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][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Also, how is it possible they could have this school opened for the 23/24 school year? They haven’t even bid it out yet let alone broken ground and the facility is much larger than the elementary school renovations that have all taken almost 2 years up to the day to renovate.[/quote]

While they may not have to "break ground" as it were, I am a little confused as to the SY23/24 timeline quoted in the communication sent out by DC Central office. This is only a line item in the budget which needs to be approved by Council. And the new fiscal year is not until July (I'm not sure but I think that is the earliest). So bids for planning will go out in the summer and finalized late Fall. Given that the site was originally for K-8 for 600 kids (and without a cafeteria etc.) I would imagine that it will take longer than 9 months to finish up all the work, given that they need to put in labs etc. Eaton renovation took over 2 years but granted it did involve a lot of foundation work for the new section.

Then there is the question of sequencing -- if the current crop of 7th Graders at Hardy are the first to attend this school, that only makes about 120 kids for the 9th grade class. Are they planning to fill the rest by lottery + at risk preference? Are there even that many kids in the system who would want to attend? What about class offerings? If the majority are at risk in grades 10-12, will they have sufficient mass to offer AP/honors classes right off the bat? While this may sound politically incorrect, am I accurate in assuming that many of these possible 10-12th graders are coming from other schools in the system that do not currently have extensive AP offerings (or honors?)

If not, then what is the draw of this school? [/quote]

I'm wondering if they plan to add one additional class each year?

So 23-24 has only the freshman class. 24-25 has freshman and sophomore classes. Etc.

In this scenario, they do not need the entire campus finished by 22-23. They can work on renovations and expansion each year, adding more capacity for the next year's additional class. Finally, by year 26-27 the school has all four grades filled.[/quote]

This is how most new schools operate. It wouldn't make sense to fill all grades the same year.[/quote]

Yes, but this would be really rough extracurricularly for a high school. No teams basically (or totally non-competitive ones that will get crushed); I assume you'd need to grandfather them into Wilson or something along those lines. That alone would drive lots of kids away.[/quote]

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.[/quote]
Ohhh, I was about to roll my eyes at the PP's obsession with sports, but this makes me swoon! Except for the no-pool part. We need more pools. If the Palisades rec center didn't get one because of lobbying by the FCCsomething or the PCCsomething, maybe it's time to build one for this high school.[/quote]

PPs don’t seem to realize that most high school kids care a lot about sports.  Whether it’s basketball or crew or ultimate or cross country, a huge percentage of high school kids play sports.  And it’s no fun to be on a totally uncompetitive team (or to play a totally uncompetitive team).

This is not about adults who want to swim laps. [/quote]

My hot take: in-boundary families for MacArthur HS are going prioritize academics over a full slate of school sports. They can afford to supplement with travel or community-based teams, if their kids is wedded to a particular sport that would not be offered (eg, swim). Football is in terminal decline with these same in-boundary families, knowing what we do about CTE and head injuries.

Perhaps they also get the chance to try-out/play for teams at Wilson HS for the first few years as the school is established. It will be fine.

A strong crew team at MacArthur HS makes total sense - it would be great if DCPS could get boathouse access or establish its own launch/boat storage along the River.[/quote]

I don't see how a bunch of 9th graders make it up to Wilson for daily practices in a transportation desert. That will be the reality for the first cohort of kids in SY23/24. Even if the families prioritized academics, what are the plans for offering AP classes to 9th/10th graders? A CalcBC or AP-Physics C class with mis of sophomores, juniors and seniors would make sense, but given the small numbers in the first couple of years, how would this even work? I wonder if the current crop of 7th graders at Hardy will end up leaving the system in droves. [/quote]

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