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][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]

So this high school would be totally inferior to Wilson with regard to athletics opportunities?  How can they offer funded, competitive programs when you only have freshmen trying out?  And then only freshman and sophomores the next year. And how does ramping up the student body like that allow for all the course offerings, including honors and AP?  This plan seems like it might roll out as a bait and switch, at least for advanced and athletic kids. For the first 2 or 3 years, Hardy kids should be given the option to choose to go to Wilson or the new HS (like they did with Eaton with Hardy and Deal). I attended many of the meetings about the Gtown day and Old Hardy properties and every presentation emphasized that there WOULD be grandfathering. The
Y better stick to that promise. [/quote]

Under DCPS rules, if you attend a school that doesn't offer a sport you're interested in you're eligible to play for a school that does.

Here's a list of all DCPS high schools and their enrollment:

River Terrace Education Campus	132
Luke C. Moore High School	208
Bard High School Early College DC (Bard DC)	265
Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School	276
Anacostia High School	326
H.D. Woodson High School	434
Ballou STAY High School	523
Benjamin Banneker High School	549
Coolidge High School	561
Duke Ellington School of the Arts	591
School Without Walls High School	600
Cardozo Education Campus	621
Roosevelt STAY High School	634
Ballou High School	664
Dunbar High School	666
McKinley Technology High School	696
Eastern High School	735
Roosevelt High School	752
Columbia Heights Education Campus	1477
Woodrow Wilson High School	1951

At full capacity this school will be the third largest in the city. At half capacity it will be firmly in the middle. Most DC high schools can't offer a full menu of sports. [/quote]

In theory you are allowed but as you can imagine the reality is much more complicated. The biggest barriers are communication, getting information on tryouts, etc., transportation, and socially not knowing anyone for the kids. It is intimidating for the kids trying out for the team of an unfamiliar school. [/quote]

The interesting question for me is why these newly built high schools in mostly black neighborhoods are not appealing to black families.  Too many black people?  I am  tired of the simple, although not untrue line that DC is racist which is why high school enrollment is low, Black people also opt out of their local school and go private to charters. So yes DC white parents are afraid of black kids (above a percentage I estimate to be 30%), but is that really what is driving the high availability of high school seats? [/quote]

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