Proposal is up!

[Anonymous]

I think that crossing guards and/or new stoplights should be something that parents lobby for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The changing of Eastern feeder pattern is not highly controversial. It just makes more sense in some form by making Jefferson exclusively Eastern and taking the neighborhood of Kelly Miller students out of the mix. Now the questions still remains, how can DCPS ignore one of the largest middle schools of them all and that is Friendship MS. We constantly say that we are all one school system but the majority of Eastern eligible feeder students attend the second largest middle school in comparison to Deal. Friendship MS is located in Ward 6 neighborhood close to Eastern but many of those kids are shuffled off to Friendship HS in Ward 7. I will say it on this post too, where do the students from Browne Educational go to school when all is seemingly neighborhood generated...Spingarn is no longer available.


History note: Eastern used to have the following feeder schools:
Eliot
Browne
Sousa
Jefferson
Hine
Evans
Kelly Miller
Roper (Ron Brown)
Fletcher-Johnson
Stuart-Hobson
Woodson Jr

So the inventory of feeder schools have dwindled down from 11 to 3 but Eastern is still projected to be the second largest high-school next year.

Oh who bloody cares. I'll be surprised if a single kid from my child's DCPS Hill early childhood program (which is almost entirely high SES for PreK3, PreK4 and K, and white) ended up at Eastern (which is almost entirely low SES and AA). You'd need a generation to turn things around at this rate, not a mere decade.

It didn't take a generation for that to happen at Deal. Why not join up with your neighbors and make it happen sooner?

I still have trouble understanding exactly what the Hill families are looking for.

Imagine that Janney, Murch and the other Deal feeders each fed to a separate, underenrolled middle school along with elementary schools that were still struggling to graduate a majority of students who are on grade level academically.

Deal would not happen under those circumstances.

That is the way it is purposefully set up by DCPS on Capitol Hill, but in an even smaller geographic area than the Deal feeder system.

It is insanity not to concentrate these elementary schools to feed into a comprehensive Capitol Hill Middle School with enough per pupil funding to serve all ends of the academic spectrum. Then into Eastern that is poised and ready with an IB Diplomae program already as well as some great vocational programs.

Why can't someone with a brain see the potential of all these schools feeding to one middle school rather than three that then end up serving all out of zone students?

I am a ward 3 parent and I have to agree that continuing the unsuccessful middle schools feeder patterns on CH is the most boneheaded plan ever. I have never understood what the politics are that prohibit affirmatively bringing successful children together to create another Deal-like middle school. Who objects to this? Who thinks the current plan is working?

The worst is that many of the Hill ES have space for OOB students, so it's not like the OOB students would be shut out of this enhanced MS. They could gain seats in ES and gain the feeder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, Langley for Bloomingdale? Langley makes no sense, my preschooler is supposed to cross North Cap twice a day? That's our "neighborhood"? I think not. So upset about this. Will definitely be at the community meeting.

Are you planning to have your preschooler walk to and from school alone?

Yep, just going to tuck a little child's sized pistol in his pull ups and wish him luck.

Have you ever cross North Cap? There are approximately 2 places, total, to do it and every single one of them is a death trap. I'm afraid to do it myself, let alone with a 4 year old during rush hour.

Beyond that, this is not our neighborhood. The new plan isolates Bloomingdale from its surrounding community; it makes no sense. They're trying to "integrate Eckington" but drawing a line around a six block strip of Bloomingdale is not going to do it. I'm a 15 second walk from "LeDroit Park" and 10 minutes from the closest corner of Eckington.

Yes I've crossed N Cap, many times, across the T overpass and Rhode Island overpass. It's perfectly fine, and that's what you'd do to get to Langley from west of N Cap, because Langley is just south of T. It is a bit strong to describe the T overpass or the Rhode Island overpass as death traps. Crossing at Florida, maybe you have a point there.

I understand that you're upset about being zoned out of (Seaton? Garrison?), and it sounds like you are on the western end of Bloomingdale. But you are stretching it a little saying that Le Droit Park is part of your broader neighborhood and Eckington is not. Long term, anything that re-unites Bloomingdale and Eckington is beneficial. These were basically one and the same neighborhood with North Cap running down the middle, prior to the freeway conversion of North Cap. Plus, Eckington is gentrifying as fast as Bloomingdale, as is Stronghold, so based on the boundary for the new Langley I think this could actually be a pretty strong ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, Langley for Bloomingdale? Langley makes no sense, my preschooler is supposed to cross North Cap twice a day? That's our "neighborhood"? I think not. So upset about this. Will definitely be at the community meeting.

Are you planning to have your preschooler walk to and from school alone?

Yep, just going to tuck a little child's sized pistol in his pull ups and wish him luck.

Have you ever cross North Cap? There are approximately 2 places, total, to do it and every single one of them is a death trap. I'm afraid to do it myself, let alone with a 4 year old during rush hour.

Beyond that, this is not our neighborhood. The new plan isolates Bloomingdale from its surrounding community; it makes no sense. They're trying to "integrate Eckington" but drawing a line around a six block strip of Bloomingdale is not going to do it. I'm a 15 second walk from "LeDroit Park" and 10 minutes from the closest corner of Eckington.

Yes I've crossed N Cap, many times, across the T overpass and Rhode Island overpass. It's perfectly fine, and that's what you'd do to get to Langley from west of N Cap, because Langley is just south of T. It is a bit strong to describe the T overpass or the Rhode Island overpass as death traps. Crossing at Florida, maybe you have a point there.

I understand that you're upset about being zoned out of (Seaton? Garrison?), and it sounds like you are on the western end of Bloomingdale. But you are stretching it a little saying that Le Droit Park is part of your broader neighborhood and Eckington is not. Long term, anything that re-unites Bloomingdale and Eckington is beneficial. These were basically one and the same neighborhood with North Cap running down the middle, prior to the freeway conversion of North Cap. Plus, Eckington is gentrifying as fast as Bloomingdale, as is Stronghold, so based on the boundary for the new Langley I think this could actually be a pretty strong ES.

Seaton and Garrison; would have been happy with either.

Yes, I am on the west side and actually I can literally see LeDroit Park from my backyard, whereas I was not exaggerating that it would take me 10 minutes to even be in the closest corner of Eckington, let alone Langley EC which is 0.6 miles away from me. I don't think it's a stretch at all to say that Bloomingdale is closer to LeDroit Park. Most residents use the Shaw metro and are consistently walking through LeDroit Park, I pass through it several times a day. I can honestly say that in three years of living in this neighborhood not a single thing has caused me to have to go over to Eckington. I've only crossed North Cap on voluntary walks over to the cemetery. I really think you'd be hard pressed to find Bloomingdale residents who think of Eckington as their "neighborhood" because, right or wrong, it is literally across a freeway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, Langley for Bloomingdale? Langley makes no sense, my preschooler is supposed to cross North Cap twice a day? That's our "neighborhood"? I think not. So upset about this. Will definitely be at the community meeting.

Are you planning to have your preschooler walk to and from school alone?

Yep, just going to tuck a little child's sized pistol in his pull ups and wish him luck.

Have you ever cross North Cap? There are approximately 2 places, total, to do it and every single one of them is a death trap. I'm afraid to do it myself, let alone with a 4 year old during rush hour.

Beyond that, this is not our neighborhood. The new plan isolates Bloomingdale from its surrounding community; it makes no sense. They're trying to "integrate Eckington" but drawing a line around a six block strip of Bloomingdale is not going to do it. I'm a 15 second walk from "LeDroit Park" and 10 minutes from the closest corner of Eckington.

Yes I've crossed N Cap, many times, across the T overpass and Rhode Island overpass. It's perfectly fine, and that's what you'd do to get to Langley from west of N Cap, because Langley is just south of T. It is a bit strong to describe the T overpass or the Rhode Island overpass as death traps. Crossing at Florida, maybe you have a point there.

I understand that you're upset about being zoned out of (Seaton? Garrison?), and it sounds like you are on the western end of Bloomingdale. But you are stretching it a little saying that Le Droit Park is part of your broader neighborhood and Eckington is not. Long term, anything that re-unites Bloomingdale and Eckington is beneficial. These were basically one and the same neighborhood with North Cap running down the middle, prior to the freeway conversion of North Cap. Plus, Eckington is gentrifying as fast as Bloomingdale, as is Stronghold, so based on the boundary for the new Langley I think this could actually be a pretty strong ES.

Nobody but property owners in Eckington thinks that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, Langley for Bloomingdale? Langley makes no sense, my preschooler is supposed to cross North Cap twice a day? That's our "neighborhood"? I think not. So upset about this. Will definitely be at the community meeting.

Are you planning to have your preschooler walk to and from school alone?

Yep, just going to tuck a little child's sized pistol in his pull ups and wish him luck.

Have you ever cross North Cap? There are approximately 2 places, total, to do it and every single one of them is a death trap. I'm afraid to do it myself, let alone with a 4 year old during rush hour.

Beyond that, this is not our neighborhood. The new plan isolates Bloomingdale from its surrounding community; it makes no sense. They're trying to "integrate Eckington" but drawing a line around a six block strip of Bloomingdale is not going to do it. I'm a 15 second walk from "LeDroit Park" and 10 minutes from the closest corner of Eckington.

Yes I've crossed N Cap, many times, across the T overpass and Rhode Island overpass. It's perfectly fine, and that's what you'd do to get to Langley from west of N Cap, because Langley is just south of T. It is a bit strong to describe the T overpass or the Rhode Island overpass as death traps. Crossing at Florida, maybe you have a point there.

I understand that you're upset about being zoned out of (Seaton? Garrison?), and it sounds like you are on the western end of Bloomingdale. But you are stretching it a little saying that Le Droit Park is part of your broader neighborhood and Eckington is not. Long term, anything that re-unites Bloomingdale and Eckington is beneficial. These were basically one and the same neighborhood with North Cap running down the middle, prior to the freeway conversion of North Cap. Plus, Eckington is gentrifying as fast as Bloomingdale, as is Stronghold, so based on the boundary for the new Langley I think this could actually be a pretty strong ES.

Nobody but property owners in Eckington thinks that.

Agree. They are dreaming and I live in neither.

[Anonymous]

Maybe they'll make N Capitol safer to cross? That doesn't seem like much to ask and shouldn't be hard to do, to keep little ones safe.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My IB schools will be MacFarland and Roosevelt...I could be crazy and could ultimately be worn down by the bueacracy, but I'm actually kind of excited at the prospect of those as new schools. I really, really, really hope that DCPS builds programs there that would attract the high-SES families who are moving into Petworth and 16 Street Heights. My kids are still young enough that MacFarland and Roosevelt could be renovated and reopened as attractive programs. Unfortunately, I'm not thrilled with the plan that Roosevelt will have a world language focus, since our IB elementary school doesn't offer much of anything beyond having a teaching assistant who is Spanish speaking and the limited "world language" requirement set in place by DCPS last year. Wish/hope there will be a shift to STEM or simply a strong commitment to creating lots of advanced classes.

It's just an international focus, not international language. It's still meant to be a comprehensive, neighborhood high school with opt-in specialized programming, including language instruction.

I'm excited about it, too. But it needs a strong middle school to feed it.

You should join the Ward 4 Education Alliance where parents are working to put together a proposal for programmatic offering at the new MacFarland. I know many, if not most of the parents still have kids in the very early grades, with hopes that it will be up and running within the next five years.

Thanks, PP! I will definitely get involved. What does "international focus" mean?

It means they put the word "International" in front of everything to make it sound like a much better program, when in fact it's the same old, same old.

Again, plans for MacFarland and Roosevelt are in very early stages. These schools can potentially be anything the community wants them to be. If the community wants them to be nothing more than subjects of complaints, they can easily be that. But, we have the opportunity to help create exciting programs. In my opinion, the "international" focus was a case of making lemonade from lemons. Roosevelt already has a student body made up of many nationalities. So, why not capitalize on that? What "international" ends up meaning down the road is really what we want it to mean.

The plans for Roosevelt are in motion and that school will be open in 2015. They have a dynamic leader who is a great evangelist for DCPS but he doesn't have a record of leading a school with a high quality academic program. The community for Roosevelt includes a lot of people who believe that the school is just fine and needs a new coat of paint. Until DCPS shows us otherwise, that is the "official" plan as it stands. They are basically hoodwinking us to say, "oh, it will be a great school" without any information.

As for MacFarland, the plans do not exist. DCPS is investing in only ONE of the elementary schools that the would feed MacFarland. And that school, Powell, is still a low performing school but has a group of active parents in KINDERGARTEN. Yes, those parents have an agenda for their school and kids, otherwise there are no other parents participating, even at the very basic level. DCPS will need to equally invest in all the other schools feeding to MacFarland to make it have high quality seats. It will take many, many years before that school will be a viable option for many families.

[Anonymous]

so we're back to calling good students "high quality seats?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, Langley for Bloomingdale? Langley makes no sense, my preschooler is supposed to cross North Cap twice a day? That's our "neighborhood"? I think not. So upset about this. Will definitely be at the community meeting.

Are you planning to have your preschooler walk to and from school alone?

Yep, just going to tuck a little child's sized pistol in his pull ups and wish him luck.

Have you ever cross North Cap? There are approximately 2 places, total, to do it and every single one of them is a death trap. I'm afraid to do it myself, let alone with a 4 year old during rush hour.

Beyond that, this is not our neighborhood. The new plan isolates Bloomingdale from its surrounding community; it makes no sense. They're trying to "integrate Eckington" but drawing a line around a six block strip of Bloomingdale is not going to do it. I'm a 15 second walk from "LeDroit Park" and 10 minutes from the closest corner of Eckington.

Yes I've crossed N Cap, many times, across the T overpass and Rhode Island overpass. It's perfectly fine, and that's what you'd do to get to Langley from west of N Cap, because Langley is just south of T. It is a bit strong to describe the T overpass or the Rhode Island overpass as death traps. Crossing at Florida, maybe you have a point there.

I understand that you're upset about being zoned out of (Seaton? Garrison?), and it sounds like you are on the western end of Bloomingdale. But you are stretching it a little saying that Le Droit Park is part of your broader neighborhood and Eckington is not. Long term, anything that re-unites Bloomingdale and Eckington is beneficial. These were basically one and the same neighborhood with North Cap running down the middle, prior to the freeway conversion of North Cap. Plus, Eckington is gentrifying as fast as Bloomingdale, as is Stronghold, so based on the boundary for the new Langley I think this could actually be a pretty strong ES.

Seaton and Garrison; would have been happy with either.

Yes, I am on the west side and actually I can literally see LeDroit Park from my backyard, whereas I was not exaggerating that it would take me 10 minutes to even be in the closest corner of Eckington, let alone Langley EC which is 0.6 miles away from me. I don't think it's a stretch at all to say that Bloomingdale is closer to LeDroit Park. Most residents use the Shaw metro and are consistently walking through LeDroit Park, I pass through it several times a day. I can honestly say that in three years of living in this neighborhood not a single thing has caused me to have to go over to Eckington. I've only crossed North Cap on voluntary walks over to the cemetery. I really think you'd be hard pressed It looks like the adoption program is only for new trees @dcddot This one's at least 15 years old. I just want to keep it around longer. Looks sick! to find Bloomingdale residents who think of Eckington as their "neighborhood" because, right or wrong, it is literally across a freeway.

You do know that the park at LeDroit used to BE the neighborhood school? They tore it down & built the park. Langley has been the in-boundary school for most of Bloomingdale since then. Is this news to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My IB schools will be MacFarland and Roosevelt...I could be crazy and could ultimately be worn down by the bueacracy, but I'm actually kind of excited at the prospect of those as new schools. I really, really, really hope that DCPS builds programs there that would attract the high-SES families who are moving into Petworth and 16 Street Heights. My kids are still young enough that MacFarland and Roosevelt could be renovated and reopened as attractive programs. Unfortunately, I'm not thrilled with the plan that Roosevelt will have a world language focus, since our IB elementary school doesn't offer much of anything beyond having a teaching assistant who is Spanish speaking and the limited "world language" requirement set in place by DCPS last year. Wish/hope there will be a shift to STEM or simply a strong commitment to creating lots of advanced classes.

It's just an international focus, not international language. It's still meant to be a comprehensive, neighborhood high school with opt-in specialized programming, including language instruction.

I'm excited about it, too. But it needs a strong middle school to feed it.

You should join the Ward 4 Education Alliance where parents are working to put together a proposal for programmatic offering at the new MacFarland. I know many, if not most of the parents still have kids in the very early grades, with hopes that it will be up and running within the next five years.

Thanks, PP! I will definitely get involved. What does "international focus" mean?

It means they put the word "International" in front of everything to make it sound like a much better program, when in fact it's the same old, same old.

Again, plans for MacFarland and Roosevelt are in very early stages. These schools can potentially be anything the community wants them to be. If the community wants them to be nothing more than subjects of complaints, they can easily be that. But, we have the opportunity to help create exciting programs. In my opinion, the "international" focus was a case of making lemonade from lemons. Roosevelt already has a student body made up of many nationalities. So, why not capitalize on that? What "international" ends up meaning down the road is really what we want it to mean.

The plans for Roosevelt are in motion and that school will be open in 2015. They have a dynamic leader who is a great evangelist for DCPS but he doesn't have a record of leading a school with a high quality academic program. The community for Roosevelt includes a lot of people who believe that the school is just fine and needs a new coat of paint. Until DCPS shows us otherwise, that is the "official" plan as it stands. They are basically hoodwinking us to say, "oh, it will be a great school" without any information.

As for MacFarland, the plans do not exist. DCPS is investing in only ONE of the elementary schools that the would feed MacFarland. And that school, Powell, is still a low performing school but has a group of active parents in KINDERGARTEN. Yes, those parents have an agenda for their school and kids, otherwise there are no other parents participating, even at the very basic level. DCPS will need to equally invest in all the other schools feeding to MacFarland to make it have high quality seats. It will take many, many years before that school will be a viable option for many families.

I should say that the Powell parents aresmart and motivated advocates for their school and children. They are very optimistic and truly believe in DCPS, whereas I have seen DCPS in action and hold a more jaded view. We wouldn't be going through this process if DCPS could effectively educate children and run schools well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My IB schools will be MacFarland and Roosevelt...I could be crazy and could ultimately be worn down by the bueacracy, but I'm actually kind of excited at the prospect of those as new schools. I really, really, really hope that DCPS builds programs there that would attract the high-SES families who are moving into Petworth and 16 Street Heights. My kids are still young enough that MacFarland and Roosevelt could be renovated and reopened as attractive programs. Unfortunately, I'm not thrilled with the plan that Roosevelt will have a world language focus, since our IB elementary school doesn't offer much of anything beyond having a teaching assistant who is Spanish speaking and the limited "world language" requirement set in place by DCPS last year. Wish/hope there will be a shift to STEM or simply a strong commitment to creating lots of advanced classes.

It's just an international focus, not international language. It's still meant to be a comprehensive, neighborhood high school with opt-in specialized programming, including language instruction.

I'm excited about it, too. But it needs a strong middle school to feed it.

You should join the Ward 4 Education Alliance where parents are working to put together a proposal for programmatic offering at the new MacFarland. I know many, if not most of the parents still have kids in the very early grades, with hopes that it will be up and running within the next five years.

Thanks, PP! I will definitely get involved. What does "international focus" mean?

It means they put the word "International" in front of everything to make it sound like a much better program, when in fact it's the same old, same old.

Again, plans for MacFarland and Roosevelt are in very early stages. These schools can potentially be anything the community wants them to be. If the community wants them to be nothing more than subjects of complaints, they can easily be that. But, we have the opportunity to help create exciting programs. In my opinion, the "international" focus was a case of making lemonade from lemons. Roosevelt already has a student body made up of many nationalities. So, why not capitalize on that? What "international" ends up meaning down the road is really what we want it to mean.

The plans for Roosevelt are in motion and that school will be open in 2015. They have a dynamic leader who is a great evangelist for DCPS but he doesn't have a record of leading a school with a high quality academic program. The community for Roosevelt includes a lot of people who believe that the school is just fine and needs a new coat of paint. Until DCPS shows us otherwise, that is the "official" plan as it stands. They are basically hoodwinking us to say, "oh, it will be a great school" without any information.

As for MacFarland, the plans do not exist. DCPS is investing in only ONE of the elementary schools that the would feed MacFarland. And that school, Powell, is still a low performing school but has a group of active parents in KINDERGARTEN. Yes, those parents have an agenda for their school and kids, otherwise there are no other parents participating, even at the very basic level. DCPS will need to equally invest in all the other schools feeding to MacFarland to make it have high quality seats. It will take many, many years before that school will be a viable option for many families.

West is also improving and will feed to MacFarland. And neither is "low performing". Sure, profieciency at about 60% in math and reading isn't great, but there are plenty of kids that are learning fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My IB schools will be MacFarland and Roosevelt...I could be crazy and could ultimately be worn down by the bueacracy, but I'm actually kind of excited at the prospect of those as new schools. I really, really, really hope that DCPS builds programs there that would attract the high-SES families who are moving into Petworth and 16 Street Heights. My kids are still young enough that MacFarland and Roosevelt could be renovated and reopened as attractive programs. Unfortunately, I'm not thrilled with the plan that Roosevelt will have a world language focus, since our IB elementary school doesn't offer much of anything beyond having a teaching assistant who is Spanish speaking and the limited "world language" requirement set in place by DCPS last year. Wish/hope there will be a shift to STEM or simply a strong commitment to creating lots of advanced classes.

It's just an international focus, not international language. It's still meant to be a comprehensive, neighborhood high school with opt-in specialized programming, including language instruction.

I'm excited about it, too. But it needs a strong middle school to feed it.

You should join the Ward 4 Education Alliance where parents are working to put together a proposal for programmatic offering at the new MacFarland. I know many, if not most of the parents still have kids in the very early grades, with hopes that it will be up and running within the next five years.

Thanks, PP! I will definitely get involved. What does "international focus" mean?

It means they put the word "International" in front of everything to make it sound like a much better program, when in fact it's the same old, same old.

Again, plans for MacFarland and Roosevelt are in very early stages. These schools can potentially be anything the community wants them to be. If the community wants them to be nothing more than subjects of complaints, they can easily be that. But, we have the opportunity to help create exciting programs. In my opinion, the "international" focus was a case of making lemonade from lemons. Roosevelt already has a student body made up of many nationalities. So, why not capitalize on that? What "international" ends up meaning down the road is really what we want it to mean.

The plans for Roosevelt are in motion and that school will be open in 2015. They have a dynamic leader who is a great evangelist for DCPS but he doesn't have a record of leading a school with a high quality academic program. The community for Roosevelt includes a lot of people who believe that the school is just fine and needs a new coat of paint. Until DCPS shows us otherwise, that is the "official" plan as it stands. They are basically hoodwinking us to say, "oh, it will be a great school" without any information.

As for MacFarland, the plans do not exist. DCPS is investing in only ONE of the elementary schools that the would feed MacFarland. And that school, Powell, is still a low performing school but has a group of active parents in KINDERGARTEN. Yes, those parents have an agenda for their school and kids, otherwise there are no other parents participating, even at the very basic level. DCPS will need to equally invest in all the other schools feeding to MacFarland to make it have high quality seats. It will take many, many years before that school will be a viable option for many families.

West is also improving and will feed to MacFarland. And neither is "low performing". Sure, profieciency at about 60% in math and reading isn't great, but there are plenty of kids that are learning fine.

Ok. I'm not going to get into a tit for tat over scores, but that is not the proficiency rate at West. It's lower overall and much lower in some grades. Point is that Powell is getting $30M and how much is West getting? Put just as much money into all the schools and work to build the kids and schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My IB schools will be MacFarland and Roosevelt...I could be crazy and could ultimately be worn down by the bueacracy, but I'm actually kind of excited at the prospect of those as new schools. I really, really, really hope that DCPS builds programs there that would attract the high-SES families who are moving into Petworth and 16 Street Heights. My kids are still young enough that MacFarland and Roosevelt could be renovated and reopened as attractive programs. Unfortunately, I'm not thrilled with the plan that Roosevelt will have a world language focus, since our IB elementary school doesn't offer much of anything beyond having a teaching assistant who is Spanish speaking and the limited "world language" requirement set in place by DCPS last year. Wish/hope there will be a shift to STEM or simply a strong commitment to creating lots of advanced classes.

It's just an international focus, not international language. It's still meant to be a comprehensive, neighborhood high school with opt-in specialized programming, including language instruction.

I'm excited about it, too. But it needs a strong middle school to feed it.

You should join the Ward 4 Education Alliance where parents are working to put together a proposal for programmatic offering at the new MacFarland. I know many, if not most of the parents still have kids in the very early grades, with hopes that it will be up and running within the next five years.

Thanks, PP! I will definitely get involved. What does "international focus" mean?

It means they put the word "International" in front of everything to make it sound like a much better program, when in fact it's the same old, same old.

Again, plans for MacFarland and Roosevelt are in very early stages. These schools can potentially be anything the community wants them to be. If the community wants them to be nothing more than subjects of complaints, they can easily be that. But, we have the opportunity to help create exciting programs. In my opinion, the "international" focus was a case of making lemonade from lemons. Roosevelt already has a student body made up of many nationalities. So, why not capitalize on that? What "international" ends up meaning down the road is really what we want it to mean.

The plans for Roosevelt are in motion and that school will be open in 2015. They have a dynamic leader who is a great evangelist for DCPS but he doesn't have a record of leading a school with a high quality academic program. The community for Roosevelt includes a lot of people who believe that the school is just fine and needs a new coat of paint. Until DCPS shows us otherwise, that is the "official" plan as it stands. They are basically hoodwinking us to say, "oh, it will be a great school" without any information.

As for MacFarland, the plans do not exist. DCPS is investing in only ONE of the elementary schools that the would feed MacFarland. And that school, Powell, is still a low performing school but has a group of active parents in KINDERGARTEN. Yes, those parents have an agenda for their school and kids, otherwise there are no other parents participating, even at the very basic level. DCPS will need to equally invest in all the other schools feeding to MacFarland to make it have high quality seats. It will take many, many years before that school will be a viable option for many families.

West is also improving and will feed to MacFarland. And neither is "low performing". Sure, profieciency at about 60% in math and reading isn't great, but there are plenty of kids that are learning fine.

Ok. I'm not going to get into a tit for tat over scores, but that is not the proficiency rate at West. It's lower overall and much lower in some grades. Point is that Powell is getting $30M and how much is West getting? Put just as much money into all the schools and work to build the kids and schools.

Why renovate West when it's going to be cut back to an elementary school only in a few years (yay!). Renovate it then.

And isn't it a bit tit for tat? Math is actually at 60% / reading is only 54%... ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, Langley for Bloomingdale? Langley makes no sense, my preschooler is supposed to cross North Cap twice a day? That's our "neighborhood"? I think not. So upset about this. Will definitely be at the community meeting.

Are you planning to have your preschooler walk to and from school alone?

Yep, just going to tuck a little child's sized pistol in his pull ups and wish him luck.

Have you ever cross North Cap? There are approximately 2 places, total, to do it and every single one of them is a death trap. I'm afraid to do it myself, let alone with a 4 year old during rush hour.

Beyond that, this is not our neighborhood. The new plan isolates Bloomingdale from its surrounding community; it makes no sense. They're trying to "integrate Eckington" but drawing a line around a six block strip of Bloomingdale is not going to do it. I'm a 15 second walk from "LeDroit Park" and 10 minutes from the closest corner of Eckington.

Yes I've crossed N Cap, many times, across the T overpass and Rhode Island overpass. It's perfectly fine, and that's what you'd do to get to Langley from west of N Cap, because Langley is just south of T. It is a bit strong to describe the T overpass or the Rhode Island overpass as death traps. Crossing at Florida, maybe you have a point there.

I understand that you're upset about being zoned out of (Seaton? Garrison?), and it sounds like you are on the western end of Bloomingdale. But you are stretching it a little saying that Le Droit Park is part of your broader neighborhood and Eckington is not. Long term, anything that re-unites Bloomingdale and Eckington is beneficial. These were basically one and the same neighborhood with North Cap running down the middle, prior to the freeway conversion of North Cap. Plus, Eckington is gentrifying as fast as Bloomingdale, as is Stronghold, so based on the boundary for the new Langley I think this could actually be a pretty strong ES.

Seaton and Garrison; would have been happy with either.

Yes, I am on the west side and actually I can literally see LeDroit Park from my backyard, whereas I was not exaggerating that it would take me 10 minutes to even be in the closest corner of Eckington, let alone Langley EC which is 0.6 miles away from me. I don't think it's a stretch at all to say that Bloomingdale is closer to LeDroit Park. Most residents use the Shaw metro and are consistently walking through LeDroit Park, I pass through it several times a day. I can honestly say that in three years of living in this neighborhood not a single thing has caused me to have to go over to Eckington. I've only crossed North Cap on voluntary walks over to the cemetery. I really think you'd be hard pressed It looks like the adoption program is only for new trees @dcddot This one's at least 15 years old. I just want to keep it around longer. Looks sick! to find Bloomingdale residents who think of Eckington as their "neighborhood" because, right or wrong, it is literally across a freeway.

You do know that the park at LeDroit used to BE the neighborhood school? They tore it down & built the park. Langley has been the in-boundary school for most of Bloomingdale since then. Is this news to you?

I do know that; and, Bloomingdale currently has the option of Seaton, Garrison, or Langley. I fully intended to try for Seaton or Garrison; Langley - in addition to being the least diverse and in the worst neighborhood of the three - always felt too far away and disconnected. If this plan goes through then it removes the option.

Look, obviously you either live in the area or just have a lot of interest in it. You are more than welcome to send your kids wherever you want. In my preliminary research of what I thought would be our options, I had completely written Langley off our list. Now it appears it may be our only public option and I have the right to have no interest in it. And, school aside, no matter how hard anyone in Eckington tries to claim this, I will never feel like it is part of my neighborhood. Not when several other communities are an easy block or two walk away.