Should DCPS add or shutdown any schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends also on charter closures and where the kids decide to go. There are a number of charters looking iffy, but they're scattered around and it's hard to say when or if any one of them will collapse or be closed.

I’d be curious to hear people’s rankings on the charters most likely to close. Not the ones that should, I think we have clear evidence ones that should close won’t, but how folks would rank probability of closure for the ones they see most likely to close.

Well, apparently SSMA is experiencing an enrollment decline and the financial trouble that goes with it, as well as years of low test scores. So that's one.

Also look at any school that's on the Financial Monitoring List for a serious budget gap, rather than a one time accounting issue or the fraud at KIPP, that also has low performance academically.
Capital Village
Wildflower
Digital Pioneers
IDEA
Bethune

Also look at any school that's had a review with conditions lately, but you'd have to pick through the recent PCSB hearings over the past two years or so. One is Girls Global.

Plus anything with low CAPE scores or Summative Scores: Rocketship, maybe Howard Middle School, whatever has the lowest stats.

When the Financial Analysis Report comes out (which it hasn't since 2023), it will be a very interesting read. As will the OSSE enrollment spreadsheets which are in late winter. Basically any school with a significant enrollment decline (that wasn't intentional, obviously), or a significant budget deficits, especially if closing it requires them to move locations, is in trouble.

Bethune is opening a second campus. The leadership is laughable inept but they were given against the neighborhood's wishes a spot right across from Takoma. It's not going anywhere soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coolidge, Wells, and Whittier are all over capacity in one of the fastest growing neighborhoods for families in DC. It's wild to me that DCPS just told Whittier they'll basically modernize to the same capacity and instead of building a new building for Wells just added a cafeteria for Coolidge.

+1000

This is the part of the city I was going to mention. Wells was overcrowded right after it was built. Whittier keeps growing its enrollment despite a horrible old building. When that new building is built it will be immediately overcrowded. Why? Because DCPS refuses to plan for growth and make the school bigger. DCPS is a truly terrible organization.

They need a second HS but the problem is that school would almost certainly need Shepherd as a feeder and the Mayor will never let that happen. So instead Coolidge and J-R will remain massively overcrowded and growing and the solution will be to limit OOB Coolidge enrollment (fine) and address zero systemic issues.

I don’t think they need a second high school. Coolidge should take fewer OOB kids. Whittier needs to be much bigger than what they are projecting. But I don’t think most of those Whittier kids would actually attend Coolidge. Most of the families we know left before middle school.

Whittier kids are not a monolith, it's one of the schools many draws, and plenty do go to Wells and Coolidge. You can't keep expanding it and the Takoma boundary area and just assume none of those kids will go to MS or HS in their feeder. And you might get some of those UMC in boundary parents to commit to another brand new HS but admittedly it's hard to get people to buy in to an overcrowded school with a large OOB that the city writes off as fine enough despite having a very committed staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends also on charter closures and where the kids decide to go. There are a number of charters looking iffy, but they're scattered around and it's hard to say when or if any one of them will collapse or be closed.

I’d be curious to hear people’s rankings on the charters most likely to close. Not the ones that should, I think we have clear evidence ones that should close won’t, but how folks would rank probability of closure for the ones they see most likely to close.

Well, apparently SSMA is experiencing an enrollment decline and the financial trouble that goes with it, as well as years of low test scores. So that's one.

Also look at any school that's on the Financial Monitoring List for a serious budget gap, rather than a one time accounting issue or the fraud at KIPP, that also has low performance academically.
Capital Village
Wildflower
Digital Pioneers
IDEA
Bethune

Also look at any school that's had a review with conditions lately, but you'd have to pick through the recent PCSB hearings over the past two years or so. One is Girls Global.

Plus anything with low CAPE scores or Summative Scores: Rocketship, maybe Howard Middle School, whatever has the lowest stats.

When the Financial Analysis Report comes out (which it hasn't since 2023), it will be a very interesting read. As will the OSSE enrollment spreadsheets which are in late winter. Basically any school with a significant enrollment decline (that wasn't intentional, obviously), or a significant budget deficits, especially if closing it requires them to move locations, is in trouble.

Bethune is opening a second campus. The leadership is laughable inept but they were given against the neighborhood's wishes a spot right across from Takoma. It's not going anywhere soon.

In this day and age of sudden collapses, it's hard to say. Especially since the PCSB hasn't published a FAR in almost two years. Bethune is up to date on posting board meeting minutes (unlike a lot of schools), but those minutes show that the enrollment projection was revised down from 320 to 285. Not a good sign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coolidge, Wells, and Whittier are all over capacity in one of the fastest growing neighborhoods for families in DC. It's wild to me that DCPS just told Whittier they'll basically modernize to the same capacity and instead of building a new building for Wells just added a cafeteria for Coolidge.

Where is Wells actually located?

It is located in the same building as Coolidge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coolidge, Wells, and Whittier are all over capacity in one of the fastest growing neighborhoods for families in DC. It's wild to me that DCPS just told Whittier they'll basically modernize to the same capacity and instead of building a new building for Wells just added a cafeteria for Coolidge.

+1000

This is the part of the city I was going to mention. Wells was overcrowded right after it was built. Whittier keeps growing its enrollment despite a horrible old building. When that new building is built it will be immediately overcrowded. Why? Because DCPS refuses to plan for growth and make the school bigger. DCPS is a truly terrible organization.

They need a second HS but the problem is that school would almost certainly need Shepherd as a feeder and the Mayor will never let that happen. So instead Coolidge and J-R will remain massively overcrowded and growing and the solution will be to limit OOB Coolidge enrollment (fine) and address zero systemic issues.

I don’t think they need a second high school. Coolidge should take fewer OOB kids. Whittier needs to be much bigger than what they are projecting. But I don’t think most of those Whittier kids would actually attend Coolidge. Most of the families we know left before middle school.

Whittier kids are not a monolith, it's one of the schools many draws, and plenty do go to Wells and Coolidge. You can't keep expanding it and the Takoma boundary area and just assume none of those kids will go to MS or HS in their feeder. And you might get some of those UMC in boundary parents to commit to another brand new HS but admittedly it's hard to get people to buy in to an overcrowded school with a large OOB that the city writes off as fine enough despite having a very committed staff.

No one is talking about expanding thr boundary of those schools. It’s more families moving to the neighborhood and more families choosing to go IB to the school.

And no group is a monolith, of course. But a large portion do not attend Coolidge.

[Anonymous]

They should take 50% empty space at brookland middle and make it a true test in gifted program for middle schoolers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should take 50% empty space at brookland middle and make it a true test in gifted program for middle schoolers

Can’t see it happening, but personally I’d love it since I’m in Brookland and my kid is doing algebra in kindergarten so something like that might be a good match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends also on charter closures and where the kids decide to go. There are a number of charters looking iffy, but they're scattered around and it's hard to say when or if any one of them will collapse or be closed.

I’d be curious to hear people’s rankings on the charters most likely to close. Not the ones that should, I think we have clear evidence ones that should close won’t, but how folks would rank probability of closure for the ones they see most likely to close.

Well, apparently SSMA is experiencing an enrollment decline and the financial trouble that goes with it, as well as years of low test scores. So that's one.

Also look at any school that's on the Financial Monitoring List for a serious budget gap, rather than a one time accounting issue or the fraud at KIPP, that also has low performance academically.
Capital Village
Wildflower
Digital Pioneers
IDEA
Bethune

Also look at any school that's had a review with conditions lately, but you'd have to pick through the recent PCSB hearings over the past two years or so. One is Girls Global.

Plus anything with low CAPE scores or Summative Scores: Rocketship, maybe Howard Middle School, whatever has the lowest stats.

When the Financial Analysis Report comes out (which it hasn't since 2023), it will be a very interesting read. As will the OSSE enrollment spreadsheets which are in late winter. Basically any school with a significant enrollment decline (that wasn't intentional, obviously), or a significant budget deficits, especially if closing it requires them to move locations, is in trouble.

Of the schools that you called out for low performance academically - Capital Village, Wildflower, Digital Pioneers, IDEA and Bethune - only Capital Village performs worse than KIPP in english/reading. The others perform better. Also, compared to these other schools, Howard is toward the middle not low - for example, Howard ranks well above KIPP and Rocketship in english/reading and math performance.

The charters most likely to have difficulties (from conditions to closure) - Capital Village, SEED, Rocketship, KIPP, IDEA, Capital City and Thurgood. Capital Village probably ranks first for closure given really low enrollment (90 kids), being on a financial plan and being low academically. Rocketship, KIPP and Thurgood are up for review so it will probably be conditions before anything more drastic. SEED is up for an out of cycle review and the low test scores that just came out don't make them look any better. Capital City and IDEA had conditions from the last cycle of reviews so their status just depends on whether the most recent test scores (which were low again for both) or other data cause them to miss meeting the conditions.

However, based on the PCSB's past actions, it's doubtful there will be outright closures for academics or finances mandated by the PCSB. The schools limping along will continue to do so unless their finances cause a collapse.

[Anonymous]

DCPS should add an early learning center in Ward 3 to offer more preK 3 seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS should add an early learning center in Ward 3 to offer more preK 3 seats.

They don’t need more seats. There are enough seats for PK3 around the city. You aren’t guaranteed a spot at your neighborhood school, just a spot in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends also on charter closures and where the kids decide to go. There are a number of charters looking iffy, but they're scattered around and it's hard to say when or if any one of them will collapse or be closed.

I’d be curious to hear people’s rankings on the charters most likely to close. Not the ones that should, I think we have clear evidence ones that should close won’t, but how folks would rank probability of closure for the ones they see most likely to close.

Well, apparently SSMA is experiencing an enrollment decline and the financial trouble that goes with it, as well as years of low test scores. So that's one.

Also look at any school that's on the Financial Monitoring List for a serious budget gap, rather than a one time accounting issue or the fraud at KIPP, that also has low performance academically.
Capital Village
Wildflower
Digital Pioneers
IDEA
Bethune

Also look at any school that's had a review with conditions lately, but you'd have to pick through the recent PCSB hearings over the past two years or so. One is Girls Global.

Plus anything with low CAPE scores or Summative Scores: Rocketship, maybe Howard Middle School, whatever has the lowest stats.

When the Financial Analysis Report comes out (which it hasn't since 2023), it will be a very interesting read. As will the OSSE enrollment spreadsheets which are in late winter. Basically any school with a significant enrollment decline (that wasn't intentional, obviously), or a significant budget deficits, especially if closing it requires them to move locations, is in trouble.

Of the schools that you called out for low performance academically - Capital Village, Wildflower, Digital Pioneers, IDEA and Bethune - only Capital Village performs worse than KIPP in english/reading. The others perform better. Also, compared to these other schools, Howard is toward the middle not low - for example, Howard ranks well above KIPP and Rocketship in english/reading and math performance.

The charters most likely to have difficulties (from conditions to closure) - Capital Village, SEED, Rocketship, KIPP, IDEA, Capital City and Thurgood. Capital Village probably ranks first for closure given really low enrollment (90 kids), being on a financial plan and being low academically. Rocketship, KIPP and Thurgood are up for review so it will probably be conditions before anything more drastic. SEED is up for an out of cycle review and the low test scores that just came out don't make them look any better. Capital City and IDEA had conditions from the last cycle of reviews so their status just depends on whether the most recent test scores (which were low again for both) or other data cause them to miss meeting the conditions.

However, based on the PCSB's past actions, it's doubtful there will be outright closures for academics or finances mandated by the PCSB. The schools limping along will continue to do so unless their finances cause a collapse.

Didn't know about Thurgood. I doubt they'd close KIPP, obviously, and the parent org has deep enough pockets to ride out some low enrollment or remediate issues jeopardizing their sites. Cap City had conditions but nothing dire.

I think Rocketship may lose its lowest performing campus. It's really egregiously low. SSMA may collapse financially and for low enrollment.

I forgot to mention Harmony, which has limped along for 10+ years but never performed well, despite the parent org putting in some extra cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coolidge, Wells, and Whittier are all over capacity in one of the fastest growing neighborhoods for families in DC. It's wild to me that DCPS just told Whittier they'll basically modernize to the same capacity and instead of building a new building for Wells just added a cafeteria for Coolidge.

+1000

This is the part of the city I was going to mention. Wells was overcrowded right after it was built. Whittier keeps growing its enrollment despite a horrible old building. When that new building is built it will be immediately overcrowded. Why? Because DCPS refuses to plan for growth and make the school bigger. DCPS is a truly terrible organization.

They need a second HS but the problem is that school would almost certainly need Shepherd as a feeder and the Mayor will never let that happen. So instead Coolidge and J-R will remain massively overcrowded and growing and the solution will be to limit OOB Coolidge enrollment (fine) and address zero systemic issues.

Omg, get a life! Why are you so obsessed with changing Shepherd’s feeder pattern? You post on every thread in this forum with that nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coolidge, Wells, and Whittier are all over capacity in one of the fastest growing neighborhoods for families in DC. It's wild to me that DCPS just told Whittier they'll basically modernize to the same capacity and instead of building a new building for Wells just added a cafeteria for Coolidge.

+1000

This is the part of the city I was going to mention. Wells was overcrowded right after it was built. Whittier keeps growing its enrollment despite a horrible old building. When that new building is built it will be immediately overcrowded. Why? Because DCPS refuses to plan for growth and make the school bigger. DCPS is a truly terrible organization.

They need a second HS but the problem is that school would almost certainly need Shepherd as a feeder and the Mayor will never let that happen. So instead Coolidge and J-R will remain massively overcrowded and growing and the solution will be to limit OOB Coolidge enrollment (fine) and address zero systemic issues.

Omg, get a life! Why are you so obsessed with changing Shepherd’s feeder pattern? You post on every thread in this forum with that nonsense.

TBF, the shepherd pattern is very weird because of the mayor. We can actually attribute it specifically to political meddling. A thing that used to happen all the time, but really only applies to shepherd now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coolidge, Wells, and Whittier are all over capacity in one of the fastest growing neighborhoods for families in DC. It's wild to me that DCPS just told Whittier they'll basically modernize to the same capacity and instead of building a new building for Wells just added a cafeteria for Coolidge.

+1000

This is the part of the city I was going to mention. Wells was overcrowded right after it was built. Whittier keeps growing its enrollment despite a horrible old building. When that new building is built it will be immediately overcrowded. Why? Because DCPS refuses to plan for growth and make the school bigger. DCPS is a truly terrible organization.

They need a second HS but the problem is that school would almost certainly need Shepherd as a feeder and the Mayor will never let that happen. So instead Coolidge and J-R will remain massively overcrowded and growing and the solution will be to limit OOB Coolidge enrollment (fine) and address zero systemic issues.

Omg, get a life! Why are you so obsessed with changing Shepherd’s feeder pattern? You post on every thread in this forum with that nonsense.

TBF, the shepherd pattern is very weird because of the mayor. We can actually attribute it specifically to political meddling. A thing that used to happen all the time, but really only applies to shepherd now

Agreed, Shepherd and 1/2 Lafayette should be routed into Wells/Coolidge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coolidge, Wells, and Whittier are all over capacity in one of the fastest growing neighborhoods for families in DC. It's wild to me that DCPS just told Whittier they'll basically modernize to the same capacity and instead of building a new building for Wells just added a cafeteria for Coolidge.

+1000

This is the part of the city I was going to mention. Wells was overcrowded right after it was built. Whittier keeps growing its enrollment despite a horrible old building. When that new building is built it will be immediately overcrowded. Why? Because DCPS refuses to plan for growth and make the school bigger. DCPS is a truly terrible organization.

They need a second HS but the problem is that school would almost certainly need Shepherd as a feeder and the Mayor will never let that happen. So instead Coolidge and J-R will remain massively overcrowded and growing and the solution will be to limit OOB Coolidge enrollment (fine) and address zero systemic issues.

Omg, get a life! Why are you so obsessed with changing Shepherd’s feeder pattern? You post on every thread in this forum with that nonsense.

I don't think I'm the same person you're referring to? But it's just true that many of the problems with overcrowding are because of the Mayor's political capital. They have basically hog tied two different HSs because the Mayor lives in SP and wants her property value and friendly neighbors.