The fate of Fillmore

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know what is the status of this for the 2018-2019 school year.

I know they are always facing the axe. And there is growing pressure from the other DCPS to use the space for overflow. But no decisions on that yet.

Meanwhile the schools that have no spare rooms for arts still rely on Fillmore for the arts curriculum.

[Anonymous]

I was on the LSAT and my wife was PTA president at our local elementary. Like clockwork, every two years there was a Fillmore crisis. Then we would all get out our pitchforks and torches and stormed the barricades, and Fillmore got a reprieve. Talking to old-timers, it seems this has been going on since Fillmore started in the 1970's.

The last Fillmore crisis was in spring of 2016. So here are my predictions:
1. No one in a policy position at DCPS has given any thought to Fillmore since 2016.
2. Sometime in late spring or early summer someone at DCPS will propose eliminating Fillmore.
3. There will be no plan for replacing Fillmore.
4. There will be no money in the budget for replacing Fillmore.
5. There will be no plan for facilities for hosting replacement programming.
6. The parents at the affected schools will organize and press their elected officials.
7. Fillmore will be granted a "temporary" reprieve.
8. DCPS officials will complain about "whiny" parents.

Lather, rinse, and repeat.

[Anonymous]

Newbie here. Someone described Fillmore as a necessity in the 80s. But now it's just a nice to have that principals hate because it limits collaboration, while some vocal parents insist on keeping it as an arts for arts sake for a few schools.

Have there been surveys of what all parents and educators think about Fillmore vs. viable alternatives?

It seems like there are a lot of entrenched views based on a unique past more than a sustainable future.

Is there any objective analysis out there?

[Anonymous]

Is this a WOTP thing?

[Anonymous]

The schools that use Fillmore are oversubscribed and there is no physical space to add arts and music programming in those schools. So until DCPS and DGS actually engage in some facilities planning to add classrooms, bringing arts programming in house is not feasible and Fillmore continues to be a necessity. I think most parents would be fine to lose Fillmore (and the time spent on bussing) so long as it’s replaced with quality arts instruction. DCPS has not shown that it’s given any thought to this however.

[Anonymous]

The schools that use Fillmore are oversubscribed and there is no physical space to add arts and music programming in those schools. So until DCPS and DGS actually engage in some facilities planning to add classrooms, bringing arts programming in house is not feasible and Fillmore continues to be a necessity. I think most parents would be fine to lose Fillmore (and the time spent on bussing) so long as it’s replaced with quality arts instruction. DCPS has not shown that it’s given any thought to this however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this a WOTP thing?

Not exactly. Housed at Hardy middle school, Fillmore provides arts instruction to students from Key, River Terrace, Ross, Stoddert and West.

It requires bussing the kids to Hardy, and the schools that use it devote part of their school's budget to pay for it. http://fillmoreartscenter.org/about-2/

Fewer schools use it now than in the past. Marie Reed used to be a Fillmore school, but now that its renovation is complete they do arts instruction in-house.

[Anonymous]

The schools that use Fillmore are oversubscribed and there is no physical space to add arts and music programming in those schools. So until DCPS and DGS actually engage in some facilities planning to add classrooms, bringing arts programming in house is not feasible and Fillmore continues to be a necessity. I think most parents would be fine to lose Fillmore (and the time spent on bussing) so long as it’s replaced with quality arts instruction. DCPS has not shown that it’s given any thought to this however. Planning is not dcps’s strong suit. So every year or two parents are forced to rally and advocate like crazy when we’re all to busy. Not to mention what it does to the Fillmore staff to have to constantly face losing their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The schools that use Fillmore are oversubscribed and there is no physical space to add arts and music programming in those schools. So until DCPS and DGS actually engage in some facilities planning to add classrooms, bringing arts programming in house is not feasible and Fillmore continues to be a necessity. I think most parents would be fine to lose Fillmore (and the time spent on bussing) so long as it’s replaced with quality arts instruction. DCPS has not shown that it’s given any thought to this however. Planning is not dcps’s strong suit. So every year or two parents are forced to rally and advocate like crazy when we’re all to busy. Not to mention what it does to the Fillmore staff to have to constantly face losing their jobs.

I imagine it would be hard to recruit and maintain morale the way DCPS treats the place.

But I do agree most parents aren't committed to it in and of itself, but they know if it is not there their schools cannot offer the same arts programming so they support it.
There should be a committee to come up with viable solutions for those schools with no space, build the spaces, move the arts budgets back to the schools to manage, and then close Fillmore. That is a reasonable order for things. Not just close and leave schools without arts space. And we can avoid the rinse and repeat nonsense that someone so eloquently described above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this a WOTP thing?

Not exactly. Housed at Hardy middle school, Fillmore provides arts instruction to students from Key, River Terrace, Ross, Stoddert and West.

It requires bussing the kids to Hardy, and the schools that use it devote part of their school's budget to pay for it. http://fillmoreartscenter.org/about-2/

Fewer schools use it now than in the past. Marie Reed used to be a Fillmore school, but now that its renovation is complete they do arts instruction in-house.

River Terrace and West are nowhere near Fillmore! There has to be a better way. The intra-day commute makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this a WOTP thing?

Not exactly. Housed at Hardy middle school, Fillmore provides arts instruction to students from Key, River Terrace, Ross, Stoddert and West.

It requires bussing the kids to Hardy, and the schools that use it devote part of their school's budget to pay for it. http://fillmoreartscenter.org/about-2/

Fewer schools use it now than in the past. Marie Reed used to be a Fillmore school, but now that its renovation is complete they do arts instruction in-house.

River Terrace and West are nowhere near Fillmore! There has to be a better way. The intra-day commute makes no sense.

Ross parent. The commute is about 20 on a slow bus trip. It is not really a big deal. Especially when the alternative is no arts space, not even a space sink to wash paint brushes in the school building. Some of the programming is very average, some is great. But way better than what could be delivered in our school building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this a WOTP thing?

Not exactly. Housed at Hardy middle school, Fillmore provides arts instruction to students from Key, River Terrace, Ross, Stoddert and West.

It requires bussing the kids to Hardy, and the schools that use it devote part of their school's budget to pay for it. http://fillmoreartscenter.org/about-2/

Fewer schools use it now than in the past. Marie Reed used to be a Fillmore school, but now that its renovation is complete they do arts instruction in-house.

River Terrace and West are nowhere near Fillmore! There has to be a better way. The intra-day commute makes no sense.

Ross parent. The commute is about 20 on a slow bus trip. It is not really a big deal. Especially when the alternative is no arts space, not even a space sink to wash paint brushes in the school building. Some of the programming is very average, some is great. But way better than what could be delivered in our school building.

I don't really get why arts instruction can't be done in regular classrooms? Why does it require so much space? Not trying to be obtuse -- I just really don't understand.

[Anonymous]

I would eliminate PK3 and PK4 if necessary at these schools to create arts classroom.

Install sinks. Hire teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Newbie here. Someone described Fillmore as a necessity in the 80s. But now it's just a nice to have that principals hate because it limits collaboration, while some vocal parents insist on keeping it as an arts for arts sake for a few schools.

The principals that I've spoken to like Fillmore. The program makes it easy for them to check the box for art and music. The principals are evaluated mostly on their test scores anyway and specials don't help with that. With Fillmore they can just write a check, and it's a smaller check than they would have to write if they did those programs in-house.

Also, by having the whole school go to Fillmore at the same time they get a built-in staff planning time every week.

[Anonymous]

It would be inequitable to require schools without arts classrooms (that is, the Fillmore feeder schools) to use regular classrooms for art. The Fillmore schools are the only ones throughout DCPS to not have such dedicated space and equipment. Hence, the structural need for Fillmore Arts, as a matter of policy.

One idea would be to convert the "old Hardy school" on Foxhall to a space for K and 1st grade students. Then the Fillmore feeder schools would automatically have rooms for arts classrooms, as well as address their overcrowding problem.