New DCPS school on former Georgetown Day site will be a high school

[Anonymous]

We are a Hyde family and very excited about this change. We definitely want a smaller HS than Wilson for our kid. I think lots of local families in Burleith, Foxhall, GP, and Palisades will buy into this.

This has been a long time coming...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this confirmation that DCPS has given up on the crazy idea of moving Wilson 9th grade to the former GDS location?

I think this announcement is the nail in the coffin for that plan. Thank god.

[Anonymous]

The two apartment buildings adjacent to the campus are rental buildings. I wonder if DC will try to acquire one or both buildings in order to expand the campus?

Also, the site isn't that small. There's a playground that will get demo'd and likely built upon. The biggest issue will be sports facilities access - but I can see this HS using Hardy Rec center tennis courts (2 minute walk), and maybe busing to Palisdaes Rec Center and Duke Ellington Field for access to larger sports fields.

[Anonymous]

If this is a Hardy feeder what percentage of Hs students will it get? 80%? then add in families that’ll schlep crosstown…my guess is that this remains a small high school.

I’m not sure how great a small high school would do in DC. If money = offerings, people may not peel off from Wilson as people desire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The two apartment buildings adjacent to the campus are rental buildings. I wonder if DC will try to acquire one or both buildings in order to expand the campus?

Also, the site isn't that small. There's a playground that will get demo'd and likely built upon. The biggest issue will be sports facilities access - but I can see this HS using Hardy Rec center tennis courts (2 minute walk), and maybe busing to Palisdaes Rec Center and Duke Ellington Field for access to larger sports fields.

Alternately, families with kids could flock to those buildings. Foxhall for elementary, Hardy for middle and MacArthur for high school would be very attractive. Yeah, the apartments are small and shabby but people make sacrifices for their kids' education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If this is a Hardy feeder what percentage of Hs students will it get? 80%? then add in families that’ll schlep crosstown…my guess is that this remains a small high school.

I’m not sure how great a small high school would do in DC. If money = offerings, people may not peel off from Wilson as people desire.

You don't need people do peel off from Wilson voluntarily if Hardy gets rezoned for the new school...after a few years, the overcrowding should be largely dealt with.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Again reflecting DC's racial fears. The high schools are highly segregated, so the place for a new high school in DC is of course placed at the least accessible furthest corner of Georgetown.

Google Maps tells me if you get to the Anacostia Metro at 7:30 am, catch the Green Line then the D6, you can get to that location just before 9am.

So you wanna move some white people to Annacostia to hopefully full up all the open school seats? If the city wanted to get rid of high school boundaries they would have done it. Perhaps they did not cause they would have even more empty seats...

if the city wants to desegregate schools it would create a true magnet school centrally located. Dunbar is only at 50% capacity, turn that into a TJ or Boston Latin

How, exactly? Because isn't that what Banneker is already trying to do? DCPS already has eight selective high schools. A ninth isn't going to move the needle.

EIGHT?!?!?

Bard
Banneker
CHEC
Early College at Coolidge
Ellington
McKinley
Phelps
Walls
People keep coming up with the same solution and it keeps not working.

For a school to be a successful magnet high school it has to have two things: exceptionally good teaching / academics and very good students.

Without one or the other, it doesn't act as a magnet. DC hasn't REALLY tried magnets at all of these schools. Some of them, yes. Not all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Capital Weather Gang is reporting mushroom clouds in Foxhall Village from heads exploding.

Good. I hope these cranks move onward to a retirement village in the South. So sick of them giving everyone else in the neighborhood a bad name.

-A Neighbor with a Public School Kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So basically they are solving the 'by right' dc high school challenge by building a high ses school and having some opportunity for low ses to attend, and by default doing that at Wilson too. Its solving the wrong problems. And it's terrible to put a high school in such an inaccessible location. What happened to equity? This is akin to people sleeping out to get a spot at a charter school. You shouldn't be allowed to make something open for all and then build in barriers to make it not open for all.

But it is not open to all, and not pretending to be. It is open to all by right who live in boundary, and by lottery/chance for those who don't.

There is a boundary system. Perhaps getting rid of that is a solution to some problems of equity.

[Anonymous]

FCCA on Alert:

The mayor just proposed to add $45 million to the 2022-2023 budget to convert the GDS K-8 campus to a high school. This likely means that DCPS has decided this is the best use of this campus. This just appeared this morning and suggests that this is a done deal. If so, by law there must be a site-engagement process whereby we in the community are involved and can influence what is done. We should all start thinking about this.
Bob Avery
FCCA President

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So basically they are solving the 'by right' dc high school challenge by building a high ses school and having some opportunity for low ses to attend, and by default doing that at Wilson too. Its solving the wrong problems. And it's terrible to put a high school in such an inaccessible location. What happened to equity? This is akin to people sleeping out to get a spot at a charter school. You shouldn't be allowed to make something open for all and then build in barriers to make it not open for all.

But it is not open to all, and not pretending to be. It is open to all by right who live in boundary, and by lottery/chance for those who don't.

There is a boundary system. Perhaps getting rid of that is a solution to some problems of equity.

Non starter.

[Anonymous]

Why are they putting a school in this area? The population does not justify it. The area around there is just parkland, big institutions, federal land, etc. That section of DC is classified as rural on maps. On top of that the traffic is bad. So it will be very hard for teachers and students.

Duke Ellington is already in the area and their athletic field is only used by dogs walkers. Seems like another build it and no one will use it.

[Anonymous]

Any analysis of when this school will open its doors?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any idea which of the current Hardy classes will be the first at this high school? Current 6th graders or 7th graders? The GDS space is not particularly well-suited for a 1000 student high school. Depending on the extent of the needed improvements, this might take a while.

When they discussed this initially they thought one year. But if they need $45 million in improvements wonder if that is feasible, unless the plans are ready to go now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So basically they are solving the 'by right' dc high school challenge by building a high ses school and having some opportunity for low ses to attend, and by default doing that at Wilson too. Its solving the wrong problems. And it's terrible to put a high school in such an inaccessible location. What happened to equity? This is akin to people sleeping out to get a spot at a charter school. You shouldn't be allowed to make something open for all and then build in barriers to make it not open for all.

But it is not open to all, and not pretending to be. It is open to all by right who live in boundary, and by lottery/chance for those who don't.

There is a boundary system. Perhaps getting rid of that is a solution to some problems of equity.

Non starter.

Agree that it is a non starter, it is just annoying how people complain about equity issues (equal access to the high school with the best test scores) and the want to fix them ( which is nice, but don't say what fixed actually means) but fail to recognize the political arrangements which keep in place the boundary system are not going anywhere ( and be honest, all the equity loving people kinda like it that way), so the complaint is very tired.