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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
DCPS has had Fillmore on the chopping block for years because it no longer serves the students it did years ago. No educator in their right mind would set up such a system today. Luckily for Fillmore, they were the Ellington before the current Ellington and were able to co-habitate with Hardy MS to placate the locals. 
[/quote]

Completely wrong.

This article gives an overview of the history of Fillmore: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1988/06/16/6-northwest-schools-prosper-under-cluster-plan/5f11b7d3-6f80-437b-b689-c00d38c4df4a/

The history of Fillmore is intimately tied up with the history of Hardy.  In 1972 DCPS wanted to close six small elementary schools that were south of Massachusetts and west of Wisconsin: Key, Mann, Stoddert, Hyde, Hardy and Fillmore. Hardy elementary was on Foxhall Road where Hardy Rec Center is now, the Fillmore Elementary building is now owned by GW University but was at 35th and S, just south of what is now Hardy Middle School. All six schools were severely underenrolled -- I recall Key had something like 40 students -- and the facilities were antiquated, with no auditoriums, gyms, libraries or art facilities. The plan from DCPS was to build a single consolidated elementary school with a modern building.

The parents at the six schools didn't like this idea. They were already disgruntled that they fed into a large junior high school -- Gordon Junior High -- which was about 90% out-of-boundary and not appealing to in-boundary families. They came up with a counter-proposal: close two of the schools, Hardy and Fillmore, and consolidate the students into the remaining four. Convert Hardy into a middle school, and have the four feed into it. Convert the old Fillmore school into an arts center, and have each school bus their kids to Fillmore one day a week for specials: art and music at Fillmore, gym at Jelleff, and library at the Georgetown Library. The fifth day of the week middle school kids from Hardy would come over. This was done to counter DCPS' contention that the schools were not viable without gyms, libraries and art facilities.

DCPS hated this plan, but the parents got the council to approve it over DCPS's objection. It went into effect in 1974, and for 42 years, every couple of years DCPS has tried to kill it. In 1996, after 22 years of trying, DCPS was able to kill the Hardy Middle School on Foxhall Road through an ingenious sleight of hand -- they renamed the old Gordon Junior High to Hardy Middle School and closed Gordon instead of Hardy! Less than ten years later they moved Hardy to Hamilton Education Campus in Northeast for several years while the old Gordon building was renovated. That move was the death-knell for Hardy as any kind of neighborhood school.

Around that time the Fillmore program was moved into the third floor of the Hardy building. Then the Fillmore Building was sold to the Corcoran School of Art, when they went bankrupt GW bought it.

Key was the first of the four schools to be renovated, in 2003, followed by Stoddert, then Mann; Hyde is due next year. When Key was renovated it had an art room and a music room, along with a library and a gym. DCPS' problem is that enrollment has surged. The art and music rooms have since been converted to classrooms and Key now has trailers in the parking lot. A similar thing has happened at Stoddert, which also has trailers.

I heard a rumor that what's driving it this time is that DCPS has been unable to find swing space for the Hyde renovation.[/quote]

Great history.  Times have changed just a bit since 1974.   :roll: [/quote]

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