H.D. Cooke Elementary

[Anonymous]

Any thoughts or feedback about Cooke? I know it is moving back to its renovated building in September. We are considering it for preschool.

[Anonymous]

Have you visited them at their current location? If not, start there. I live in the neighborhood (17th Street) and have my fingers crossed that the school is on track to be a gem. My child is in middle school so we're not considering it. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Check the MtP Parents listserv on Yahoo. There was a recent posting by a parent who had attended a presentation by the new HD Cooke principal and came away very impressed. The school will be completely renovated, there are 60% new teachers, and there appears to be a real outreach effort by the new principal to encourage parents who otherwise would not have considered HD Cooke to give it a try. We are in-boundary for Cooke, but do not yet have kids of school age---so we are watching closely to see how this progresses. I really hope that enough parents will consider it (I know we would) to give it some momentum for improvement. It would be great to have another good DCPS option east of the park, especially in the Columbia Heights/Adams Morgan/MtPleasant area.

[Anonymous]

So only 40% of the old, low-performing staff are staying on board?

[Anonymous]

pp, i cannot IMAGINE what your motivation is.

but let me try to contribute something positive and to make an effort to build up Cooke and the community in which it is located...

i learned quite a bit about Cooke from a neighborhood forum organized by parents in the Adams Morgan/16th Street nabe. the principal spoke and she seemed quite good. she was eager to bring in involved parents and is looking forward to working with parents to really transform the school next year when it moves back into its renovated faciltity. she is fairly new, having been promoted when the previous principal resigned abruptly last year.

the facility is LEED certified (green, non-toxic) and appears from the plans (which were distributed) to be state-of-the-art. the school plans to incorporate themes of sustainability into the curriculum, including units on learning how the building supplies some of its own energy. there will also be a garden on site and a kitchen, with plans in works for units about growing food, health eating etc...

they are starting an IB curricuulum. teachers are currently undergoing training.

the school is not bilingual but they do have a significant number of spanish-speaking kids, so at least one teacher in every class speaks spanish.

the principal stated that she is very happy with her early childhood team. she said she has a mix of veterans and newly minted, younger teachers.

aftercare is run by dcps, not a contractor, and is partially subsidized with federal funds.

we have a spot in pre-k for next year; our child currently attends a private preschool. i think there is great potential for this school, given its new principal, new faciltity, and new curriculum. also, the neighborhood is full of engaged, active parents who could really contribute to building up the school.

the principal stated that she is personally in the building ALL day from 7:15pm to 6:30pm.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for taking the time to share all that. We are also excited about the prospect of what this could become. Do you know if there will be another meeting like the one you mentioned?

[Anonymous]

It would be great for Adams Morgan to have another strong school attracting families to the Eastern part of the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Would definitely like to attend if there's another meeting----does anyone have a map of the Cooke boundary area? I know that you can type your address into the DCPS system, but that only tells you which schools you're in boundary for, and not the boundary areas for individual schools.

[Anonymous]

There is another HD Cooke meeting this Thursday (4/2)

If you have applied to HD Cooke for the 2009-2010 school year (or are in boundary), you are invited to a gathering at All Souls Church 1500 Harvard ST NW on Thursday, April 2nd. Here's how this will work: there will be a "getting to know you" potluck dinner starting at 6:30. Bring your kids (optional, but nice if you can do it) and bring a dish to pass. Then, at 8:00 PM there will be a formal meeting for those who can stay - we will talk to someon from dcvoice.org about her experience with an elementary school transformation she took part in 40 years ago in the district, and will discuss preliminary questions that we would like to ask the principal and PTA president.

This is an informal meeting for parents only. I think that a crucial thing that needs to happen is that we all need to get to know each other. For me, the most important thing is that my kids get to go to school with other kids
whose parents I know, so I would like to meet the parents who have applied in order to support my decision-making process.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know why Mrs. Rice Harris is not the principle any more?

[Anonymous]

Quit without notice is what I heard.

[Anonymous]

Is there a "friend of H.D. Cooke ES" type organization or are other in-boundary parents willing to get organized into an organization to ensure this school gets the support it needs to be excellent?

Even those of us with kids a few years younger than school age should be getting organized to get to know each other, get to know the principle and find out how we can help the school succeed.

If we get organized now, maybe we won't have to move to the suburbs or pay for private school!! We could have a great neighborhood school right in our neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

That's the spirit PP! If there were more parents like you, there would be a lot more good schools in DC.

[Anonymous]

It would be nice if someone from Cooke would talk about this (IB-related comments vis-a-vis Cooke) even if it is Michelle Rhee's fault. I remember hearing that Cooke would get an IB program but it looks like that's not true:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/52183.page#374891

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a "friend of H.D. Cooke ES" type organization or are other in-boundary parents willing to get organized into an organization to ensure this school gets the support it needs to be excellent?

Even those of us with kids a few years younger than school age should be getting organized to get to know each other, get to know the principle and find out how we can help the school succeed.

If we get organized now, maybe we won't have to move to the suburbs or pay for private school!! We could have a great neighborhood school right in our neighborhood.

There's a nascent Yahoo! group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HDCookeParents/