What are the odds that MacArthur will open in August '23?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the meeting, it sounded like dcps is determined that the school will start (with one grade!?) fall 2023. They kept saying they’ll have more answers about important questions in August or after the new principal is hired. Not sure what they’ve been doing these last several months. I’m sure in a decade, it will be a great school, but I won’t be sending my Hardy child there to be one of the test case grades. High school is too important to chance it.

Agreed. No way would I send my kid to this new school in the first or second year. I hope I am wrong but I predict it will be a hot mess for the first few years.
My good friend who works at DCPS Central said people at Central are leaving in droves. No one likes the Chancellor or his cronies. They all assume Bowser will be re-elected and it will be more of the same. Anyone who is competent and motivated is looking for a new job. Expertise and competence is not rewarded in DCPS Central.

You have to take that with a grain of salt. Many DCPS Central employees are former WTU members and they still have close ties. Bowser and Ferebee don't automatically cave to WTU, for example they reopened schools while WTU was still obstructing reopening. So you have to choose between what's best for the education DCPS students vs. what's the best employment terms for WTU members.

+100 I don't think that saying Central Staff are quitting is quite the indictment that PPP thinks it is. When I finally cleaned out my garage a bunch of bugs who were living there left. That wasn't a bad thing.

LOL! Great analogy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Missed the meeting tonight -- can anyone give a readout?

As others have said, the DCPS team seemed completely unprepared to address questions of most importance to families impacted by this decision. And they have no excuse not to have anticipated these questions since they are the SAME questions that continue to be asked over and over and over again. Grandfathering should have been decided and explained already, an announcement about what type of curriculum would be offered should already be decided, assurances regarding AP offerings should have been given, assurances about how sports and extra curriculars should have been given, answers about transportation should have been shared. Instead, they wanted to spend time telling everyone "not to worry, there will be a thoughtful process about what to name the school." WTF? Who gives a crap about that? Of course, DCPS devotes its energies on the most ridiculous topics. What about college prep and college counseling? What is their plan to ensure that the first four cohorts that enter this school don't have a crummy high school experience? The idea of having a child in a high school comprised of one grade or just two grades with no track record or visibility with universities is very far from appealing for us. We simply refuse to sacrifice our child's only shot at high school to this mess.

Considering how much is slated to be spent on the renovation, one parent asked whether there might be a pool as part of the planning. I kid you not...the DCPS person SCOFFED. The team running this seems very young and inexperienced without any real understanding of what families of truly concerned about. Where are the experienced professionals in all this? DCPS needs to bring in a seasoned pro who has successfully opened a new high school in a city.

This is a great summary. I was at the meeting and the inexperience of the team to appreciate the real issues confronting the students and the parents was glaring. The digression about the multiple curricular options across DCPS high schools was another illustration of their lack of awareness of this whole process. What is even more galling is that DCPS had several months to plan for this transition, but they are still at the ground floor. It wasn't even clear whether bids had been placed for the initial refurbishment and designs approved. Everything was "trust us" but they engendered no confidence that I should do so for my child's sake. I still don't understand the headlong rush, especially now that funding for full scale renovation is postponed for a year.

It’s not happening for next year. That’s the reality. But it’s an election year so of course they are going to push the narrative with the plans for next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the meeting, it sounded like dcps is determined that the school will start (with one grade!?) fall 2023. They kept saying they’ll have more answers about important questions in August or after the new principal is hired. Not sure what they’ve been doing these last several months. I’m sure in a decade, it will be a great school, but I won’t be sending my Hardy child there to be one of the test case grades. High school is too important to chance it.

Agreed. No way would I send my kid to this new school in the first or second year. I hope I am wrong but I predict it will be a hot mess for the first few years.
My good friend who works at DCPS Central said people at Central are leaving in droves. No one likes the Chancellor or his cronies. They all assume Bowser will be re-elected and it will be more of the same. Anyone who is competent and motivated is looking for a new job. Expertise and competence is not rewarded in DCPS Central.

You have to take that with a grain of salt. Many DCPS Central employees are former WTU members and they still have close ties. Bowser and Ferebee don't automatically cave to WTU, for example they reopened schools while WTU was still obstructing reopening. So you have to choose between what's best for the education DCPS students vs. what's the best employment terms for WTU members.

+100 I don't think that saying Central Staff are quitting is quite the indictment that PPP thinks it is. When I finally cleaned out my garage a bunch of bugs who were living there left. That wasn't a bad thing.

LOL! Great analogy

yeah, analogizing people to bugs/vermin definitely doesn’t have any troubling associations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the meeting, it sounded like dcps is determined that the school will start (with one grade!?) fall 2023. They kept saying they’ll have more answers about important questions in August or after the new principal is hired. Not sure what they’ve been doing these last several months. I’m sure in a decade, it will be a great school, but I won’t be sending my Hardy child there to be one of the test case grades. High school is too important to chance it.

Agreed. No way would I send my kid to this new school in the first or second year. I hope I am wrong but I predict it will be a hot mess for the first few years.
My good friend who works at DCPS Central said people at Central are leaving in droves. No one likes the Chancellor or his cronies. They all assume Bowser will be re-elected and it will be more of the same. Anyone who is competent and motivated is looking for a new job. Expertise and competence is not rewarded in DCPS Central.

You have to take that with a grain of salt. Many DCPS Central employees are former WTU members and they still have close ties. Bowser and Ferebee don't automatically cave to WTU, for example they reopened schools while WTU was still obstructing reopening. So you have to choose between what's best for the education DCPS students vs. what's the best employment terms for WTU members.

+100 I don't think that saying Central Staff are quitting is quite the indictment that PPP thinks it is. When I finally cleaned out my garage a bunch of bugs who were living there left. That wasn't a bad thing.

LOL! Great analogy

yeah, analogizing people to bugs/vermin definitely doesn’t have any troubling associations

If the shoe fits...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the meeting, it sounded like dcps is determined that the school will start (with one grade!?) fall 2023. They kept saying they’ll have more answers about important questions in August or after the new principal is hired. Not sure what they’ve been doing these last several months. I’m sure in a decade, it will be a great school, but I won’t be sending my Hardy child there to be one of the test case grades. High school is too important to chance it.

Agreed. No way would I send my kid to this new school in the first or second year. I hope I am wrong but I predict it will be a hot mess for the first few years.
My good friend who works at DCPS Central said people at Central are leaving in droves. No one likes the Chancellor or his cronies. They all assume Bowser will be re-elected and it will be more of the same. Anyone who is competent and motivated is looking for a new job. Expertise and competence is not rewarded in DCPS Central.

You have to take that with a grain of salt. Many DCPS Central employees are former WTU members and they still have close ties. Bowser and Ferebee don't automatically cave to WTU, for example they reopened schools while WTU was still obstructing reopening. So you have to choose between what's best for the education DCPS students vs. what's the best employment terms for WTU members.

+100 I don't think that saying Central Staff are quitting is quite the indictment that PPP thinks it is. When I finally cleaned out my garage a bunch of bugs who were living there left. That wasn't a bad thing.

LOL! Great analogy

yeah, analogizing people to bugs/vermin definitely doesn’t have any troubling associations

If the shoe fits...

The prior poster was referring to the disgusting tendency of Hitler to de-humanize Jews and others by calling them vermin. Trump has done similar things to immigrants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the meeting, it sounded like dcps is determined that the school will start (with one grade!?) fall 2023. They kept saying they’ll have more answers about important questions in August or after the new principal is hired. Not sure what they’ve been doing these last several months. I’m sure in a decade, it will be a great school, but I won’t be sending my Hardy child there to be one of the test case grades. High school is too important to chance it.

Agreed. No way would I send my kid to this new school in the first or second year. I hope I am wrong but I predict it will be a hot mess for the first few years.
My good friend who works at DCPS Central said people at Central are leaving in droves. No one likes the Chancellor or his cronies. They all assume Bowser will be re-elected and it will be more of the same. Anyone who is competent and motivated is looking for a new job. Expertise and competence is not rewarded in DCPS Central.

You have to take that with a grain of salt. Many DCPS Central employees are former WTU members and they still have close ties. Bowser and Ferebee don't automatically cave to WTU, for example they reopened schools while WTU was still obstructing reopening. So you have to choose between what's best for the education DCPS students vs. what's the best employment terms for WTU members.

+100 I don't think that saying Central Staff are quitting is quite the indictment that PPP thinks it is. When I finally cleaned out my garage a bunch of bugs who were living there left. That wasn't a bad thing.

LOL! Great analogy

yeah, analogizing people to bugs/vermin definitely doesn’t have any troubling associations

If the shoe fits...

The prior poster was referring to the disgusting tendency of Hitler to de-humanize Jews and others by calling them vermin. Trump has done similar things to immigrants.

No. Just NO! The metaphor was apt. I'm Jewish and your insane stretch to make this somehow an analog to Hitler and the Nazis is offensive to all of us who have had to deal with actual antisemitism. Go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the meeting, it sounded like dcps is determined that the school will start (with one grade!?) fall 2023. They kept saying they’ll have more answers about important questions in August or after the new principal is hired. Not sure what they’ve been doing these last several months. I’m sure in a decade, it will be a great school, but I won’t be sending my Hardy child there to be one of the test case grades. High school is too important to chance it.

Agreed. No way would I send my kid to this new school in the first or second year. I hope I am wrong but I predict it will be a hot mess for the first few years.
My good friend who works at DCPS Central said people at Central are leaving in droves. No one likes the Chancellor or his cronies. They all assume Bowser will be re-elected and it will be more of the same. Anyone who is competent and motivated is looking for a new job. Expertise and competence is not rewarded in DCPS Central.

You have to take that with a grain of salt. Many DCPS Central employees are former WTU members and they still have close ties. Bowser and Ferebee don't automatically cave to WTU, for example they reopened schools while WTU was still obstructing reopening. So you have to choose between what's best for the education DCPS students vs. what's the best employment terms for WTU members.

+100 I don't think that saying Central Staff are quitting is quite the indictment that PPP thinks it is. When I finally cleaned out my garage a bunch of bugs who were living there left. That wasn't a bad thing.

LOL! Great analogy

yeah, analogizing people to bugs/vermin definitely doesn’t have any troubling associations

If the shoe fits...

The prior poster was referring to the disgusting tendency of Hitler to de-humanize Jews and others by calling them vermin. Trump has done similar things to immigrants.

No. Just NO! The metaphor was apt. I'm Jewish and your insane stretch to make this somehow an analog to Hitler and the Nazis is offensive to all of us who have had to deal with actual antisemitism. Go away.

I’m the PP who made the original analogy point, and I’m also Jewish. Dehumanizing rhetoric is destructive, which is why people like Trump use it. Language matters.

[Anonymous]

Please stop derailing threads with petty side arguments. This is not a debate masterclass. Back to the topic of MacArthur HS.

On the May 11 meeting they said they would be collecting all the questions in the chat and creating a FAQ which they'd post on the DCPS planning wordpress page (https://dcpsplanning.wordpress.com/). Nine days later and still nothing. What is the group doing during all these long stretches between bogus community and stakeholder meetings that they are clearly just hosting so that in their final report they can say "we hosted several community and stakeholder meetings"?! It's so infuriating. ANSWER QUESTIONS DCPS!!! Not in August. NOW!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the meeting, it sounded like dcps is determined that the school will start (with one grade!?) fall 2023. They kept saying they’ll have more answers about important questions in August or after the new principal is hired. Not sure what they’ve been doing these last several months. I’m sure in a decade, it will be a great school, but I won’t be sending my Hardy child there to be one of the test case grades. High school is too important to chance it.

Agreed. No way would I send my kid to this new school in the first or second year. I hope I am wrong but I predict it will be a hot mess for the first few years.
My good friend who works at DCPS Central said people at Central are leaving in droves. No one likes the Chancellor or his cronies. They all assume Bowser will be re-elected and it will be more of the same. Anyone who is competent and motivated is looking for a new job. Expertise and competence is not rewarded in DCPS Central.

You have to take that with a grain of salt. Many DCPS Central employees are former WTU members and they still have close ties. Bowser and Ferebee don't automatically cave to WTU, for example they reopened schools while WTU was still obstructing reopening. So you have to choose between what's best for the education DCPS students vs. what's the best employment terms for WTU members.

+100 I don't think that saying Central Staff are quitting is quite the indictment that PPP thinks it is. When I finally cleaned out my garage a bunch of bugs who were living there left. That wasn't a bad thing.

LOL! Great analogy

yeah, analogizing people to bugs/vermin definitely doesn’t have any troubling associations

If the shoe fits...

The prior poster was referring to the disgusting tendency of Hitler to de-humanize Jews and others by calling them vermin. Trump has done similar things to immigrants.

No. Just NO! The metaphor was apt. I'm Jewish and your insane stretch to make this somehow an analog to Hitler and the Nazis is offensive to all of us who have had to deal with actual antisemitism. Go away.

I’m the PP who made the original analogy point, and I’m also Jewish. Dehumanizing rhetoric is destructive, which is why people like Trump use it. Language matters.

You give away power to people who try and coopt language for their own means when you run and hide because of their twisted behavior. Roaches flee in the light. That is a biological fact. You are a fool if you jus move over as asshats like Trump and Tucker claim territory. Your effort to enforce wokeness quotients has the opposite of the desired impact.

Stop minimizing actual offensive, racist and anti-Semitic language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please stop derailing threads with petty side arguments. This is not a debate masterclass. Back to the topic of MacArthur HS.

On the May 11 meeting they said they would be collecting all the questions in the chat and creating a FAQ which they'd post on the DCPS planning wordpress page (https://dcpsplanning.wordpress.com/). Nine days later and still nothing. What is the group doing during all these long stretches between bogus community and stakeholder meetings that they are clearly just hosting so that in their final report they can say "we hosted several community and stakeholder meetings"?! It's so infuriating. ANSWER QUESTIONS DCPS!!! Not in August. NOW!

I honestly don't understand the point of the stakeholder meetings. Education is a specialty, you can go to school and get a PhD in it. Setting up the curriculum and program for a high school is not like choosing desserts for a picnic, where the most popular choices are the best choices.

It's like they're trying to get us to do their homework for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please stop derailing threads with petty side arguments. This is not a debate masterclass. Back to the topic of MacArthur HS.

On the May 11 meeting they said they would be collecting all the questions in the chat and creating a FAQ which they'd post on the DCPS planning wordpress page (https://dcpsplanning.wordpress.com/). Nine days later and still nothing. What is the group doing during all these long stretches between bogus community and stakeholder meetings that they are clearly just hosting so that in their final report they can say "we hosted several community and stakeholder meetings"?! It's so infuriating. ANSWER QUESTIONS DCPS!!! Not in August. NOW!

Yeah they also said this at the meeting in late March or April (cant remember exactly) that I was on. It was the one with Principal Cooke (Hardy MS) and they "took down a bunch of questions" and said they would answer them at the next one. Which I was on a week or so ago, and that one was again the same questions, no answers.
At this point, I cannot even stomach these meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please stop derailing threads with petty side arguments. This is not a debate masterclass. Back to the topic of MacArthur HS.

On the May 11 meeting they said they would be collecting all the questions in the chat and creating a FAQ which they'd post on the DCPS planning wordpress page (https://dcpsplanning.wordpress.com/). Nine days later and still nothing. What is the group doing during all these long stretches between bogus community and stakeholder meetings that they are clearly just hosting so that in their final report they can say "we hosted several community and stakeholder meetings"?! It's so infuriating. ANSWER QUESTIONS DCPS!!! Not in August. NOW!

I honestly don't understand the point of the stakeholder meetings. Education is a specialty, you can go to school and get a PhD in it. Setting up the curriculum and program for a high school is not like choosing desserts for a picnic, where the most popular choices are the best choices.

It's like they're trying to get us to do their homework for them.

These meetings are just to explain stuff (not that they explain much).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the meeting, it sounded like dcps is determined that the school will start (with one grade!?) fall 2023. They kept saying they’ll have more answers about important questions in August or after the new principal is hired. Not sure what they’ve been doing these last several months. I’m sure in a decade, it will be a great school, but I won’t be sending my Hardy child there to be one of the test case grades. High school is too important to chance it.

Agreed. No way would I send my kid to this new school in the first or second year. I hope I am wrong but I predict it will be a hot mess for the first few years.
My good friend who works at DCPS Central said people at Central are leaving in droves. No one likes the Chancellor or his cronies. They all assume Bowser will be re-elected and it will be more of the same. Anyone who is competent and motivated is looking for a new job. Expertise and competence is not rewarded in DCPS Central.

You have to take that with a grain of salt. Many DCPS Central employees are former WTU members and they still have close ties. Bowser and Ferebee don't automatically cave to WTU, for example they reopened schools while WTU was still obstructing reopening. So you have to choose between what's best for the education DCPS students vs. what's the best employment terms for WTU members.

+100 I don't think that saying Central Staff are quitting is quite the indictment that PPP thinks it is. When I finally cleaned out my garage a bunch of bugs who were living there left. That wasn't a bad thing.

LOL! Great analogy

yeah, analogizing people to bugs/vermin definitely doesn’t have any troubling associations

If the shoe fits...

The prior poster was referring to the disgusting tendency of Hitler to de-humanize Jews and others by calling them vermin. Trump has done similar things to immigrants.

No. Just NO! The metaphor was apt. I'm Jewish and your insane stretch to make this somehow an analog to Hitler and the Nazis is offensive to all of us who have had to deal with actual antisemitism. Go away.

I’m the PP who made the original analogy point, and I’m also Jewish. Dehumanizing rhetoric is destructive, which is why people like Trump use it. Language matters.

You give away power to people who try and coopt language for their own means when you run and hide because of their twisted behavior. Roaches flee in the light. That is a biological fact. You are a fool if you jus move over as asshats like Trump and Tucker claim territory. Your effort to enforce wokeness quotients has the opposite of the desired impact.

Stop minimizing actual offensive, racist and anti-Semitic language.

Sorry , but I seriously doubt you’re Jewish. If you were, you would have grown up with Yom Hashoah events that decry exactly this kind of dehumanizing language, no matter who uses it.

When I saw the initial offensive post, I was reminded of an exhibition that was at the Israel museum when I lived in Jerusalem. It displayed Nazi cartoons of Jews side by side with crazy fascist right wing settler depictions of Arabs as dogs and roaches. The point was that dehumanizing others is a common tool of oppressors.

[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:During the meeting, it sounded like dcps is determined that the school will start (with one grade!?) fall 2023. They kept saying they’ll have more answers about important questions in August or after the new principal is hired. Not sure what they’ve been doing these last several months. I’m sure in a decade, it will be a great school, but I won’t be sending my Hardy child there to be one of the test case grades. High school is too important to chance it.

Agreed. No way would I send my kid to this new school in the first or second year. I hope I am wrong but I predict it will be a hot mess for the first few years.
My good friend who works at DCPS Central said people at Central are leaving in droves. No one likes the Chancellor or his cronies. They all assume Bowser will be re-elected and it will be more of the same. Anyone who is competent and motivated is looking for a new job. Expertise and competence is not rewarded in DCPS Central.

You have to take that with a grain of salt. Many DCPS Central employees are former WTU members and they still have close ties. Bowser and Ferebee don't automatically cave to WTU, for example they reopened schools while WTU was still obstructing reopening. So you have to choose between what's best for the education DCPS students vs. what's the best employment terms for WTU members.

+100 I don't think that saying Central Staff are quitting is quite the indictment that PPP thinks it is. When I finally cleaned out my garage a bunch of bugs who were living there left. That wasn't a bad thing.

LOL! Great analogy

yeah, analogizing people to bugs/vermin definitely doesn’t have any troubling associations

If the shoe fits...

The prior poster was referring to the disgusting tendency of Hitler to de-humanize Jews and others by calling them vermin. Trump has done similar things to immigrants.

No. Just NO! The metaphor was apt. I'm Jewish and your insane stretch to make this somehow an analog to Hitler and the Nazis is offensive to all of us who have had to deal with actual antisemitism. Go away.

I’m the PP who made the original analogy point, and I’m also Jewish. Dehumanizing rhetoric is destructive, which is why people like Trump use it. Language matters.

You give away power to people who try and coopt language for their own means when you run and hide because of their twisted behavior. Roaches flee in the light. That is a biological fact. You are a fool if you jus move over as asshats like Trump and Tucker claim territory. Your effort to enforce wokeness quotients has the opposite of the desired impact.

Stop minimizing actual offensive, racist and anti-Semitic language.

Sorry , but I seriously doubt you’re Jewish. If you were, you would have grown up with Yom Hashoah events that decry exactly this kind of dehumanizing language, no matter who uses it.

When I saw the initial offensive post, I was reminded of an exhibition that was at the Israel museum when I lived in Jerusalem. It displayed Nazi cartoons of Jews side by side with crazy fascist right wing settler depictions of Arabs as dogs and roaches. The point was that dehumanizing others is a common tool of oppressors.

You know what else is a tool used by oppressors? Pitting marginalized groups against each other. I think what you meant to say was that I am not "Jewish enough" for you. If you don't like American Jews then you can go back to Israel where you are surrounded by people who meet your standard.

If you are as "religious" as you say you are you might want to look in the mirror and/or have a conversation with your Rabbi about how you judge the Jewishness or credentials of others whose religious bona fides don't comport with your views. Any Rabbi worth his or her salt is going to ask you to go reflect on you and spend a little less time worrying about how "Jewish" others are.

[Anonymous]

It's been more than two weeks since the last community/stakeholder meeting about MacArthur HS. I continue to check the wordpress blog where DCPS claims they will provide resources and updates. NOTHING has been posted since April 28, which was simply a notice of the May 11 meeting. They have yet to post the materials from that meeting (which they claimed they would do), they have yet to create an FAQ based on the dozens, if not hundreds, of questions from the chat (which they said they would do), they have yet to post notice of any additional meeting or next steps or plans for the building and campus or info about how they are working with WMATA on the transporation issues or anything about the suppossed traffic study or any info on the effort to identify a school principal (which they made it sound like was necessary before they could possibly answer questions like school curriculum) or etc... What are they doing!? There is so much to be done. So many questions to be answered. Yet they host a one-hour meeting, sharing next to nothing and then just sit on their hands. Infuriating.