Ward 6 State of the Schools

Guest post by Joe Weedon

Over the weekend, DCPS Interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson and several members of her senior leadership team joined Councilman Tommy Wells at Eastern High School to present and discuss the state of Ward 6 schools.

As Hill residents know, our public schools, at all levels, have undergone a dramatic transition over the past several years. There are currently waiting lists at six of the ten public elementary schools. The Capitol Hill community banded together to propose a plan to reform middle schools that was, largely, adopted by Chancellor Rhee and is being implemented by Chancellor Henderson. Eastern High School was remodeled and is scheduled to admit is first 300 students in the fall.

Despite all the progress we’ve seen, there are still a lot of questions about our public schools (and, judging from the discussion, especially about our middle schools). Saturday’s forum provided DCPS an opportunity to provide an overview of what they see happening in our neighborhood’s schools, what their next initiatives will be, and to hear from the community about ways they can improve.

Here’s what we learned about the State of our Schools:

Ward 6 schools are growing:

Ward 6 schools are growing faster than those in any other ward in the city. We have seen more than 700 new children enrolled in public schools over the past two years (and judging by the number of strollers around the neighborhood, more kids are on the way). The Chancellor and DCPS officials are also well aware of the growing demand and long waitlists, especially at the pre-school and pre-k levels, in Ward 6 schools.

The Chancellor noted that the Montessori program will be moved from the Cluster and reopen as ‘Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan’ in the fall. This will open up opportunities for the Cluster to admit additional students. DCPS is also closely monitoring demographic data and expect to re-open Van Ness Elementary School to help ensure adequate capacity at an appropriate time.

Ward 6 schools will see increased funding:

Ward 6 will see a $7.4 million increase in funding for the 2011-12 school year, more than any other ward in the city. While much of this increase can be attributed to an increase in enrollment across the ward and the re-opening of Eastern High School, a substantial portion is also due to specific DCPS initiatives designed to restructure and reform Ward 6 middle schools (discussed below).

With the re-opening of Eastern High School and the remodeling of Maury Elementary (slated for this summer), joining recently remodeled Brent Elementary and Tyler Elementary, Ward 6 will be home to multiple new, state of the art buildings. The Chancellor expressed a desire to ensure all classes are in great facilities and indicated support to ensure building improvements continue to move forward in accordance to the Facilities Master Plan.

Mayoral support:

In discussing the challenges that she faces in reforming the schools and bridging any political divides, Chancellor Henderson stressed that we “have more in common than we have different” and pledged to continue fighting to have “high-quality teachers in every classroom, great offerings in great buildings, and schools that are connected to the community that they serve.” The Chancellor stressed, on more than one occasion, that Mayor Gray has unequivocally supported her on-going efforts and that she expects him to “be out in front” on school reform.

Support for Middle School Reforms:

Chancellor Henderson and her staff discussed middle school reform in great detail. The Chancellor indicated that she, personally, left her public school system in New York to attend a private middle school before returning to her neighborhood public high school and that she is committed to ensuring that DCPS has quality middle school options for all students. Chancellor Henderson supports the on-going reforms embedded in the Ward 6 Middle School Plan that was originally developed by the Capitol Hill Public School Parent Organization and proposed to Chancellor Rhee.

Chancellor Henderson noted that “collaboration teams” have been formed for each of the Ward 6 middle schools. These teams, composed of middle school leadership and teachers as well as administrative, teacher and parent representatives from feeder schools, play a central role in advising middle school leadership and promoting community engagement at the middle schools. The Chancellor is planning to copy the middle school reform model developed in Ward 6 in other wards across the city.

Implementation of the Middle School Plan:

At Jefferson Middle School, the Chancellor has approved the hiring of a new principal who will begin in the fall overseeing the creation of a 6th Grade Academy. The current students will continue at the school under the current administration while the new school leadership builds the school one year at a time. Through the Academy, Jefferson will be able to develop a new culture and begin the implementation of a new academic program.

At Eliot-Hine Middle School, the implementation of an IB curriculum is moving forward as scheduled. The school has formally requested to become an IB candidate school and is moving towards full accreditation over the next 2-3 years. DCPS has guaranteed support for a full-time IB Coordinator throughout the accreditation process and training for key leadership at the school is to begin over the summer. The DCPS IB team plans to meet with the Eliot-Hine Collaboration Team at the end of May and schedule public information sessions during the summer months.

Eastern High School:

Chancellor Henderson sees Eastern High School as the pride of the DC public high schools. The recently renovated building will open to 300 freshman in the fall. By opening with only freshman students, the Chancellor believes the school will develop a new identity and will be able to ensure a strong academic program for all its students.

Academic Rigor:

The next challenge for DCPS, in Chancellor Henderson’s view, is to increase academic rigor. The Chancellor is strongly supportive of the adoption of the Common Core Standards and plans to have consistent, rigorous curriculum, designed to ensure students are meeting the new standards, in all DCPS schools by the end of the 2013-14 school year.

At the earliest grades, DCPS will begin implementing “Tools of the Mind,” a research-based early childhood program that builds strong foundations for school success in preschool and kindergarten children by promoting their intentional and self-regulated learning. DCPS plans to roll out new curriculum for English in the 2011-12 school year for students in grades 3 and above. The new mathematics curriculum will be the last to be implemented, beginning in the 2012-13 school year.

Additionally, there will be changes made to DC CAS to ensure it is a reliable measure of academic success against the new standards. Some testing will occur earlier in the year enabling teachers, as well as students and parents, to gain a better understanding of where students are academically and allow for the development of individualized academic plans for students.

Final Thoughts

The state of Ward 6 schools is certainly a lot different than it was just a few years ago. And, while there are still many reasons to be skeptical of the progress that DCPS is making, even the most skeptical attendees left feeling positive about our neighborhood’s schools and the path that we’re on. It’s incumbent upon Ward 6 residents to continue pressuring DCPS, the mayor and the city council to support on-going reforms and ensure that our vision for our schools is realized.