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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Let me turn the question around: What do they really need to do in order to open by fall 2023? I would say by the end of this year they have to provide enough information to current 8th graders and their families so that they can make an informed decision about whether they want to go to the school. An end-of-year deadline gives families enough time to explore private schools; if you feel DCPS shouldn't make it its business to facilitate kids going to private school then the deadline is really a bit later, in time for the lottery.

So what do families need to know to make a decision:
* Who are the school leaders and what are they like?
* What are the school's curricular offerings?
* What are the school's extracurricular offerings?
* What is the facility like?
* What is transportation to the facility like?
* What are their other options? Eg, grandfathering, other schools.

Presumably the staff at DCPS has some idea what the answers to these questions need to be in order to attract families, and on a few of them they need to seek feedback from actual families. And on a few of them they need to balance what they can realistically offer with what people want. But I don't see any of these things as issues that need to be hammered out by a committee of stakeholders. I don't see any need for a long series of meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Let me turn the question around: What do they really need to do in order to open by fall 2023? I would say by the end of this year they have to provide enough information to current 8th graders and their families so that they can make an informed decision about whether they want to go to the school. An end-of-year deadline gives families enough time to explore private schools; if you feel DCPS shouldn't make it its business to facilitate kids going to private school then the deadline is really a bit later, in time for the lottery.

So what do families need to know to make a decision:
* Who are the school leaders and what are they like?
* What are the school's curricular offerings?
* What are the school's extracurricular offerings?
* What is the facility like?
* What is transportation to the facility like?
* What are their other options? Eg, grandfathering, other schools.

Presumably the staff at DCPS has some idea what the answers to these questions need to be in order to attract families, and on a few of them they need to seek feedback from actual families. And on a few of them they need to balance what they can realistically offer with what people want. But I don't see any of these things as issues that need to be hammered out by a committee of stakeholders. I don't see any need for a long series of meetings.

But some notion that DCPS is aware and willing to offer timelines/preliminary plans would be welcome. The past meeting had only vibes for "we are open to anything, AP/IB or perhaps something else that DCPS does in its other schools". The point is that DCPS had a firm date for opening in mind -- grandfathering should have been worked out by now. They are (painfully) aware of the teacher shortage. So a Principal should have been on board or a short list of individuals should have been made by now. The prevailing impression from the meeting was one of unpreparedness and possibly even disregard for the students/parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Let me turn the question around: What do they really need to do in order to open by fall 2023? I would say by the end of this year they have to provide enough information to current 8th graders and their families so that they can make an informed decision about whether they want to go to the school. An end-of-year deadline gives families enough time to explore private schools; if you feel DCPS shouldn't make it its business to facilitate kids going to private school then the deadline is really a bit later, in time for the lottery.

So what do families need to know to make a decision:
* Who are the school leaders and what are they like?
* What are the school's curricular offerings?
* What are the school's extracurricular offerings?
* What is the facility like?
* What is transportation to the facility like?
* What are their other options? Eg, grandfathering, other schools.

Presumably the staff at DCPS has some idea what the answers to these questions need to be in order to attract families, and on a few of them they need to seek feedback from actual families. And on a few of them they need to balance what they can realistically offer with what people want. But I don't see any of these things as issues that need to be hammered out by a committee of stakeholders. I don't see any need for a long series of meetings.

This is PP. Agree. I don't need a series of meetings. I'd really like to think that we can count on the education, facilities, and transportation experts to figure out how to open a successful new high school. I mean, those fancy masters and doctorates should mean something, right? I don't want parents to build this school. But I do want answers to basic, yet critical, questions. DCPS has said the wordpress site would be the place to find materials, resources, information and answers. And there this nothing. This does not bode well for a Fall 2023 opening.

[Anonymous]

There is no current viable transportation solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no current viable transportation solution.

DCPS is projecting 200 students, they have to make sure those students can get to school and that's going to be 200 different stories for 200 different kids. Certainly other schools in the area get much bigger student bodies to school; the school that was on the site until a few years ago was much bigger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no current viable transportation solution.

DCPS is projecting 200 students, they have to make sure those students can get to school and that's going to be 200 different stories for 200 different kids. Certainly other schools in the area get much bigger student bodies to school; the school that was on the site until a few years ago was much bigger.

Other schools are walkable for the families that attend or are in transit corridors. This one isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no current viable transportation solution.

DCPS is projecting 200 students, they have to make sure those students can get to school and that's going to be 200 different stories for 200 different kids. Certainly other schools in the area get much bigger student bodies to school; the school that was on the site until a few years ago was much bigger.

Every student was driven to the previous school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no current viable transportation solution.

DCPS is projecting 200 students, they have to make sure those students can get to school and that's going to be 200 different stories for 200 different kids. Certainly other schools in the area get much bigger student bodies to school; the school that was on the site until a few years ago was much bigger.

And I will be curious to see what families are willing to send their children to a high school of 200 students (then 400 the next year and 600 the year after that). We are currently at Hardy...unless a pretty clear vision for this school is developed and shared pretty soon, we are out. High school is just too important to risk. And now with the fabulous Hardy principal leaving there will be more uncertainty and less willingness to commit.