Question for Supporters of New WotP High School

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:Again, can we please keep this thread limited to Roosevelt. Please start another thread to discuss Ellington and a possible new WotP high school.

The proposal you made about Roosevelt is completely intertwined with the WoTP situation.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Again, can we please keep this thread limited to Roosevelt. Please start another thread to discuss Ellington and a possible new WotP high school.

The proposal you made about Roosevelt is completely intertwined with the WoTP situation.

My proposal is one way to address the WotP situation. Other methods of addressing the situation should be discussed separately. I don't understand why you are unwilling to cooperate with my request to discuss Ellington and/or a new HS in a separate thread. Of course, while I'd rather not, I can enforce my request regardless of your willingness to cooperate

[Anonymous]

Proposed boundary (quick edit)

[Anonymous]

Maybe. Families west of 16th would scream bloody murder, but maybe it would work it they could be convinced to attend.

But I hate to say it, the most likely result would be property values around Connecticut avenue going down. On the bright side, it would be a net benefit to those of us who would like to buy a house there.

[Anonymous]

What you are not understanding is that there are lots of families in the most Western part of the city that would like to send their children to public schools (hugely increasing numbers) - but have even been out of the Deal district for years -- where those schools are IB for Hardy. For decades Hardy has not only been underperforming Deal but also the publicly outwardly stated position of the old principal was that it was for Ward 4 and 5 children to attend (this is on the record) - this is why it was controversial when he was removed and replaced with the Principal Pride. For decades, the farthest West kids parents either move or opt for private, but many many many would like a Deal-quality public option and then feed into Wilson.

The untenable part of the proposal to convert Roosevelt to a busing option for WOTP kids - is that the kids current served by Deal-Wilson are the closest to it - but they are entrenched in that boundary pattern & won't budget. So what you are proposing would impact the kids who are in the Western most part of the city -- ie the ones who have been closed out of Deal have basically gotten out of DCPS in the past but families who live in these areas now want to stay in the public system -- so this is the population that constitutes the big potential overflow to Wilson in the future (if Hardy improves & IB Wilson families stay in the system -- -- this would be where the major overload of kids who could be IB for Wilson but historically those families have opted out.) In any practical terms, your proposal is about sending all of the kids from the most western part of the city across town to Roosevelt after Hardy -- many driving past Wilson which would be half way for them - commuting through and past the neighborhoods of the kids who would live closer to Roosevelt but the families have traditionally been going to Wilson. This has been the entrenched pattern for decades (Janney, Murch, Lafayette, Eaton (got an exception to feed to Deal vs. Hardy) (and Oyster ends at 8 and feeds to Wilson currently) -- vs. Hyde-Addison, Key, Stoddert, Mann -- which go to Hardy.

The EOTP families seem to feel more entitled to having future options that the farthest WOTP families (Hardy-track) who are also want viable options for their children beyond ES.

You need a better understanding of the demographic patterns and boundaries of the city to understand why it is not tenable.

What is stopping IB families from attending Hardy right now? The school is under capacity.

If the answer is that they don't want to mix with the current students, wouldn't it be a good idea to give those OOB students another option that's closer to where they live?

Why would a Roosevelt High School need anyone coming from the western edge of the city, when there are so many more students right in Roosevelt's back yard who are currently going to Wilson?? If those EOTP families have a comparable alternative, is that not a solution to the overcrowding?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe. Families west of 16th would scream bloody murder, but maybe it would work it they could be convinced to attend.

But I hate to say it, the most likely result would be property values around Connecticut avenue going down. On the bright side, it would be a net benefit to those of us who would like to buy a house there.

would help too, if parents knew that some good wilson/deal teachers were making the move with the students.

[Anonymous]

I live about as far west as you can get - close to Western avenue and would bypass Wilson for the opportunity for my kids to complete their IB diploma - if it has the same rigor as Deal. This is the one major gap I see that could attract families to the west. It is all about what is being offered. There is no option for DCPS kids to continue the IB program at the high school level other than Banneker (selective), I think Eastern (too far) or private school ($$$$). Wilson explored adding it but I think the idea has been abandoned.

[Anonymous]

Extend the triangle south to take in DuPont/Ross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Again, can we please keep this thread limited to Roosevelt. Please start another thread to discuss Ellington and a possible new WotP high school.

Then somebody needs to change the title of the thread. Personally, I see the options under discussion as related.

The title doesn't need to be changed. Why don't get you get that Ellington is off the table.

+1 Ship has sailed.

Another +1. People need to realize that Ellington students stay into the evening working on their arts and DCPS won't give them adequate security for the evenings. The current Ellington location is the safest one for the students and they're not about to move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Again, can we please keep this thread limited to Roosevelt. Please start another thread to discuss Ellington and a possible new WotP high school.

Then somebody needs to change the title of the thread. Personally, I see the options under discussion as related.

The title doesn't need to be changed. Why don't get you get that Ellington is off the table.

+1 Ship has sailed.

Another +1. People need to realize that Ellington students stay into the evening working on their arts and DCPS won't give them adequate security for the evenings. The current Ellington location is the safest one for the students and they're not about to move.

They should just make Ellington bigger and open the school to in-boundary students. Would be a pretty cool scene.

[Anonymous]

Wilson parent here. Wilson is OK but no great shakes. Roosevelt would REALLY have to improve the curriculum and hire some very impressive new staff to make it an option that I or anyone I know would ever consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wilson parent here. Wilson is OK but no great shakes. Roosevelt would REALLY have to improve the curriculum and hire some very impressive new staff to make it an option that I or anyone I know would ever consider.

what about if some highly regarded wilson teachers and administrators were enticed to move over to Roosevelt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson parent here. Wilson is OK but no great shakes. Roosevelt would REALLY have to improve the curriculum and hire some very impressive new staff to make it an option that I or anyone I know would ever consider.

what about if some highly regarded wilson teachers and administrators were enticed to move over to Roosevelt.

So, let's hurt Wilson by dragging away successful educators? Doubt Wilson parents would like that much. Or the teachers being forced to move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson parent here. Wilson is OK but no great shakes. Roosevelt would REALLY have to improve the curriculum and hire some very impressive new staff to make it an option that I or anyone I know would ever consider.

what about if some highly regarded wilson teachers and administrators were enticed to move over to Roosevelt.

And a proven principal -- not a TFA "rock star" but someone -- maybe from out of town or from the nearby suburbs-- who already has an established reputation.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:And a proven principal -- not a TFA "rock star" but someone -- maybe from out of town or from the nearby suburbs-- who already has an established reputation.

Who you describe sounds a lot like the existing principal (whom I've emailed a link to this thread). Read this article:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/45392/rough-ride-roosevelt-high-school/

Mitchell is in his fourth year as Roosevelt’s principal. He was the fourth principal of the school in six years when he arrived, and he faced skepticism about whether he’d really stick around after spending four years as principal of a Baltimore application-only high school. “That weeding-out process meant that we didn’t see all the students that a neighborhood high school sees,” says Mitchell. “And after four years and really wanting to be in education and wanting to make a difference, that’s why I got involved. I wanted to be in a neighborhood high school.”