Using Ellington to alleviate overcrowding

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ellington has 2 parts to its overpriced building. The academic part is used for 1/2 the day, then the arts part for the other half. Right now it is academics in the first half, arts through the evening.

If the schedule were reversed to be arts first, then the academic building could be used by regular HS students for half the day, and Ellington students the othe half.

It is crazy that this expensive building lies unused for so much of the day. Lets put a small academic or other magnet there too to better serve DC students.

The school capacity is 600 students. There are 570 there now.

The Ellington school day is 9 hours long. Arts don’t start until 245 and go until 545.

It is not underutilized. Go for a tour and confirm for yourself.

Then DCPS can close Fillmore and use the arts side of Ellington for elementary arts classes before 2:45. Change Fillmore to an arts-focused elementary without a boundary, or use it for self-contained special ed classes since there are relatively few WOTP, or offer PK there, or some of each.

This makes some sense. Fillmore does do some non- school programming. They could pay rent to use Fillmore during off hours.

[Anonymous]

If they are currently at 90% capacity, then they can fit another 120 students or so. By DCPS logic, 100% capacity = 125% capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they are currently at 90% capacity, then they can fit another 120 students or so. By DCPS logic, 100% capacity = 125% capacity.

Across 4 grades. That is 40 kids per grade extra. But the building would need to be used differently to how it is now to accommodate. And 30 per grade is a very small cohort so would need to be properly integrated into school proper not some weird desperate program. Does not seem easy to make it work. But I have never been inside the building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they are currently at 90% capacity, then they can fit another 120 students or so. By DCPS logic, 100% capacity = 125% capacity.

They are 31 students short of capacity now. The senior class is the smallest they have. No one knows what the incoming 9th grade will look like.

That would be 10 6th, 7th and 8th graders. Not enough to justify hiring teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are currently at 90% capacity, then they can fit another 120 students or so. By DCPS logic, 100% capacity = 125% capacity.

They are 31 students short of capacity now. The senior class is the smallest they have. No one knows what the incoming 9th grade will look like.

That would be 10 6th, 7th and 8th graders. Not enough to justify hiring teachers.

They could put two or three self-contained special ed HS classes there--the arts programming could allow for some integration as well. For whatever reason https://dcps.dc.gov/specialeducation only lists the classroom locations for 2016-7, but it looks like there are no BES/CES/autism support HS classrooms WOTP.

Using the arts space for the schools currently served by Fillmore and using Fillmore for elementary (including offering lots of ECE classrooms--kind of like Dorothy Height) is another good idea that would help meet strong demand for PK WOTP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes less sense than arguing Wilson is overcrowded, let’s cut the school day to 4 hours, team A will learn from 8:45-12:45 and team B will learn from 1-5. At least in that scenario all kids would get at least 4 hours of academics. Still a bad idea but not quite as bad.

LOL great analogy for this. We can also utilize space at Walls when students are taking courses at GW.

Yes, I notice that these kinds of schemes are never aimed at Walls. What do you suppose the difference is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are currently at 90% capacity, then they can fit another 120 students or so. By DCPS logic, 100% capacity = 125% capacity.

They are 31 students short of capacity now. The senior class is the smallest they have. No one knows what the incoming 9th grade will look like.

That would be 10 6th, 7th and 8th graders. Not enough to justify hiring teachers.

They could put two or three self-contained special ed HS classes there--the arts programming could allow for some integration as well. For whatever reason https://dcps.dc.gov/specialeducation only lists the classroom locations for 2016-7, but it looks like there are no BES/CES/autism support HS classrooms WOTP.

Using the arts space for the schools currently served by Fillmore and using Fillmore for elementary (including offering lots of ECE classrooms--kind of like Dorothy Height) is another good idea that would help meet strong demand for PK WOTP.

Self-contained classrooms are cited around the city, and move based on where the majority of students live. The district must try to keep these students as close to their IB as possible. You also aren't going to put these students in the advanced, audition based arts classes at Ellington. They would have to audition like anyone else. DCPS has no requirement to serve students with special needs at every school so long as they serve them at some school (whole other different thread, but look at the percentage of special ed students at Banneker, SWW as well).

I also suspect, but obviously can't prove, that students who live WOTP who need these programs are the most likely to have the resources to sue DCPS for private placements.

[Anonymous]

Why would Duke Ellington be needed for extra capacity, when other high schools are under enrolled? This just sounds like more whining about Duke Ellington kids having a nicer facility than you think they deserve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ellington has 2 parts to its overpriced building. The academic part is used for 1/2 the day, then the arts part for the other half. Right now it is academics in the first half, arts through the evening.

If the schedule were reversed to be arts first, then the academic building could be used by regular HS students for half the day, and Ellington students the othe half.

It is crazy that this expensive building lies unused for so much of the day. Lets put a small academic or other magnet there too to better serve DC students.

OP, does it ever occur to you that working professionals teach the arts part of the curriculum and maybe they're not available whenever you'd like?

[Anonymous]

Since Wilson is the only overcrowded High School in DCPS I am assuming this proposal is to address overcrowding at Wilson. Please explain why/how this would work and why this is a better solution than rezoning kids to one of the several underutilized (also fully renovated) DCPS high schools.

I know that nobody zoned for Wilson wants to be rezoned. But what does this location offer that other actually underutilized high schools does not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would Duke Ellington be needed for extra capacity, when other high schools are under enrolled? This just sounds like more whining about Duke Ellington kids having a nicer facility than you think they deserve.

Exactly. This is why every time Ellington comes up -- even if it's to call attention to a great play/show/concert -- someone makes a snarky comment which cites the cost of the renovation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ellington has 2 parts to its overpriced building. The academic part is used for 1/2 the day, then the arts part for the other half. Right now it is academics in the first half, arts through the evening.

If the schedule were reversed to be arts first, then the academic building could be used by regular HS students for half the day, and Ellington students the othe half.

It is crazy that this expensive building lies unused for so much of the day. Lets put a small academic or other magnet there too to better serve DC students.

The school capacity is 600 students. There are 570 there now.

The Ellington school day is 9 hours long. Arts don’t start until 245 and go until 545.

It is not underutilized. Go for a tour and confirm for yourself.

Then DCPS can close Fillmore and use the arts side of Ellington for elementary arts classes before 2:45. Change Fillmore to an arts-focused elementary without a boundary, or use it for self-contained special ed classes since there are relatively few WOTP, or offer PK there, or some of each.

This makes some sense. Fillmore does do some non- school programming. They could pay rent to use Fillmore during off hours.

I'm not sure you understand what "Fillmore" is. "Fillmore" -- the arts education program utilized by three massively overcrowded elementary schools -- is housed at Hardy MS on the 6th grade floor (the grade for which there is now a waiting list). The building named "Fillmore" next to Hardy MS is the old Fillmore School which GWU owned at one point and sold a few years ago to the arts philanthropy S&R Foundation. It has nothing to do with DCPS at all.

Anyway - totally agree that the schools utilizing the Fillmore Arts Center at Hardy have access to DESA for their weekly half-day of studio and performing arts instruction. These schools have no room whatsoever for arts instruction, or even "art on a cart" as closet storage space has been taken over by teaching and guidance personnel.

[Anonymous]

What's happening with the Ellington track and field two blocks away? It's owned by DCPS and not used by the school anymore (no sports teams at Ellington). Basically, it doubles at a community park and Georgetown Univ pays to use it as a spare practice field.

It's actually bigger than the block on which Ellington is located. Someone please build a new high school here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's happening with the Ellington track and field two blocks away? It's owned by DCPS and not used by the school anymore (no sports teams at Ellington). Basically, it doubles at a community park and Georgetown Univ pays to use it as a spare practice field.

It's actually bigger than the block on which Ellington is located. Someone please build a new high school here!

Did you not read the DME memo and report from last week?

It is all about overcapacity throughout the city and the vast number of open seats. No new DCPS high schools are going to be built for the foreseeable future, especially since that report didn't include any high schools opened in 2018-19 (Bard) or Coolidge Early College (19-20)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's happening with the Ellington track and field two blocks away? It's owned by DCPS and not used by the school anymore (no sports teams at Ellington). Basically, it doubles at a community park and Georgetown Univ pays to use it as a spare practice field.

It's actually bigger than the block on which Ellington is located. Someone please build a new high school here!

Did you not read the DME memo and report from last week?

It is all about overcapacity throughout the city and the vast number of open seats. No new DCPS high schools are going to be built for the foreseeable future, especially since that report didn't include any high schools opened in 2018-19 (Bard) or Coolidge Early College (19-20)

Here's the summary in case you missed it. https://dme.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dme/publication/attachments/School%20system%20capacity%20assessment%20-%20key%20information%20FINAL%20051519.pdf