jsteele wrote:I really appreciate the DCPS School Planning team reaching out to DCUM users. I live in a neighborhood that will be inbounds for Roosevelt under the new boundaries accepted by Mayor Gray (whether this will continue to be true under Mayor Bowser remains to be seen). Several months ago, I started a discussion here about what it would take for Roosevelt to attract families like mine. A recurring theme of that discussion was that parents wanted assurance that the academic opportunities offered at Wilson would also be available at Roosevelt.

It seems that there is a "chicken and egg" problem when trying to develop a school. The per-pupil funding mechanism means that a school with low enrollment cannot offer a variety of classes due to insufficient funding and not enough students to fill those classes. But, without appealing programming, the school cannot attract a large number of new students. Has there been thought to utilizing an alternative approach to funding so that a "build it and they will come" approach to programming can be introduced? In other words, promise to offer a specific portfolio of classes such as languages and advanced math and science regardless of whether enrollment in those classes is only one or two students for the first couple of years.

Thanks again for initiating this discussion.

Anonymous wrote:There's a reputation for violence / unruly behavior at the school. Can you share any measures you've been tracking and what you're doing to create a better environment?

The scores are pretty abysmal. Why would someone with a capable child envision sending them there?

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:I really appreciate the DCPS School Planning team reaching out to DCUM users. I live in a neighborhood that will be inbounds for Roosevelt under the new boundaries accepted by Mayor Gray (whether this will continue to be true under Mayor Bowser remains to be seen). Several months ago, I started a discussion here about what it would take for Roosevelt to attract families like mine. A recurring theme of that discussion was that parents wanted assurance that the academic opportunities offered at Wilson would also be available at Roosevelt.

It seems that there is a "chicken and egg" problem when trying to develop a school. The per-pupil funding mechanism means that a school with low enrollment cannot offer a variety of classes due to insufficient funding and not enough students to fill those classes. But, without appealing programming, the school cannot attract a large number of new students. Has there been thought to utilizing an alternative approach to funding so that a "build it and they will come" approach to programming can be introduced? In other words, promise to offer a specific portfolio of classes such as languages and advanced math and science regardless of whether enrollment in those classes is only one or two students for the first couple of years.

Thanks again for initiating this discussion.

Agreed, it's a really positive sign that DCPS is initiating these discussions. Good on them for recognizing that while this may be a subset of DC parents, its the biggest online community.

My question si around projections- how many students are you projecting at Roosevelt for the first few years? As Jeff said, the chicken and egg problem is real, and it seems to me that getting significant enrollment the first few years is key- if you don't get it then you could go into a death spiral. What things have been done at other newly renovated schools to boost enrollment?

DCPSschoolplanning wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a reputation for violence / unruly behavior at the school. Can you share any measures you've been tracking and what you're doing to create a better environment?

The scores are pretty abysmal. Why would someone with a capable child envision sending them there?

The purpose of the re-envisioning is to improve what Roosevelt has to offer students and parents. With a newly renovated building next fall and a multi-year roll-out of new academic and career training offerings, we want to make Roosevelt a high school more parents will choose. That kind of effort doesn't happen overnight. To see a more detailed explanation of proposed changes, you can take a look at the presentation we’ve been giving at community meetings:
https://reenvisioningroosevelt.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/december-2014_academic-proposal-for-community-input.pdf

As you look at the presentation, please feel free to pose questions or provide input by emailing us at andrew.katz-moses@dc.gov

Anonymous wrote:

DCPSschoolplanning wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a reputation for violence / unruly behavior at the school. Can you share any measures you've been tracking and what you're doing to create a better environment?

The scores are pretty abysmal. Why would someone with a capable child envision sending them there?

The purpose of the re-envisioning is to improve what Roosevelt has to offer students and parents. With a newly renovated building next fall and a multi-year roll-out of new academic and career training offerings, we want to make Roosevelt a high school more parents will choose. That kind of effort doesn't happen overnight. To see a more detailed explanation of proposed changes, you can take a look at the presentation we’ve been giving at community meetings:
https://reenvisioningroosevelt.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/december-2014_academic-proposal-for-community-input.pdf

As you look at the presentation, please feel free to pose questions or provide input by emailing us at andrew.katz-moses@dc.gov

That doesn't answer either question. Do you not see these as problems?

Anonymous wrote:I'm not seeing a lot of focus on the math program on the PDF attached. Will calc be offered at all? Isn't that a fairly common offering at a public high school?