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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

Are you implying that parents EOTR are comfortable ''sacrificing'' their kids and that they don't care about their kids' education?

Having lived both EOTR and WOTR I think it is safe to say that you hear the tropes "upper middle class kids will be fine wherever they go," or "test scores reflect demographics" more often from parents EOTR. WOTR parents, in general, seem more concerned about the actual quality of the education their children are receiving, and expect their kids to be performing at a level that is better than grade-level or "fine." EOTP parents generally seem to care more about diversity, and the benefits that brings. Just an observation.

But to the PP's point, I agree that spreading out the "top" kids, without creating honors programs where they can be educated separately from kids performing below grade level, is going to drive a fair number of UMC families away. I think that even if academics were equal, a large number of families would leave simply because they could not go to a walkable school. MOCO with its walkable mostly high-performing schools suddenly becomes much more attractive. Let's face it, NWDC is much more like Chevy Chase/Bethesda than it is to other parts of DC.

Im an EOTP parent so I guess I fit your stereotype, but I am of the opinion that my kids don't need to be surrounded by UMC kids in order to do well. You are more likely to find parents who trust their kids to do well EOTP, rather than feeling anxiety about their kids outcomes and alleviating that anxiety by moving WOTP.

I'm also a person who had the experience of going to two different high schools: a working class "bad" high school for two years, and a uniformly UMC high school for two years. The gifted kids who "got out" of the first school/town ended up being way more remarkable -- professors, artists, etc. More people from the UMB school ended up being profesional class: dentists, accountants, lawyers, etc, but there are far fewer people going creative, interesting things. So I actually think a gifted kid is better off in a diverse environment and finding their own path, rather than following along a professional UMC path.

I'm also a product of an "I need to get out of here" type of high school in the middle of the country. Not many got out and of those who did from my senior class (all in the gifted program), 2 of us are lawyers and one works in finance. I don't think that any of us came from enough family wealth to experiment with careers in the arts or in academia. We did what we could and I think we are all pretty happy with our choices and what we were able to do with the opportunities provided. There are some ways that coming from a less affluent background and having plenty of friends who wound up in community college has helped in life, and more ways where it has hurt. We play with the cards we are dealt.

But that said, we finally were able to afford to move from EOTP to WOTP. Stayed in public. We are financially secure but private school tuition is not an option. I have always had full confidence that my kids have the ability to do well. But their highly sought after EOTP schools were not giving them the tools to do well. They consistently scored at or just below grade level on their standardized tests, which never made any sense to me given that both my spouse and I tested as "gifted" in elementary. After a year of schools WOTP they started performing 2-3 levels above grade level. They always had the ability, but needed to be given the tools. And in case anyone is wondering, they are much happier in their current schools, where there are fewer behavior problems and when they exist, they are addressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ooh, ooh, I'm taking bets!

The "how old are your kids?" mom is gonna say "wait til your middle schooler gets jumped at Brookland and you'll wish you sent them to Deal! You'll learn there is NO DIFFERENTIATION AND NOW YOUR KID IS STUCK GOING TO BROWN!!! BROWWWWNNNNNN!!!!!!!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I dunno. Arlington is considering a program that would dramatically lessen taxes on families who essentially sacrifice their kids’ educations by sending them to school with poc in the south Arlington. Surprisingly there is a lot of interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Are you implying that parents EOTR are comfortable ''sacrificing'' their kids and that they don't care about their kids' education?

Having lived both EOTR and WOTR I think it is safe to say that you hear the tropes "upper middle class kids will be fine wherever they go," or "test scores reflect demographics" more often from parents EOTR. WOTR parents, in general, seem more concerned about the actual quality of the education their children are receiving, and expect their kids to be performing at a level that is better than grade-level or "fine." EOTP parents generally seem to care more about diversity, and the benefits that brings. Just an observation.

But to the PP's point, I agree that spreading out the "top" kids, without creating honors programs where they can be educated separately from kids performing below grade level, is going to drive a fair number of UMC families away. I think that even if academics were equal, a large number of families would leave simply because they could not go to a walkable school. MOCO with its walkable mostly high-performing schools suddenly becomes much more attractive. Let's face it, NWDC is much more like Chevy Chase/Bethesda than it is to other parts of DC.

Im an EOTP parent so I guess I fit your stereotype, but I am of the opinion that my kids don't need to be surrounded by UMC kids in order to do well. You are more likely to find parents who trust their kids to do well EOTP, rather than feeling anxiety about their kids outcomes and alleviating that anxiety by moving WOTP.

I'm also a person who had the experience of going to two different high schools: a working class "bad" high school for two years, and a uniformly UMC high school for two years. The gifted kids who "got out" of the first school/town ended up being way more remarkable -- professors, artists, etc. More people from the UMB school ended up being profesional class: dentists, accountants, lawyers, etc, but there are far fewer people going creative, interesting things. So I actually think a gifted kid is better off in a diverse environment and finding their own path, rather than following along a professional UMC path.

I'm also a product of an "I need to get out of here" type of high school in the middle of the country. Not many got out and of those who did from my senior class (all in the gifted program), 2 of us are lawyers and one works in finance. I don't think that any of us came from enough family wealth to experiment with careers in the arts or in academia. We did what we could and I think we are all pretty happy with our choices and what we were able to do with the opportunities provided. There are some ways that coming from a less affluent background and having plenty of friends who wound up in community college has helped in life, and more ways where it has hurt. We play with the cards we are dealt.

But that said, we finally were able to afford to move from EOTP to WOTP. Stayed in public. We are financially secure but private school tuition is not an option. I have always had full confidence that my kids have the ability to do well. But their highly sought after EOTP schools were not giving them the tools to do well. They consistently scored at or just below grade level on their standardized tests, which never made any sense to me given that both my spouse and I tested as "gifted" in elementary. After a year of schools WOTP they started performing 2-3 levels above grade level. They always had the ability, but needed to be given the tools. And in case anyone is wondering, they are much happier in their current schools, where there are fewer behavior problems and when they exist, they are addressed.

Come on, DCPS schools EOTP are hardly a monolithic group here in 2022. When did you leave Ward 5 or 6? Some of us don't stop with the curriculum and "tools" provided at our local DCPS. We hire tutors and tutor the kids ourselves, enroll our children in a variety of academic enrichment programs and ensure that they read a lot. Nonsense that one needs to move WOTP to raise DC public school students who are happy in school while performing above grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I dunno. Arlington is considering a program that would dramatically lessen taxes on families who essentially sacrifice their kids’ educations by sending them to school with poc in the south Arlington. Surprisingly there is a lot of interest.

They won’t be “sacrificing their kids’ educations” if a lot of other UMC families also participate.

I bet most DCUMers also don’t understand the purposes of programs like New Haven or Kalamazoo promise. You want free college or lower taxes? You better invest human capital into the areas & schools that need it then.

[Anonymous]

Ward 3 candidates are starting to come out with positions on this. What are people's takes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 candidates are starting to come out with positions on this. What are people's takes?

Here's Frumin on Foxhall and MacArthur:

https://fruminforward3.com/food-for-thought-new-schools/

He thinks we should pause planning for the Foxhall ES to see if that money might be better spent elsewhere in Ward 3 DCPS and says the idea of a 50/50 boundary/lottery HS for 1,000 kids on MacArthur is idealistically sound but logistically unsound because a.) the school is not in a central location, making it difficult to reach for many; and b.) building a new half-lottery school in Ward 3 will only draw kids away from already-underutilized high schools elsewhere in the city. He envisions a high school on the MacArthur site for 700, but doesn't say where those 700 should come from (Hardy plus kids moved from Wilson? Redrawn W3 boundaries? Hardy plus fewer lottery seats?)

He also says "the way to increase access to Ward 3 schools is to build more affordable housing in the area, a project to which I am deeply committed."

Well, good luck with that. Ward 3 is definitely getting more housing, but almost none of it will be affordable because developers can't make money off such housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 candidates are starting to come out with positions on this. What are people's takes?

Here's Frumin on Foxhall and MacArthur:

https://fruminforward3.com/food-for-thought-new-schools/

He thinks we should pause planning for the Foxhall ES to see if that money might be better spent elsewhere in Ward 3 DCPS and says the idea of a 50/50 boundary/lottery HS for 1,000 kids on MacArthur is idealistically sound but logistically unsound because a.) the school is not in a central location, making it difficult to reach for many; and b.) building a new half-lottery school in Ward 3 will only draw kids away from already-underutilized high schools elsewhere in the city. He envisions a high school on the MacArthur site for 700, but doesn't say where those 700 should come from (Hardy plus kids moved from Wilson? Redrawn W3 boundaries? Hardy plus fewer lottery seats?)

He also says "the way to increase access to Ward 3 schools is to build more affordable housing in the area, a project to which I am deeply committed."

Well, good luck with that. Ward 3 is definitely getting more housing, but almost none of it will be affordable because developers can't make money off such housing.

Frumin is much more detailed than Bergmann, who simply says the new schools should be built and we need to do something about the overcrowding at Deal. Yeah, no shit.

https://www.benbergmann.com/public-education

Phil Thomas js just as vague as Bergmann, saying only he would "facilitate the building of a new Ward 3 high school."

https://philforward3.com/issues

Monte Monash's website has nothing specific about schools or any other issue.

Tricia Duncan supports building the new high school and expanding Hardy and Stoddert, but is otherwise vague:

https://www.triciaforward3.com/priorities/

Eric Goulet doesn't seem to have a site up.

Monika Nemeth, who was going to challenge Cheh before Cheh dropped out, now has strangely dropped out herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 candidates are starting to come out with positions on this. What are people's takes?

Here's Frumin on Foxhall and MacArthur:

https://fruminforward3.com/food-for-thought-new-schools/

He thinks we should pause planning for the Foxhall ES to see if that money might be better spent elsewhere in Ward 3 DCPS and says the idea of a 50/50 boundary/lottery HS for 1,000 kids on MacArthur is idealistically sound but logistically unsound because a.) the school is not in a central location, making it difficult to reach for many; and b.) building a new half-lottery school in Ward 3 will only draw kids away from already-underutilized high schools elsewhere in the city. He envisions a high school on the MacArthur site for 700, but doesn't say where those 700 should come from (Hardy plus kids moved from Wilson? Redrawn W3 boundaries? Hardy plus fewer lottery seats?)

He also says "the way to increase access to Ward 3 schools is to build more affordable housing in the area, a project to which I am deeply committed."

Well, good luck with that. Ward 3 is definitely getting more housing, but almost none of it will be affordable because developers can't make money off such housing.

I'd vote for a candidate who planned to put city money into affordable housing in Ward 3 (to get around the developer profit obstacle). But I also think it should be possible to open more access to excellent schools in D.C. without requiring people to move in-bounds for them. Frumin is right about the logistical problems with the citywide lottery plan for this MacArthur site, though; hard to think of a worse location for a citywide school from a public transit standpoint than the Palisades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 candidates are starting to come out with positions on this. What are people's takes?

Here's Frumin on Foxhall and MacArthur:

https://fruminforward3.com/food-for-thought-new-schools/

He thinks we should pause planning for the Foxhall ES to see if that money might be better spent elsewhere in Ward 3 DCPS and says the idea of a 50/50 boundary/lottery HS for 1,000 kids on MacArthur is idealistically sound but logistically unsound because a.) the school is not in a central location, making it difficult to reach for many; and b.) building a new half-lottery school in Ward 3 will only draw kids away from already-underutilized high schools elsewhere in the city. He envisions a high school on the MacArthur site for 700, but doesn't say where those 700 should come from (Hardy plus kids moved from Wilson? Redrawn W3 boundaries? Hardy plus fewer lottery seats?)

He also says "the way to increase access to Ward 3 schools is to build more affordable housing in the area, a project to which I am deeply committed."

Well, good luck with that. Ward 3 is definitely getting more housing, but almost none of it will be affordable because developers can't make money off such housing.

This is thoughtful but I don't even buy the premise of 50/50 feeder/lottery at MacArthur. Hardy enrollment is swelling rapidly to about 225 kids/grade. If even 75% head to the new school, that would make up over 750 kids from Hardy, leaving only about 250 seats at large. Capping MacArthur at 700 would make it an exclusively Hardy feeder school. The transportation options are on top of this.

[Anonymous]

Yes, knowing little else about the candidates, Frumin has my vote based on schools alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 candidates are starting to come out with positions on this. What are people's takes?

Here's Frumin on Foxhall and MacArthur:

https://fruminforward3.com/food-for-thought-new-schools/

He thinks we should pause planning for the Foxhall ES to see if that money might be better spent elsewhere in Ward 3 DCPS and says the idea of a 50/50 boundary/lottery HS for 1,000 kids on MacArthur is idealistically sound but logistically unsound because a.) the school is not in a central location, making it difficult to reach for many; and b.) building a new half-lottery school in Ward 3 will only draw kids away from already-underutilized high schools elsewhere in the city. He envisions a high school on the MacArthur site for 700, but doesn't say where those 700 should come from (Hardy plus kids moved from Wilson? Redrawn W3 boundaries? Hardy plus fewer lottery seats?)

He also says "the way to increase access to Ward 3 schools is to build more affordable housing in the area, a project to which I am deeply committed."

Well, good luck with that. Ward 3 is definitely getting more housing, but almost none of it will be affordable because developers can't make money off such housing.

Frumin has to know that there's no real available land to build more affordable housing that is convenient to MacArthur HS. That's why DCPS bought the site, despite its unfortunate location - beggars can't be choosers.

There's literally no land available for big affordable housing projects or new schools that is convenient to families, particularly low income ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 candidates are starting to come out with positions on this. What are people's takes?

Here's Frumin on Foxhall and MacArthur:

https://fruminforward3.com/food-for-thought-new-schools/

He thinks we should pause planning for the Foxhall ES to see if that money might be better spent elsewhere in Ward 3 DCPS and says the idea of a 50/50 boundary/lottery HS for 1,000 kids on MacArthur is idealistically sound but logistically unsound because a.) the school is not in a central location, making it difficult to reach for many; and b.) building a new half-lottery school in Ward 3 will only draw kids away from already-underutilized high schools elsewhere in the city. He envisions a high school on the MacArthur site for 700, but doesn't say where those 700 should come from (Hardy plus kids moved from Wilson? Redrawn W3 boundaries? Hardy plus fewer lottery seats?)

He also says "the way to increase access to Ward 3 schools is to build more affordable housing in the area, a project to which I am deeply committed."

Well, good luck with that. Ward 3 is definitely getting more housing, but almost none of it will be affordable because developers can't make money off such housing.

Frumin has to know that there's no real available land to build more affordable housing that is convenient to MacArthur HS. That's why DCPS bought the site, despite its unfortunate location - beggars can't be choosers.

There's literally no land available for big affordable housing projects or new schools that is convenient to families, particularly low income ones.

There was (Fannie Mae) and will continue to always be land coming down the pike (Friendship Heights). Particularly with the way commercial RE is going….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 candidates are starting to come out with positions on this. What are people's takes?

Here's Frumin on Foxhall and MacArthur:

https://fruminforward3.com/food-for-thought-new-schools/

He thinks we should pause planning for the Foxhall ES to see if that money might be better spent elsewhere in Ward 3 DCPS and says the idea of a 50/50 boundary/lottery HS for 1,000 kids on MacArthur is idealistically sound but logistically unsound because a.) the school is not in a central location, making it difficult to reach for many; and b.) building a new half-lottery school in Ward 3 will only draw kids away from already-underutilized high schools elsewhere in the city. He envisions a high school on the MacArthur site for 700, but doesn't say where those 700 should come from (Hardy plus kids moved from Wilson? Redrawn W3 boundaries? Hardy plus fewer lottery seats?)

He also says "the way to increase access to Ward 3 schools is to build more affordable housing in the area, a project to which I am deeply committed."

Well, good luck with that. Ward 3 is definitely getting more housing, but almost none of it will be affordable because developers can't make money off such housing.

Frumin has to know that there's no real available land to build more affordable housing that is convenient to MacArthur HS. That's why DCPS bought the site, despite its unfortunate location - beggars can't be choosers.

There's literally no land available for big affordable housing projects or new schools that is convenient to families, particularly low income ones.

There was (Fannie Mae) and will continue to always be land coming down the pike (Friendship Heights). Particularly with the way commercial RE is going….

Friendship Heights is not convenient to MacArthur HS. Sure, there will eventually be housing on that site, but it won't be low income and the city can't compete with developers. Even if DC manages to build a HS there, it won't open before 2028 and the city needs high school seats in Ward 2/3 NOW.

[Anonymous]

Funny thing will be that whatever NW neighborhood gets cut out of Wilson will be the ones to tell us how inconvenient it is to get to the south end of Palisades. They want the school to shrink the Wilson student body, but not be the place their kid is assigned to.