Anonymous wrote:It seems really costly to buy a huge building and then not use for several years.

Welcome to DC.

It seems really costly to buy a huge building and then not use for several years.

Is DCPS going to tell families who is going to have to go to the new schools? Or are they going to wait until after the 2022 election?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just visited Hardy Park and it is lovely.

Is there a map of where the new school would go? Would they pull up the basketball and tennis courts? Or put it on the just-renovated park?

The schematics that DCPS put forward had the new school on the embankment between the blacktop and the soccer fields and on the basketball court (which would then become an indoor court). The blacktop was included in LAB's lease, but is effectively idle space and so the school could be built there if LAB agrees (which I don't expect them to as their interests are diametrically opposed to improving public school options in the neighborhood).

Any space for teacher parking?

There's a lot of parking at the ex-GDS site (MacArthur MS/HS). I'd imagine the plan is to have Foxhall ES teachers and staff park there and walk up.

That was discussed in the Community Working Group and DCPS seemed amenable to it.

Their original position was that the GDS site had too much parking for a public school and some of the parking needed to be removed.

The corollary of that should be that it doesn't have enough public transit options.
We also need school buses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just visited Hardy Park and it is lovely.

Is there a map of where the new school would go? Would they pull up the basketball and tennis courts? Or put it on the just-renovated park?

The schematics that DCPS put forward had the new school on the embankment between the blacktop and the soccer fields and on the basketball court (which would then become an indoor court). The blacktop was included in LAB's lease, but is effectively idle space and so the school could be built there if LAB agrees (which I don't expect them to as their interests are diametrically opposed to improving public school options in the neighborhood).

I've read the Lab lease and the basketball court is not part of it. However, there is a long history of Lab claiming more than their lease allows and the city acceding to them.

Not the basketball court but the parking lot between the Old Hardy building and the tree-lined embankment. There is a "private property" sign on the entrance along Foxhall Rd., so LAB is definitely claiming it.

The parking lot is part of the lease. The latest lease gives DCPS the right to take back up to 20% of the site. Nobody seems to know what that means but the parking lot would be a safe bet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just visited Hardy Park and it is lovely.

Is there a map of where the new school would go? Would they pull up the basketball and tennis courts? Or put it on the just-renovated park?

The schematics that DCPS put forward had the new school on the embankment between the blacktop and the soccer fields and on the basketball court (which would then become an indoor court). The blacktop was included in LAB's lease, but is effectively idle space and so the school could be built there if LAB agrees (which I don't expect them to as their interests are diametrically opposed to improving public school options in the neighborhood).

I've read the Lab lease and the basketball court is not part of it. However, there is a long history of Lab claiming more than their lease allows and the city acceding to them.

Not the basketball court but the parking lot between the Old Hardy building and the tree-lined embankment. There is a "private property" sign on the entrance along Foxhall Rd., so LAB is definitely claiming it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just visited Hardy Park and it is lovely.

Is there a map of where the new school would go? Would they pull up the basketball and tennis courts? Or put it on the just-renovated park?

The schematics that DCPS put forward had the new school on the embankment between the blacktop and the soccer fields and on the basketball court (which would then become an indoor court). The blacktop was included in LAB's lease, but is effectively idle space and so the school could be built there if LAB agrees (which I don't expect them to as their interests are diametrically opposed to improving public school options in the neighborhood).

Any space for teacher parking?

There's a lot of parking at the ex-GDS site (MacArthur MS/HS). I'd imagine the plan is to have Foxhall ES teachers and staff park there and walk up.

That was discussed in the Community Working Group and DCPS seemed amenable to it.

Their original position was that the GDS site had too much parking for a public school and some of the parking needed to be removed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just visited Hardy Park and it is lovely.

Is there a map of where the new school would go? Would they pull up the basketball and tennis courts? Or put it on the just-renovated park?

The schematics that DCPS put forward had the new school on the embankment between the blacktop and the soccer fields and on the basketball court (which would then become an indoor court). The blacktop was included in LAB's lease, but is effectively idle space and so the school could be built there if LAB agrees (which I don't expect them to as their interests are diametrically opposed to improving public school options in the neighborhood).

I've read the Lab lease and the basketball court is not part of it. However, there is a long history of Lab claiming more than their lease allows and the city acceding to them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just visited Hardy Park and it is lovely.

Is there a map of where the new school would go? Would they pull up the basketball and tennis courts? Or put it on the just-renovated park?

The schematics that DCPS put forward had the new school on the embankment between the blacktop and the soccer fields and on the basketball court (which would then become an indoor court). The blacktop was included in LAB's lease, but is effectively idle space and so the school could be built there if LAB agrees (which I don't expect them to as their interests are diametrically opposed to improving public school options in the neighborhood).

Any space for teacher parking?

There's a lot of parking at the ex-GDS site (MacArthur MS/HS). I'd imagine the plan is to have Foxhall ES teachers and staff park there and walk up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just visited Hardy Park and it is lovely.

Is there a map of where the new school would go? Would they pull up the basketball and tennis courts? Or put it on the just-renovated park?

The schematics that DCPS put forward had the new school on the embankment between the blacktop and the soccer fields and on the basketball court (which would then become an indoor court). The blacktop was included in LAB's lease, but is effectively idle space and so the school could be built there if LAB agrees (which I don't expect them to as their interests are diametrically opposed to improving public school options in the neighborhood).

Any space for teacher parking?

Anonymous wrote:Just visited Hardy Park and it is lovely.

Is there a map of where the new school would go? Would they pull up the basketball and tennis courts? Or put it on the just-renovated park?

The schematics that DCPS put forward had the new school on the embankment between the blacktop and the soccer fields and on the basketball court (which would then become an indoor court). The blacktop was included in LAB's lease, but is effectively idle space and so the school could be built there if LAB agrees (which I don't expect them to as their interests are diametrically opposed to improving public school options in the neighborhood).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are going to build the new elementary school though they need to address first the overcrowding at Wilson. It is so crowded kids can't even take as many classes as they want among a host of other problems. A new elementary school means bringing in many more students both in boundary and out of boundary. Im totally for that but the whole system needs to be resolved and the new high school they might create will not even resolve the overcrowding.

In 2019 the Crowding Working Group found that west of Rock Creek there needed to be two new elementary schools, a middle school and a high school by 2026. If a new high school is added the obvious move is to take Hardy out of Wilson -- which means the new high school has to be within the Hardy boundaries. In order to attract students the new middle school has to be within the Deal boundaries, and probably to the north and west of Deal. One elementary school needs to be added in each of the Hardy and Deal feeder patterns, one about where Foxhall is and one close to Lafayette.

In the meantime, adding an elementary at Foxhall won't help Wilson -- it hurts actually -- but I do think it will take some pressure off of Deal. Adding a new high school at MacArthur that is fed by Hardy takes a lot of pressure off of Wilson. But there's still work to be done.

This probably will never happen, but they should think proactively and include a new elementary school on the site of the Chevy Chase Community Center on Connecticut, which is city-owned land and is slated to be redeveloped. They could fit a new school, library and community center on that site simply by putting that wasteful parking lot underground. This would relieve pressure on Lafayette -- which seemingly is going to lose its PK because of overcrowding -- while also placating the Lafayette Karens who wouldn't dare send their kids to a school across the park near Black and Brown kids.

Just visited Hardy Park and it is lovely.

Is there a map of where the new school would go? Would they pull up the basketball and tennis courts? Or put it on the just-renovated park?

Anonymous wrote:If they are going to build the new elementary school though they need to address first the overcrowding at Wilson. It is so crowded kids can't even take as many classes as they want among a host of other problems. A new elementary school means bringing in many more students both in boundary and out of boundary. Im totally for that but the whole system needs to be resolved and the new high school they might create will not even resolve the overcrowding.

In 2019 the Crowding Working Group found that west of Rock Creek there needed to be two new elementary schools, a middle school and a high school by 2026. If a new high school is added the obvious move is to take Hardy out of Wilson -- which means the new high school has to be within the Hardy boundaries. In order to attract students the new middle school has to be within the Deal boundaries, and probably to the north and west of Deal. One elementary school needs to be added in each of the Hardy and Deal feeder patterns, one about where Foxhall is and one close to Lafayette.

In the meantime, adding an elementary at Foxhall won't help Wilson -- it hurts actually -- but I do think it will take some pressure off of Deal. Adding a new high school at MacArthur that is fed by Hardy takes a lot of pressure off of Wilson. But there's still work to be done.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of us in the feeder pattern would really like to know what is happening so that we can move forward and make plans for the future. DCPS’s inability to make a decision is not inspiring confidence, especially coming off of the disastrous pandemic performance. I don’t understand the previous poster who seems to hold DCPS to low/ no standards.

Just curious, what outcomes change things for you?

Making decisions about real estate/ moving. We’ve had a really great experience at one elementary school but our feeder pattern will probably change for our younger children. Also our middle/ high school may change. We are considering a larger house and depending how this shakes out we may head over the border (or the river).