Why is the Foxhall Community Citizens Association scared of public school children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In case you’re curious how that turned out, Greenwich CT’s public beaches are now available to the public.

https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/connecticuts-highest-court-rules-favor-public-beach-access-non-residents

Yes, but Greenwich got around the ruling by adopting a fee system for non-residents and making it very difficult for non-residents to pay the fee. See here: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beaches-belong-to-the-peo_b_870193

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just did a quick google maps survey of the area and came up with a list of schools already in the area (1 mile cutoff)

Schools nearby:
Lab School Campus #1 (0.0 mi)
Lab School Campus #2 - Reservoir Rd (0.7 mi)
Georgetown Day School (0.3 mi)
Montessori School Of Washington DC (0.3 mi)
St. Patricks Episcopal Day School - Macarthur (0.4 mi)
St. Patricks Episcopal Day School - Whitehaven (0.7 mi)
George Washington University - Mount Vernon Campus (0.6 mi)
The River School (1.0 mi)
The Field School (0.9 mi)
Georgetown University (0.6 mi)
Washington International School (0.9 mi)
Duke Ellington (1.0 mi)

Did I miss any? Do we really need a 13

th school in a 1 mile radius?

Advocacy tip: if you're concerned about coming across as anti public schools, it's probably not a good strategy to go to a forum dedicated to public schools and act like private schools are the same thing.

My kids go to a private school AND I pay DC taxes that support public schools. Does this make me anti-public school? I don't live where the big fight is going on, but parents in our school do. Some Palisades people have been pushing to get that old hardy school for a long time. Now some Foxhall people don't want a school biult on their park. So everybody is mad at each other. The 'Im so noble' pailsades group is happy with the city's plans to add the two schools . Just saying that both groups are zealots . Another thing, a lot of private school are actually pretty diverse because it is a goal and they give aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just did a quick google maps survey of the area and came up with a list of schools already in the area (1 mile cutoff)

Schools nearby:
Lab School Campus #1 (0.0 mi)
Lab School Campus #2 - Reservoir Rd (0.7 mi)
Georgetown Day School (0.3 mi)
Montessori School Of Washington DC (0.3 mi)
St. Patricks Episcopal Day School - Macarthur (0.4 mi)
St. Patricks Episcopal Day School - Whitehaven (0.7 mi)
George Washington University - Mount Vernon Campus (0.6 mi)
The River School (1.0 mi)
The Field School (0.9 mi)
Georgetown University (0.6 mi)
Washington International School (0.9 mi)
Duke Ellington (1.0 mi)

Did I miss any? Do we really need a 13

th school in a 1 mile radius?

Advocacy tip: if you're concerned about coming across as anti public schools, it's probably not a good strategy to go to a forum dedicated to public schools and act like private schools are the same thing.

My kids go to a private school AND I pay DC taxes that support public schools. Does this make me anti-public school? I don't live where the big fight is going on, but parents in our school do. Some Palisades people have been pushing to get that old hardy school for a long time. Now some Foxhall people don't want a school biult on their park. So everybody is mad at each other. The 'Im so noble' pailsades group is happy with the city's plans to add the two schools . Just saying that both groups are zealots . Another thing, a lot of private school are actually pretty diverse because it is a goal and they give aid.

That’s a diverse school?: https://www.labschool.org/sites/default/files/styles/width_640/public/2019-11/playgroundINT.JPG In DC? Really?

But, to your broader point, painting this as Foxhall vs. Palisades thing is silly. There are lots of people who live in Foxhall and want the new schools, just as there are people who live in the Palisades who don’t them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just did a quick google maps survey of the area and came up with a list of schools already in the area (1 mile cutoff)

Schools nearby:
Lab School Campus #1 (0.0 mi)
Lab School Campus #2 - Reservoir Rd (0.7 mi)
Georgetown Day School (0.3 mi)
Montessori School Of Washington DC (0.3 mi)
St. Patricks Episcopal Day School - Macarthur (0.4 mi)
St. Patricks Episcopal Day School - Whitehaven (0.7 mi)
George Washington University - Mount Vernon Campus (0.6 mi)
The River School (1.0 mi)
The Field School (0.9 mi)
Georgetown University (0.6 mi)
Washington International School (0.9 mi)
Duke Ellington (1.0 mi)

Did I miss any? Do we really need a 13

th school in a 1 mile radius?

Advocacy tip: if you're concerned about coming across as anti public schools, it's probably not a good strategy to go to a forum dedicated to public schools and act like private schools are the same thing.

My kids go to a private school AND I pay DC taxes that support public schools. Does this make me anti-public school? I don't live where the big fight is going on, but parents in our school do. Some Palisades people have been pushing to get that old hardy school for a long time. Now some Foxhall people don't want a school biult on their park. So everybody is mad at each other. The 'Im so noble' pailsades group is happy with the city's plans to add the two schools . Just saying that both groups are zealots . Another thing, a lot of private school are actually pretty diverse because it is a goal and they give aid.

"Pretty diverse?" You need to take one of those Duck Boat tours and see more of the city too.

At most "independent" schools in DC the cutoff for financial aid for a family with one child is a household income of around $225,000. Eighty percent of the public school kids in DC are classified as "economically disadvantaged." The maximum household income for a family of three to me classified as economically disadvantaged is around $30K. The charity cases at your school would be the rich kids in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In case you’re curious how that turned out, Greenwich CT’s public beaches are now available to the public.

https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/connecticuts-highest-court-rules-favor-public-beach-access-non-residents

There's an important difference: Greenwich is an incorporated town. As a point of law, the town beach really does belong to the residents.

The Foxhall villagers are acting as if they are somehow an incorporated entity and the park is theirs. It isn't. It belongs to the city which they are a part of. It belongs to every other city resident just as much as it belongs to them. Even the question of who is a Foxhaller has been very much up for debate in this discussion; anyone who disagrees with the FCCA is accused of not "really" living in Foxhall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Some Palisades people have been pushing to get that old hardy school for a long time.

Some history:

The Rose Hardy School served its neighborhood as a public school for over 60 years, first as an elementary and later as a middle school. In 1996 it closed. When it closed the city proposed selling the land and building. The neighbors objected, hoping that the building could be returned to use as a public school. So instead of selling the building the city leased it, for a ten year initial term with three five year extensions. The first lease was in 1998 to the Rock Creek International School. They went bankrupt and Lab purchased the lease from the bankruptcy court. In 2008 the first five year extension was granted.

In 2013, when it was time for the second five year extension, Lab proposed a 50-year extension instead. That idea was shelved after significant community opposition but another five year extension was granted. Lab kept pushing the idea of a 50-year lease, and it kept being opposed by community members. Had nothing happened the building would have reverted to city control in 2023. However, last December, on Christmas Eve and without any community input the city signed a 15-year extension.

So you have your facts backwards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Some Palisades people have been pushing to get that old hardy school for a long time.

Some history:

The Rose Hardy School served its neighborhood as a public school for over 60 years, first as an elementary and later as a middle school. In 1996 it closed. When it closed the city proposed selling the land and building. The neighbors objected, hoping that the building could be returned to use as a public school. So instead of selling the building the city leased it, for a ten year initial term with three five year extensions. The first lease was in 1998 to the Rock Creek International School. They went bankrupt and Lab purchased the lease from the bankruptcy court. In 2008 the first five year extension was granted.

In 2013, when it was time for the second five year extension, Lab proposed a 50-year extension instead. That idea was shelved after significant community opposition but another five year extension was granted. Lab kept pushing the idea of a 50-year lease, and it kept being opposed by community members. Had nothing happened the building would have reverted to city control in 2023. However, last December, on Christmas Eve and without any community input the city signed a 15-year extension.


What is backwards? Didn't the palisade want to have Hardy public again? isnt that why they are mad at foxhall?

So you have your facts backwards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Some Palisades people have been pushing to get that old hardy school for a long time.

Some history:

The Rose Hardy School served its neighborhood as a public school for over 60 years, first as an elementary and later as a middle school. In 1996 it closed. When it closed the city proposed selling the land and building. The neighbors objected, hoping that the building could be returned to use as a public school. So instead of selling the building the city leased it, for a ten year initial term with three five year extensions. The first lease was in 1998 to the Rock Creek International School. They went bankrupt and Lab purchased the lease from the bankruptcy court. In 2008 the first five year extension was granted.

In 2013, when it was time for the second five year extension, Lab proposed a 50-year extension instead. That idea was shelved after significant community opposition but another five year extension was granted. Lab kept pushing the idea of a 50-year lease, and it kept being opposed by community members. Had nothing happened the building would have reverted to city control in 2023. However, last December, on Christmas Eve and without any community input the city signed a 15-year extension.


What is backwards? Didn't the palisade want to have Hardy public again? isnt that why they are mad at foxhall?

So you have your facts backwards.

What's backwards is saying the community was trying to "get" the school. They were trying to have it returned.

Also, it wasn't just "some Palisades people." A lot of people in Foxhall were supportive of returning it to use as a public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just did a quick google maps survey of the area and came up with a list of schools already in the area (1 mile cutoff)

Schools nearby:
Lab School Campus #1 (0.0 mi)
Lab School Campus #2 - Reservoir Rd (0.7 mi)
Georgetown Day School (0.3 mi)
Montessori School Of Washington DC (0.3 mi)
St. Patricks Episcopal Day School - Macarthur (0.4 mi)
St. Patricks Episcopal Day School - Whitehaven (0.7 mi)
George Washington University - Mount Vernon Campus (0.6 mi)
The River School (1.0 mi)
The Field School (0.9 mi)
Georgetown University (0.6 mi)
Washington International School (0.9 mi)
Duke Ellington (1.0 mi)

Did I miss any? Do we really need a 13

th school in a 1 mile radius?

Advocacy tip: if you're concerned about coming across as anti public schools, it's probably not a good strategy to go to a forum dedicated to public schools and act like private schools are the same thing.

My kids go to a private school AND I pay DC taxes that support public schools. Does this make me anti-public school?

No. Being anti-public school is what makes someone anti-public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even the question of who is a Foxhaller has been very much up for debate in this discussion; anyone who disagrees with the FCCA is accused of not "really" living in Foxhall.

This has actually been documented. The Foxhall ANC rep sent an e-mail to at least one dissenting voice asking them not to identify themselves as a Foxhall resident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Some Palisades people have been pushing to get that old hardy school for a long time.

Some history:

The Rose Hardy School served its neighborhood as a public school for over 60 years, first as an elementary and later as a middle school. In 1996 it closed. When it closed the city proposed selling the land and building. The neighbors objected, hoping that the building could be returned to use as a public school. So instead of selling the building the city leased it, for a ten year initial term with three five year extensions. The first lease was in 1998 to the Rock Creek International School. They went bankrupt and Lab purchased the lease from the bankruptcy court. In 2008 the first five year extension was granted.

In 2013, when it was time for the second five year extension, Lab proposed a 50-year extension instead. That idea was shelved after significant community opposition but another five year extension was granted. Lab kept pushing the idea of a 50-year lease, and it kept being opposed by community members. Had nothing happened the building would have reverted to city control in 2023. However, last December, on Christmas Eve and without any community input the city signed a 15-year extension.

So you have your facts backwards.

The irony is that in 1996 it was Foxhall vs. Palisades over whose school would get closed. And Foxhall lost, their school got closed and they had to schlepp up to Key. But they managed to pressure the city into keeping the building so that if some day -- some day -- the kids returned they could have a neighborhood school again. And though in 1996 nobody believed it would ever happen, here we are in 2021 and the kids are back. And it turns out the city didn't really keep the building. And now some neighbors are against a new school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just did a quick google maps survey of the area and came up with a list of schools already in the area (1 mile cutoff)

Schools nearby:
Lab School Campus #1 (0.0 mi)
Lab School Campus #2 - Reservoir Rd (0.7 mi)
Georgetown Day School (0.3 mi)
Montessori School Of Washington DC (0.3 mi)
St. Patricks Episcopal Day School - Macarthur (0.4 mi)
St. Patricks Episcopal Day School - Whitehaven (0.7 mi)
George Washington University - Mount Vernon Campus (0.6 mi)
The River School (1.0 mi)
The Field School (0.9 mi)
Georgetown University (0.6 mi)
Washington International School (0.9 mi)
Duke Ellington (1.0 mi)

Did I miss any? Do we really need a 13

th school in a 1 mile radius?

Advocacy tip: if you're concerned about coming across as anti public schools, it's probably not a good strategy to go to a forum dedicated to public schools and act like private schools are the same thing.

My kids go to a private school AND I pay DC taxes that support public schools. Does this make me anti-public school? I don't live where the big fight is going on, but parents in our school do. Some Palisades people have been pushing to get that old hardy school for a long time. Now some Foxhall people don't want a school biult on their park. So everybody is mad at each other. The 'Im so noble' pailsades group is happy with the city's plans to add the two schools . Just saying that both groups are zealots . Another thing, a lot of private school are actually pretty diverse because it is a goal and they give aid.

That’s a diverse school?: https://www.labschool.org/sites/default/files/styles/width_640/public/2019-11/playgroundINT.JPG In DC? Really?

But, to your broader point, painting this as Foxhall vs. Palisades thing is silly. There are lots of people who live in Foxhall and want the new schools, just as there are people who live in the Palisades who don’t them.

S\Why do you assume my kids go to Lab School. And I know that there are "regular" people in both Foxhall and palisades that think the GDS school site would serve adequately as a local school. You are bent on mistrepresenting anyone who doesn't agree with you. The pot calling the kettle black. You are not contributing to an honest discussion for people who accutaul want to understand this . it is a smear campaingn agaist private schools and this community group that you obviously want to discredt

[Anonymous]

Old Hardy advocates - please do yourselves a favor and not have your arguments led by parents who’ve sent their kids to privates after elementary school. You talk about your bucolic parks and traffic issues - and you expect sympathy from the rest of the city? You all just seem like entitled privilege poster people. As a third gen DCer - kids from these neighborhoods were barely in DCPS even in 1996….
And thinking about positioning the only school that serves the needs of many special needs in the area is a political winner? No they aren’t educating lots of DC kids for free or lower cost - but that’s also from DCPS contesting and denying sending kids who need the types of special Ed that Lab can provide unless you spend tons of time and money suing the city. They used to have more DCPS kids until the policy change to uniform deny placement about 10 years ago. I have kids in both Lab (it’s the ONLY school closer than Baltimore that can provide the services my kid needs) and Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:S\Why do you assume my kids go to Lab School. And I know that there are "regular" people in both Foxhall and palisades that think the GDS school site would serve adequately as a local school. You are bent on mistrepresenting anyone who doesn't agree with you. The pot calling the kettle black. You are not contributing to an honest discussion for people who accutaul want to understand this . it is a smear campaingn agaist private schools and this community group that you obviously want to discredt

The FCCA certainty doesn't need help from anyone else in discrediting themselves. They do that perfectly well with their own actions and statements. There's 22 pages of posts detailing those in this very thread, so I'll pass on going back through them.

I don't anyone cares enough to assume anything about where your kids go. The rest of us are just sick to death of tokenistic philanthropy being used as a type of Potemkin Village in service of systems that perpetuate structural inequalities.

But, other than what I just wrote, there is no smear campaign here against "private schools". What you see is members of a DC community calling one particular school out for behaving in a manner that would make Maret blush and shafting public education in the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Old Hardy advocates - please do yourselves a favor and not have your arguments led by parents who’ve sent their kids to privates after elementary school. You talk about your bucolic parks and traffic issues - and you expect sympathy from the rest of the city? You all just seem like entitled privilege poster people. As a third gen DCer - kids from these neighborhoods were barely in DCPS even in 1996….
And thinking about positioning the only school that serves the needs of many special needs in the area is a political winner? No they aren’t educating lots of DC kids for free or lower cost - but that’s also from DCPS contesting and denying sending kids who need the types of special Ed that Lab can provide unless you spend tons of time and money suing the city. They used to have more DCPS kids until the policy change to uniform deny placement about 10 years ago. I have kids in both Lab (it’s the ONLY school closer than Baltimore that can provide the services my kid needs) and Wilson.

One of the big lies is that Lab could only operate in that location. They serve the entire metropolitan region. On the other hand, a neighborhood school has to be in the neighborhood it serves.