Cardozo Feeder Pattern Middle School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Co-location with Banneker brings us back to the question of why that is ok, but not collocation with Cardozo. Current enrollment numbers support staying at Cardozo for the time being. There are seats at Cardozo and future projections do not take into account the reality of people not choosing to attend.

Yes- improvements to Cardozo need to be made- including a separate budget and principal, but all the collocation benefits exist. Refusing this option but being ok with the same set up at Banneker is really questionable. It gets to the idea of people only being ok with schools that are “curated” to meet their needs. (Ie, the Banneker kids are fine because they are high performing).

I just think it is a really messy argument to make.

I don't think it's messy, I think it's important to acknowledge reality. The colocation benefit of Banneker is that being with a well managed and well performing school helps a middle school. Being attached to a struggling high school means that the middle school will always come second to the needs of the high school and will never get enough attention because the high school is such a mess.

It's not just this. The other benefit of co-locating with Banneker is LOCATION. Banneker is going to be across the street from Seaton, and a couple blocks off of Garrison and Cleveland. Cardozo is not. Co-locating the MS with Banneker would make the best of a bad situation. (They could bring Cardozo MS over to co-locate with Banneker, if it's all about the name. But re-branding would be a better start, and help with the broken promises to the community).

[Anonymous]

Can the Shaw MS folks explain to me the separate principal issue? I'm in a McKinley MS feeder, and the principal there is also the principal of McKinley Tech. My kid is still little so I know very little about MS issues, just starting to follow these threads. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can the Shaw MS folks explain to me the separate principal issue? I'm in a McKinley MS feeder, and the principal there is also the principal of McKinley Tech. My kid is still little so I know very little about MS issues, just starting to follow these threads. Thanks!

It is a focus thing and whether one admin can deal with everything going on at the school and all the central office BS.

From a social-emotional perspective, there is more uniformity of needs in an elementary school -- than there is between 6th-8th graders and high school students.

McKinley Tech has to manage an outreach and marketing program to try to get students to apply, and then get them into college. The IB MS population, at least now, should be getting significant academic support to bring them up to grade level proficiency or at least keep moving toward it.

The McKinley principal is good. But it is a lot to ask of one person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can the Shaw MS folks explain to me the separate principal issue? I'm in a McKinley MS feeder, and the principal there is also the principal of McKinley Tech. My kid is still little so I know very little about MS issues, just starting to follow these threads. Thanks!

It is a focus thing and whether one admin can deal with everything going on at the school and all the central office BS.

From a social-emotional perspective, there is more uniformity of needs in an elementary school -- than there is between 6th-8th graders and high school students.

McKinley Tech has to manage an outreach and marketing program to try to get students to apply, and then get them into college. The IB MS population, at least now, should be getting significant academic support to bring them up to grade level proficiency or at least keep moving toward it.

The McKinley principal is good. But it is a lot to ask of one person.

Like PP said, it is a priority thing. With a combo program, like Cardozo, the priority will always be the highschool. The middle school ends up with scraps of attention, resources, budget, etc. Not only are they being given less, but then when a problem arises at the highschool level, they need the help from the middle school staff/resources. There is no one with the power or authority to prevent the Middle school from getting the short end of the stick. Ultimately, this results in problems for the Middle School, which will lead to teachers leaving, families leaving, etc. No one wants to be in an environment where they are clearly not the priority- and anyone with the ability to leave, does so. This conflates the problem of low test scores, poor reputation in the community, etc.

A dedicated Principal/Budget wont be a magic fix, but it can go a long way in developing a culture and environment where there is more stability and opportunity to address the larger issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can the Shaw MS folks explain to me the separate principal issue? I'm in a McKinley MS feeder, and the principal there is also the principal of McKinley Tech. My kid is still little so I know very little about MS issues, just starting to follow these threads. Thanks!

It is a focus thing and whether one admin can deal with everything going on at the school and all the central office BS.

From a social-emotional perspective, there is more uniformity of needs in an elementary school -- than there is between 6th-8th graders and high school students.

McKinley Tech has to manage an outreach and marketing program to try to get students to apply, and then get them into college. The IB MS population, at least now, should be getting significant academic support to bring them up to grade level proficiency or at least keep moving toward it.

The McKinley principal is good. But it is a lot to ask of one person.

Like PP said, it is a priority thing. With a combo program, like Cardozo, the priority will always be the highschool. The middle school ends up with scraps of attention, resources, budget, etc. Not only are they being given less, but then when a problem arises at the highschool level, they need the help from the middle school staff/resources. There is no one with the power or authority to prevent the Middle school from getting the short end of the stick. Ultimately, this results in problems for the Middle School, which will lead to teachers leaving, families leaving, etc. No one wants to be in an environment where they are clearly not the priority- and anyone with the ability to leave, does so. This conflates the problem of low test scores, poor reputation in the community, etc.

A dedicated Principal/Budget wont be a magic fix, but it can go a long way in developing a culture and environment where there is more stability and opportunity to address the larger issues.

Also just having one leader for a long time would help. An AP instead of a principal means constant churn of APs. It does not have to, but that is what has been happening at Cardozo. The Principal title and pay grade would attract better candidates and ensure that they stick around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can the Shaw MS folks explain to me the separate principal issue? I'm in a McKinley MS feeder, and the principal there is also the principal of McKinley Tech. My kid is still little so I know very little about MS issues, just starting to follow these threads. Thanks!

It is a focus thing and whether one admin can deal with everything going on at the school and all the central office BS.

From a social-emotional perspective, there is more uniformity of needs in an elementary school -- than there is between 6th-8th graders and high school students.

McKinley Tech has to manage an outreach and marketing program to try to get students to apply, and then get them into college. The IB MS population, at least now, should be getting significant academic support to bring them up to grade level proficiency or at least keep moving toward it.

The McKinley principal is good. But it is a lot to ask of one person.

McKinley Middle is easier to run because it does not have the large number of ELL students that Cardozo has. Also, McKinley Tech is a complicated school programmatically, but not "troubled" like Cardozo is. For whatever reason, AP Dance has been with McKinley Middle for a while. Yes there is a way to go on test scores and behavior, but ultimately I believe the setup can work and Langley/Langdon can have a really nice middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reminder: The next meeting on this is tonight, Thursday April 25, from 6-8pm at Garrison Elementary School (1200 S St. NW).

Any notes from this meeting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reminder: The next meeting on this is tonight, Thursday April 25, from 6-8pm at Garrison Elementary School (1200 S St. NW).

Any notes from this meeting?

Tweets here: https://twitter.com/saveshawms

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reminder: The next meeting on this is tonight, Thursday April 25, from 6-8pm at Garrison Elementary School (1200 S St. NW).

Any notes from this meeting?

Tweets here: https://twitter.com/saveshawms

Seems like they are determined to tell parents absolutely nothing until they have another plan to bulldoze over us.

[Anonymous]

Ok why is 500-600 the needed amount? That is a larger middle school than I would like for my child, and Brookland got a new standalone middle school with only 272 kids. McKinley Middle has only 273. Eliot-Hine has 231. Why is Shaw being held to a different standard?

[Anonymous]

DCPS says this is the size needed to support good MS programming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS says this is the size needed to support good MS programming.

And yet in recent years they have opened McKinley and Brookland much smaller, so I call BS.

[Anonymous]

No questions on the Shaw MS issues at this weeks 5 hour DCPS budget oversight hearing. Why can’t we get anyone on council care about this issue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No questions on the Shaw MS issues at this weeks 5 hour DCPS budget oversight hearing. Why can’t we get anyone on council care about this issue?

Because you are too small in numbers and don’t carry much weight politically.

Do you volunteer for the party st a local level? Volunteer for a Council members’ campaign? Contribute? Been involved in local neighborhood issues before — beyond complaining?

It is a small city and easy to gain influence. But not if you just got engaged on this issue.

[Anonymous]

Council is so weak. Nobody is willing to stand up to Mayor. What are they afraid of?