Shaw Middle School -- what's the plan?
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Anonymous
| There are other buildings available that could house Center City MS. Meyer, which has been used as swing space for Cardozo, Ellington, and now Hyde. Garnett-Patterson, which used to house Shaw middle. Or a vacated Banneker. |
Anonymous
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Meyer and Garnet are booked for a few years as swing space while other schools are undergoing reno’s.
And keep dreaming re Ellington. |
Anonymous
Not sure who’s dreaming about Ellington. It was in Meyer as swing space and is back in Georgetown permanently... If you think Center City MS is going to open within the next few years I’d say you are dreaming 
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Anonymous
| Thank you to whoever posted about alternative sites. Not sure why such negativity about having this discussion. Sigh. Obviously those of you who know best can’t even tolerate a transparent process. |
Anonymous
| Folks, there is a MS option available to you all. Not wanting to use it is a personal problem. |
Anonymous
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http://dccouncil.us/event/education-public-roundtable-9/
Education Public Roundtable Thursday, November 15, 2018 10:00 am LOCATION Wilson Building Room 500 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, DC, 20004 The Committee on Education will hold a Public Roundtable on the following Matter: “The District of Columbia Public Schools’ Plans for Shaw Junior High School Campus and Benjamin Banneker Academic High School” If you are unable to testify at the roundtable, written statements are encouraged and will be made a part of the official record. Written statements should be submitted by email to Ashley Strange, Committee Assistant, at astrange@dccouncil.us. or by post to the Committee on Education, Council of the District of Columbia, Suite 116 of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20004. The record will close at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 29, 2018. Sign up to testify at http://www.davidgrosso.org/events/2018/11/15/public-roundtable-on-the-district-of-columbia-public-schools-plans-for-shaw-junior-high-school-campus-and-benjamin-banneker-academic-high-school |
Anonymous
This conversation is about two separate, but related things. First, the fact that the decisions around moving Banneker have been totally opaque. For those saying that this isn't true: sorry, but even DCPS has admitted that the process around this move has been terrible. Some basic outreach has been done starting the last month or so, but it's wholly inadequate. And people are right to be upset. The second is about a middle school discussion. To those suddenly calling it Center City -- please, it was called Shaw Middle in the boundary documents. The sudden rebranding smacks of someone trying to help the powers that be save face. And sure, there are alternative sites: Garnet Patterson is a non-starter. It's tiny and no green space. Meyer is booked for years out. Banneker is actually a decent site, but that just rubs the wrong way, doesn't it? I do agree that any discussion of MS is YEARS away, and I think it's a distraction from the horrible Banneker process. Shame on all those involved. FWIW, I have yet to see anything about traffic calming or environmental impacts to moving Banneker. Both of these issues, to me, have to be addressed before a final decision is made. I, for one, can not imagine what a 700 student HS is going to do to traffic on already congested RI Ave. And for parents of kids across the street, what is going to be done to keep them safe from construction dust (was asbestos remediation already done? if not, that's probably a big thing to think about), and vehicles, more traffic? This whole thing is just another example of DCPS, DME, OSSE, and the lot of them being utterly dysfunctional. |
Anonymous
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Rhode Island Ave is a major transportation corridor for cars and buses and the Shaw Middle site is adjacent to a metro stop. There is no convincing argument that the site is not suitable for a 700-student school based on traffic impact, especially because it was a school in the recent past. And yes, there will likely be some environmental remediation necessary as part of the construction - but is your counterargument that the building should not be renovated and returned to use?
The bottom line for me is that DCPS has too many seats at the middle school level, so adding more middle school capacity to the system is a non-starter. And that Banneker (the institution) needs a new/upgraded building. And Shaw Middle sitting vacant is poor city stewardship of real estate. |
Anonymous
this. Isn't brookland middle barely at 50% capacity? The issue isnt lack if middle schools, the issue is that most UMC parents don't want to send their kid to the middle schools available to them. How will that change with Shaw Middle? |
Anonymous
| At the same time, Deal is bursting at the seams with Hardy and MS years at SWW@Francis heading in the same direction. |
Anonymous
Exactly this. Give us a good option and there will be no empty seats. |
Anonymous
Yes. So a good option would be to make SWW@F-S a PK3-5 school with more room for elementary students and Cardozo takes middle school students from F-S, Thompson, Garrison, Seaton, Cleveland, and Ross. I think only Deal and Hardy would have more 5th graders who score 4s and 5s on the PARCC with rights to attend. |
Anonymous
| No one I know from Shaw would send their kids to Cardoza for MS. People who wanted to stay in DCPS after ES either moved in boundary for Deal or sent kids to Francis Stevens, Hardy or Ellington. Some went private or parochial. Everyone else is at Basis, Latin, DCI and IT. |
Anonymous
| PP nailed it. What would a Shaw middle school offer to make it different from Cardozo? You need a critical mass of high achieving students to turn a middle school around. |
Anonymous
Shaw MS would have a different group of feeder schools than Cardozo that potentially do in fact have a critical mass of high achieving students. Right now this cluster of schools is divided for the temporary feeder system with two of the schools going to SWW. |