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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Didn't Mary Cheh promise that John Eaton E.S. would be fully renovated before the Cathedral Commons (Idaho Ave.) homeless shelter opens?  If so, what are the plans?  Has DCPS provided any scope on additional classroom seats, new multipurpose space, parking, design goals, etc.?  Based on reports of renovations at Janney, Murch, Lafayette, Ellington, etc., good planning takes time and a rushed process usually runs into pitfalls.[/quote]

With the $25 million she "found," there is legit no chance Eaton gets parking. It would have to go underground. $25 million to excavate underground and actually do anything of substance to the interior space just isn't going to cut it. And there really isn't anywhere on Eaton's property to create either additional seats (which I would argue it doesn't need since I think the school shook out at 60ish percent IB last year) or add a proper cafeteria separate from the current multipurpose room. They'd have to eat the playground, which is already small compared to other public schools and frankly, I'd rather my kid stay with the current not ideal space inside than have even less space to play outside. [/quote]

DCPS would like to add additional classroom space to Eaton somehow.  There is continued strong demand for OOB seats west of the Park, and fewer and fewer seats as IB enrollment increases.  Hearst and Eaton are the last of the upper NW elementaries to "flip," and politically it's very tough to see OOB enrollment squeezed further.  It DCPS could add classroom on top of the school on along the side, then there would still be substantial OOB places even as IB climbs.  This would be a win for DCPS.[/quote]

No room on either side. Maybe up, but if it's visible at all from the front, the risk of rejection from the historic board is high since Eaton was a cornerstone of the application to become an historic district in the first place.  You could build back slightly from the ece area, but you would lose the little kid playground and compromise egress possibly. I don't realistically see how Eaton becomes bigger. They should have expanded Hearst when they were doing that reno. Eaton is on an extremely finite piece of property and is subject to historic preservation.[/quote]

Even without historic protections, it's hard to see how Eaton meaningfully builds above-ground, even on the side.  If they build on the 34th St side, they totally eliminate the service area for loading, garbage pickup, etc., as well as part of the playground.  On the opposite site, a large part of the playground area goes, and building toward Macomb St. would really impact play space.  And, at this point, Eaton has one of the smallest (including on a per student basis) school yards in DC.

There's an opportunity to demolish and rebuild the ugly hyphen that was built in the Sixties (and resembles an East Bloc-era government building).  But Eaton probably couldn't build the hyphen higher than the older wings without triggering historic preservation concerns.  The only real way that Eaton can expand is underground, such as cut and cover gym space under the playground, with high windows along 33rd Pl.  (sort of like what Sidwell did).  But classrooms underground would not make sense.  And, in any event, why would Eaton need to add significant classroom space when a large percentage of the student body is OOB?  If Eaton diligently manages OOB enrollment down over the next few years, overcrowding should decrease significantly.[/quote]

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