If you want to get involved in this conversation IRL, please email ShawAtBanneker@gmail.com

Or you Ward’s education council, links here: http://www.c4dcpublicschools.org/

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please explain why the Garnett-Patterson site was never considered for a Shaw Middle School?

It’s in Shaw. Just a few blocks north of New Banneker. Why wasn’t it considered?

It was considered, just not chosen. There is a middle school already with plenty of capacity for the feeder schools--no need to build a new building. Some people don't like that it's co-located with a high school (though some of them seemed totally fine with co-locating with Banneker, undermining that argument). Some said it was too far away (but it really is not far for a middle schooler and many would travel even further to school if they moved or did charters). Some felt the Cardozo principal was uninterested in middle school (which seems legit but the solution then is getting a middle school principal and not building a new middle school). And some didn't like that the Cardozo test scores are low, but there's no reason to think that a new building would change that.

Can someone please explain why the Garnett-Patterson site was never considered for a Shaw Middle School?

It’s in Shaw. Just a few blocks north of New Banneker. Why wasn’t it considered?

The easiest ask is to get Cardozo middle school its own principal. That is so much cheaper than building and staffing a new school. Then work with that principal to get the grade level/advanced classes and extracurriculars. Raise money for the school. Help recruit great teachers. Have a good social-emotional curriculum and discipline program.

Step 2: Get Francis-Stevens to just be PK3-5 and move the middle schoolers to Cardozo, along with the best middle school teachers there. This makes the Cardozo feeder pattern much stronger by adding Ross, Thomson, and SWW (which could send more kids each year if the school had larger elementary grades). A school with 6 feeders (though Ross is tiny and Cleveland's dual-language track has right to MacFarland, so it's more like 5 schools) is big enough to offer a decent range of classes, athletics, arts, etc. It would also help SWW and Francis Stevens....it is absolutely absurd that there is a single principal handling PK3-12 on two different campuses, one with a boundary and one city-wide and selective.

There is activity by a group trying to push this forward, however, they are set on trying to get the Shaw Middle School at the Banneker site. The reason being that they want this done ASAP (like to start next school year, or possibly the year after since it's probably too late for next year). I think this is short-sighted. That location is way too far away for many of the feeder schools, and not in the best neighborhood- that's not going to attract the UMC families that are starting to stay beyond 2nd grade and encourage them to stay through middle.

There are several other locations that would be better.

I was just thinking yesterday, they should have combined Seaton and Garrison into one of the two buildings, and made the other one a middle school (would need to add floors, obviously). The schools are so close together and central to the feeder schools.

Anonymous wrote:It would be great if DCPS built a new middle school to serve the mid-town schools. Students from Marie Reed (English Only Track), Thomson, Ross, Garrison, ,SWW at Francis Stevens and Seaton would all benefit.

It would be great if everyone attended the DCPS middle schools that already serve these areas.

Until Cardozo and Macfarland is at capacity, this shouldn’t even be discussed any more. First thing that needs to be addressed is over crowding in WOTP. They need new middle before Shaw.

OP, is there a reason you’re bringing this up now? You must be aware of the long discussions about this.

Why not call it Cardozo Middle School, give it its own principal, and have it include Seaton, Garrison, Cleveland, SWW @ FS (which could be PK3-5 and get its own principal), Ross, and Thomson?

Basically all the current Carzozo and SWW feeder elementaries, with more kids coming from SWW because it would have room for another classroom per grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They could call it "Shaw Junior High School." Only question would be where to put it.

People tried to get a new middle school for Shaw. It was shut down so that Banneker could expand. It’s obvious where DCPS’s priority is.

And that building was called "Shaw Junior High School." I was trying to be sarcastic but I guess it was too subtle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They could call it "Shaw Junior High School." Only question would be where to put it.

Maybe the old Garnett-Patterson building. That location would make the most sense.

Is this a joke? We had about 10 million posts on Ward 1 middle schools last year.


(Also I am with you: why was the old Garnett-Patterson never considered for a Shaw Middle School?!?!?!?)

Anonymous wrote:They could call it "Shaw Junior High School." Only question would be where to put it.

People tried to get a new middle school for Shaw. It was shut down so that Banneker could expand. It’s obvious where DCPS’s priority is.

Anonymous wrote:They could call it "Shaw Junior High School." Only question would be where to put it.

Maybe the old Garnett-Patterson building. That location would make the most sense.

They could call it "Shaw Junior High School." Only question would be where to put it.

It would be great if DCPS built a new middle school to serve the mid-town schools. Students from Marie Reed (English Only Track), Thomson, Ross, Garrison, ,SWW at Francis Stevens and Seaton would all benefit.