Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Mayor can now say schools are open and kids are back. Doesn’t matter
for how many. There won’t be another push for term 4.

But there should be. I have three kids. Only 1 is going to in person classes for one class a week. Granted they are at Deal & Wilson which have overcrowding issues. But, if Murch can get all the kids back in for two days of the week - I expect a lot more from them!

I did read that they weren't feeling that much pressure yet to reopen. So, if you want it - apply some pressure.

Mayor Bowser:
Website: http://murielformayor.com/
Address: John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202 - 724 - 2643
muriel.bowser@dc.gov

DCPS Chancellor - Lewis Ferebee - lewis.ferebee@dc.gov

DC Council
I was going to put the council member in charge of Education Committee but did you know they eliminated that in January? It's now in the Committe of the Whole which Mendelson Chairs and everyone is on. Good? Bad?
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/504726/mendelson-announces-new-dc-council-committee-assignments/

Anyway - email Mendelson and your council member!

Phil Mendelson: pmendelson@dccouncil.us
Anita Bonds (At Large): abonds@dccouncil.us
Elissa Silverman (At Large): esilverman@dccouncil.us
Robert White (At Large): rwhite@dccouncil.us
Christina Henderson(At Large): chenderson@dccouncil.us
Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1): bnadeau@dccouncil.us
Brooke Pinto (Ward 2): bpinto@dccouncil.us
Mary Cheh (Ward 3): mcheh@dccouncil.us
Janeese Lewis George (Ward 4): jlewisgeorge@dccouncil.us
Kenyan McDuffie (Ward 5): kmcduffie@dccouncil.us
Charles Allen (Ward 6): callen@dccouncil.us
Vincent Gray (Ward 7): vgray@dccouncil.us
Trayon White (Ward 8): twhite@dccouncil.us

Thank you for posting these. Indeed some advocacy is needed especially in the hopes for a normal fall where everyone can go back. I also think that for those who have the motivation that there should be advocacy for Term 4. Having more students come in for Term 4 could help to move things in the right direction. My impression is that some of these issues depend on the principal. At my child's school the principal seems to be very negative on reopening whereas I think that the principal could have achieved a Murch or Key-scale reopening. I hope that plans for Term 4 will be to expand hybrid, but with the cohorts of ten children full-time occupying one classroom per grade level I don't see how they can make the numbers work for an expansion. If there is no significant advocacy for the fall, I believe that it may be hybrid. Some unions are calling for all children to be vaccinated and may continue to want some teachers to be exempt.from in person teaching for ADA accommodations. I believe that the fall will continue to be a hodge-podge of different reopening plans per state depending on who has advocated, and am concerned that there is no concerted advocacy for reopening in dc.

It's February. How can we predict what April will look like? Without clear metrics for opening in a more expanded way, how can we even begin to predict?

I'd LOVE it if my kid could get some in-person days in this school year, but unfortunately, we all have to make sacrifices. Hopefully in April, vaccine measures will have kicked in and we will have less community spread. Without clear metrics on community spread levels, I'm concerned that we will be making ad hoc decisions on what's safe, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Mayor can now say schools are open and kids are back. Doesn’t matter
for how many. There won’t be another push for term 4.

But there should be. I have three kids. Only 1 is going to in person classes for one class a week. Granted they are at Deal & Wilson which have overcrowding issues. But, if Murch can get all the kids back in for two days of the week - I expect a lot more from them!

I did read that they weren't feeling that much pressure yet to reopen. So, if you want it - apply some pressure.

Mayor Bowser:
Website: http://murielformayor.com/
Address: John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202 - 724 - 2643
muriel.bowser@dc.gov

DCPS Chancellor - Lewis Ferebee - lewis.ferebee@dc.gov

DC Council
I was going to put the council member in charge of Education Committee but did you know they eliminated that in January? It's now in the Committe of the Whole which Mendelson Chairs and everyone is on. Good? Bad?
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/504726/mendelson-announces-new-dc-council-committee-assignments/

Anyway - email Mendelson and your council member!

Phil Mendelson: pmendelson@dccouncil.us
Anita Bonds (At Large): abonds@dccouncil.us
Elissa Silverman (At Large): esilverman@dccouncil.us
Robert White (At Large): rwhite@dccouncil.us
Christina Henderson(At Large): chenderson@dccouncil.us
Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1): bnadeau@dccouncil.us
Brooke Pinto (Ward 2): bpinto@dccouncil.us
Mary Cheh (Ward 3): mcheh@dccouncil.us
Janeese Lewis George (Ward 4): jlewisgeorge@dccouncil.us
Kenyan McDuffie (Ward 5): kmcduffie@dccouncil.us
Charles Allen (Ward 6): callen@dccouncil.us
Vincent Gray (Ward 7): vgray@dccouncil.us
Trayon White (Ward 8): twhite@dccouncil.us

You absolutely cannot compare Murch to Deal and Wilson. The complexity of middle and high school schedules is enormous. At Murch the kids have, at most, two teachers and they are a cohort. That isn’t how things work in MS and HS. The comparison is really unfair.

Our school has said “no more seats for term 4” as they don’t anticipate “anything changing.” I’m applying for privates. Never thought it’d come to this, but I honestly don’t think we will be back to 5-day/week school with before care and after care this fall.

I think our school will pursue expanding in term 4 if there is physical space. But frankly I no longer have the mental energy to worry or stress about what will happen with DCPS in Term 4 which is unfortunate. I am going to assume it will continue to be virtual for my child and concentrate on making that experience positive and productive for him. I'd rather the focus turn toward concrete plans for a full opening in the Fall across the city...things like vaccinations for all school staff and expanding the people per classroom restriction (since many schools have overcrowding issues which limit current in person numbers)...or whatever may be needed to guarantee as close to "normal" school as possible.

Anonymous wrote:Here is the thing..there are TONS of inperson slots available throughout the district. These are in schools where most of dcum would never send their kids. I wish bowser would let you go to a new school temporarily if you really want the in person spot. I’m pretty sure no one would take her up on it, but she should offer.

Yes! Agree. We are at a school where there are no more IPL slots. I would gladly drive somewhere else to get a half year of K in person. We are trying to get a meeting with our own principal to talk about options but to no avail. Not sure who the right person is to ask/suggest. Anyone know? I do have a feeling one barrier will be concern that the WOTP families are taking slots away from EOTP families, even though those slots are currently unused.

Anonymous wrote:The Mayor can now say schools are open and kids are back. Doesn’t matter
for how many. There won’t be another push for term 4.

But there should be. I have three kids. Only 1 is going to in person classes for one class a week. Granted they are at Deal & Wilson which have overcrowding issues. But, if Murch can get all the kids back in for two days of the week - I expect a lot more from them!

I did read that they weren't feeling that much pressure yet to reopen. So, if you want it - apply some pressure.

Mayor Bowser:
Website: http://murielformayor.com/
Address: John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202 - 724 - 2643
muriel.bowser@dc.gov

DCPS Chancellor - Lewis Ferebee - lewis.ferebee@dc.gov

DC Council
I was going to put the council member in charge of Education Committee but did you know they eliminated that in January? It's now in the Committe of the Whole which Mendelson Chairs and everyone is on. Good? Bad?
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/504726/mendelson-announces-new-dc-council-committee-assignments/

Anyway - email Mendelson and your council member!

Phil Mendelson: pmendelson@dccouncil.us
Anita Bonds (At Large): abonds@dccouncil.us
Elissa Silverman (At Large): esilverman@dccouncil.us
Robert White (At Large): rwhite@dccouncil.us
Christina Henderson(At Large): chenderson@dccouncil.us
Brianne Nadeau (Ward 1): bnadeau@dccouncil.us
Brooke Pinto (Ward 2): bpinto@dccouncil.us
Mary Cheh (Ward 3): mcheh@dccouncil.us
Janeese Lewis George (Ward 4): jlewisgeorge@dccouncil.us
Kenyan McDuffie (Ward 5): kmcduffie@dccouncil.us
Charles Allen (Ward 6): callen@dccouncil.us
Vincent Gray (Ward 7): vgray@dccouncil.us
Trayon White (Ward 8): twhite@dccouncil.us

The Mayor can now say schools are open and kids are back. Doesn’t matter
for how many. There won’t be another push for term 4.

Here is the thing..there are TONS of inperson slots available throughout the district. These are in schools where most of dcum would never send their kids. I wish bowser would let you go to a new school temporarily if you really want the in person spot. I’m pretty sure no one would take her up on it, but she should offer.

Our school has no more capacity thanks to renovations. I’m not thrilled with current caseloads, but took a spot because I felt like it was my kid’s only chance this year.

I think it largely depends on your school. Is there any more capacity for more cohorts? If not, that’s it. If there is...you may get some more seats in Term 4. But this is going to be a school by school thing. Not district wide

As a teacher, I’m not sure. There has been no talk of it yet but we have been so busy with re opening plans. I sincerely do think we will try to expand for term 4.

Seriously. I can’t effing believe my young kids will be out of school for 17 months.

What you see is what you get. This is it.

In her email "Thank you DCPS", the mayor states, "As we continue through the school year, look ahead to the summer, and prepare for the future, we look forward to eventually welcoming back all students." There do not seem to be concrete plans for how to bring back the rest of the students. I was lucky to get a hybrid spot for my child and can accommodate the half-day schedule. However, at least half of families at the school wanting to send children back were not able to secure a spot, and my other child's Middle School is offering nothing aside from CARE's classrooms. Does anyone have any intel about what Term Four will look like? Expanding hybrid to everyone seems challenging given that some teachers have welcomed back a ten person cohort of full-time learners (unless teachers were to simulcast the distance learners). I know that at at least one school hybrid was offered to everyone and 85 percent opted in. Does anyone have any intel about how Term 4 will take place? Were teachers asked to start thinking about or planning for Term 4 and will DCPS set another benchmark for how many more students to bring back?