Eaton Thrown Under the Bus

[Anonymous]

What on earth do you like about a city wide high school random lottery?

The only way that could work is if they made Wilson, for example, an application only high school to rival Thomas Jefferson or Richard Montgomery-IB in MoCo, with the programming to back it up.

Or triple the size of SWW (9-12 only, no Francis-Stevens).

If there was a viable, challenging high school, that might work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What on earth do you like about a city wide high school random lottery?

The only way that could work is if they made Wilson, for example, an application only high school to rival Thomas Jefferson or Richard Montgomery-IB in MoCo, with the programming to back it up.

Or triple the size of SWW (9-12 only, no Francis-Stevens).

If there was a viable, challenging high school, that might work.

Tripling the size of SWW could hurt the program which is successful because of its small size. In Arlington, one proposal to help middle and high school overcrowding is to double the size of H-B Woodlawn, which is similar to SWW. The H-B community is fighting that proposal tooth and nail.

Why not make a portion of Wilson (and Deal) an admissions-based magnet school for OOB students? Dunbar is looking at becoming a magnet, so lets expand the discussion. What's the current capacity at Wilson? B-CC will soon expand to just under 3,000 students with a planned addition. A larger Wilson could serve IB students and OOB magnet students. The downside of such a plan is that it could leave out students at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum that don't meet admissions standards. Diversity might take a hit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What on earth do you like about a city wide high school random lottery?

The only way that could work is if they made Wilson, for example, an application only high school to rival Thomas Jefferson or Richard Montgomery-IB in MoCo, with the programming to back it up.

Or triple the size of SWW (9-12 only, no Francis-Stevens).

If there was a viable, challenging high school, that might work.

Sorry, I got side-tracked.

I think DC would benefit by having specialized high schools. Performing arts. IB. STEM. Magnet. Dual language. Things like that. (Yes, that's a large leap from where we are now, I grant.)

On the subject of Hardy feeding a new HS, here's what Greater Greater Education said: "And Hardy, which currently feeds into Wilson, could feed into a proposed new high school if Wilson became too crowded. " http://greatergreatereducation.org/post/22381/how-to-assign-dc-students-to-schools-we-now-have-a-menu-of-possibilities/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really think Eaton families have 1) a right to voice their frustration or disappointment 2) a responsibility to see that if they mobilize to make Hardy better they will likely be glad they didn't send their kids to Deal.

At this point it seem easier to make Hardy better than to fight these plans.

I'm going to fight them. It's my kid who will live through a transitional school that is not as solid as what she could have had, By the time Hardy is better, I'll be a grandparent.

Why don't you actually visit Hardy before railing against the plan. Talk to families that go there and are planning to. Try it. Then come back to DCUM and report on your findings.

Current Hardy parent here. Please come visit Hardy and see what is going on. It's very exciting place to learn, and the kids (IB and OOB) are happy and learning. There is already differentiated math classes, and there will be additional differentiated classes next year. Hardy graduates are applying for an being accepted at top privates and at DCPS magnets.

Hardy is a different place than Deal (in some cases worse, in others much better), but do not fear - Hardy is better now, and improving more each day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thrown Under the Bus? Really? Eaton is closer to Hardy than Deal. I have long wondered why Eaton fed into Deal.

And it is a lot closer to Deal that is Shepherd ES...., which apparently will never move from Deal. It's in the Constitution.

Eaton has a closer middle school alternative than Shepherd.

[Anonymous]

So who would get grandfathered under the proposal? What about Eaton 4th graders?

[Anonymous]

They seem not to have addressed grandfathering yet in any of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So who would get grandfathered under the proposal? What about Eaton 4th graders?

I do not think so. Hardy has made remarkable progress and will introduce additional differentiated classes starting from 6th grade next year, and a large number of IB families from strong feeding schools are enrolling kids this year , so there would not be ground for granfathering beyond the current Eaton 5th grade.

By the way, I am moving my daughter from Latin to Hardy 6th grade next year (Latin is great, but I had underestimated the commuting burden).. I trust Principal Pride's plans and the work they have done with the neighborhood PTAs (a member from Eaton has always been present) . If you are concerned, I invite you to go see the school and talk to the Principal and teachers, you will feel totally relieved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So who would get grandfathered under the proposal? What about Eaton 4th graders?

I do not think so. Hardy has made remarkable progress and will introduce additional differentiated classes starting from 6th grade next year, and a large number of IB families from strong feeding schools are enrolling kids this year , so there would not be ground for granfathering beyond the current Eaton 5th grade.

By the way, I am moving my daughter from Latin to Hardy 6th grade next year (Latin is great, but I had underestimated the commuting burden).. I trust Principal Pride's plans and the work they have done with the neighborhood PTAs (a member from Eaton has always been present) . If you are concerned, I invite you to go see the school and talk to the Principal and teachers, you will feel totally relieved.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thrown Under the Bus? Really? Eaton is closer to Hardy than Deal. I have long wondered why Eaton fed into Deal.

And it is a lot closer to Deal that is Shepherd ES...., which apparently will never move from Deal. It's in the Constitution.

Eaton has a closer middle school alternative than Shepherd.

Would the 1900 residential units planned for Walter Reed be zoned for Sheppard and thus Deal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When Proposal B talks about Hardy switching to a "New" high school, it is not clear whether it is talking about a newly built high school or a different high school, which would be new to Hardy students. It is doubtful that DC would build a new school in Ward 3 given the underutilization of other high schools throughout the city. In that case, Hardy would leap-frog over other neighborhoods that feed into Wilson in order to go to a high school to the East.

And let's be real. The only city-owned site of any size west of Rock Creek is Duke Ellington (which has a building but no campus with fields), And the decision seems to have been made to keep Ellington where it is, despite it's non-central location and the fact that it is no where near the Metro. The Third District police station site on Idaho Ave, would work for an elementary school but not for a HS, and you'd have to evict the cops. The logical conclusion is that the "new" high school to which DCPS vaguely refers is no where near Hardy.

Actually the OLD Hardy building, also formerly occupied by the Lab school, sits on an enormous Lot on Foxhall Road. There would need to be a huge addition, but the space for that and playing fields exists! It would be a great location for kids in Palisades, Georgetown, Glover Park, Burleith, Foggy Bottom, Even Dupont. But no metro nearby though an easy bus ride from Foggy Bottom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What on earth do you like about a city wide high school random lottery?

The only way that could work is if they made Wilson, for example, an application only high school to rival Thomas Jefferson or Richard Montgomery-IB in MoCo, with the programming to back it up.

Or triple the size of SWW (9-12 only, no Francis-Stevens).

If there was a viable, challenging high school, that might work.

Sorry, I got side-tracked.

I think DC would benefit by having specialized high schools. Performing arts. IB. STEM. Magnet. Dual language. Things like that. (Yes, that's a large leap from where we are now, I grant.)

On the subject of Hardy feeding a new HS, here's what Greater Greater Education said: "And Hardy, which currently feeds into Wilson, could feed into a proposed new high school if Wilson became too crowded. " http://greatergreatereducation.org/post/22381/how-to-assign-dc-students-to-schools-we-now-have-a-menu-of-possibilities/

I'm not sure that Greater Greater Education (or Washington) is anything more than greater greater speculation. There's not a shred of factual-based reporting behind the statement. On the other hand, it is entirely possible that Hardy will be made to feed to some high school across town. Eaton and Oyster and Hardy parents: caveat emptor.

[Anonymous]

What I love is that this is coupled with a proposal that DCPS staff have priority in placing their kids in the schools where they teach (I assume that they would have to be DC residents, but if past practice is any guide, that isn't certain either). The whole thing seems like a mixture of armchair social policy along with fixes for the politically connected (be it the teachers' union or Bowser's constituents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When Proposal B talks about Hardy switching to a "New" high school, it is not clear whether it is talking about a newly built high school or a different high school, which would be new to Hardy students. It is doubtful that DC would build a new school in Ward 3 given the underutilization of other high schools throughout the city. In that case, Hardy would leap-frog over other neighborhoods that feed into Wilson in order to go to a high school to the East.

And let's be real. The only city-owned site of any size west of Rock Creek is Duke Ellington (which has a building but no campus with fields), And the decision seems to have been made to keep Ellington where it is, despite it's non-central location and the fact that it is no where near the Metro. The Third District police station site on Idaho Ave, would work for an elementary school but not for a HS, and you'd have to evict the cops. The logical conclusion is that the "new" high school to which DCPS vaguely refers is no where near Hardy.

They could always build one on the National Mall? Or is that federal property?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I love is that this is coupled with a proposal that DCPS staff have priority in placing their kids in the schools where they teach (I assume that they would have to be DC residents, but if past practice is any guide, that isn't certain either). The whole thing seems like a mixture of armchair social policy along with fixes for the politically connected (be it the teachers' union or Bowser's constituents.

I really don't think it's asking much for teachers to have their kids where they teach. It's not they are are DC gov high rollers.