Shaw Middle School -- what's the plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^THIS^^^ This in the end is why you lose. Because they don’t believe you are in any way committed to attend.

Is that an excuse to let a school suck forever and ever? I'm not asking for yuppie amenities. I'm asking that they do something about Cardozo Middle because it's failing the children who do attend it right now, and those who will in the future, whomever they may be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^THIS^^^ This in the end is why you lose. Because they don’t believe you are in any way committed to attend.

Because quite frankly, they’re not committed. They will absolutely leave for middle and high school. They’ll sell their houses and move to the suburbs, citing the need for more space and definitely not the schools as their reason. The ones who can’t do that will enter the lottery for mediocre charter middle school options or try for private - anything without a DCPS label on it - and later they’ll explain why it was the right decision for their kid but ho hum DCPS better work on a better middle school pattern!

I know a bunch of people who are actively lobbying DCPS to “save” Shaw middle school. None of them will actually consider sending their kids to DCPS middle school. That would not change if there was a Shaw middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^THIS^^^ This in the end is why you lose. Because they don’t believe you are in any way committed to attend.

Because quite frankly, they’re not committed. They will absolutely leave for middle and high school. They’ll sell their houses and move to the suburbs, citing the need for more space and definitely not the schools as their reason. The ones who can’t do that will enter the lottery for mediocre charter middle school options or try for private - anything without a DCPS label on it - and later they’ll explain why it was the right decision for their kid but ho hum DCPS better work on a better middle school pattern!

I know a bunch of people who are actively lobbying DCPS to “save” Shaw middle school. None of them will actually consider sending their kids to DCPS middle school. That would not change if there was a Shaw middle school.

Maybe, just maybe, they believe it's the best thing for the kids who do attend. It would change if DCPS cared at all about middle school and put in the effort to make it not suck. That's not what's happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^THIS^^^ This in the end is why you lose. Because they don’t believe you are in any way committed to attend.

Because quite frankly, they’re not committed. They will absolutely leave for middle and high school. They’ll sell their houses and move to the suburbs, citing the need for more space and definitely not the schools as their reason. The ones who can’t do that will enter the lottery for mediocre charter middle school options or try for private - anything without a DCPS label on it - and later they’ll explain why it was the right decision for their kid but ho hum DCPS better work on a better middle school pattern!

I know a bunch of people who are actively lobbying DCPS to “save” Shaw middle school. None of them will actually consider sending their kids to DCPS middle school. That would not change if there was a Shaw middle school.

So what makes it okay for Cardozo Middle to carry on the way it is now? Oh no, high-SES kids will never enroll, guess that means we can treat the kids who go to Cardozo like crap?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^THIS^^^ This in the end is why you lose. Because they don’t believe you are in any way committed to attend.

Because quite frankly, they’re not committed. They will absolutely leave for middle and high school. They’ll sell their houses and move to the suburbs, citing the need for more space and definitely not the schools as their reason. The ones who can’t do that will enter the lottery for mediocre charter middle school options or try for private - anything without a DCPS label on it - and later they’ll explain why it was the right decision for their kid but ho hum DCPS better work on a better middle school pattern!

I know a bunch of people who are actively lobbying DCPS to “save” Shaw middle school. None of them will actually consider sending their kids to DCPS middle school. That would not change if there was a Shaw middle school.

So what makes it okay for Cardozo Middle to carry on the way it is now? Oh no, high-SES kids will never enroll, guess that means we can treat the kids who go to Cardozo like crap?

This^ Everyone told me we would leave my kids’ center city school after preschool, or K, or later. We are now past those stages and still at the same school. Because we like it. We like it partially because the school it actually racially and economically diverse. We want to send them to a neighborhood DCPS middle school. We are trying. But even if we get scared of middle school and chicken out, the kids who currently attend Cardozo for middle school deserve better from DCPS. Education campuses are dumb and Cardozo is far from its feeder schools. Cardozo middle schoolers deserve a Principal for goodness sake.

[Anonymous]

Dude you guys don’t even fake it well. If it isn’t about you then why don’t you concern troll Anacostia or Ballou?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dude you guys don’t even fake it well. If it isn’t about you then why don’t you concern troll Anacostia or Ballou?

Because nobody's trying to snatch their building away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dude you guys don’t even fake it well. If it isn’t about you then why don’t you concern troll Anacostia or Ballou?

Because as feeder school parents we do have an eensy weensy bit of leverage, I'd like to believe, anyway. More than we have in any other ward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dude you guys don’t even fake it well. If it isn’t about you then why don’t you concern troll Anacostia or Ballou?

Because as feeder school parents we do have an eensy weensy bit of leverage, I'd like to believe, anyway. More than we have in any other ward.

There is such an effort to post divisive and non-sensible things here. So odd. Thankfully the elected leadership in ANC and Council seems to have a better handle on reality.

[Anonymous]

Why is there so much discussion about the white demographics of these elementary schools that would feed into a Shaw Middle School? Its a very small number. This is about the total population of students from the feeder schools that are extremely diverse and come from diverse economic backgrounds too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dude you guys don’t even fake it well. If it isn’t about you then why don’t you concern troll Anacostia or Ballou?

Because nobody's trying to snatch their building away.

If you knew anything at all about the DCPS conversation on the new Bard school you wouldn't be saying that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^THIS^^^ This in the end is why you lose. Because they don’t believe you are in any way committed to attend.

Because quite frankly, they’re not committed. They will absolutely leave for middle and high school. They’ll sell their houses and move to the suburbs, citing the need for more space and definitely not the schools as their reason. The ones who can’t do that will enter the lottery for mediocre charter middle school options or try for private - anything without a DCPS label on it - and later they’ll explain why it was the right decision for their kid but ho hum DCPS better work on a better middle school pattern!

I know a bunch of people who are actively lobbying DCPS to “save” Shaw middle school. None of them will actually consider sending their kids to DCPS middle school. That would not change if there was a Shaw middle school.

So what makes it okay for Cardozo Middle to carry on the way it is now? Oh no, high-SES kids will never enroll, guess that means we can treat the kids who go to Cardozo like crap?

What do you want them to have--better separation from the high schoolers (though you probably don't know how separated they are now)? A dedicated principal with a contract longer than one year? Different extracurriculars or course offerings (if so, what)? Not one of these things requires its own building. If the PTA presidents (or other families) from Cardozo feeders grouped up and talked with the Cardozo MS AP and principal to ask how they could help, what would they hear? I bet it would not be "lobby furiously for a dedicated MS building in Shaw."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^THIS^^^ This in the end is why you lose. Because they don’t believe you are in any way committed to attend.

Because quite frankly, they’re not committed. They will absolutely leave for middle and high school. They’ll sell their houses and move to the suburbs, citing the need for more space and definitely not the schools as their reason. The ones who can’t do that will enter the lottery for mediocre charter middle school options or try for private - anything without a DCPS label on it - and later they’ll explain why it was the right decision for their kid but ho hum DCPS better work on a better middle school pattern!

I know a bunch of people who are actively lobbying DCPS to “save” Shaw middle school. None of them will actually consider sending their kids to DCPS middle school. That would not change if there was a Shaw middle school.

So what makes it okay for Cardozo Middle to carry on the way it is now? Oh no, high-SES kids will never enroll, guess that means we can treat the kids who go to Cardozo like crap?

What do you want them to have--better separation from the high schoolers (though you probably don't know how separated they are now)? A dedicated principal with a contract longer than one year? Different extracurriculars or course offerings (if so, what)? Not one of these things requires its own building. If the PTA presidents (or other families) from Cardozo feeders grouped up and talked with the Cardozo MS AP and principal to ask how they could help, what would they hear? I bet it would not be "lobby furiously for a dedicated MS building in Shaw."

They are not separate enough because they are together at arrival and dismissal. And because having to jointly administer a building between two struggling schools is a level of complexity they do not need.

I am not aware of any middle school sited with a high school that has its own principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^THIS^^^ This in the end is why you lose. Because they don’t believe you are in any way committed to attend.

Because quite frankly, they’re not committed. They will absolutely leave for middle and high school. They’ll sell their houses and move to the suburbs, citing the need for more space and definitely not the schools as their reason. The ones who can’t do that will enter the lottery for mediocre charter middle school options or try for private - anything without a DCPS label on it - and later they’ll explain why it was the right decision for their kid but ho hum DCPS better work on a better middle school pattern!

I know a bunch of people who are actively lobbying DCPS to “save” Shaw middle school. None of them will actually consider sending their kids to DCPS middle school. That would not change if there was a Shaw middle school.

So what makes it okay for Cardozo Middle to carry on the way it is now? Oh no, high-SES kids will never enroll, guess that means we can treat the kids who go to Cardozo like crap?

What do you want them to have--better separation from the high schoolers (though you probably don't know how separated they are now)? A dedicated principal with a contract longer than one year? Different extracurriculars or course offerings (if so, what)? Not one of these things requires its own building. If the PTA presidents (or other families) from Cardozo feeders grouped up and talked with the Cardozo MS AP and principal to ask how they could help, what would they hear? I bet it would not be "lobby furiously for a dedicated MS building in Shaw."

They are not separate enough because they are together at arrival and dismissal. And because having to jointly administer a building between two struggling schools is a level of complexity they do not need.

I am not aware of any middle school sited with a high school that has its own principal.

Wow. Ok.

[Anonymous]

MacFarland and Roosevelt are on the same block and have their own principals.