New Ward 3 Middle School ???

[Anonymous]

Wow, you are giving Pope way too much credit. He destroyed the school? He harassed parents? Not while we were there. He's gone and there's a new principal, so what are you waiting for?

[Anonymous]

fascinating how the mind can rewrite history -- especially when people feel guilty about their complicity and go into denial.

By the way, Pope was not fired, he was reassigned and I think still works for DCPS at Savoy elementary.

Also - regarding wards - kids are not assigned to schools by ward, but by boundaries and Hardy is in-bound for many ward 3 kids, including Palisades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, you are giving Pope way too much credit. He destroyed the school? He harassed parents? Not while we were there. He's gone and there's a new principal, so what are you waiting for?

Good idea - send your kids there to give the poor and downtrodden that you care so much about a taste of uptown hospitality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How is he powerful enough to destroy the school by merely being fired? What put Hardy on the skids was failure by DCPS to provide an effective, full-time administrator, once pope was removed/left/whatever

I agree that the big problem was bungling by DCPS. However, he was there for over six months after it was announced that he was being replaced, and while DCPS put Hardy on the skids, he greased those skids.

I was astonished to see when I visited the school this spring that there are still "Hope for Pope" stickers on some classroom doors in the school.

Also, again let me repeat that Hardy is in Ward 3 !
AND Deal is overcrowded.

So shame on us for cheering for another Middle School in Ward 3.

[Anonymous]

Last time I checked, Hardy was in Ward 2. It's news to me that Hardy is now in Ward 3.

[Anonymous]

If Pope was so awful for poor kids, why did they let him stay at Hardy til the end of the year -- other principals were fired summarily during the school year without any reason given.

Pope was transferred downtown for the 10-11 school year, supposedly to plan a new arts school, then assigned to Savoy in the spring.

He was not on the list of principals leaving at the end of the year, suggesting that he's still on the payroll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Deal was mostly OOB students historically. In boundary families were not choosing Deal in large numbers and only did so feeling apprehensive about the choice. It is only since principal Kim came that the shift started to happen. My oldest graduated from Deal 4 years ago before the modernization. But even then you could see the academic improvements. It is possible.

If you go back far enough, before integration, Deal and other ward 3 schools were historically white, representing the neighborhood they were in.

No, they were white by law. In fact, Deal and Wilson were built (with land acquired through condemnation and eminent domain) to destroy the historic black neighborhood that existed around Fort Reno. http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/things-do-see/fort-reno-site-african-american-heritage-trail

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Deal was mostly OOB students historically. In boundary families were not choosing Deal in large numbers and only did so feeling apprehensive about the choice. It is only since principal Kim came that the shift started to happen. My oldest graduated from Deal 4 years ago before the modernization. But even then you could see the academic improvements. It is possible.

If you go back far enough, before integration, Deal and other ward 3 schools were historically white, representing the neighborhood they were in.

No, they were white by law. In fact, Deal and Wilson were built (with land acquired through condemnation and eminent domain) to destroy the historic black neighborhood that existed around Fort Reno. http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/things-do-see/fort-reno-site-african-american-heritage-trail

Thanks - still, I think Wilson and Deal remained largely white for a while after integration, because there was never "white flight" from ward 3, as there was in capitol hill, anacostia, Adams-morgan and other parts of DC

[Anonymous]

Well, but if the neighborhood was basically purged of black population, then ending up with a virtually all white school post-Jim Crow isn't really the result of a natural occurring demographic phenomenon.

[Anonymous]

And lots of Ward 3 white families opt out of DCPS so, arguably, the demographics of Wilson and Deal are and have been shaped by white flight.

Do you know where there are historical stats about the racial composition of the student bodies of each school?

[Anonymous]

And many black families opt out of Anacostia, Eastern, Ballou, Roosoevelt, so your point is? Oh, I get it. When black folks have a choice they do the exact same thing with their kids. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And lots of Ward 3 white families opt out of DCPS so, arguably, the demographics of Wilson and Deal are and have been shaped by white flight.

Do you know where there are historical stats about the racial composition of the student bodies of each school?

white flight as in fleeing neighborhoods, not schools.

Would like to see the stats too - I've heard that Deal was largely white in the late 50's early sixties

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And many black families opt out of Anacostia, Eastern, Ballou, Roosoevelt, so your point is? Oh, I get it. When black folks have a choice they do the exact same thing with their kids. Thanks.

My point was that the demographics of Deal and Wilson aren't/haven't been a simple reflection of the demographics of thei neighborhood (as a PP seemed to suggest) because lots of people in the neighborhood send their kids to private schools. The public vs. private split seems to vary over time in response both to economics and perceptions of where DCPS is headed. And, yes, that's true in black communities as well. There was mass exodus of middle class black families from DC to suburbs in PG County and elsewhere which is one of the reasons DC's population decreased so dramatically.

[Anonymous]

Again, here we go with this, if there's no white students in attendance at a DCPS building, then we are doomed and gloomed.

A potpourri of schools in the last 20 years have been revamped on the premise to bring this LARGE influx of whites back to Chocolate city. Let's go down memory lane; SWW, Banneker, Ellington, McKinley, Friendship, Phelps and Eastern

Let the record show, you will have two newly remodeled and built high-schools in the district opening up this week. Clearly, one school will have a 99% AA population with the other one having about 85% AA populaton. Guess what, those parents have a choice and believe me choosey mother's can chose Jiffy too!?!

I am so sick and tired of these black principals catering to this lone white students who cross the threshold. To those principals, don't lose your dignity to gain demographics, it AINT worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again, here we go with this, if there's no white students in attendance at a DCPS building, then we are doomed and gloomed.

A potpourri of schools in the last 20 years have been revamped on the premise to bring this LARGE influx of whites back to Chocolate city. Let's go down memory lane; SWW, Banneker, Ellington, McKinley, Friendship, Phelps and Eastern

Let the record show, you will have two newly remodeled and built high-schools in the district opening up this week. Clearly, one school will have a 99% AA population with the other one having about 85% AA populaton. Guess what, those parents have a choice and believe me choosey mother's can chose Jiffy too!?!

I am so sick and tired of these black principals catering to this lone white students who cross the threshold. To those principals, don't lose your dignity to gain demographics, it AINT worth it.

Haven't you heard? No longer Chocolate City. Mayme Mochatown.