Funding for Coolidge

[Anonymous]

^ Agree Brookland isn't part of this discussion. Different feeder pattern altogether.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I agree the numbers just don't make sense to renovate Coolidge. Redirect those students to Roosevelt, which is more centrally located. Perhaps consider giving the Coolidge space to a couple charters.

The only hesitation I have about this plan is that the Brightwood/Takoma/Manor Park area seems likely to be the next spot for gentrification and population growth, and other EOTP areas will continue to see population growth with more young families. So DCPS would want to check into whether Roosevelt has enough capacity to handle (1) the existing population, plus (2) the redirected Coolidge students, plus (3) the OOB students likely to be redirected from Wilson as the grandfathering winds down in 5-7 years, plus (4) the expected new growth in population EOTP.

Roosevelt and Coolidge's current combined enrollment is already at 900 and that is with two decrepit buildings under the most absurd feeder situation possible. With MacFarland coming back online and the door to Wilson slowly closing for many, your suggested configuration would not be sustainable for long and certainly not long enough to justify a long term lease of the Coolidge site to a charter school.

Roosevelt is 33% OOB; Coolidge is 47%. Plenty of excess capacity there for IB families.

And 900 is less than half the number of kids at Wilson.

[Anonymous]

I'm on the Coolidge Community Working Group (they combined the facilities and curriculum SITs into one group). I'm also "that Whittier mom." Some clarification:

Feasibility study starts at the end of the month. All that is left in the capital budget for FY17 (after the first Council vote on Tuesday) is $15 million for the FS and design. Construction budget was all moved to FYs 18 & 19. Construction should start close to on schedule in mid-2017, with an ambitious plan to finish in 2019.

The school is built for 1100 but has ~390 students enrolled, mostly OOB. Projections from Office of Planning and DCPS Planning expect 800 enrolled in a decade based on neighborhood growth and the new curriculum at the school.

The plan right now is for a comprehensive high school with some special tracks. The building will be split, with some other function in part of it. A middle school is one of the options, and the most popular based on the CWG members, parents, and feeder school staff I've talked to. Also on the table are young adult (18-24) programming or a nonprofit partner that supports the school.

Whittier's middle school is way too small to offer any extras (one class per grade). But if you combine LaSalle, Whittier, Brightwood, and Takoma, we'd have a critical mass for an appropriate middle school. Frankly I'd rather have my eventual 11-year-old sharing a roof with teenagers than I like having my 5-year-old in a building with 13-year-olds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Roosevelt and Coolidge's current combined enrollment is already at 900 ...

Roosevelt is 33% OOB; Coolidge is 47%. Plenty of excess capacity there for IB families.

And 900 is less than half the number of kids at Wilson.

And Roosevelt's anticipated capacity after renovation is 1288, so it seems like plenty of space for both student bodies. If the neighborhoods grow and we need more capacity in 10-15 years, that's when we re-open Coolidge as a high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm on the Coolidge Community Working Group (they combined the facilities and curriculum SITs into one group). I'm also "that Whittier mom." Some clarification:

Feasibility study starts at the end of the month. All that is left in the capital budget for FY17 (after the first Council vote on Tuesday) is $15 million for the FS and design. Construction budget was all moved to FYs 18 & 19. Construction should start close to on schedule in mid-2017, with an ambitious plan to finish in 2019.

The school is built for 1100 but has ~390 students enrolled, mostly OOB. Projections from Office of Planning and DCPS Planning expect 800 enrolled in a decade based on neighborhood growth and the new curriculum at the school.

The plan right now is for a comprehensive high school with some special tracks. The building will be split, with some other function in part of it. A middle school is one of the options, and the most popular based on the CWG members, parents, and feeder school staff I've talked to. Also on the table are young adult (18-24) programming or a nonprofit partner that supports the school.

Whittier's middle school is way too small to offer any extras (one class per grade). But if you combine LaSalle, Whittier, Brightwood, and Takoma, we'd have a critical mass for an appropriate middle school. Frankly I'd rather have my eventual 11-year-old sharing a roof with teenagers than I like having my 5-year-old in a building with 13-year-olds.

Can you elaborate more on the expectation here? What study/data are they looking at?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm on the Coolidge Community Working Group (they combined the facilities and curriculum SITs into one group). I'm also "that Whittier mom." Some clarification:

Feasibility study starts at the end of the month. All that is left in the capital budget for FY17 (after the first Council vote on Tuesday) is $15 million for the FS and design. Construction budget was all moved to FYs 18 & 19. Construction should start close to on schedule in mid-2017, with an ambitious plan to finish in 2019.

The school is built for 1100 but has ~390 students enrolled, mostly OOB. Projections from Office of Planning and DCPS Planning expect 800 enrolled in a decade based on neighborhood growth and the new curriculum at the school.

The plan right now is for a comprehensive high school with some special tracks. The building will be split, with some other function in part of it. A middle school is one of the options, and the most popular based on the CWG members, parents, and feeder school staff I've talked to. Also on the table are young adult (18-24) programming or a nonprofit partner that supports the school.

Whittier's middle school is way too small to offer any extras (one class per grade). But if you combine LaSalle, Whittier, Brightwood, and Takoma, we'd have a critical mass for an appropriate middle school. Frankly I'd rather have my eventual 11-year-old sharing a roof with teenagers than I like having my 5-year-old in a building with 13-year-olds.

Can you elaborate more on the expectation here? What study/data are they looking at?

I don't have it written in the papers from our last meeting, but Brightwood and Takoma are two of the fastest growing neighborhoods for families in the city. Obviously they are also optimistic about retaining those families into middle and high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm on the Coolidge Community Working Group (they combined the facilities and curriculum SITs into one group). I'm also "that Whittier mom." Some clarification:

Feasibility study starts at the end of the month. All that is left in the capital budget for FY17 (after the first Council vote on Tuesday) is $15 million for the FS and design. Construction budget was all moved to FYs 18 & 19. Construction should start close to on schedule in mid-2017, with an ambitious plan to finish in 2019.

The school is built for 1100 but has ~390 students enrolled, mostly OOB. Projections from Office of Planning and DCPS Planning expect 800 enrolled in a decade based on neighborhood growth and the new curriculum at the school.

The plan right now is for a comprehensive high school with some special tracks. The building will be split, with some other function in part of it. A middle school is one of the options, and the most popular based on the CWG members, parents, and feeder school staff I've talked to. Also on the table are young adult (18-24) programming or a nonprofit partner that supports the school.

Whittier's middle school is way too small to offer any extras (one class per grade). But if you combine LaSalle, Whittier, Brightwood, and Takoma, we'd have a critical mass for an appropriate middle school. Frankly I'd rather have my eventual 11-year-old sharing a roof with teenagers than I like having my 5-year-old in a building with 13-year-olds.

Can you elaborate more on the expectation here? What study/data are they looking at?

They may be looking at this data which was presented last mnth to the DME cross sector task forc. Slides 22-24 seem relevant. But only Brightwood called out as fast growing.

http://dme.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dme/publication/attachments/Office%20of%20Planning%20Presentation%20for%20CSCTF%204%2026%2016.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm on the Coolidge Community Working Group (they combined the facilities and curriculum SITs into one group). I'm also "that Whittier mom." Some clarification:

Feasibility study starts at the end of the month. All that is left in the capital budget for FY17 (after the first Council vote on Tuesday) is $15 million for the FS and design. Construction budget was all moved to FYs 18 & 19. Construction should start close to on schedule in mid-2017, with an ambitious plan to finish in 2019.

The school is built for 1100 but has ~390 students enrolled, mostly OOB. Projections from Office of Planning and DCPS Planning expect 800 enrolled in a decade based on neighborhood growth and the new curriculum at the school.

The plan right now is for a comprehensive high school with some special tracks. The building will be split, with some other function in part of it. A middle school is one of the options, and the most popular based on the CWG members, parents, and feeder school staff I've talked to. Also on the table are young adult (18-24) programming or a nonprofit partner that supports the school.

Whittier's middle school is way too small to offer any extras (one class per grade). But if you combine LaSalle, Whittier, Brightwood, and Takoma, we'd have a critical mass for an appropriate middle school. Frankly I'd rather have my eventual 11-year-old sharing a roof with teenagers than I like having my 5-year-old in a building with 13-year-olds.

Good post, with actual information. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm on the Coolidge Community Working Group (they combined the facilities and curriculum SITs into one group). I'm also "that Whittier mom." Some clarification:

Feasibility study starts at the end of the month. All that is left in the capital budget for FY17 (after the first Council vote on Tuesday) is $15 million for the FS and design. Construction budget was all moved to FYs 18 & 19. Construction should start close to on schedule in mid-2017, with an ambitious plan to finish in 2019.

The school is built for 1100 but has ~390 students enrolled, mostly OOB. Projections from Office of Planning and DCPS Planning expect 800 enrolled in a decade based on neighborhood growth and the new curriculum at the school.

The plan right now is for a comprehensive high school with some special tracks. The building will be split, with some other function in part of it. A middle school is one of the options, and the most popular based on the CWG members, parents, and feeder school staff I've talked to. Also on the table are young adult (18-24) programming or a nonprofit partner that supports the school.

Whittier's middle school is way too small to offer any extras (one class per grade). But if you combine LaSalle, Whittier, Brightwood, and Takoma, we'd have a critical mass for an appropriate middle school. Frankly I'd rather have my eventual 11-year-old sharing a roof with teenagers than I like having my 5-year-old in a building with 13-year-olds.

Can you elaborate more on the expectation here? What study/data are they looking at?

I don't have it written in the papers from our last meeting, but Brightwood and Takoma are two of the fastest growing neighborhoods for families in the city. Obviously they are also optimistic about retaining those families into middle and high school.

I don't know any Brightwood families that send their kids IB. Even if new families with 3 years olds have a chance of staying, you're looking at 10-12 years later. Even that is not realistic as most people only move into Brightwood and Takoma after they secured a charter spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm on the Coolidge Community Working Group (they combined the facilities and curriculum SITs into one group). I'm also "that Whittier mom." Some clarification:

Feasibility study starts at the end of the month. All that is left in the capital budget for FY17 (after the first Council vote on Tuesday) is $15 million for the FS and design. Construction budget was all moved to FYs 18 & 19. Construction should start close to on schedule in mid-2017, with an ambitious plan to finish in 2019.

The school is built for 1100 but has ~390 students enrolled, mostly OOB. Projections from Office of Planning and DCPS Planning expect 800 enrolled in a decade based on neighborhood growth and the new curriculum at the school.

The plan right now is for a comprehensive high school with some special tracks. The building will be split, with some other function in part of it. A middle school is one of the options, and the most popular based on the CWG members, parents, and feeder school staff I've talked to. Also on the table are young adult (18-24) programming or a nonprofit partner that supports the school.

Whittier's middle school is way too small to offer any extras (one class per grade). But if you combine LaSalle, Whittier, Brightwood, and Takoma, we'd have a critical mass for an appropriate middle school. Frankly I'd rather have my eventual 11-year-old sharing a roof with teenagers than I like having my 5-year-old in a building with 13-year-olds.

Can you elaborate more on the expectation here? What study/data are they looking at?

I don't have it written in the papers from our last meeting, but Brightwood and Takoma are two of the fastest growing neighborhoods for families in the city. Obviously they are also optimistic about retaining those families into middle and high school.

I don't know any Brightwood families that send their kids IB. Even if new families with 3 years olds have a chance of staying, you're looking at 10-12 years later. Even that is not realistic as most people only move into Brightwood and Takoma after they secured a charter spot.

Key phrase here is "I don't know". There are 639 kids at Brightwood EC.

[Anonymous]

At all of these schools, except Takoma, IB students far outnumber OOB. That said, the test scores are really weak for all of them and there is a fast growing ELL population. Most of these students need a lot of support.

Brightwood - 81%IB
Takoma - 42% IB
Truesdell - 81% IB
Whittier - 75% IB

[Anonymous]

There is just no reason for parents to take a gamble and commit to this feeder. No middle school and the high school is a disaster. That will take more than 10 years to sort out even if everyone of the IB families commit 100% right now. The Coolidge pattern is a mess and there is no stability past elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is just no reason for parents to take a gamble and commit to this feeder. No middle school and the high school is a disaster. That will take more than 10 years to sort out even if everyone of the IB families commit 100% right now. The Coolidge pattern is a mess and there is no stability past elementary.

Agree it isn't a promising set of feeder schools for higher-SES families.

But the schools are predominantly IB. This isn't a Hardy-type scenario.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is just no reason for parents to take a gamble and commit to this feeder. No middle school and the high school is a disaster. That will take more than 10 years to sort out even if everyone of the IB families commit 100% right now. The Coolidge pattern is a mess and there is no stability past elementary.

what other options are there? we can't all get in to Latin, BASIS, DCI, or a WOTP school. We can't all afford private (and our kids aren't all getting in, anyway). We could all move to Maryland, I guess.

[Anonymous]

you need to find the next Latin/Basis/Hardy.