Anonymous
Post 03/11/2014 23:03     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
FS boundaries are big. Cover Foggy Bottom, West End, DuPont, parts of Adams Morgan, Logan and areas as far east as 6th st nw.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2014 22:55     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
yes - the HS is an application only school- open to all wards. Can't say about demographics in Foggy Bottom but I can say that based on my years in DCPS, they pay no attention to demographics when making decisions.
Anonymous
Post 03/11/2014 14:49     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
This "plan" seems crazy. Isn't one a magnet school requiring academic testing to get it, and the other a neighborhood school with very few in-boundary kids in attendance. I know FS attracts a lot in the PS because it is one of the very few such programs in the area, but how is there retention rate? Are the projected demographics change in Foggy Bottom sufficient to justify this as a neighhborhood middle school?
Anonymous
Post 03/10/2014 09:16     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
06:16 Private schools have Heads of School or Principals for every division- lower, middle and upper and they have authority to make decisions and run the school. The arrangement here is not working. The Associate Principals or Assistant Principals don't have authority and decisions are constantly changing. These are 2 very different schools. Just think of how well it turned out when one principal tried to run Hardy and an ES in Georgetown (can't remember which one.)
Anonymous
Post 03/10/2014 08:42     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
But why do they have two assistant principals in the first place? Why is this preferable to one principal? F-S could have a special "management team" to do the job, but that wouldn't make it a good idea.
Anonymous
Post 03/10/2014 07:11     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Folks need to give this a chance. With the changing demographics of the inner NW SWW@FS has the chance to become an attractive PS-8 option. There is no reason this should harm the SWW HS.


Not true. The HS needs a full time principal- there are close to 600 students in the HS. Not a single other HS in the city runs without a full time principal. DCPS and the principal keep pushing to split the HS campus and send some students to FS. The principal's proposal is to split the junior class and send half to FS on alternating days. This crazy idea is not supported by the HS community- faculty, students or parents. DCPS agreed to hold off on sending students to FS this year and now next year, but they will not make it permanent. It means the HS will keep fighting to prevent this from happening. The budgets are shared- even though DCPS said they would be split this year. If FS does not meet its enrollment projections, the HS would be affected by those cuts or forced to take more students to make up the $. Right now all FS students have to test in to the HS just like every other student in the city, but who's to say that will last. The merger is not good for the HS- not at all.
Why is it a problem to have one principal for a PS-12 school? The most sought after private schools in the country do it. A 550 student high school is small. With a good team including assistant principals managing FS + SWW shouldn't be a problem.


Agree - SWW@FS has two assistant principals, which helps operations run smoothly even though the principal splits his time between campuses.
Anonymous
Post 03/10/2014 06:16     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Folks need to give this a chance. With the changing demographics of the inner NW SWW@FS has the chance to become an attractive PS-8 option. There is no reason this should harm the SWW HS.


Not true. The HS needs a full time principal- there are close to 600 students in the HS. Not a single other HS in the city runs without a full time principal. DCPS and the principal keep pushing to split the HS campus and send some students to FS. The principal's proposal is to split the junior class and send half to FS on alternating days. This crazy idea is not supported by the HS community- faculty, students or parents. DCPS agreed to hold off on sending students to FS this year and now next year, but they will not make it permanent. It means the HS will keep fighting to prevent this from happening. The budgets are shared- even though DCPS said they would be split this year. If FS does not meet its enrollment projections, the HS would be affected by those cuts or forced to take more students to make up the $. Right now all FS students have to test in to the HS just like every other student in the city, but who's to say that will last. The merger is not good for the HS- not at all.
Why is it a problem to have one principal for a PS-12 school? The most sought after private schools in the country do it. A 550 student high school is small. With a good team including assistant principals managing FS + SWW shouldn't be a problem.
Anonymous
Post 03/09/2014 23:26     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
It should be a big story as an example of rampant mismanagement. I don't kids at either, but it just sounds so illogical.
Anonymous
Post 03/09/2014 23:24     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Folks need to give this a chance. With the changing demographics of the inner NW SWW@FS has the chance to become an attractive PS-8 option. There is no reason this should harm the SWW HS.


Not true. The HS needs a full time principal- there are close to 600 students in the HS. Not a single other HS in the city runs without a full time principal. DCPS and the principal keep pushing to split the HS campus and send some students to FS. The principal's proposal is to split the junior class and send half to FS on alternating days. This crazy idea is not supported by the HS community- faculty, students or parents. DCPS agreed to hold off on sending students to FS this year and now next year, but they will not make it permanent. It means the HS will keep fighting to prevent this from happening. The budgets are shared- even though DCPS said they would be split this year. If FS does not meet its enrollment projections, the HS would be affected by those cuts or forced to take more students to make up the $. Right now all FS students have to test in to the HS just like every other student in the city, but who's to say that will last. The merger is not good for the HS- not at all.


Who in DCPS is responsible for this decision? Kaya? Someone else? The whole thing seems such a clusterf*ck. I guess it's not a big WPost story because it only involves a few hundred kids.
Anonymous
Post 03/09/2014 15:26     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
Anonymous wrote:Folks need to give this a chance. With the changing demographics of the inner NW SWW@FS has the chance to become an attractive PS-8 option. There is no reason this should harm the SWW HS.


Not true. The HS needs a full time principal- there are close to 600 students in the HS. Not a single other HS in the city runs without a full time principal. DCPS and the principal keep pushing to split the HS campus and send some students to FS. The principal's proposal is to split the junior class and send half to FS on alternating days. This crazy idea is not supported by the HS community- faculty, students or parents. DCPS agreed to hold off on sending students to FS this year and now next year, but they will not make it permanent. It means the HS will keep fighting to prevent this from happening. The budgets are shared- even though DCPS said they would be split this year. If FS does not meet its enrollment projections, the HS would be affected by those cuts or forced to take more students to make up the $. Right now all FS students have to test in to the HS just like every other student in the city, but who's to say that will last. The merger is not good for the HS- not at all.
Anonymous
Post 03/09/2014 11:05     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
It is not smart to divert the attention of a magnet school principal.

Simple.
Anonymous
Post 03/09/2014 10:43     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Folks need to give this a chance. With the changing demographics of the inner NW SWW@FS has the chance to become an attractive PS-8 option. There is no reason this should harm the SWW HS.


High schools need a full time principal, including Walls.


What was the purpose behind the merger in the first place? I can't think of any good reason to combine two schools when they aren't on the same campus. Splitting a principal between two locations is double-dumb. Please, someone explain to me one or two perspectives why this might make sense to relieve me of my impression of the decision.
Anonymous
Post 03/08/2014 20:31     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
Anonymous wrote:Folks need to give this a chance. With the changing demographics of the inner NW SWW@FS has the chance to become an attractive PS-8 option. There is no reason this should harm the SWW HS.


High schools need a full time principal, including Walls.
Anonymous
Post 03/08/2014 19:57     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
Anonymous wrote:Folks need to give this a chance. With the changing demographics of the inner NW SWW@FS has the chance to become an attractive PS-8 option. There is no reason this should harm the SWW HS.


+1
Anonymous
Post 03/08/2014 19:56     Subject: School Without Walls @ Francis-Stevens
Folks need to give this a chance. With the changing demographics of the inner NW SWW@FS has the chance to become an attractive PS-8 option. There is no reason this should harm the SWW HS.