Reply to New DCPS school on former Georgetown Day site will be a high school

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Reply to "New DCPS school on former Georgetown Day site will be a high school"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]
Anonymous wrote:

I'd be fine if the high school didn't have a major focus on sports, if instead it was an IB program or STEM-focused. Football is declining pretty quickly in popularity and is a huge money suck. There won't be a pool at this site.

I'd expect the new MacArthur HS to instead focus on sports activities with a small footprint - tennis, crew (take advantage of easy access to the Potomac!), basketball, cross-country running, etc. Maybe utilize Palisades Rec Center for soccer and baseball/softball teams.

In short, don't expect this school to be a sports powerhouse. You can go elsewhere in the city if you want your kid to have that experience.

But would it even be an academic powerhouse? Will they have the critical mass of kids (starting from the 150 odd 9th graders) to offer them honors classes, labs and in some cases, even AP classes? I guess it will take about 2-3 years to build that up. It will be a rough transition for the current Hardy kids -- especially in an era when colleges that many of these students' families aspire to expect extensive AP classes (or at least rigorous curricula).[/quote]

Do not underestimate the number of families in the city who cannot afford private but are desperate to escape their failing IB HS option.  That group of parents---mostly AA and middle/working middle class--made up the vast majority of Deal, Wilson and Hardy parents for years until the rise in IB population attendance winnowed them out.  Those families aren't interested in the regimented programs of charters that are targeted to more struggling families and students, and the increasingly difficult lottery odds for Latin and Basis have further limited their options.   [/quote]

That is all probably true. My point is that starting in SY23/24 seems unrealistic. The GDS space (which hasn't been used for a couple of years at least by now) is for K-8, which means that to make it barely passable for a single class of high-schoolers would need a considerable amount of work, even without construction. The site doesn't have a cafeteria, working high school labs etc. Even with the most optimistic of estimates (given current labor shortages, passing of the budget by Council, bidding/permitting/interior construction), maybe a year is barely enough. But if they want a 9th grade class of ~200 students, there would need to be lottery space for about 100, as the current 7th grade class at Hardy is ~150 of which perhaps a 1/3 would exit for other options. The lottery parents would have to do this sight unseen, without any idea of the staff, course offerings, facilities and plant, transport options etc. since MySchoolDC process would have to take place a year from now, for these kids to go to the new school in Fall 2023. [/quote]

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