New DCPS school on former Georgetown Day site will be a high school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, how is it possible they could have this school opened for the 23/24 school year? They haven’t even bid it out yet let alone broken ground and the facility is much larger than the elementary school renovations that have all taken almost 2 years up to the day to renovate.

While they may not have to "break ground" as it were, I am a little confused as to the SY23/24 timeline quoted in the communication sent out by DC Central office. This is only a line item in the budget which needs to be approved by Council. And the new fiscal year is not until July (I'm not sure but I think that is the earliest). So bids for planning will go out in the summer and finalized late Fall. Given that the site was originally for K-8 for 600 kids (and without a cafeteria etc.) I would imagine that it will take longer than 9 months to finish up all the work, given that they need to put in labs etc. Eaton renovation took over 2 years but granted it did involve a lot of foundation work for the new section.

Then there is the question of sequencing -- if the current crop of 7th Graders at Hardy are the first to attend this school, that only makes about 120 kids for the 9th grade class. Are they planning to fill the rest by lottery + at risk preference? Are there even that many kids in the system who would want to attend? What about class offerings? If the majority are at risk in grades 10-12, will they have sufficient mass to offer AP/honors classes right off the bat? While this may sound politically incorrect, am I accurate in assuming that many of these possible 10-12th graders are coming from other schools in the system that do not currently have extensive AP offerings (or honors?)

If not, then what is the draw of this school?

I'm wondering if they plan to add one additional class each year?

So 23-24 has only the freshman class. 24-25 has freshman and sophomore classes. Etc.

In this scenario, they do not need the entire campus finished by 22-23. They can work on renovations and expansion each year, adding more capacity for the next year's additional class. Finally, by year 26-27 the school has all four grades filled.

This is how most new schools operate. It wouldn't make sense to fill all grades the same year.

So this high school would be totally inferior to Wilson with regard to athletics opportunities? How can they offer funded, competitive programs when you only have freshmen trying out? And then only freshman and sophomores the next year. And how does ramping up the student body like that allow for all the course offerings, including honors and AP? This plan seems like it might roll out as a bait and switch, at least for advanced and athletic kids. For the first 2 or 3 years, Hardy kids should be given the option to choose to go to Wilson or the new HS (like they did with Eaton with Hardy and Deal). I attended many of the meetings about the Gtown day and Old Hardy properties and every presentation emphasized that there WOULD be grandfathering. The
Y better stick to that promise.

Under DCPS rules, if you attend a school that doesn't offer a sport you're interested in you're eligible to play for a school that does.

Here's a list of all DCPS high schools and their enrollment:

River Terrace Education Campus 132
Luke C. Moore High School 208
Bard High School Early College DC (Bard DC) 265
Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School 276
Anacostia High School 326
H.D. Woodson High School 434
Ballou STAY High School 523
Benjamin Banneker High School 549
Coolidge High School 561
Duke Ellington School of the Arts 591
School Without Walls High School 600
Cardozo Education Campus 621
Roosevelt STAY High School 634
Ballou High School 664
Dunbar High School 666
McKinley Technology High School 696
Eastern High School 735
Roosevelt High School 752
Columbia Heights Education Campus 1477
Woodrow Wilson High School 1951

At full capacity this school will be the third largest in the city. At half capacity it will be firmly in the middle. Most DC high schools can't offer a full menu of sports.

These enrollments seem so anemic. How can they possibly justify another high school when they ought to be consolidated. The only possible reason is obvious racism among DC residents. If Wilson is overcrowded there is surely space elsewhere.

Do you know DCPS well? Parents don’t send their kids to Cardozo, not because it’s full of Black kids, but because it’s a bad school where less than 60% of kids graduate.

It wouldn’t be if more well-resourced families sent their kids there.

Be my guest, send your child to Cardozo if you think that is the best choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope the school works out but I would give it 5 years to get established. The first few graduating classes are tricky. Colleges won’t know what to make of it as there will be no track record or baseline to assess students. Colleges know schools like Wilson, Walls, Banneker, McKinley Tech, DE, Coolidge, etc., for better or worse. They will have no idea what category to put McArthur in until a few years have passed. That worries me.

I work in college admissions and I wouldn't worry about the school's track record, as long as the education your child gets a decent education there. If your kid attends, just make sure that they have enough competitive standardized test scores to compensate. These days, even super elite colleges don't reserve spots for students from certain schools. They're far more interested in finding students who are a good fit for their program, and assembling diverse classes of strong students, than baselines. It's a common misconception that a student is only as strong as their school in college admissions. Your family can create your own baseline with competitive recommendations, grades, maybe a class or two outside the school (e.g. a community college summer class with a good grade), scores and activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope the school works out but I would give it 5 years to get established. The first few graduating classes are tricky. Colleges won’t know what to make of it as there will be no track record or baseline to assess students. Colleges know schools like Wilson, Walls, Banneker, McKinley Tech, DE, Coolidge, etc., for better or worse. They will have no idea what category to put McArthur in until a few years have passed. That worries me.

I work in college admissions and I wouldn't worry about the school's track record, as long as the education your child gets a decent education there. If your kid attends, just make sure that they have enough competitive standardized test scores to compensate. These days, even super elite colleges don't reserve spots for students from certain schools. They're far more interested in finding students who are a good fit for their program, and assembling diverse classes of strong students, than baselines. It's a common misconception that a student is only as strong as their school in college admissions. Your family can create your own baseline with competitive recommendations, grades, maybe a class or two outside the school (e.g. a community college summer class with a good grade), scores and activities.

Which is why it’s a shame the SAT is becoming “adaptive” and dumbed down.

-Someone who graduated from a high school on par with Ballou/Anascotia but aced the SAT

[Anonymous]

Completely agree. I aced the SAT from a rural high school, went to an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, how is it possible they could have this school opened for the 23/24 school year? They haven’t even bid it out yet let alone broken ground and the facility is much larger than the elementary school renovations that have all taken almost 2 years up to the day to renovate.

While they may not have to "break ground" as it were, I am a little confused as to the SY23/24 timeline quoted in the communication sent out by DC Central office. This is only a line item in the budget which needs to be approved by Council. And the new fiscal year is not until July (I'm not sure but I think that is the earliest). So bids for planning will go out in the summer and finalized late Fall. Given that the site was originally for K-8 for 600 kids (and without a cafeteria etc.) I would imagine that it will take longer than 9 months to finish up all the work, given that they need to put in labs etc. Eaton renovation took over 2 years but granted it did involve a lot of foundation work for the new section.

Then there is the question of sequencing -- if the current crop of 7th Graders at Hardy are the first to attend this school, that only makes about 120 kids for the 9th grade class. Are they planning to fill the rest by lottery + at risk preference? Are there even that many kids in the system who would want to attend? What about class offerings? If the majority are at risk in grades 10-12, will they have sufficient mass to offer AP/honors classes right off the bat? While this may sound politically incorrect, am I accurate in assuming that many of these possible 10-12th graders are coming from other schools in the system that do not currently have extensive AP offerings (or honors?)

If not, then what is the draw of this school?

I'm wondering if they plan to add one additional class each year?

So 23-24 has only the freshman class. 24-25 has freshman and sophomore classes. Etc.

In this scenario, they do not need the entire campus finished by 22-23. They can work on renovations and expansion each year, adding more capacity for the next year's additional class. Finally, by year 26-27 the school has all four grades filled.

This is how most new schools operate. It wouldn't make sense to fill all grades the same year.

So this high school would be totally inferior to Wilson with regard to athletics opportunities? How can they offer funded, competitive programs when you only have freshmen trying out? And then only freshman and sophomores the next year. And how does ramping up the student body like that allow for all the course offerings, including honors and AP? This plan seems like it might roll out as a bait and switch, at least for advanced and athletic kids. For the first 2 or 3 years, Hardy kids should be given the option to choose to go to Wilson or the new HS (like they did with Eaton with Hardy and Deal). I attended many of the meetings about the Gtown day and Old Hardy properties and every presentation emphasized that there WOULD be grandfathering. The
Y better stick to that promise.

Under DCPS rules, if you attend a school that doesn't offer a sport you're interested in you're eligible to play for a school that does.

Here's a list of all DCPS high schools and their enrollment:

River Terrace Education Campus 132
Luke C. Moore High School 208
Bard High School Early College DC (Bard DC) 265
Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School 276
Anacostia High School 326
H.D. Woodson High School 434
Ballou STAY High School 523
Benjamin Banneker High School 549
Coolidge High School 561
Duke Ellington School of the Arts 591
School Without Walls High School 600
Cardozo Education Campus 621
Roosevelt STAY High School 634
Ballou High School 664
Dunbar High School 666
McKinley Technology High School 696
Eastern High School 735
Roosevelt High School 752
Columbia Heights Education Campus 1477
Woodrow Wilson High School 1951

At full capacity this school will be the third largest in the city. At half capacity it will be firmly in the middle. Most DC high schools can't offer a full menu of sports.

These enrollments seem so anemic. How can they possibly justify another high school when they ought to be consolidated. The only possible reason is obvious racism among DC residents. If Wilson is overcrowded there is surely space elsewhere.

Do you know DCPS well? Parents don’t send their kids to Cardozo, not because it’s full of Black kids, but because it’s a bad school where less than 60% of kids graduate.

It wouldn’t be if more well-resourced families sent their kids there.

There are not enough well resourced families to spread out successfully across all the schools. Many such families have already bailed DCPS for private schools or for MCPS, ACPS or FCPS. The reminder is not enough to move the needle if they are divided between Coolidge, Dunbar, Cardozo, CHEC, etc.
DCPS could attract such families to Eastern, Cardozo, etc., with Honors classes, etc., but DCPS has decided it will not do that. So here we are -

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, how is it possible they could have this school opened for the 23/24 school year? They haven’t even bid it out yet let alone broken ground and the facility is much larger than the elementary school renovations that have all taken almost 2 years up to the day to renovate.

While they may not have to "break ground" as it were, I am a little confused as to the SY23/24 timeline quoted in the communication sent out by DC Central office. This is only a line item in the budget which needs to be approved by Council. And the new fiscal year is not until July (I'm not sure but I think that is the earliest). So bids for planning will go out in the summer and finalized late Fall. Given that the site was originally for K-8 for 600 kids (and without a cafeteria etc.) I would imagine that it will take longer than 9 months to finish up all the work, given that they need to put in labs etc. Eaton renovation took over 2 years but granted it did involve a lot of foundation work for the new section.

Then there is the question of sequencing -- if the current crop of 7th Graders at Hardy are the first to attend this school, that only makes about 120 kids for the 9th grade class. Are they planning to fill the rest by lottery + at risk preference? Are there even that many kids in the system who would want to attend? What about class offerings? If the majority are at risk in grades 10-12, will they have sufficient mass to offer AP/honors classes right off the bat? While this may sound politically incorrect, am I accurate in assuming that many of these possible 10-12th graders are coming from other schools in the system that do not currently have extensive AP offerings (or honors?)

If not, then what is the draw of this school?

I'm wondering if they plan to add one additional class each year?

So 23-24 has only the freshman class. 24-25 has freshman and sophomore classes. Etc.

In this scenario, they do not need the entire campus finished by 22-23. They can work on renovations and expansion each year, adding more capacity for the next year's additional class. Finally, by year 26-27 the school has all four grades filled.

This is how most new schools operate. It wouldn't make sense to fill all grades the same year.

So this high school would be totally inferior to Wilson with regard to athletics opportunities? How can they offer funded, competitive programs when you only have freshmen trying out? And then only freshman and sophomores the next year. And how does ramping up the student body like that allow for all the course offerings, including honors and AP? This plan seems like it might roll out as a bait and switch, at least for advanced and athletic kids. For the first 2 or 3 years, Hardy kids should be given the option to choose to go to Wilson or the new HS (like they did with Eaton with Hardy and Deal). I attended many of the meetings about the Gtown day and Old Hardy properties and every presentation emphasized that there WOULD be grandfathering. The
Y better stick to that promise.

Under DCPS rules, if you attend a school that doesn't offer a sport you're interested in you're eligible to play for a school that does.

Here's a list of all DCPS high schools and their enrollment:

River Terrace Education Campus 132
Luke C. Moore High School 208
Bard High School Early College DC (Bard DC) 265
Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School 276
Anacostia High School 326
H.D. Woodson High School 434
Ballou STAY High School 523
Benjamin Banneker High School 549
Coolidge High School 561
Duke Ellington School of the Arts 591
School Without Walls High School 600
Cardozo Education Campus 621
Roosevelt STAY High School 634
Ballou High School 664
Dunbar High School 666
McKinley Technology High School 696
Eastern High School 735
Roosevelt High School 752
Columbia Heights Education Campus 1477
Woodrow Wilson High School 1951

At full capacity this school will be the third largest in the city. At half capacity it will be firmly in the middle. Most DC high schools can't offer a full menu of sports.

These enrollments seem so anemic. How can they possibly justify another high school when they ought to be consolidated. The only possible reason is obvious racism among DC residents. If Wilson is overcrowded there is surely space elsewhere.

Do you know DCPS well? Parents don’t send their kids to Cardozo, not because it’s full of Black kids, but because it’s a bad school where less than 60% of kids graduate.

It wouldn’t be if more well-resourced families sent their kids there.

There are not enough well resourced families to spread out successfully across all the schools. Many such families have already bailed DCPS for private schools or for MCPS, ACPS or FCPS. The reminder is not enough to move the needle if they are divided between Coolidge, Dunbar, Cardozo, CHEC, etc.
DCPS could attract such families to Eastern, Cardozo, etc., with Honors classes, etc., but DCPS has decided it will not do that. So here we are -

This. And it bears repeating. The problem in DCPS is not that the well-resourced kids are all concentrated in a few schools. The problem is there just aren't enough well-resourced kids to go around. Roughly 75% of the kids in DCPS come from economically disadvantaged families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope the school works out but I would give it 5 years to get established. The first few graduating classes are tricky. Colleges won’t know what to make of it as there will be no track record or baseline to assess students. Colleges know schools like Wilson, Walls, Banneker, McKinley Tech, DE, Coolidge, etc., for better or worse. They will have no idea what category to put McArthur in until a few years have passed. That worries me.

I work in college admissions and I wouldn't worry about the school's track record, as long as the education your child gets a decent education there. If your kid attends, just make sure that they have enough competitive standardized test scores to compensate. These days, even super elite colleges don't reserve spots for students from certain schools. They're far more interested in finding students who are a good fit for their program, and assembling diverse classes of strong students, than baselines. It's a common misconception that a student is only as strong as their school in college admissions. Your family can create your own baseline with competitive recommendations, grades, maybe a class or two outside the school (e.g. a community college summer class with a good grade), scores and activities.

Which is why it’s a shame the SAT is becoming “adaptive” and dumbed down.

-Someone who graduated from a high school on par with Ballou/Anascotia but aced the SAT

Is there a reason to think that the SAT becoming adaptive means it's being dumbed down? I would think the opposite. Kids who do well on a few initial questions should quickly progress to actually difficult questions, whereas kids who clearly can't handle the hard questions will never even see them - and their scores will reflect that. As they do already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope the school works out but I would give it 5 years to get established. The first few graduating classes are tricky. Colleges won’t know what to make of it as there will be no track record or baseline to assess students. Colleges know schools like Wilson, Walls, Banneker, McKinley Tech, DE, Coolidge, etc., for better or worse. They will have no idea what category to put McArthur in until a few years have passed. That worries me.

I work in college admissions and I wouldn't worry about the school's track record, as long as the education your child gets a decent education there. If your kid attends, just make sure that they have enough competitive standardized test scores to compensate. These days, even super elite colleges don't reserve spots for students from certain schools. They're far more interested in finding students who are a good fit for their program, and assembling diverse classes of strong students, than baselines. It's a common misconception that a student is only as strong as their school in college admissions. Your family can create your own baseline with competitive recommendations, grades, maybe a class or two outside the school (e.g. a community college summer class with a good grade), scores and activities.

Which is why it’s a shame the SAT is becoming “adaptive” and dumbed down.

-Someone who graduated from a high school on par with Ballou/Anascotia but aced the SAT

Is there a reason to think that the SAT becoming adaptive means it's being dumbed down? I would think the opposite. Kids who do well on a few initial questions should quickly progress to actually difficult questions, whereas kids who clearly can't handle the hard questions will never even see them - and their scores will reflect that. As they do already.

Having taken adaptive professional exams, they’re harder than the regular exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope the school works out but I would give it 5 years to get established. The first few graduating classes are tricky. Colleges won’t know what to make of it as there will be no track record or baseline to assess students. Colleges know schools like Wilson, Walls, Banneker, McKinley Tech, DE, Coolidge, etc., for better or worse. They will have no idea what category to put McArthur in until a few years have passed. That worries me.

I work in college admissions and I wouldn't worry about the school's track record, as long as the education your child gets a decent education there. If your kid attends, just make sure that they have enough competitive standardized test scores to compensate. These days, even super elite colleges don't reserve spots for students from certain schools. They're far more interested in finding students who are a good fit for their program, and assembling diverse classes of strong students, than baselines. It's a common misconception that a student is only as strong as their school in college admissions. Your family can create your own baseline with competitive recommendations, grades, maybe a class or two outside the school (e.g. a community college summer class with a good grade), scores and activities.

Which is why it’s a shame the SAT is becoming “adaptive” and dumbed down.

-Someone who graduated from a high school on par with Ballou/Anascotia but aced the SAT

Is there a reason to think that the SAT becoming adaptive means it's being dumbed down? I would think the opposite. Kids who do well on a few initial questions should quickly progress to actually difficult questions, whereas kids who clearly can't handle the hard questions will never even see them - and their scores will reflect that. As they do already.

The SAT verbal section has unquestioningly been dumbed down, and abridged, and not just for the adaptive incarnation that's coming out next year. Verbal questions currently account for just 1/3 of the SAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, how is it possible they could have this school opened for the 23/24 school year? They haven’t even bid it out yet let alone broken ground and the facility is much larger than the elementary school renovations that have all taken almost 2 years up to the day to renovate.

While they may not have to "break ground" as it were, I am a little confused as to the SY23/24 timeline quoted in the communication sent out by DC Central office. This is only a line item in the budget which needs to be approved by Council. And the new fiscal year is not until July (I'm not sure but I think that is the earliest). So bids for planning will go out in the summer and finalized late Fall. Given that the site was originally for K-8 for 600 kids (and without a cafeteria etc.) I would imagine that it will take longer than 9 months to finish up all the work, given that they need to put in labs etc. Eaton renovation took over 2 years but granted it did involve a lot of foundation work for the new section.

Then there is the question of sequencing -- if the current crop of 7th Graders at Hardy are the first to attend this school, that only makes about 120 kids for the 9th grade class. Are they planning to fill the rest by lottery + at risk preference? Are there even that many kids in the system who would want to attend? What about class offerings? If the majority are at risk in grades 10-12, will they have sufficient mass to offer AP/honors classes right off the bat? While this may sound politically incorrect, am I accurate in assuming that many of these possible 10-12th graders are coming from other schools in the system that do not currently have extensive AP offerings (or honors?)

If not, then what is the draw of this school?

I'm wondering if they plan to add one additional class each year?

So 23-24 has only the freshman class. 24-25 has freshman and sophomore classes. Etc.

In this scenario, they do not need the entire campus finished by 22-23. They can work on renovations and expansion each year, adding more capacity for the next year's additional class. Finally, by year 26-27 the school has all four grades filled.

This is how most new schools operate. It wouldn't make sense to fill all grades the same year.

So this high school would be totally inferior to Wilson with regard to athletics opportunities? How can they offer funded, competitive programs when you only have freshmen trying out? And then only freshman and sophomores the next year. And how does ramping up the student body like that allow for all the course offerings, including honors and AP? This plan seems like it might roll out as a bait and switch, at least for advanced and athletic kids. For the first 2 or 3 years, Hardy kids should be given the option to choose to go to Wilson or the new HS (like they did with Eaton with Hardy and Deal). I attended many of the meetings about the Gtown day and Old Hardy properties and every presentation emphasized that there WOULD be grandfathering. The
Y better stick to that promise.

Under DCPS rules, if you attend a school that doesn't offer a sport you're interested in you're eligible to play for a school that does.

Here's a list of all DCPS high schools and their enrollment:

River Terrace Education Campus 132
Luke C. Moore High School 208
Bard High School Early College DC (Bard DC) 265
Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School 276
Anacostia High School 326
H.D. Woodson High School 434
Ballou STAY High School 523
Benjamin Banneker High School 549
Coolidge High School 561
Duke Ellington School of the Arts 591
School Without Walls High School 600
Cardozo Education Campus 621
Roosevelt STAY High School 634
Ballou High School 664
Dunbar High School 666
McKinley Technology High School 696
Eastern High School 735
Roosevelt High School 752
Columbia Heights Education Campus 1477
Woodrow Wilson High School 1951

At full capacity this school will be the third largest in the city. At half capacity it will be firmly in the middle. Most DC high schools can't offer a full menu of sports.

These enrollments seem so anemic. How can they possibly justify another high school when they ought to be consolidated. The only possible reason is obvious racism among DC residents. If Wilson is overcrowded there is surely space elsewhere.

Do you know DCPS well? Parents don’t send their kids to Cardozo, not because it’s full of Black kids, but because it’s a bad school where less than 60% of kids graduate.

It wouldn’t be if more well-resourced families sent their kids there.

There are not enough well resourced families to spread out successfully across all the schools. Many such families have already bailed DCPS for private schools or for MCPS, ACPS or FCPS. The reminder is not enough to move the needle if they are divided between Coolidge, Dunbar, Cardozo, CHEC, etc.
DCPS could attract such families to Eastern, Cardozo, etc., with Honors classes, etc., but DCPS has decided it will not do that. So here we are -

This. And it bears repeating. The problem in DCPS is not that the well-resourced kids are all concentrated in a few schools. The problem is there just aren't enough well-resourced kids to go around. Roughly 75% of the kids in DCPS come from economically disadvantaged families.

And trying to spread those 25% kids who aren't economically disadvantaged across more schools will only result in a chunk of those 25% leaving the public school system entirely. DCPS must accept that no parent will sacrifice their child's one shot at childhood and education. Never.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


This. And it bears repeating. The problem in DCPS is not that the well-resourced kids are all concentrated in a few schools. The problem is there just aren't enough well-resourced kids to go around. Roughly 75% of the kids in DCPS come from economically disadvantaged families.


And trying to spread those 25% kids who aren't economically disadvantaged across more schools will only result in a chunk of those 25% leaving the public school system entirely. DCPS must accept that no parent will sacrifice their child's one shot at childhood and education. Never.

That is correct. And DCPS (and the Charter Board for that matter) are myopic when it comes to the fact that while over 50% of the kids CURRENTLY using DCPS come from economically disadvantaged families, in reality less than 25% of the total children in DC are truly low income. It is a chicken/egg problem. DCPS refuses to create another high performing school pyramid because it views its mission as focusing on its existing school users and not on increasing the number of school users. The high demand charter schools prove that there is a strong appetite in the city for schools which are perceived to be safer and academically stronger than the in-boundary options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope the school works out but I would give it 5 years to get established. The first few graduating classes are tricky. Colleges won’t know what to make of it as there will be no track record or baseline to assess students. Colleges know schools like Wilson, Walls, Banneker, McKinley Tech, DE, Coolidge, etc., for better or worse. They will have no idea what category to put McArthur in until a few years have passed. That worries me.

I work in college admissions and I wouldn't worry about the school's track record, as long as the education your child gets a decent education there. If your kid attends, just make sure that they have enough competitive standardized test scores to compensate. These days, even super elite colleges don't reserve spots for students from certain schools. They're far more interested in finding students who are a good fit for their program, and assembling diverse classes of strong students, than baselines. It's a common misconception that a student is only as strong as their school in college admissions. Your family can create your own baseline with competitive recommendations, grades, maybe a class or two outside the school (e.g. a community college summer class with a good grade), scores and activities.

Which is why it’s a shame the SAT is becoming “adaptive” and dumbed down.

-Someone who graduated from a high school on par with Ballou/Anascotia but aced the SAT

Is there a reason to think that the SAT becoming adaptive means it's being dumbed down? I would think the opposite. Kids who do well on a few initial questions should quickly progress to actually difficult questions, whereas kids who clearly can't handle the hard questions will never even see them - and their scores will reflect that. As they do already.

The SAT verbal section has unquestioningly been dumbed down, and abridged, and not just for the adaptive incarnation that's coming out next year. Verbal questions currently account for just 1/3 of the SAT.

Is it? The GRE became adaptive years ago and it is a much more efficient way to determine your score -- they just push you up to your "challenge level" very quickly, with each question getting harder until you cant answer any more (as opposed to the paper test, which has many redundant questions at the same level.) It's a good test.

If the SAT is similar, the kids will still get the same result, but much faster.

The scores will also still be presented along with the percentile, right? So if someone has scored in the top 95th percentile of all test takers, that will be revealed. That has a real meaning, and even if the test is "dumbed down," colleges will know that the kid scored higher than 95 percent of their peers.

-- a former Kaplan GRE teacher who taught both the paper and the adaptive tests, and a former nationl merit scholar finalist

[Anonymous]

I think part of families' issue with the "rich kid spreading" or "good student spreading" that is being referenced above is that those families in fact want their kids concentrated together so that they can be taught at a similar level.

I am very uncertain about that. My opinion is that very few students need to be at a certain level to require teaching at that level. I think that having none of those students at all in 3/4 of the secondary schools is a negative. And DCPS being responsive to even a few of those families will create a system that is more responsive and integrated quite quickly. I believe it is a matter of eliminating the outs, generally speaking.

I know that this is a controversial topic and most of the cohort here is strongly against it, but I firmly believe this small tilt would do quite a bit. On the other hand, I also believe that this Mayor would never do it. She may roll her eyes at Lafayette parents, but she clearly has decided desegregation is not her job.

[Anonymous]

Has there ever been a rezoning/ change in feeder pattern in DCPS without a grandfather clause? For example, the folks in Crestwood were zoned out of Deal/Wilson but there was a long period of time before it was to be enforced. Same but shorter with Eaton being zoned out of Deal. What are the odds this MacArthur school feed from Hardy has a transition period where Hardy families can choose either?
I've emailed the Office of the chancellor school planning division and their answer was a non-answer (shocking I know).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


This. And it bears repeating. The problem in DCPS is not that the well-resourced kids are all concentrated in a few schools. The problem is there just aren't enough well-resourced kids to go around. Roughly 75% of the kids in DCPS come from economically disadvantaged families.


And trying to spread those 25% kids who aren't economically disadvantaged across more schools will only result in a chunk of those 25% leaving the public school system entirely. DCPS must accept that no parent will sacrifice their child's one shot at childhood and education. Never.

That is correct. And DCPS (and the Charter Board for that matter) are myopic when it comes to the fact that while over 50% of the kids CURRENTLY using DCPS come from economically disadvantaged families, in reality less than 25% of the total children in DC are truly low income. It is a chicken/egg problem. DCPS refuses to create another high performing school pyramid because it views its mission as focusing on its existing school users and not on increasing the number of school users. The high demand charter schools prove that there is a strong appetite in the city for schools which are perceived to be safer and academically stronger than the in-boundary options.

What do you mean ''create a new high performing pyramid''? There are underenrolled ''magnet'' schools in DC.