Question for Supporters of New WotP High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They did not rebuild Eastern to appease Hill residents because Eastern never dependent on Hill parents in the past. Consider this when Eastern benefitted from being nationally recognized in all things that were grand it was due to the city-wide school population. As Michelle Rhee informed the Eastern PTSA during those pivotal and heated times; she couldn't embrace the stroller-brigade that wantrd to infiltrate Eastern. Kaya had pretty much kept those same people off of Eastern's radar and the school is doing remarkably well and is on their way to be the second largest comprehensive high school. That would never happened if the focus was on 10 neighborhood blocks that have about 20 strollers.

Eastern was "nationally recognized" in band and choir. Not nothing, but also not enough to build a school on, as history has shown.

Why don't you raise your head out of the ground ostritch... and stop depending on your one finger research project with the help of google. The rich history of Eastern is probably older than you so to say otherwise is understandable. You'll know more when you read more, stop by the school and learn about the Ramblers. Stop sprouting off at the mouth on subject that your clearly know not one iota about. If to use your logic, then why was it necessary to save, relaunch and support a school if the only recognizable attribute was band and choir? I guess in your world those who participate in those activities are not worthy to be scholastic too?

As such is life, the school that you don't care for, just might not care for you too. Choice of schools benefits everyone.

No one here said anything bad about Eastern, other than stating the fact that it is too far away to be a viable solution to the Wilson overcrowding problem.

My good friend is an Eastern grad and sang in the alumni choir on the Lincoln Memorial steps during President Obama's inauguration week. No one is denying anyone's history. But the same school was in such a state physically and academically that it had to be reconstituted. The jury is out on whether that action worked or not.

[Anonymous]

The "stroller brigade" from the time when Eastern was undergoing renovations saw the slow work and plans being changed again and again and gave up hope and starting working on other plans. So we parents with children above the age of 10 started looking for other options, such as OOB feeders for Deal/Wilson, charters (BASIS has a large cohort that have feeder rights to, and may still, attend Eastern), and privates/suburbs. Now that the OOB and charter doors are closing due to over demand, there may still be hope for Eastern to be fully enrolled.

Word Salad should realize that it would be good to have all those former stroller babies to increase attendance, which equals extra funding, and bring up those proficiency scores, which increases visability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I added some IB stuff to the document here: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/Roosevelt

Through this process, I learned that B-CC and Einstein in Kensington are IB schools.

Rockville, Richard Montgomery, Annandale, George Mason, Carroll, Washington International School, Banneker, the British School and Good Counsel are among other local Hs that offer IB.

[Anonymous]

Ha! Eastern is also apparently rolling out an IB program too, so score one for Miss Word Salad.

[Anonymous]

So early in this thread I suggested that alumni might prove to be a challenge in any effort to change Roosevelt to make it more attractive to higher SES, gentrifying families. These new groups would demand specialized programming, college counseling and advocacy, diverse electives and extra-curriculars, etc. plus a focus on challenging good students that is at least equal to the focus given to providing remediation and dealing with kids as risk (of dropping out, etc). Well, at tonight's DME meeting at Coolidge two of maybe ten questions during the Q&A came from attendees who identified themselves not as parents, but as Roosevelt alums. These men were perfect examples of those who might not want to see their school change too much. Maybe I'm looking for confirmation for my theory, but I sensed a sort of ownership, watchdog quality in how they spoke about Roosevelt. Anyway, I stand by my opinion that while I think Roosevelt holds great promise as a viable HS solution for kids east of the park, I think there are many hurdles I getting there and alums who jealously guard the memory of their alma mater will be one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So early in this thread I suggested that alumni might prove to be a challenge in any effort to change Roosevelt to make it more attractive to higher SES, gentrifying families. These new groups would demand specialized programming, college counseling and advocacy, diverse electives and extra-curriculars, etc. plus a focus on challenging good students that is at least equal to the focus given to providing remediation and dealing with kids as risk (of dropping out, etc). Well, at tonight's DME meeting at Coolidge two of maybe ten questions during the Q&A came from attendees who identified themselves not as parents, but as Roosevelt alums. These men were perfect examples of those who might not want to see their school change too much. Maybe I'm looking for confirmation for my theory, but I sensed a sort of ownership, watchdog quality in how they spoke about Roosevelt. Anyway, I stand by my opinion that while I think Roosevelt holds great promise as a viable HS solution for kids east of the park, I think there are many hurdles I getting there and alums who jealously guard the memory of their alma mater will be one.

Would they be opposed to rebranding Roosevelt? Absolutely yes. Would they be opposed to making it a stronger comprehensive school with some specialized programming to keep neighborhood kids at the school, maybe not. Is there a middle ground of an academy that is open to all that arrive with and maintain a minimum proficiency level, perhaps. Is there a pathway to provide better programming for the neighborhood? Is there a way to get communities talking to each other about how they can collaborate to build on the schools history and turn it into a destination school?

I think those gentlemen want a strong Roosevelt but they have a different understanding of what that means. How do we bridge that divide?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:So early in this thread I suggested that alumni might prove to be a challenge in any effort to change Roosevelt to make it more attractive to higher SES, gentrifying families. These new groups would demand specialized programming, college counseling and advocacy, diverse electives and extra-curriculars, etc. plus a focus on challenging good students that is at least equal to the focus given to providing remediation and dealing with kids as risk (of dropping out, etc). Well, at tonight's DME meeting at Coolidge two of maybe ten questions during the Q&A came from attendees who identified themselves not as parents, but as Roosevelt alums. These men were perfect examples of those who might not want to see their school change too much. Maybe I'm looking for confirmation for my theory, but I sensed a sort of ownership, watchdog quality in how they spoke about Roosevelt. Anyway, I stand by my opinion that while I think Roosevelt holds great promise as a viable HS solution for kids east of the park, I think there are many hurdles I getting there and alums who jealously guard the memory of their alma mater will be one.

I made it a point to introduce myself to this group and invite them to join this thread. One of the gentlemen is the head of the alumni association. He said that he likes to tell things as they are and I told him he would fit right in here. My impression after my brief encounter is that they are very concerned that Roosevelt might be turned over to a charter or something else and could be lost completely. They were very open to discussing almost any alternative to that.

[Anonymous]

Would they be opposed to rebranding Roosevelt? Absolutely yes. Would they be opposed to making it a stronger comprehensive school with some specialized programming to keep neighborhood kids at the school, maybe not. Is there a middle ground of an academy that is open to all that arrive with and maintain a minimum proficiency level, perhaps. Is there a pathway to provide better programming for the neighborhood? Is there a way to get communities talking to each other about how they can collaborate to build on the schools history and turn it into a destination school?

I think those gentlemen want a strong Roosevelt but they have a different understanding of what that means. How do we bridge that divide?

This is the right perspective. They want the school to be better than it was, but they want to ensure that "better" doesn't mean exclusive. That's what gentrification has done for the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

What does Wilson offer at its school that others don't since its the so called standard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I added some IB stuff to the document here: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/Roosevelt

Through this process, I learned that B-CC and Einstein in Kensington are IB schools.

Rockville, Richard Montgomery, Annandale, George Mason, Carroll, Washington International School, Banneker, the British School and Good Counsel are among other local Hs that offer IB.

Thanks so much PP for adding the IB information! The current principal of Deal, Mr. Albright was wooed away from Fairfax County specifically to establish the IB program at Deal - so we have an exceptional resource in him. I think he also graduated from an IB program. One other thing to note is that the IB schools spend a good amount of time learning from each other and sharing portfolios of student work. I think it is a bit of a process to get IB established but it seems like good timing to explore it further.

One other piece that should be incorporated is part of what I call the "secret sauce" of Deal's success. My understanding is that teachers are required to coordinate some type of afterschool activity based on a hobby or topic that they are passionate about. As a parent one thing that I have noticed about Deal - and it will sound sappy - but the teachers are not only smart and qualified in their subject areas, but they care about our kids and are ecstatic about sharing their passions and knowledge. (I know there may be outliers to this) But I am always blown away by this element of the school. We need to add that "secret sauce" to the Roosevelt idea.

This is also something that I think the alums of Roosevelt would recall about their own experiences. Back in the day, the teachers at Dunbar, Roosevelt and some of the other DC high schools were considered ROCK STARS. I'm a native DC'er and I can remember neighbors talking about their teachers, the same way people talk about RGIII. If we want to get buy-in from the old-timers we need then to recall those things that made Roosevelt special and a big part of it were the teachers. Those schools back in the day literally transformed lives and I think there is a yearning to get back to those basics. BTW, I think Banneker too, in terms of its "secret sauce" is a bit of a throw back of those old time schools in terms of the connection that students have with their teachers - I don't have a kid there but that was my impression from the presentations I participated in.

So maybe we want to incorporate pieces that speak to the culture of the school and the expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I added some IB stuff to the document here: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/Roosevelt

Through this process, I learned that B-CC and Einstein in Kensington are IB schools.

Rockville, Richard Montgomery, Annandale, George Mason, Carroll, Washington International School, Banneker, the British School and Good Counsel are among other local Hs that offer IB.

Don't forget DCI. YY is already IB and DCI will be too.

[Anonymous]

Jeff, thank you so much for approaching the Roosevelt alums last night to try and get them engaged. It would be fantastic if the desire to improve Roosevelt could be a movement supported from new comers and the old guard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I added some IB stuff to the document here: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/Roosevelt

Through this process, I learned that B-CC and Einstein in Kensington are IB schools.

Rockville, Richard Montgomery, Annandale, George Mason, Carroll, Washington International School, Banneker, the British School and Good Counsel are among other local Hs that offer IB.

Thanks so much PP for adding the IB information! The current principal of Deal, Mr. Albright was wooed away from Fairfax County specifically to establish the IB program at Deal - so we have an exceptional resource in him. I think he also graduated from an IB program. One other thing to note is that the IB schools spend a good amount of time learning from each other and sharing portfolios of student work. I think it is a bit of a process to get IB established but it seems like good timing to explore it further.

One other piece that should be incorporated is part of what I call the "secret sauce" of Deal's success. My understanding is that teachers are required to coordinate some type of afterschool activity based on a hobby or topic that they are passionate about. As a parent one thing that I have noticed about Deal - and it will sound sappy - but the teachers are not only smart and qualified in their subject areas, but they care about our kids and are ecstatic about sharing their passions and knowledge. (I know there may be outliers to this) But I am always blown away by this element of the school. We need to add that "secret sauce" to the Roosevelt idea.

This is also something that I think the alums of Roosevelt would recall about their own experiences. Back in the day, the teachers at Dunbar, Roosevelt and some of the other DC high schools were considered ROCK STARS. I'm a native DC'er and I can remember neighbors talking about their teachers, the same way people talk about RGIII. If we want to get buy-in from the old-timers we need then to recall those things that made Roosevelt special and a big part of it were the teachers. Those schools back in the day literally transformed lives and I think there is a yearning to get back to those basics. BTW, I think Banneker too, in terms of its "secret sauce" is a bit of a throw back of those old time schools in terms of the connection that students have with their teachers - I don't have a kid there but that was my impression from the presentations I participated in.

So maybe we want to incorporate pieces that speak to the culture of the school and the expectations.

Dunbar, especially, was famous for this, as I even know about it as an outsider. Circumstances have changed quite a bit since then, but I think that your point still stands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I added some IB stuff to the document here: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/Roosevelt

Through this process, I learned that B-CC and Einstein in Kensington are IB schools.

Rockville, Richard Montgomery, Annandale, George Mason, Carroll, Washington International School, Banneker, the British School and Good Counsel are among other local Hs that offer IB.

Don't forget DCI. YY is already IB and DCI will be too.

Yes, thanks for this, I just found this out the other day.

The more I look at this, the more I realize that DCPS already has a lot of the pieces necessary to make "grow the pie" work, they just need someone to put it together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does Wilson offer at its school that others don't since its the so called standard

Lots of focused academic and extra-curricular opportunities. Wilson's academy concept seems to be really effective.