families who see educational paths in the city then stay in the city and create....more educational paths. More people stay etc etc. Meanwhile, families who previously had no choice except their own, often terrible, neighborhood school also have more and better choices. MORE disadvantaged kids are getting better educations than ever before.

Create excellent options for middle school ( charter or DCPS ) and more families see a path through high school, more disadvantaged kids get a decent middle school education and it builds. It is complete nonsense to try and force families into sub par options when they have the option to do other things. Focus on getting rid of the sub par, not the excellent.

If only cliches improved the human and educational condition. WTF do these words mean?

[Anonymous]

I wonder if CHPSPO Started the anti-charter thread.

[Anonymous]

Joe Weedon's thoughts:



I want to thank everyone in the Ward 6 community for helping to support our schools during this year’s budget season. As I wrote last week, I was extremely disappointed to learn that the city’s FY14 budget pushed the already delayed renovations of Eliot-Hine MS and Jefferson Academy MS long into the future. I didn’t note in my message, but have noted in my conversations with our city council members, that the budget also cuts or delays needed capital investments at Capitol Hill Montessori @ Logan, School within a School @ Godding, Tyler ES, JO Wilson ES and several other communities. The budget also fails to plan for a promised new middle school for the Shaw community. In total over $80m in funding will be removed from the Ward 6 capital budget over the next five years.

I am sympathetic to the limitations in the capital budget and respect the Mayor’s efforts to ensure that the city is being honest and not making promises that cannot be fulfilled. But, I also believe that there needs to be a public process before decisions of this magnitude are made and am especially concerned that these decisions were announced afterfamilies had to make choices about their educational paths through the My DC School Lottery.

I recognize that recognize that capital improvements are only element of building successful schools. Our schools also need strong academic programming and thriving community support – elements that we see across Ward 6. I will continue to advocate strongly for our schools to receive promised and much needed capital improvements and encourage you to do the same. Together, we can ensure that Ward 6 has school facilities that meet the needs of our children and that reflect the outstanding work that teachers and school leaders do on a daily basis.

Please let our city council members know your thoughts. I encourage you to contact Chairman Phil Mendelson <http://dccouncil.us/council/phil-mendelson> as well as the members of the Education Committee <http://dccouncil.us/committees/committee-on-education> (especially Chairman David Grosso and Anita Bonds). I have worked closely with Councilmember Charles Allen over these past few weeks and thank him for his work on our behalf of our community's schools.

I also invite you to join me in testifying before the Council’s Education Committee on Thursday, April 23. You can sign-up to speak at either 10:00 AM or 5:30 PM. A large contingent of parents plan to stop by the hearing shortly before it begins at 10:00 AM. Click here <http://www.davidgrosso.org/grosso-analysis/2015/2/19/sign-up-to-testify-at-the-dcps-budget-hearing> for details on the hearing and to sign-up to speak.

Washington Global PCS & New Charter School Applications

In two weeks, the Public Charter School Board (PCSB) will be holding two public hearings:

Monday, April 20 at 6:00 PM, the PCSB will holding a public hearing <http://www.dcpcsb.org/blog/public-hearing-charter-school-applications> for these charter applications. <http://www.dcpcsb.org/blog/new-charter-school-applications-2015-quality-and-choice> The hearing will take place at Paul PCS, 5800 8th Street NW.

Tuesday, April 21 at 6:30 PM, the PCSB will be holding a hearing during their regularly scheduled board meeting <http://www.dcpcsb.org/event/board-meeting-2> on Washington Global Public Charter School’s intent to locate its facility to 525 School Street, SW. This meeting is scheduled for the PCSB offices at 3333 14th Street NW, Suite 210.



I encourage everyone who speaks at these hearings to encourage the public charter school board to work more closely with our city's other education leaders and to ensure a more open and transparent process for the approval and locating of our public charter schools. We must recognize that both DCPS and public charter schools are public schools and serve our children; that each decision either school system makes will have an impact on other school communities. We must work collaboratively to ensure that no child is harmed by the decisions of adults.

As you may know, Washington Global PCS <http://washingtonglobal.org/> was approved to open by the PCSB in May 2014. I have met with their leadership, and while I believe the city lacks a plan to minimize the impact of opening Washington Global PCS on Jefferson Academy MS, I do believe Washington Global PCS will be good neighbors, invest in our community and provide a great school option for public school families from Ward 6 and across the city.

My concern with the opening of a new middle school on the SW waterfront relates to process. Washington Global PCS stated a desire on its application for a license to operate a desire to locate in Wards 4, 5, 7 or 8. After being unable to find a suitable location Washington Global PCS identified space and is planning to open this fall in Ward 6 near L’Enfant Plaza. While I share the concerns of the public charter community about the inability to locate adequate spaces for schools throughout the city, this does not eliminate the need to have a public process that includes meaningful public input before a school location is selected. Because Washington Global PCS’s application did not include Ward 6 as a site for the location of the school, our community did not actively weigh-in during the approval process. Further, once a potential site is identified, the local ANC should be involved in the process to discuss impacts relating to traffic, the creation of safe routes to schools and other community issues.

I’ve encouraged Washington Global PCS Leadership to meet with neighborhood school and community leaders and to engage the ANC. I look forward to helping them ensure their opening in the fall is successful.

Thank you for your support.

Have a great Spring Break.

joe

[Anonymous]

Poppycock. Suppose WG has expressed a desire to locate in Ward 6? Then what? I have little doubt that many parents living in Ward 6 actually would have supported such an application. Mr. Weedon seems to assume that they would have been nothing but staunch opposition, but provides no support or context. Preserving the status quo for Stuart-Hine and the Cluster doesn't really work for many of us. Surely the proposed location of WG isn't the only thing that will prevent Jefferson from becoming the next Alice Deal?

[Anonymous]

Possibly ward 6 parents who would favor more ( different ) middle school options should show up a these meetings and express their support for Washington Global so the Public Charter School Board doesn't hear only from the naysayers

[Anonymous]

It would be hard to offer a meaningful statement of support without knowing more about the school other than what's on the website. My fear is that the founders missed an opportunity and don't really understand tbe "market.". Or perhaps they're just not interested in serving a demographic comsisting of high-SES kids from the Hill.

[Anonymous]

Or else they can't be seen as "courting" a demographic of high ses kids on the Hill.

The info on the website looks promising. For sure going to the meeting would provide more info

[Anonymous]

It's also really difficult to weigh in publicly on being pro-charter options given this "PCSB and DCPS need to coordinate" quote, which is code for "ain't gonna happen, you open a charter you'll never fix Hine, so not in my watch."

So, while I appreciate Joe's thoughtful response here and I don't entirely disagree with his politics, I'm struggling with what to do for my 4th grader. MY fourth grader needs options.

Joe, will you still send your daughter to Hine if the modernization doesn't happen? How many of these other families at Maury are truly going to make the jump to Hine with you or are simply too afraid of being called a bigot so they're lying about their intentions?

Given what I know of the school id rather lottery into SH, or try my hand at Brookland or Hardy for MS. Charters make much more sense when you have a mayor saying "find the money elsewhere, all of MY DCPS cap budget is going to ward 4!" She and Kaya certainly aren't making me feel welcome, and are saying "deal with it" to boot. THAT'S what kills DCPS, not charters.

[Anonymous]

^^^^ Thank you pp! I agree. It feels like Ward 6 is getting screwed in this silly game of politics--which constituents have more pull, bring in votes, and the rest. It makes for unstable and untrustworthy neighborhood school and feeder pattern situations.

That is an advantage of the charter sector, it is less vulnerable to the whims of petty politicians and public officials caught up in their own dramas.

[Anonymous]

Every Ward 6 DCPS parent who voted for Bowser and Allen should be ashamed of themselves -- she couldn't care less for us and he doesn't speak up for us. The new cap budget is astoundingly shortsighted and obviously payback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Joe Weedon's thoughts:

I want to thank everyone in the Ward 6 community for helping to support our schools during this year’s budget season. As I wrote last week, I was extremely disappointed to learn that the city’s FY14 budget pushed the already delayed renovations of Eliot-Hine MS and Jefferson Academy MS long into the future. I didn’t note in my message, but have noted in my conversations with our city council members, that the budget also cuts or delays needed capital investments at Capitol Hill Montessori @ Logan, School within a School @ Godding, Tyler ES, JO Wilson ES and several other communities. The budget also fails to plan for a promised new middle school for the Shaw community. In total over $80m in funding will be removed from the Ward 6 capital budget over the next five years.

I am sympathetic to the limitations in the capital budget and respect the Mayor’s efforts to ensure that the city is being honest and not making promises that cannot be fulfilled. But, I also believe that there needs to be a public process before decisions of this magnitude are made and am especially concerned that these decisions were announced afterfamilies had to make choices about their educational paths through the My DC School Lottery.

I recognize that recognize that capital improvements are only element of building successful schools. Our schools also need strong academic programming and thriving community support – elements that we see across Ward 6. I will continue to advocate strongly for our schools to receive promised and much needed capital improvements and encourage you to do the same. Together, we can ensure that Ward 6 has school facilities that meet the needs of our children and that reflect the outstanding work that teachers and school leaders do on a daily basis.

Please let our city council members know your thoughts. I encourage you to contact Chairman Phil Mendelson <http://dccouncil.us/council/phil-mendelson> as well as the members of the Education Committee <http://dccouncil.us/committees/committee-on-education> (especially Chairman David Grosso and Anita Bonds). I have worked closely with Councilmember Charles Allen over these past few weeks and thank him for his work on our behalf of our community's schools.

I also invite you to join me in testifying before the Council’s Education Committee on Thursday, April 23. You can sign-up to speak at either 10:00 AM or 5:30 PM. A large contingent of parents plan to stop by the hearing shortly before it begins at 10:00 AM. Click here <http://www.davidgrosso.org/grosso-analysis/2015/2/19/sign-up-to-testify-at-the-dcps-budget-hearing> for details on the hearing and to sign-up to speak.

Washington Global PCS & New Charter School Applications

In two weeks, the Public Charter School Board (PCSB) will be holding two public hearings:

Monday, April 20 at 6:00 PM, the PCSB will holding a public hearing <http://www.dcpcsb.org/blog/public-hearing-charter-school-applications> for these charter applications. <http://www.dcpcsb.org/blog/new-charter-school-applications-2015-quality-and-choice> The hearing will take place at Paul PCS, 5800 8th Street NW.

Tuesday, April 21 at 6:30 PM, the PCSB will be holding a hearing during their regularly scheduled board meeting <http://www.dcpcsb.org/event/board-meeting-2> on Washington Global Public Charter School’s intent to locate its facility to 525 School Street, SW. This meeting is scheduled for the PCSB offices at 3333 14th Street NW, Suite 210.

I encourage everyone who speaks at these hearings to encourage the public charter school board to work more closely with our city's other education leaders and to ensure a more open and transparent process for the approval and locating of our public charter schools. We must recognize that both DCPS and public charter schools are public schools and serve our children; that each decision either school system makes will have an impact on other school communities. We must work collaboratively to ensure that no child is harmed by the decisions of adults.

As you may know, Washington Global PCS <http://washingtonglobal.org/> was approved to open by the PCSB in May 2014. I have met with their leadership, and while I believe the city lacks a plan to minimize the impact of opening Washington Global PCS on Jefferson Academy MS, I do believe Washington Global PCS will be good neighbors, invest in our community and provide a great school option for public school families from Ward 6 and across the city.

My concern with the opening of a new middle school on the SW waterfront relates to process. Washington Global PCS stated a desire on its application for a license to operate a desire to locate in Wards 4, 5, 7 or 8. After being unable to find a suitable location Washington Global PCS identified space and is planning to open this fall in Ward 6 near L’Enfant Plaza. While I share the concerns of the public charter community about the inability to locate adequate spaces for schools throughout the city, this does not eliminate the need to have a public process that includes meaningful public input before a school location is selected. Because Washington Global PCS’s application did not include Ward 6 as a site for the location of the school, our community did not actively weigh-in during the approval process. Further, once a potential site is identified, the local ANC should be involved in the process to discuss impacts relating to traffic, the creation of safe routes to schools and other community issues.

I’ve encouraged Washington Global PCS Leadership to meet with neighborhood school and community leaders and to engage the ANC. I look forward to helping them ensure their opening in the fall is successful.

Thank you for your support.

Have a great Spring Break.

joe

One point of clarification - Washington Global is not in the Waterfront Neighborhood, a detail Mr. Weedon should understand as the Ward 6 SBOE Rep. Washington Global is in the Southwest Federal (Employment) District, the area north of the highway and south of the National Mall. Global is adjacent to the L'Enfant Metro stop.

Jefferson is a half mile from Washington Global, south of the highway in the Waterfront Neighborhood. The Waterfront neighborhood is between the highway (695/395) and Ft. McNair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every Ward 6 DCPS parent who voted for Bowser and Allen should be ashamed of themselves -- she couldn't care less for us and he doesn't speak up for us. The new cap budget is astoundingly shortsighted and obviously payback.

I'm ashamed I voted for him. He's nothing without Tommy telling him what to do.