Shaw Middle School -- what's the plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But the population of kids will change as the feeders change. I agree that a change can be made. I also agree that DCPS needs to give a longer leadership contract in order to attract someone talented who will commit for multiple years. It is simply ridiculous that DC is creating these beautiful school buildings and nobody will go near them and in fact prefer crappy charter facilities.

This. Attracting the truly high-income kids is a later stage. First, more middle-income kids who are closer to grade level. It's a gradual process.

First work with the kids who are there. < 10% at grade level is unacceptable for any cohort.

Correct. Who is going to give a school with those stats even a passing glance? Not me, for one.

[Anonymous]

I didn't attend, but I saw the agenda for my local ANC meeting and "Redevelopment of Shaw Middle School by DCPS" was one of the agenda items. Did anyone attend or have more details?

[Anonymous]

I went to a DCPS presentation on this topic earlier in the year. The proposal they presented involved potentially moving Banneker HS to a new facility at the Shaw MS site on Rhode Island Ave and then redoing the current Banneker building off Georgia Ave as a MS, maybe city wide. According to the Banneker modernization site a decision on whether to relocate Banneker to Shaw hasn't been made yet. https://sites.google.com/a/dc.gov/dcps-school-modernizations/home/banneker-high-school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I'm just wondering why Francis-Stevens is fine but Cardozo with the same feeders plus Cleveland, Garrison, and Seaton would not be.

Is it that people like the Francis-Stevens building or location better?
A fear of having HS students in the same building?
Not wanting the Cleveland, Garrison, and Seaton kids?

It can't be the lack of a middle school principal because F-S doesn't have that either. It probably shouldn't be the teaching staff since those turn over so quickly.

It is because Cardozo middle and high are low-performing. A lot more principal-ing work will be needed to turn them around. It is just too much of a job for any one person.

Also, Cardozo Middle has had a new AP almost every year. No leadership continuity. Without the title of Principal, APs tend to get promoted or leave for whatever reason.

It's not just academic performance but the indicators for school safety and satisfaction are very poor at Cardozo. Compared to FS, there are more suspensions, absences, and student turn-over (take a look at the most recent Equity reports). I also think that having a smaller middle school with a smaller pool of high-achieving feeder elementary schools like FS, Ross, and Thomson, will allow FS to be a high-quality desirable MS faster than Shaw MS or Cardozo. The fact is there are more struggling kids at Garrison and Cleveland.

Cleveland is not a bad school. There are very bright students there.

[Anonymous]

Latest update at my neighborhood association meeting, two blocks from Garrison, is that Banneker will be renovated and remain at current location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But the population of kids will change as the feeders change. I agree that a change can be made. I also agree that DCPS needs to give a longer leadership contract in order to attract someone talented who will commit for multiple years. It is simply ridiculous that DC is creating these beautiful school buildings and nobody will go near them and in fact prefer crappy charter facilities.

This. Attracting the truly high-income kids is a later stage. First, more middle-income kids who are closer to grade level. It's a gradual process.

First work with the kids who are there. < 10% at grade level is unacceptable for any cohort.

Correct. Who is going to give a school with those stats even a passing glance? Not me, for one.

It takes at least 2 decades to flip a middle school. Stuart Hobson still isn't there and the parents on Cap Hill have been at it since the 1990s. its getting closer. Shaw Middle would take at least that long but probably longer.

[Anonymous]

There is a feasibility study underway looking at whether to modernize Banneker where it is (could serve 560 students), or upgrade Shaw and move Banneker there (could serve 700 students).

SIT meeting presentation from August: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HFVBTRQ2vUg2mU9IZtTWZUF5yaE8eHix/view

[Anonymous]

Would be good for Banneker to move to the Shaw site. More accessible - room for growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would be good for Banneker to move to the Shaw site. More accessible - room for growth.

+1000. And give Banneker a Taj Magal reno in the process. It deserves it.

[Anonymous]

I would be in two minds about this as a Banneker parent. On the one hand the school deserves a great renovation and should be expanded. On the other ... gentrification.

[Anonymous]

There is a coffee chat with Joe Weedon this Friday from 8-9:30 AM at Compass Coffee on 7th Street to discuss the future of Shaw MS. Here is a link I received today:

https://www.joeweedon.com/cup_of_joe_oct_12?platform=hootsuite

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a coffee chat with Joe Weedon this Friday from 8-9:30 AM at Compass Coffee on 7th Street to discuss the future of Shaw MS. Here is a link I received today:

https://www.joeweedon.com/cup_of_joe_oct_12?platform=hootsuite

Wow, I guess that is Ward 6.

That location is so central; it really does make sense for it to be a citywide school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a coffee chat with Joe Weedon this Friday from 8-9:30 AM at Compass Coffee on 7th Street to discuss the future of Shaw MS. Here is a link I received today:

https://www.joeweedon.com/cup_of_joe_oct_12?platform=hootsuite

Wow, I guess that is Ward 6.

That location is so central; it really does make sense for it to be a citywide school.

Shaw is in Ward 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a coffee chat with Joe Weedon this Friday from 8-9:30 AM at Compass Coffee on 7th Street to discuss the future of Shaw MS. Here is a link I received today:

https://www.joeweedon.com/cup_of_joe_oct_12?platform=hootsuite

Wow, I guess that is Ward 6.

That location is so central; it really does make sense for it to be a citywide school.

Shaw is in Ward 1

Actually, that section of Shaw is in Ward 6. It makes no sense, but it is. https://planning.dc.gov/publication/ward-6-2012-boundary

[Anonymous]

Shaw includes portions of Ward 1, 2, and 6 (and maybe 5, depending on if you call North Capitol Street the eastern boundary of Shaw). It is an inter-governmental clusterf*** for the people who live here.

I would really like for a renovated Banneker to be at the Shaw Middle site. The Banneker kids and teachers deserve a nice, central, accessible school. I also worry that the school would gentrify in a hot second if it relocates to Shaw Middle.