Grosso comes out against a stand alone middle school for Shaw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good for Grosso for asking out loud why Shaw parents don't put in effort at Cardozo. He's come to his senses.

How does everyone know they aren’t? Some are. That doesn’t mean the current situation at Cardozo is fixable. DCPS has been asking the school to do a million thing for years. Splitting the middle school out of the high school is the most obvious solution. Cardozo EC is the *only* DCPS education campus that is both 6-12 and by-right for middle and high school. It’s not working, and that’s not the fault of the staff or students there.

Shaw parents are already working to improve Cardozo and Grosso appears to be unaware of it. The active parents' kids are too young to enroll. But DCPS and Grosso need to acknowledge that their neglect of Cardozo over many years makes it harder and is itself a factor in parents not wanting to enroll.

I hate statements like this. You realize there are other people living in Shaw besides those of you that have babies. Some of us have been living here for awhile and were doing things in the Shaw community before you decided to move to this neighborhood for your $5 lattes and Orange Theory. We actually care about the schools too.

I know. Shocking.

DP. And isn't this the problem with the Save Shaw crew? They haven't really reached out to the people whose children are Cardozo-aged or nearing. The immediate PP is right to be angry about the PK parents who want a unicorn.

Definitely. I mean, how dare they want a good school. The nerve.

Because we don't? Or didn't?

Look - I get it. You moved into this neighborhood and had kids (or suddenly realized that little squishy baby one day is going to have to go school). And you struck out at Mundo Minds or Inspired Ying or whatever the flavor of the year is. You can't afford to live up in those fancy houses and go to Janey and have to slum it down here with the rest of us. So what do you do? You want to make your own school. You know you don't have time to create a charter school, because your job at the World Bank or volunteering for Elizabeth Warren doesn't leave much time for that. So fight the city for a new middle school at Shaw.

But here is the thing:

1. A group of parents did that 10 years ago (did you know? did you ask?)
2. You make the rest of us in Shaw look bad (and honestly, many of us will probably be gone and you will finally get your Gap Kids).

[Anonymous]

Yeah, what PP writes is supersnarky but too close to the truth.

The practical thing that's true here is that once the Boundary Review promised you Shaw MS, you needed to GET ON THAT and prove it was a good idea and not just a promise you were pocketing for a post-gentrification neighborhood for your kids. If you weren't in the neighborhood or have kids in time for that promise, well, that's another gentrification-related issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good for Grosso for asking out loud why Shaw parents don't put in effort at Cardozo. He's come to his senses.

How does everyone know they aren’t? Some are. That doesn’t mean the current situation at Cardozo is fixable. DCPS has been asking the school to do a million thing for years. Splitting the middle school out of the high school is the most obvious solution. Cardozo EC is the *only* DCPS education campus that is both 6-12 and by-right for middle and high school. It’s not working, and that’s not the fault of the staff or students there.

Shaw parents are already working to improve Cardozo and Grosso appears to be unaware of it. The active parents' kids are too young to enroll. But DCPS and Grosso need to acknowledge that their neglect of Cardozo over many years makes it harder and is itself a factor in parents not wanting to enroll.

I hate statements like this. You realize there are other people living in Shaw besides those of you that have babies. Some of us have been living here for awhile and were doing things in the Shaw community before you decided to move to this neighborhood for your $5 lattes and Orange Theory. We actually care about the schools too.

I know. Shocking.

DP. And isn't this the problem with the Save Shaw crew? They haven't really reached out to the people whose children are Cardozo-aged or nearing. The immediate PP is right to be angry about the PK parents who want a unicorn.

Definitely. I mean, how dare they want a good school. The nerve.

Because we don't? Or didn't?

Look - I get it. You moved into this neighborhood and had kids (or suddenly realized that little squishy baby one day is going to have to go school). And you struck out at Mundo Minds or Inspired Ying or whatever the flavor of the year is. You can't afford to live up in those fancy houses and go to Janey and have to slum it down here with the rest of us. So what do you do? You want to make your own school. You know you don't have time to create a charter school, because your job at the World Bank or volunteering for Elizabeth Warren doesn't leave much time for that. So fight the city for a new middle school at Shaw.

But here is the thing:

1. A group of parents did that 10 years ago (did you know? did you ask?)
2. You make the rest of us in Shaw look bad (and honestly, many of us will probably be gone and you will finally get your Gap Kids).

I do know there was an effort around Shaw MS in the past. I think most people know that. It's very sad what happened to the principal and how it fell apart.

What are you doing for schools now? I don't think it's wrong to want improvements to our by-right school. And I think it's appropriate for feeder parents to engage in middle school issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, what PP writes is supersnarky but too close to the truth.

The practical thing that's true here is that once the Boundary Review promised you Shaw MS, you needed to GET ON THAT and prove it was a good idea and not just a promise you were pocketing for a post-gentrification neighborhood for your kids. If you weren't in the neighborhood or have kids in time for that promise, well, that's another gentrification-related issue.

People didn't realize the building would be taken away with so little notice. And they thought strengthening the feeder schools would help the middle school so they focused on that. Maybe that was naive but it doesn't make them bad people. They didn't realize "proof" was needed.

[Anonymous]

I'm not your proofy guy, but you really needed to keep that link up rather than letting the MS idea stay on paper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This story points out many of the issues with schools in DC.

1) The school system needs to keep its mouth shut about schools getting new buildings until things are about to move.
Having been through the Bridges building debacle, the bait and switch and political fights around buildings could be avoided if this were treated as an administrative matter rather than a community decision.

2) Long range planning needs to happen, but it's hard in a city where major changes in students expected can happen at the drop of a hat. Will my family move to Maryland? Maybe. But probably not. DCPS has no idea if we should be part of their planning or not. I don't either.

3) Brookland Middle School is a case study in the reasons why throwing a ton of money at a middle school in quickly gentrifying neighborhood does little to attract high SES parents. There is no reason to expect a Shaw middle school would turn out differently than Brookland has so far.

4) Banneker is a good school. Resourcing them with a better building and/or location is a good idea.

5) To exclude kids with 504s from test-in schools on the basis of a 504 alone is illegal and shouldn't be happening. There should be objective criteria. It's also short-sighted as having a 504 means the parents are clued in to their kids' needs and not in denial about them, in many cases.

There are students with 504s at all the application schools. Mine included. “Students with SN” = Students with IEPs only. Don’t conflate the two. They are legally and substantively different.

Number of 504s isn’t allowed to be publicly reported by the US Dept of Ed. So no one here knows how many there are.

students with IEPs shouldn't be excluded either. there's no way they have zero IEPs except if they are discriminating. Illegally.

[Anonymous]

Just like many of the WONC (west of north capitol) neighborhoods in D.C., the answer is to save for private while in elementary school, in order to avoid your shizzy Middle School when your kids come of age, and then accept the best situation you can find for High School. Shaw really isn't that different from any other gentrifying (or gentrified) neighborhood in D.C., in this regard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The council gave Shaw to Banneker. [snip] ..let's figure out what to do with Shaw middle schoolers and how to find THEM a great experience too.


How exactly did they "earn" it? Have Cardozo kids done something wrong and failed to "earn" an adequate school?

You are conflating a physical building with an experience — and hoping readers won't notice.

Try harder.

Tell me again why Banneker students are more deserving than Cardozo/Shaw students. There are no test in options for middle school.

I'm not going to get into the straw man argument about "more deserving" but I will say that Banneker needs better space for a highly successful program that attracts many low-income kids, most of whom have been the first in their families to go on to pursue four year college. It's an exemplar, and building it out with better facilities and expansion is of the highest priority. More so than building a MS where there is one already, and that one is under-enrolled. The build it and they will come argument about Shaw MS is a lacuna.

There is nothing strawman about the more deserving argument. That is exactly what Banneker supporters repeatedly said, and it's ridiculous. Further, there are certainly some low-income students at Banneker, but not nearly as many as Banneker supporters would like you to believe there is. And I'd love to see where you get the claim around first in their family to attend college - the most vocal Banneker supporters are all college graduates. Now, we still haven't seen where and why the expansion they so desperately seem to need came from.

There isn't a build it an they will come argument in Shaw. It's a renovate because they're here and need a by-right standalone middle school so they can learn and thrive. Because they - all of them - deserve nothing less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good for Grosso for asking out loud why Shaw parents don't put in effort at Cardozo. He's come to his senses.

How does everyone know they aren’t? Some are. That doesn’t mean the current situation at Cardozo is fixable. DCPS has been asking the school to do a million thing for years. Splitting the middle school out of the high school is the most obvious solution. Cardozo EC is the *only* DCPS education campus that is both 6-12 and by-right for middle and high school. It’s not working, and that’s not the fault of the staff or students there.

Shaw parents are already working to improve Cardozo and Grosso appears to be unaware of it. The active parents' kids are too young to enroll. But DCPS and Grosso need to acknowledge that their neglect of Cardozo over many years makes it harder and is itself a factor in parents not wanting to enroll.

I hate statements like this. You realize there are other people living in Shaw besides those of you that have babies. Some of us have been living here for awhile and were doing things in the Shaw community before you decided to move to this neighborhood for your $5 lattes and Orange Theory. We actually care about the schools too.

I know. Shocking.

DP. And isn't this the problem with the Save Shaw crew? They haven't really reached out to the people whose children are Cardozo-aged or nearing. The immediate PP is right to be angry about the PK parents who want a unicorn.

Definitely. I mean, how dare they want a good school. The nerve.

Because we don't? Or didn't?

Look - I get it. You moved into this neighborhood and had kids (or suddenly realized that little squishy baby one day is going to have to go school). And you struck out at Mundo Minds or Inspired Ying or whatever the flavor of the year is. You can't afford to live up in those fancy houses and go to Janey and have to slum it down here with the rest of us. So what do you do? You want to make your own school. You know you don't have time to create a charter school, because your job at the World Bank or volunteering for Elizabeth Warren doesn't leave much time for that. So fight the city for a new middle school at Shaw.

But here is the thing:

1. A group of parents did that 10 years ago (did you know? did you ask?)
2. You make the rest of us in Shaw look bad (and honestly, many of us will probably be gone and you will finally get your Gap Kids).

So much snark. Where were you? Why weren't you fighting for your neighborhood schools? Did you think that by getting lucky to get an OOB seat WOTP and then scooting into Banneker gave you a pass on fighting for the rest of the kids or for a neighborhood school? People have been fighting for this for over a decade and there are new voices and bodies at the table. Good for all of us. In fact, really good, because if we don't fight for this then we will be left with nothing.

If there's someone in Shaw who looks bad, it's you. You gave up, you throw shade. You don't want to fight, then don't. We'll do the hard work for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just like many of the WONC (west of north capitol) neighborhoods in D.C., the answer is to save for private while in elementary school, in order to avoid your shizzy Middle School when your kids come of age, and then accept the best situation you can find for High School. Shaw really isn't that different from any other gentrifying (or gentrified) neighborhood in D.C., in this regard.

Yup middle schools suck all over DC except for Wilson feeders

I would push for some kind of honors/tracking but that only exists at Stuart Hobson and Jefferson the rest of the city is out of look which is why so many people go to charters/privates or leave DC

Middle schools suck for most of DCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good for Grosso for asking out loud why Shaw parents don't put in effort at Cardozo. He's come to his senses.

How does everyone know they aren’t? Some are. That doesn’t mean the current situation at Cardozo is fixable. DCPS has been asking the school to do a million thing for years. Splitting the middle school out of the high school is the most obvious solution. Cardozo EC is the *only* DCPS education campus that is both 6-12 and by-right for middle and high school. It’s not working, and that’s not the fault of the staff or students there.

Shaw parents are already working to improve Cardozo and Grosso appears to be unaware of it. The active parents' kids are too young to enroll. But DCPS and Grosso need to acknowledge that their neglect of Cardozo over many years makes it harder and is itself a factor in parents not wanting to enroll.

I hate statements like this. You realize there are other people living in Shaw besides those of you that have babies. Some of us have been living here for awhile and were doing things in the Shaw community before you decided to move to this neighborhood for your $5 lattes and Orange Theory. We actually care about the schools too.

I know. Shocking.

DP. And isn't this the problem with the Save Shaw crew? They haven't really reached out to the people whose children are Cardozo-aged or nearing. The immediate PP is right to be angry about the PK parents who want a unicorn.

Definitely. I mean, how dare they want a good school. The nerve.

Because we don't? Or didn't?

Look - I get it. You moved into this neighborhood and had kids (or suddenly realized that little squishy baby one day is going to have to go school). And you struck out at Mundo Minds or Inspired Ying or whatever the flavor of the year is. You can't afford to live up in those fancy houses and go to Janey and have to slum it down here with the rest of us. So what do you do? You want to make your own school. You know you don't have time to create a charter school, because your job at the World Bank or volunteering for Elizabeth Warren doesn't leave much time for that. So fight the city for a new middle school at Shaw.

But here is the thing:

1. A group of parents did that 10 years ago (did you know? did you ask?)
2. You make the rest of us in Shaw look bad (and honestly, many of us will probably be gone and you will finally get your Gap Kids).

So much snark. Where were you? Why weren't you fighting for your neighborhood schools? Did you think that by getting lucky to get an OOB seat WOTP and then scooting into Banneker gave you a pass on fighting for the rest of the kids or for a neighborhood school? People have been fighting for this for over a decade and there are new voices and bodies at the table. Good for all of us. In fact, really good, because if we don't fight for this then we will be left with nothing.

If there's someone in Shaw who looks bad, it's you. You gave up, you throw shade. You don't want to fight, then don't. We'll do the hard work for you.

I think the PP you are attacking was very clear that s/he cares about the schools and has been advocating for a long time. You are grasping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grosso finally found his balls. I’m impressed! There are not enough kids in Shaw for a stand-alone middle school. I’m just sad that Banneker got screwed in the process.

Yeah, they got someone else's building, and the big budget to renovate it, but some folks realized what was going on and dared to defend their own interests.

So so so unfair for poor Banneker families.

+1,000

So true. Wake up and smell the roses as you have all been played by a mayor who has no interest in helping the people of DC. She is only interested in herself and her supporters. Shame on Bowser. Such a disgrace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The council gave Shaw to Banneker. [snip] ..let's figure out what to do with Shaw middle schoolers and how to find THEM a great experience too.


How exactly did they "earn" it? Have Cardozo kids done something wrong and failed to "earn" an adequate school?

You are conflating a physical building with an experience — and hoping readers won't notice.

Try harder.

Tell me again why Banneker students are more deserving than Cardozo/Shaw students. There are no test in options for middle school.

I'm not going to get into the straw man argument about "more deserving" but I will say that Banneker needs better space for a highly successful program that attracts many low-income kids, most of whom have been the first in their families to go on to pursue four year college. It's an exemplar, and building it out with better facilities and expansion is of the highest priority. More so than building a MS where there is one already, and that one is under-enrolled. The build it and they will come argument about Shaw MS is a lacuna.

There is nothing strawman about the more deserving argument. That is exactly what Banneker supporters repeatedly said, and it's ridiculous. Further, there are certainly some low-income students at Banneker, but not nearly as many as Banneker supporters would like you to believe there is. And I'd love to see where you get the claim around first in their family to attend college - the most vocal Banneker supporters are all college graduates. Now, we still haven't seen where and why the expansion they so desperately seem to need came from.

There isn't a build it an they will come argument in Shaw. It's a renovate because they're here and need a by-right standalone middle school so they can learn and thrive. Because they - all of them - deserve nothing less.

Aren’t there something like 50% or more low income at Banneker? That’s not a low amount and yes, many come from families where they’d be the first generation going to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grosso finally found his balls. I’m impressed! There are not enough kids in Shaw for a stand-alone middle school. I’m just sad that Banneker got screwed in the process.

Yeah, they got someone else's building, and the big budget to renovate it, but some folks realized what was going on and dared to defend their own interests.

So so so unfair for poor Banneker families.

+1,000

So true. Wake up and smell the roses as you have all been played by a mayor who has no interest in helping the people of DC. She is only interested in herself and her supporters. Shame on Bowser. Such a disgrace.

That building does not belong to you! Period! We lived in Shaw for a decade and I would never claim ownership over that or any other public property. The building belongs to the kids of DC. Not just the rich ones or the white ones. All of the kids.

[Anonymous]

Why are kids in Shaw more special then kids in Takoma or Brightwood that have to go to an untested middle school with weak feeders and heinous Coolidge?