I'm in bounds for Roosevelt with two small children and I strongly support global education. On paper the vision looks good. I'm wondering what sort of buy-in and real commitment to executing this vision there is from the current principal and faculty/staff? My understanding is that before DCPS determined that Roosevelt would become an Int'l. HS, it was suggested to the principal that he take a more int'l. approach and the response was much less than enthusiastic. But I was present at the the official announcement of the "new " Roosevelt and he seemed to have made a 180...but I am wary. Will he and other staff have to re-apply for their jobs at this "renewed" school?

Also, what of the schools that feed to Roosevelt now and in the future? I know parents here ware working through ideas for a re-opened McFarland. How will that work into the plans for Roosevelt?

Thanks!!

First of all, I am pleasantly surprised to see your office reaching out for feedback like this. Keep it up.

Secondly, I would like to see a cohesive plan of action regarding Roosevelt's feeder pattern, specifically the status of a new middle school. Mayor-elect Bowser, Chancellor Henderson and the Council need to come together on this issue like city leaders just did for the DC United Soccer stadium. We have proposals and ideas floating around and several hundred million dollars in capital spending on HS facilities committed, but little to no direction on where the students for the new Roosevelt are going to come from.

Third, I am less than enthusiastic about the "Seal" program that is highlighted in the current proposal. Here we have a high school themed on international studies and languages, yet it seems like your office is going out of its way to avoid either implementing or emulating the established International Baccalaureate (IB) program. At the Truesdell meeting last month, Ms. Kulkarni stated something to the effect of, "With the Seal program, colleges will know that students are prepared to do college level work." Well, no they won't...they won't have any idea what a "Seal" means. Even if IB cannot be enacted right away because of resource limitations, at least model your program on the IB framework (i.e. Diploma programme) so that a future transition is possible. It seems like a gigantic waste of effort the way it stands now.

Lastly, as the founder of the NW Saturday Academy math and computer science program (www.nwsadc.com), I am obliged to ask about Roosevelt's focus on STEM education and technology implementation. Is computer science going to be offered in any format? What about opportunities for students to learn engineering or advanced mathematics?

Again, thank you for reaching out and seeking this feedback.

Regards,

Christopher Alexander
Ward 4 Parent

It's great that DCPS is trying out some unusual forums to engage DC parents. I would also like to see messages sent out over the petworthparents listserv: PetworthParents@yahoogroups.com. I am not able to make the meeting tonight because it conflicts with an important meeting on dual language programming at DCPS, but would like to learn of upcoming meetings. I do not regularly visit DC Urban Moms but do read the petworthparents listserv.

I agree with jsteele that the best thing DCPS can do for Roosevelt is to guarantee programming that is not tied to enrollment numbers for a certain period (say, three years) while the school gets on its feet in terms of enrollment.

I think another thing Roosevelt can do to attract parents is to find some strong avenues for enrichment activities. Many parents are reluctant to send their children to DCPS because they worry that all the time will be spent drilling children on what they need to know to pass standardized tests. We want to feel that our kids are being stimulated and inspired in multiple ways at school, including through athletics, art, music, and science.

In addition to strong extra-curricular programming, offering project-based enrichment is a very good way to capture families' imaginations and attract them to a school. We want parents to see projects being developed by Roosevelt kids and thing "ooo, that looks like FUN, I wish I had done that in high school and I want that for my kids." Roosevelt is an international school, so how about seeing some Roosevelt students travelling to participate in international competitions oriented towards STEM, entrepreneurship, or urban development?

Another key element will be having school leadership that is willing to devote time to engaging with both parents and prospective parents. Holding open houses an office hours outside the normal business day, having an accessible and up-to-date website, being responsive to email inquiries and following up, and sending messages via community listservs are all very good ways to attract interest from prospective parents and retain current parents. All of these things take enormous commitment and resources from school leadership, but parents definitely take notice.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not seeing a lot of focus on the math program on the PDF attached. Will calc be offered at all? Isn't that a fairly common offering at a public high school?

We mistakenly uploaded an outdated presentation. Sorry about that. This one has more information about math, and yes, Calculus will be offered: https://reenvisioningroosevelt.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/december-2014_academic-proposal-for-community-input1.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

DCPSschoolplanning wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a reputation for violence / unruly behavior at the school. Can you share any measures you've been tracking and what you're doing to create a better environment?

The scores are pretty abysmal. Why would someone with a capable child envision sending them there?

The purpose of the re-envisioning is to improve what Roosevelt has to offer students and parents. With a newly renovated building next fall and a multi-year roll-out of new academic and career training offerings, we want to make Roosevelt a high school more parents will choose. That kind of effort doesn't happen overnight. To see a more detailed explanation of proposed changes, you can take a look at the presentation we’ve been giving at community meetings:
https://reenvisioningroosevelt.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/december-2014_academic-proposal-for-community-input.pdf

As you look at the presentation, please feel free to pose questions or provide input by emailing us at andrew.katz-moses@dc.gov

That doesn't answer either question. Do you not see these as problems?

Sorry - I realize that these questions are fairly blunt. I do appreciate you taking the time to address our questions here. I will probably be in-bounds for Roosevelt, and I would like to consider it an option for my kids. But I would like to know what you and others at DCPS are doing to work on these areas.

DCPSschoolplanning wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a reputation for violence / unruly behavior at the school. Can you share any measures you've been tracking and what you're doing to create a better environment?

The scores are pretty abysmal. Why would someone with a capable child envision sending them there?

The purpose of the re-envisioning is to improve what Roosevelt has to offer students and parents. With a newly renovated building next fall and a multi-year roll-out of new academic and career training offerings, we want to make Roosevelt a high school more parents will choose. That kind of effort doesn't happen overnight. To see a more detailed explanation of proposed changes, you can take a look at the presentation we’ve been giving at community meetings:
https://reenvisioningroosevelt.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/december-2014_academic-proposal-for-community-input.pdf

As you look at the presentation, please feel free to pose questions or provide input by emailing us at andrew.katz-moses@dc.gov

That doesn't answer either question. Do you not see these as problems?

I'm not seeing a lot of focus on the math program on the PDF attached. Will calc be offered at all? Isn't that a fairly common offering at a public high school?

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:I really appreciate the DCPS School Planning team reaching out to DCUM users. I live in a neighborhood that will be inbounds for Roosevelt under the new boundaries accepted by Mayor Gray (whether this will continue to be true under Mayor Bowser remains to be seen). Several months ago, I started a discussion here about what it would take for Roosevelt to attract families like mine. A recurring theme of that discussion was that parents wanted assurance that the academic opportunities offered at Wilson would also be available at Roosevelt.

It seems that there is a "chicken and egg" problem when trying to develop a school. The per-pupil funding mechanism means that a school with low enrollment cannot offer a variety of classes due to insufficient funding and not enough students to fill those classes. But, without appealing programming, the school cannot attract a large number of new students. Has there been thought to utilizing an alternative approach to funding so that a "build it and they will come" approach to programming can be introduced? In other words, promise to offer a specific portfolio of classes such as languages and advanced math and science regardless of whether enrollment in those classes is only one or two students for the first couple of years.

Thanks again for initiating this discussion.

Agreed, it's a really positive sign that DCPS is initiating these discussions. Good on them for recognizing that while this may be a subset of DC parents, its the biggest online community.

My question si around projections- how many students are you projecting at Roosevelt for the first few years? As Jeff said, the chicken and egg problem is real, and it seems to me that getting significant enrollment the first few years is key- if you don't get it then you could go into a death spiral. What things have been done at other newly renovated schools to boost enrollment?

This question has come up a fair amount in our community meetings. The Roosevelt Re-envisioning, and a focus on improving DCPS high schools in general, is a top priority for Chancellor Kaya Henderson. We are exploring a number of creative ways to fund the new programming and will have updates once we have finalized the academic program plan (with community input) and corresponding budget needs.

Anonymous wrote:There's a reputation for violence / unruly behavior at the school. Can you share any measures you've been tracking and what you're doing to create a better environment?

The scores are pretty abysmal. Why would someone with a capable child envision sending them there?

The purpose of the re-envisioning is to improve what Roosevelt has to offer students and parents. With a newly renovated building next fall and a multi-year roll-out of new academic and career training offerings, we want to make Roosevelt a high school more parents will choose. That kind of effort doesn't happen overnight. To see a more detailed explanation of proposed changes, you can take a look at the presentation we’ve been giving at community meetings:
https://reenvisioningroosevelt.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/december-2014_academic-proposal-for-community-input1.pdf

As you look at the presentation, please feel free to pose questions or provide input by emailing us at andrew.katz-moses@dc.gov

What Jeff Steele said with regard to Roosevelt also applies equally to Brookland Middle, though it is more urgent to resolve there since the school is opening in August and th lottery is opening this month, with unanswered questions.

Thanks for reaching out. It is hard for parents to get to community meetings!

Tell us where things stand now on dual-language programming. This is a crucial attractor.

jsteele wrote:I really appreciate the DCPS School Planning team reaching out to DCUM users. I live in a neighborhood that will be inbounds for Roosevelt under the new boundaries accepted by Mayor Gray (whether this will continue to be true under Mayor Bowser remains to be seen). Several months ago, I started a discussion here about what it would take for Roosevelt to attract families like mine. A recurring theme of that discussion was that parents wanted assurance that the academic opportunities offered at Wilson would also be available at Roosevelt.

It seems that there is a "chicken and egg" problem when trying to develop a school. The per-pupil funding mechanism means that a school with low enrollment cannot offer a variety of classes due to insufficient funding and not enough students to fill those classes. But, without appealing programming, the school cannot attract a large number of new students. Has there been thought to utilizing an alternative approach to funding so that a "build it and they will come" approach to programming can be introduced? In other words, promise to offer a specific portfolio of classes such as languages and advanced math and science regardless of whether enrollment in those classes is only one or two students for the first couple of years.

Thanks again for initiating this discussion.

Agreed, it's a really positive sign that DCPS is initiating these discussions. Good on them for recognizing that while this may be a subset of DC parents, its the biggest online community.

My question si around projections- how many students are you projecting at Roosevelt for the first few years? As Jeff said, the chicken and egg problem is real, and it seems to me that getting significant enrollment the first few years is key- if you don't get it then you could go into a death spiral. What things have been done at other newly renovated schools to boost enrollment?

I really appreciate the DCPS School Planning team reaching out to DCUM users. I live in a neighborhood that will be inbounds for Roosevelt under the new boundaries accepted by Mayor Gray (whether this will continue to be true under Mayor Bowser remains to be seen). Several months ago, I started a discussion here about what it would take for Roosevelt to attract families like mine. A recurring theme of that discussion was that parents wanted assurance that the academic opportunities offered at Wilson would also be available at Roosevelt.

It seems that there is a "chicken and egg" problem when trying to develop a school. The per-pupil funding mechanism means that a school with low enrollment cannot offer a variety of classes due to insufficient funding and not enough students to fill those classes. But, without appealing programming, the school cannot attract a large number of new students. Has there been thought to utilizing an alternative approach to funding so that a "build it and they will come" approach to programming can be introduced? In other words, promise to offer a specific portfolio of classes such as languages and advanced math and science regardless of whether enrollment in those classes is only one or two students for the first couple of years.

Thanks again for initiating this discussion.

There's a reputation for violence / unruly behavior at the school. Can you share any measures you've been tracking and what you're doing to create a better environment?

The scores are pretty abysmal. Why would someone with a capable child envision sending them there?

Hi DC Urban Moms and Dads!

We’re writing to you from DC Public Schools Central Office on the School Planning and Implementation Team. We were inspired by a recent thread here on Brookland Middle School (opening Fall 2015) to give people an opportunity to ask some questions and give feedback on the school planning process.

This thread will focus on the Re-envisioning Roosevelt High School project. If you have questions/comments about Roosevelt’s academic programming, career pathways, or anything else Roosevelt, we’ll be checking in here today and tomorrow to try to answer any questions you may have.

Roosevelt blog: http://reenvisioningroosevelt.wordpress.com/

If you’re interested in discussing Brookland Middle School or Van Ness Elementary, check out the threads below:

Brookland: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/431504.page#6068516
Van Ness: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/0/431507.page#6068521