Shaw Middle School -- what's the plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your planning premise is a illogical workaround of a school with the same grades a couple blocks away I’m not surprised it didn’t happen.

I don't think it's crazy. The system as a whole is planning for an increase in kids, and I do think that a middle school stands a better chance of success when it is not sited within a failing high school. Shaw Middle School was making some progress back when it was open, so why couldn't that continue?

Yeah it’s too bad. The enrollment was only 90 kids and the principal was very sadly murdered Then they closed/moved it.

What’s the current enrollment for MS grades at Cardozo?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your planning premise is a illogical workaround of a school with the same grades a couple blocks away I’m not surprised it didn’t happen.

I don't think it's crazy. The system as a whole is planning for an increase in kids, and I do think that a middle school stands a better chance of success when it is not sited within a failing high school. Shaw Middle School was making some progress back when it was open, so why couldn't that continue?

Yeah it’s too bad. The enrollment was only 90 kids and the principal was very sadly murdered Then they closed/moved it.

What’s the current enrollment for MS grades at Cardozo?

I think it's still pretty small, like 120-ish kids. It's so sad about the principal because it seemed like he was getting some traction and in time, things could have worked out. That was back in 2012 and since then, Seaton has made great strides, and Garrison has been modernized and the new principal seems to be doing well. So with stronger feeder schools graduating a larger number of better-prepared kids, if they were willing to pull it out of the Cardozo building and give it the right leader, it could be a successful school. It's sad how little DCPS cares about its middle schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your planning premise is a illogical workaround of a school with the same grades a couple blocks away I’m not surprised it didn’t happen.

I don't think it's crazy. The system as a whole is planning for an increase in kids, and I do think that a middle school stands a better chance of success when it is not sited within a failing high school. Shaw Middle School was making some progress back when it was open, so why couldn't that continue?

Yeah it’s too bad. The enrollment was only 90 kids and the principal was very sadly murdered Then they closed/moved it.

What’s the current enrollment for MS grades at Cardozo?

I think it's still pretty small, like 120-ish kids. It's so sad about the principal because it seemed like he was getting some traction and in time, things could have worked out. That was back in 2012 and since then, Seaton has made great strides, and Garrison has been modernized and the new principal seems to be doing well. So with stronger feeder schools graduating a larger number of better-prepared kids, if they were willing to pull it out of the Cardozo building and give it the right leader, it could be a successful school. It's sad how little DCPS cares about its middle schools.

It was 147 in last year's audit.

[Anonymous]

I think the idea was that both the middle and high school grades at Cardozo would be eventually too much for the building. So it would be best to pull out the middle school since people seemed to like that better.

[Anonymous]

This decision is profoundly short sighted and rash. It is obviously announced to try to cut off the growing opposition. Does the Council have to sign off?

[Anonymous]

Building needs budget. That means appropriations so Council approval is needed. Grosso is having a roundtable on it next month. http://dccouncil.us/event/education-public-roundtable-9/

[Anonymous]

Moving Banneker doesn't require Council approval. But obviously the Council has a say in DCPS' and the capital budget that would fund a renovation and new school.

Keep in mind that Banneker has a strong and deep presence and support in DC and there is probably support for it growing to 700 students. Those who are upset about the Shaw middle not materializing in that site need to be careful not to turn their opposition into an anti=Banneker expansion campaign. That would backfire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Moving Banneker doesn't require Council approval. But obviously the Council has a say in DCPS' and the capital budget that would fund a renovation and new school.

Keep in mind that Banneker has a strong and deep presence and support in DC and there is probably support for it growing to 700 students. Those who are upset about the Shaw middle not materializing in that site need to be careful not to turn their opposition into an anti=Banneker expansion campaign. That would backfire.

Also likely to backfire: criticism of Cardozo's current students or suggestion that DCPS should do more to attract middle-class families by creating a new school more palatable to them. That's an argument unlikely to persuade Grosso or DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving Banneker doesn't require Council approval. But obviously the Council has a say in DCPS' and the capital budget that would fund a renovation and new school.

Keep in mind that Banneker has a strong and deep presence and support in DC and there is probably support for it growing to 700 students. Those who are upset about the Shaw middle not materializing in that site need to be careful not to turn their opposition into an anti=Banneker expansion campaign. That would backfire.

Also likely to backfire: criticism of Cardozo's current students or suggestion that DCPS should do more to attract middle-class families by creating a new school more palatable to them. That's an argument unlikely to persuade Grosso or DCPS.

Agreed. These are losing arguments.

I live in the neighborhood and I support Banneker being moved to Shaw.

If you want to win a stand-alone school, go after Garnet Patterson or Meyer. Talk to parents and teachers of CURRENT Cardozo MS students to find out why they think a standalone school would be better (or not). What would be different with a standalone building, palatability to wealthy parents notwithstanding.

[Anonymous]

I think all of you are wildly optimistic. Why isn’t Stuart Hobson on the same level as Deal? Cap hill gentrified and they are cranking out of of the best 3rd grade scores at the feeder schools and while SH has made great strides in the last TWO decades, they still aren’t performing at the love of hardy. Why aren’t Brent 5th graders going Jefferson? I think a Shaw middle will be ok in 15-20 years but unless they make it a true magnet and full off tracked classes, it will go the way of Brookland middle? Another shiny fAilure to attract UMC familes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think all of you are wildly optimistic. Why isn’t Stuart Hobson on the same level as Deal? Cap hill gentrified and they are cranking out of of the best 3rd grade scores at the feeder schools and while SH has made great strides in the last TWO decades, they still aren’t performing at the love of hardy. Why aren’t Brent 5th graders going Jefferson? I think a Shaw middle will be ok in 15-20 years but unless they make it a true magnet and full off tracked classes, it will go the way of Brookland middle? Another shiny fAilure to attract UMC familes.

DC's public & charter student population is only about 30% middle class, let alone UMC. It's 70% economically disadvantaged. There are not enough wealthy families to fill all of these schools. The only place they've reached critical mass is in upper NW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think all of you are wildly optimistic. Why isn’t Stuart Hobson on the same level as Deal? Cap hill gentrified and they are cranking out of of the best 3rd grade scores at the feeder schools and while SH has made great strides in the last TWO decades, they still aren’t performing at the love of hardy. Why aren’t Brent 5th graders going Jefferson? I think a Shaw middle will be ok in 15-20 years but unless they make it a true magnet and full off tracked classes, it will go the way of Brookland middle? Another shiny fAilure to attract UMC familes.

Capitol Hill has 4 DCPS middle schools: EH has 4 feeders, but SWS was added relatively recently and many of its students live IB for middle schools they prefer. SH has 3 feeders, JA practically speaking has 2.5 (Brent, Amidon, and Tyler traditional...Tyler bilingual has a right to MacFarland, Van Ness won't graduate 5th graders until 2021, and Thomson has a right to SWW), and then there's CHML. This means none of them have a large feeder population in absolute numbers and certainly not in terms of kids scoring 4s and 5s on PARCC.

The idea of having Cardozo, SWW, and Shaw all providing middle school mid-city is similar.

The six potential Cardozo feeders--Cleveland, Ross, SWW, Thompson, Seaton, and Garrison--have PARCC proficiency percentages of
28/26
85/80
36/43 (this would likely be higher without the middle schoolers)
47/38
47/31
15/12

The potential Cardozo equivalent on Capitol Hill would be a single school fed by Tyler (25/25), SWS (73/72), Maury (58/61), Watkins (48/42), JO Wilson (30/26), and Miner (16/8)...ie, 1 JA feeder, 2 SH, and 3 EH. That hypothetical 6-feeder school (which is not going to happen because it makes no geographic sense and wouldn't fit in any of the buildings) would probably do better than any of the current middle schools on Capitol Hill. Mid-city families have a chance to get this by sending all six schools to Cardozo, and they'd get the added bonus of more space for ECE at Francis-Stevens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think all of you are wildly optimistic. Why isn’t Stuart Hobson on the same level as Deal? Cap hill gentrified and they are cranking out of of the best 3rd grade scores at the feeder schools and while SH has made great strides in the last TWO decades, they still aren’t performing at the love of hardy. Why aren’t Brent 5th graders going Jefferson? I think a Shaw middle will be ok in 15-20 years but unless they make it a true magnet and full off tracked classes, it will go the way of Brookland middle? Another shiny fAilure to attract UMC familes.

Stuart Hobson has some tracking which is keeping more UMC families

I agree with other posters you are never going to have critical mass but you can have enough for an advanced class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think all of you are wildly optimistic. Why isn’t Stuart Hobson on the same level as Deal? Cap hill gentrified and they are cranking out of of the best 3rd grade scores at the feeder schools and while SH has made great strides in the last TWO decades, they still aren’t performing at the love of hardy. Why aren’t Brent 5th graders going Jefferson? I think a Shaw middle will be ok in 15-20 years but unless they make it a true magnet and full off tracked classes, it will go the way of Brookland middle? Another shiny fAilure to attract UMC familes.

Stuart Hobson isn't on the same level as Deal because DCPS has gerrymandered the school's boundary to keep out (the vast majority of) the gentrified sections of Capitol Hill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think all of you are wildly optimistic. Why isn’t Stuart Hobson on the same level as Deal? Cap hill gentrified and they are cranking out of of the best 3rd grade scores at the feeder schools and while SH has made great strides in the last TWO decades, they still aren’t performing at the love of hardy. Why aren’t Brent 5th graders going Jefferson? I think a Shaw middle will be ok in 15-20 years but unless they make it a true magnet and full off tracked classes, it will go the way of Brookland middle? Another shiny fAilure to attract UMC familes.

Capitol Hill has 4 DCPS middle schools: EH has 4 feeders, but SWS was added relatively recently and many of its students live IB for middle schools they prefer. SH has 3 feeders, JA practically speaking has 2.5 (Brent, Amidon, and Tyler traditional...Tyler bilingual has a right to MacFarland, Van Ness won't graduate 5th graders until 2021, and Thomson has a right to SWW), and then there's CHML. This means none of them have a large feeder population in absolute numbers and certainly not in terms of kids scoring 4s and 5s on PARCC.

The idea of having Cardozo, SWW, and Shaw all providing middle school mid-city is similar.

The six potential Cardozo feeders--Cleveland, Ross, SWW, Thompson, Seaton, and Garrison--have PARCC proficiency percentages of
28/26
85/80
36/43 (this would likely be higher without the middle schoolers)
47/38
47/31
15/12

The potential Cardozo equivalent on Capitol Hill would be a single school fed by Tyler (25/25), SWS (73/72), Maury (58/61), Watkins (48/42), JO Wilson (30/26), and Miner (16/8)...ie, 1 JA feeder, 2 SH, and 3 EH. That hypothetical 6-feeder school (which is not going to happen because it makes no geographic sense and wouldn't fit in any of the buildings) would probably do better than any of the current middle schools on Capitol Hill. Mid-city families have a chance to get this by sending all six schools to Cardozo, and they'd get the added bonus of more space for ECE at Francis-Stevens.

Nice posting, if only I knew the collection action formula to make that happen, until then many, not all, of the kids from higher socio economic groups will continue to private and charters for middle to high school. I saw this happen at the end of 4th grade at my school. So since the achievement correlates significantly with socio economic group then those PARCC score that you show would decline, which would make this new middle school look, I don't know, the same as Capital Hill?