Question for Supporters of New WotP High School

[Anonymous]

I think we should call it DCPS High School - give credit where credit's due.

[Anonymous]

But that's not DCPS that is messed up. That is our own fears and prejudices (which I have to confess that am embarrassed to say that I share). Starting afresh will mean more people will buy in. Of course, the geography doesn't help either.

[Anonymous]

I think the reason you think it's too big of a switch for WOTP families is because the Roosevelt building is located in a neighborhood that is majority AA. However, I'm not pitching the DC-CAS proficient HS idea to WOTP families.

There are quite enough involved EOTP parents of all races and incomes to populate a high school. That's really the issue EOTP---that while in the aggregate you have enough motivated engaged students (and families) to create another decently performing HS, you do not have enough of those families concentrated in any one EOTP HS boundary-area in sufficient numbers to make a qualitative performance difference. So lump all those kids (and their families) together at one DC-CAS proficient MS/HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But that's not DCPS that is messed up. That is our own fears and prejudices (which I have to confess that am embarrassed to say that I share). Starting afresh will mean more people will buy in. Of course, the geography doesn't help either.

Starting afresh means that this won't happen before the next 6 years. I like the Roosevelt idea with the DC-CAS Proficiency.
I would try to stay at Wilson, due to proximity to my house. The "New Roosevelt" would affect Wilson in a positive and negative way. Positive: decrease in numbers. Negative: proficient students from EOP and a fraction of WOTP would just opt for the New Roosevelt, decreasing the proficient student share at Wilson.

[arowe]

Jeff, you probably know my opinion on this. This is hard work, but worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About the idea of a test-in academy plus a general program: that's what worked for Wilson, no?

I do think it would be essential to rename/rebrand this proposed HS. It's not just the alumni who are a barrier to change; it's the reputation. General perceptions about existing schools are slow to change.

THIS. If I had my way, I would change the names of most of the high schools to reflect their community. What does "Roosevelt" mean to a ninth grader or a parent? Nothing good, I'll tell you that. Keep Teddy and "Rough Riders" as a mascot but "Petworth High School" would be a chance for a fresh start.

Not going to happen. As any other jurisdiction done this? Or state for that matter.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/17/us/florida-school-name-change/

This is a wacko example, but a HS name change has been done recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another challenge I suspect might be an issue when trying to reinvent an existing high schools in DC....DC old timers are big boosters of their alma maters...not always financially...but as watch dogs for ensuring that "their school" doesn't change too much. Is that off base?

That is a huge problem, especially when the change might entail the racial makeup of the school. You could argue that alumni are a bigger voting block than parents.

How many of the alumni still live in DC?

Any answer I could give would only be speculative, but I do vaguely remember Eastern HS alumni having a hand in making that reorg less than what it could have been.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But that's not DCPS that is messed up. That is our own fears and prejudices (which I have to confess that am embarrassed to say that I share). Starting afresh will mean more people will buy in. Of course, the geography doesn't help either.

Starting afresh means that this won't happen before the next 6 years. I like the Roosevelt idea with the DC-CAS Proficiency.
I would try to stay at Wilson, due to proximity to my house. The "New Roosevelt" would affect Wilson in a positive and negative way. Positive: decrease in numbers. Negative: proficient students from EOP and a fraction of WOTP would just opt for the New Roosevelt, decreasing the proficient student share at Wilson.

Or maybe more IB kids would opt for Wilson instead of private, or more would OOB proficient kids would opt for and get into wilson

[Anonymous]

The best opportunity seemed to be to relocate the Duke Ellington school (to Roosevelt even?) and have a closer location for the students who would be coming from Hardy - but given that renovation is now about to start & is has an emphasis on the arts focus of the mission, that seems like a painfully bad lost opportunity.
It's also a shame that the redistricting of having more Eaton & Oyster etc also come to Hardy could mean nearly all of Hardy could be IB in just a couple years - which would quickly get closer to a "Deal for All" - it's about half the size of Deal -- smaller middle schools can be highly preferable.
Key School families would have to go more than 5 miles to get to either Roosevelt or Cardozo during rush hour traffic vs. around 2 to get to Wilson -- so that sounds untenable (right now extremely few Key School kids go to Hardy as it is - having been shut out of the Deal boundary for years)
P.S. As a DC-native, changing the name of a school like Roosevelt would cause riots - it has too deep history and roots in the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best opportunity seemed to be to relocate the Duke Ellington school (to Roosevelt even?) and have a closer location for the students who would be coming from Hardy - but given that renovation is now about to start & is has an emphasis on the arts focus of the mission, that seems like a painfully bad lost opportunity.
It's also a shame that the redistricting of having more Eaton & Oyster etc also come to Hardy could mean nearly all of Hardy could be IB in just a couple years - which would quickly get closer to a "Deal for All" - it's about half the size of Deal -- smaller middle schools can be highly preferable.
Key School families would have to go more than 5 miles to get to either Roosevelt or Cardozo during rush hour traffic vs. around 2 to get to Wilson -- so that sounds untenable (right now extremely few Key School kids go to Hardy as it is - having been shut out of the Deal boundary for years)
P.S. As a DC-native, changing the name of a school like Roosevelt would cause riots - it has too deep history and roots in the city.

I have first-hand knowledge that it is now too late to relocate Ellington to a different location (which could have saved its students thousands of commute hours/year. That's another DCPS missed trains). So for the purpose of this thread I suggest that we keep it off the list.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thnk it would have to be test in on the level of a TJ (not necessarily STEM though) and as a PP stated, it needs to be the best from day one. And maybe test in is one way to achieve that.

How about combining a test-in academy of some sort with general non-test in program?

That's how it is with some schools in NYC: magnet school within a school, with room for neighborhood kids, and a separate test-in program. I'd consider it for my kid IF it were excellent.

[Anonymous]

people here keep talking about how a new roosevelt would be too far for Key kids -- I don't think the idea was for for them to go to Roosevelt, but for kids for whom that school is more convenient, to have a good school within reach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the reason you think it's too big of a switch for WOTP families is because the Roosevelt building is located in a neighborhood that is majority AA. However, I'm not pitching the DC-CAS proficient HS idea to WOTP families.

There are quite enough involved EOTP parents of all races and incomes to populate a high school. That's really the issue EOTP---that while in the aggregate you have enough motivated engaged students (and families) to create another decently performing HS, you do not have enough of those families concentrated in any one EOTP HS boundary-area in sufficient numbers to make a qualitative performance difference. So lump all those kids (and their families) together at one DC-CAS proficient MS/HS.

I don't think that's true. Maybe not at this point in time, but you certainly would in the next 6 - 10 years. There's more and more turnover EOTP from older households to younger families and all these kids will need a middle school and a high school. Roosevelt/MacFarland are easily accessible from Petworth Metro

Thank you, Jeff, for starting this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thnk it would have to be test in on the level of a TJ (not necessarily STEM though) and as a PP stated, it needs to be the best from day one. And maybe test in is one way to achieve that.

How about combining a test-in academy of some sort with general non-test in program?

That's how it is with some schools in NYC: magnet school within a school, with room for neighborhood kids, and a separate test-in program. I'd consider it for my kid IF it were excellent.

I like this, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the reason you think it's too big of a switch for WOTP families is because the Roosevelt building is located in a neighborhood that is majority AA. However, I'm not pitching the DC-CAS proficient HS idea to WOTP families.

There are quite enough involved EOTP parents of all races and incomes to populate a high school. That's really the issue EOTP---that while in the aggregate you have enough motivated engaged students (and families) to create another decently performing HS, you do not have enough of those families concentrated in any one EOTP HS boundary-area in sufficient numbers to make a qualitative performance difference. So lump all those kids (and their families) together at one DC-CAS proficient MS/HS.

I don't think that's true. Maybe not at this point in time, but you certainly would in the next 6 - 10 years. There's more and more turnover EOTP from older households to younger families and all these kids will need a middle school and a high school. Roosevelt/MacFarland are easily accessible from Petworth Metro

Thank you, Jeff, for starting this thread.

The number of DC-CAS proficient students EOTP is a statistic that is readily available via OSSE by any member of the public who can navigate the site. It would take a bit more work, but is also possible, to learn the proficiency rate of eotp kids currently attending wotp schools