New Ward 3 Middle School ???

[Anonymous]

No, the gentry will bitch about outsiders coming into the neighborhood and causing problems. I still hear stories about why the old Hardy (now Lab School) had to be closed. And an endless litany of complaints about Wilson students as a blight on Tenleytown. Not much noblesse oblige; just the vacillation between claims of entitlement and victimization.
But I agree with you about what happens during the next recession. My neighbors drive me crazy with this shit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A new middle school in the Palisades would be fantastic. If it is anything like the Key School, there would be no need to pay for private school or move to Maryland - at least until it is time to send DD and DS to Wilson.

Who says Wilson is great? As a former Hardy student said to me today, at Camp Mommy with my kids, Hardy was renovated and didn't make the school any better. That's why he's now in private with my older son. We all hope there is no need to pay for private, mostly those of us who actually WANT our kids to mingle with all of societies' colors and economics, but DCPS has failed to make this opportunity available to all on an equal playing field. Plus Kaya sucks. Big Time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A new middle school in the Palisades would be fantastic. If it is anything like the Key School, there would be no need to pay for private school or move to Maryland - at least until it is time to send DD and DS to Wilson.

Not so fast. Key has always been "fine" up until 3rd grade or so. There hasn't been much pressure on it to be really great academically b/c most families pull out and pay a lot of money for a good 4-12 or 6-12 school. Having a real public MS path will just bring much more scrutiny to Key's program (in addition to the MS program). I've heard plenty of Key boosters (privately) discuss whether or not such a path really would be "good enough." Just imagine the backlash if such a school is built (which I think it a ridiculous waste of money for a city that just doesn't have it) and the community doesn't actually use it!

Key parent here, and I'll say 1. Key wasn't always "fine," it has improved dramatically in the past decade, 2. the teachers and administration are under huge academic scrutiny; and 3. in the past couple of years the upper grades have changed. When my kids started at Key there weren't enough fifth graders for an entire class, and they had a combined 4-5. Shortly after that the fifth grade grew to the point where there was a full class, and a couple of years ago they added a second fifth grade. The fifth grade that just graduated was essentially the same size as it was in kindergarten, two full classes. That group had been very optimistic about staying in the public system, and they got whipsawed when the situation at Hardy collapsed and Deal and Latin rather rapidly became much harder to get into.

From my conversations most of these families would have been thrilled to go to Deal. A number of them actually moved into the Deal district and will be attending in the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A new middle school in the Palisades would be fantastic. If it is anything like the Key School, there would be no need to pay for private school or move to Maryland - at least until it is time to send DD and DS to Wilson.

Not so fast. Key has always been "fine" up until 3rd grade or so. There hasn't been much pressure on it to be really great academically b/c most families pull out and pay a lot of money for a good 4-12 or 6-12 school. Having a real public MS path will just bring much more scrutiny to Key's program (in addition to the MS program). I've heard plenty of Key boosters (privately) discuss whether or not such a path really would be "good enough." Just imagine the backlash if such a school is built (which I think it a ridiculous waste of money for a city that just doesn't have it) and the community doesn't actually use it!

Key parent here, and I'll say 1. Key wasn't always "fine," it has improved dramatically in the past decade, 2. the teachers and administration are under huge academic scrutiny; and 3. in the past couple of years the upper grades have changed. When my kids started at Key there weren't enough fifth graders for an entire class, and they had a combined 4-5. Shortly after that the fifth grade grew to the point where there was a full class, and a couple of years ago they added a second fifth grade. The fifth grade that just graduated was essentially the same size as it was in kindergarten, two full classes. That group had been very optimistic about staying in the public system, and they got whipsawed when the situation at Hardy collapsed and Deal and Latin rather rapidly became much harder to get into.

From my conversations most of these families would have been thrilled to go to Deal. A number of them actually moved into the Deal district and will be attending in the fall.

I agree that there are enough 5th graders to fill two classes. That's not really the issue (although it speaks to the fact that many families bought into the idea that "Hardy would be improving" and stayed in DC longer than similarly situated families had in the past). The issue is that the 4th and 5th grades have (and continue to be) filled with kids who didn't apply to or get accepted to a 4-12 private. 4th and 5th graders are essentially "holding" grades as families figure out their 6-12 options. There has been no consistent pressure on the school to make 4th and 5th academically challenging b/c the Key-track has never been the academic path: the path has always really been the 4-12 or the 6-12 track.

The fact that Hardy continues to be horrible is not news either. The difference this year (and the reason for the unbelievable angst amongst the 5th graders at Key) was that no-one could finagle their way into Deal. That, and the fact that Latin is harder to get into, meant that there are no longer reasonable "fall back positions" for Key students. That is also not going to change anytime soon. Moving into the Deal boundaries or moving to an area with good schools are going to become more common choices for these families b/c the numbers aren't favorable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[
The fact that Hardy continues to be horrible is not news either. The difference this year (and the reason for the unbelievable angst amongst the 5th graders at Key) was that no-one could finagle their way into Deal. That, and the fact that Latin is harder to get into, meant that there are no longer reasonable "fall back positions" for Key students. That is also not going to change anytime soon. Moving into the Deal boundaries or moving to an area with good schools are going to become more common choices for these families b/c the numbers aren't favorable.

Continues to be horrible? Until last year Hardy was making AYP and neighborhood families were complaining that it was too hard to get into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I agree that there are enough 5th graders to fill two classes. That's not really the issue (although it speaks to the fact that many families bought into the idea that "Hardy would be improving" and stayed in DC longer than similarly situated families had in the past).

This is true.

Anonymous wrote:
The issue is that the 4th and 5th grades have (and continue to be) filled with kids who didn't apply to or get accepted to a 4-12 private. 4th and 5th graders are essentially "holding" grades as families figure out their 6-12 options. There has been no consistent pressure on the school to make 4th and 5th academically challenging b/c the Key-track has never been the academic path: the path has always really been the 4-12 or the 6-12 track.

This is hooey. First, it doesn't even make sense. If you opt for private, it is much harder to get in for 6th than for 5th or 4th. Sixth is not an admission year at the most selective schools, and it's the grade where schools start using the SSAT for admissions. Your kid has to be academically exceptional to get in to a top tier school for sixth, and if you are undecided there's no way you're going to coast through 4th and 5th. Second, the notion that "the Key track has never been the academic track" is just nonsense. Key parents are obsessed with academics. In the past few years they raised tens of thousands of dollars for teacher professional development, a structured reading program, a foreign language program and a chorus teacher.

Anonymous wrote:
The fact that Hardy continues to be horrible is not news either. The difference this year (and the reason for the unbelievable angst amongst the 5th graders at Key) was that no-one could finagle their way into Deal. That, and the fact that Latin is harder to get into, meant that there are no longer reasonable "fall back positions" for Key students. That is also not going to change anytime soon. Moving into the Deal boundaries or moving to an area with good schools are going to become more common choices for these families b/c the numbers aren't favorable.

Some truth here. I wouldn't call Hardy "horrible," just unappealing to Key parents. I've sat in a room where the principals of Deal, Latin and Hardy talked about their schools, and the difference in academic ambition between Hardy and the others was breathtaking. Parents who are considering privates might weigh them against Deal or Latin, but no one is doing that with Hardy. The arts curriculum at Hardy doesn't appeal to academically oriented families either. And the turmoil of the past 18 months -- with adults acting like children -- has scared a lot of people off.

Ward 3 is experiencing a baby boom, and the whole out-of-boundary system that DCPS relies on is headed for a train wreck. The kerfuffle at Hardy was just the beginning. Whether or not you like her proposal, you have to give Mary Cheh credit for recognizing that there is a problem and coming up with a constructive solution, which is more than anyone else is doing at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Continues to be horrible? Until last year Hardy was making AYP and neighborhood families were complaining that it was too hard to get into.

Whether you meant it or not this is one of the funniest things I've ever read on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

I hope that parents in Ward 5 and other wards in dire need of a decent middle school will make their case to Chancellor Henderson. Every DC neighborhood should have a good middle school near them - none of our kids should have to spend an hour or more getting to and from school every day! If Pope is supposed to be starting a magnet arts school elsewhere, wouldn't that enable Hardy to better serve it's Ward 3 feeder school students? In fact, what Mary Cheh is proposing has not even been presented for consideration to the residents of the Palisades and does not have their support. Let's hope Chancellor Henderson will honor her commitments to those students in other wards and send Ms. Cheh back to Ward 3 to find out how to make Hardy work before she comes looking for $25M for a school her constituents don't even want.

[Anonymous]

While I agree that there is a need for another middle school to alleviate pressure on Deal, Mary Cheh is probably smoking something to think that our "Old Gray May'r" would agree to fund it. As a friend said, thank God that Wilson made it through the renovation pipeline because politically it will be difficult for the mayor to spend that kind of money in Ward 3 for quite some time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope that parents in Ward 5 and other wards in dire need of a decent middle school will make their case to Chancellor Henderson. Every DC neighborhood should have a good middle school near them - none of our kids should have to spend an hour or more getting to and from school every day! If Pope is supposed to be starting a magnet arts school elsewhere, wouldn't that enable Hardy to better serve it's Ward 3 feeder school students? In fact, what Mary Cheh is proposing has not even been presented for consideration to the residents of the Palisades and does not have their support. Let's hope Chancellor Henderson will honor her commitments to those students in other wards and send Ms. Cheh back to Ward 3 to find out how to make Hardy work before she comes looking for $25M for a school her constituents don't even want.

Hardy is for Ward 2.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Hardy is for Ward 2.

Hardy also serves parts of Ward 3, including Palisades and Spring Valley.

[Anonymous]

New deal, new Wilson, new middle school...
Do we see a trend? Ward 3 is getting a lot of snazzy upgrades, wonder what ward 8 is getting? Minor fixes.

Shows where the money's going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New deal, new Wilson, new middle school...
Do we see a trend? Ward 3 is getting a lot of snazzy upgrades, wonder what ward 8 is getting? Minor fixes.

Shows where the money's going.

There is a serious mismatch between the schools that DCPS has, and the schools that people want. School choice exists in DC, and it dramatically demonstrates this mismatch.

55% of the kids who attend DCPS schools in Ward 3 don't live in Ward 3. All of the DCPS schools in Ward 3 are over capacity. In the rest of the city, 36.5% of schools are seriously under capacity -- defines as less than 60% full. Of 20 schools in Ward 8, 13 are less than 60% full.

Ward 3 is the only ward that has no charter schools. In addition to their per-pupil funding, charter schools get $3,000 per pupil per year as a facilities allowance. So the charter schools in aggregate are receiving close to $90 million per year for facilities.

There is a legitimate debate about how best to address this mismatch. Do you build more of the schools that everyone wants -- charters and Ward 3 schools? This seems silly when there are so many empty ones. Or do you try to make people want the schools that exist? Sounds reasonable, but how exactly do you do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New deal, new Wilson, new middle school...
Do we see a trend? Ward 3 is getting a lot of snazzy upgrades, wonder what ward 8 is getting? Minor fixes.

Shows where the money's going.

There is a serious mismatch between the schools that DCPS has, and the schools that people want. School choice exists in DC, and it dramatically demonstrates this mismatch.

55% of the kids who attend DCPS schools in Ward 3 don't live in Ward 3. All of the DCPS schools in Ward 3 are over capacity. In the rest of the city, 36.5% of schools are seriously under capacity -- defines as less than 60% full. Of 20 schools in Ward 8, 13 are less than 60% full.

Ward 3 is the only ward that has no charter schools. In addition to their per-pupil funding, charter schools get $3,000 per pupil per year as a facilities allowance. So the charter schools in aggregate are receiving close to $90 million per year for facilities.

There is a legitimate debate about how best to address this mismatch. Do you build more of the schools that everyone wants -- charters and Ward 3 schools? This seems silly when there are so many empty ones. Or do you try to make people want the schools that exist? Sounds reasonable, but how exactly do you do that?

You bribe the best teachers from Ward 3 to teach at the worst schools. You double their salaries and give them curricular freedom for 5 years. You set up community trusts so that neighborhood efforts to improve facilities are matched by government money. You make everything transparent.

[Anonymous]

And, you work from the ground up. You start with baby classes and prenatal care offered for low cost in the neighborhood.