Yes, they need to give up on the MS issue, and yes there are so many issues.

Anonymous wrote:I am not really aware of any issues at Chisholm (the principal is great etc.), but I am unconvinced adding grades 6-8 would necessarily be the great success younger parents think it would be. A lot of kids are by middle school ready for a larger school and all the sports and extracurricular options that come with that.

Is the Special Ed coordinator/LEA rep still DD? If yes, there's an issue. A huge one.

The MS thing is not going to happen, but its a good school for elementary. My kids has been happy there, including the upper grades.

I am not really aware of any issues at Chisholm (the principal is great etc.), but I am unconvinced adding grades 6-8 would necessarily be the great success younger parents think it would be. A lot of kids are by middle school ready for a larger school and all the sports and extracurricular options that come with that.

Agreed. I don’t think it will happen. I heard the school has issues, which they probably need to fix?

I am also somewhat skeptical about the middle school extension at Chisholm actually happening. But there are signs up all over the Chisholm boundary advocating for it right now which is very interesting. It is a very weird boundary middle school wise. Jefferson is pretty far from Chisholm, not on the Hill, and the city even cut the Circulator. DCI is very far away from Chisholm and not really an option anymore because Chisholm is not a feeder. The English sister school option for kids in the boundary is Payne which feeds to EH. Chisholm students scatter all over the place for middle school.

Anyone attend the school? Considering it, but I don't think this middle school would happen. How are the upper grades?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems a lot easier to make sure there's a higher-level Spanish class at EH than to build a whole separate middle school. Or focus on getting Bancroft and Oyster to feed into MacFarland and Roosevelt and then Chisholm families will be more excited to have that as a feeder.

Chisholm feeds to Jefferson, but yes more robust DL options at Jefferson is a possible option that Chisholm families might like and I think is included in this advocacy.

Oyster has a middle school. MacFarland is an hour away from Chisholm by public transit, and anywhere from 25-45-minute drive depending on traffic. It's not about being "excited" to have it as a feeder - it's that it is not a realistic option for the vast majority of Chisholm families.

Jefferson is adding more Spanish options next year in order to be responsive to Chisholm families’ needs. I think 6th graders next year will be able to take both advanced Spanish as well as a Spanish-language humanities class. It isn’t a full DL program, but I understand it’s more robust than what EH or SH is offering (since they don’t have the same feeder pattern).

Anonymous wrote:It seems a lot easier to make sure there's a higher-level Spanish class at EH than to build a whole separate middle school. Or focus on getting Bancroft and Oyster to feed into MacFarland and Roosevelt and then Chisholm families will be more excited to have that as a feeder.

Chisholm feeds to Jefferson, but yes more robust DL options at Jefferson is a possible option that Chisholm families might like and I think is included in this advocacy.

Oyster has a middle school. MacFarland is an hour away from Chisholm by public transit, and anywhere from 25-45-minute drive depending on traffic. It's not about being "excited" to have it as a feeder - it's that it is not a realistic option for the vast majority of Chisholm families.

It seems a lot easier to make sure there's a higher-level Spanish class at EH than to build a whole separate middle school. Or focus on getting Bancroft and Oyster to feed into MacFarland and Roosevelt and then Chisholm families will be more excited to have that as a feeder.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure I love the idea of creating a dual language MS on the Hill. Wouldn't this gut any forward momentum the other DCPS Hill MS are building?

In addition to the points raised above, students can’t just choose to go to a dual-language school in middle school (or even upper elementary) — they have to test in by showing language proficiency. So while there would certainly be some students who could pass that test, most students who would be SH- or EH-bound would have to stick to that path.

Also the middle schools in dc are barely making enrollment.

I don’t think the middle school will happen by three years. I think they are trying to use it for retention efforts but realistic they don’t have teachers to teacher (enough spanish) after the immersion. Applaud parents efforts but it’s not going to fly in three years.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure I love the idea of creating a dual language MS on the Hill. Wouldn't this gut any forward momentum the other DCPS Hill MS are building?

Doubt it. Chisholm feeds to Jefferson. The forward momentum you see on the Hill is more focused on SH and EH. Several of the other middle school options (DCI, Oyster-Adams, CHEC) are over-enrolled. And there are a number of dual language schools in/around that would love the option of a more realistic path for middle school dual language (think Houston ES in Ward 7, Global Citizens, even EW Stokes EE and Mundo Verde when DCI inevitably cannot accommodate all feeder students in a few years). I'd argue that doesn't take away from the growth you're seeing at SH and EH. As an alternative to a dedicated school, I think the parents expressed an interest in Jefferson having a DL track. Maybe another possibility that (still) wouldn't stunt the forward progression of other Capitol Hill middle schools.

I'm not sure I love the idea of creating a dual language MS on the Hill. Wouldn't this gut any forward momentum the other DCPS Hill MS are building?