Foxhall & MacArthur School Planning Community Working Group First Meeting Summary

The Foxhall and MacArthur School Planning Community Working Group convened for its first meeting on Thursday, February 11th, 2021. In this meeting, the group reviewed the proposed engagement and planning process related to the two new sites, including the data analysis plan that DCPS will use to evaluate options and inform discussions. Materials from the meeting are available here and our group membership list is here.

The Community Working Group will meet next in early March and then periodically throughout the spring. The key deliverable from this process will be a set of recommended options with clearly articulated trade-offs and preferences that the Community Working Group – and the broader community – have engaged in. These recommendations will be shared with DCPS and city leadership to inform decision-making on the program scope for both the Foxhall and MacArthur sites, including grade configurations and feeder patterns. Once these decisions are finalized, DCPS will work with impacted school communities on implementation planning.

For questions regarding this Foxhall and MacArthur School Planning Community Working Group, please email our team at DCPS.Planning@k12.dc.gov.

Community Engagement Process for Foxhall & MacArthur Blvd School Planning

DCPS has identified Capital Improvement Plan funding beginning in FY21 to construct a new facility – “Foxhall” – on the Old Hardy site (1500 Block of Foxhall Rd NW), as well as funding in FY21 to purchase the newly vacant GDS lower school facility – “MacArthur Blvd School” (4530 MacArthur Boulevard NW).  Both facilities are in Ward 3.  The goal of these investments is to help address overcrowding in the Wilson HS feeder pattern. DCPS has not yet determined the program scope for these buildings, including considerations such as boundaries, feeder patterns, and final grade configurations.  These topics will be the focus of the upcoming engagement process.   

Given the scope of this planning, these conversations are relevant to the entire Wilson feeder pattern.  For this reason, DCPS is launching a community engagement process to support planning for the two sites to ensure that all impacted communities are engaged in the planning and decision-making process.  The engagement plan will include a number of ways for stakeholders to provide input, including: 

• The establishment of a Community Working Group (CWG) of school and parent representatives so that we can hear from every school community on the options and work across schools to identify the impacts and considerations for each option.  This group will begin meeting in early February and will likely meet 1-2 times once per month through the spring.  Each school will identify one staff (the school principal or a designee) and one parent representative to join the CWG.  Representatives from key community groups will also be invited to participate.   
• Additional touchpoints with principals to provide a space for school leaders to hear directly from their peers and provide input to the School Planning Team.  
• Opening up public opportunities for people to  submit their input online, and finally, 
• DCPS may also hold additional school and community meetings in the spring to get more feedback on the ideas that come out of the CWG. 

DCPS expects to hold the first Community Working Group meeting in early February 2021 and will post meeting materials and notes, as well as other relevant updates, to this site after each meeting.   

Final Wilson Feeder Pattern Community Working Group Summary Report

On Friday, February 8, 2019, DCPS transmitted the final Wilson Feeder Pattern Community Working Group Summary Report on behalf of the members of the Wilson Feeder Pattern Community Working Group (CWG).  The CWG was convened by DCPS in response to multiple issues of overcapacity at schools in the Wilson High School feeder pattern. The CWG included parents, school leaders, and community members from the 15 schools that make up the Wilson High School feeder pattern and held its first meeting in May 2017. The purpose of this group was to help DCPS identify potential solutions to address the overcapacity issues in the feeder pattern.  The report summarizes the process, analysis, and discussions held with members of the CWG, as well as the conclusions reached by the group upon completion of this process.

The final report is available here.

Wilson Feeder Pattern CWG: January 2018 Meeting #6 Recap

The Wilson Feeder Pattern Community Working Group (CWG) met January 25^th, 2018. In this meeting, representatives from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education shared an update on the Master Facilities Plan (MFP) including goals for the MFP, differences from earlier MFPs, and aiming to share the final version by summer 2018.

Additionally, the group discussed next steps for the CWG, including the review and drafting of the summary document that will be used to capture the group’s feedback and conversations. Notes and our presentation are here.

Wilson Feeder Pattern CWG: November 2017 Meeting #5 Recap

The Wilson Feeder Pattern Community Working Group (CWG) met in November for our fifth meeting.  In this meeting, the Strategic School Planning Team shared additional analysis and gathered feedback on several options raised by the group.  We also shared a draft of the outline for the summary document that will be used to capture the group’s feedback and conversations. You can view the draft summary outline and the full presentation here.

An update from the January 25th meeting will be posted soon!

 

Wilson Feeder Pattern CWG: October 2017 Meeting #4 Recap

The Wilson Feeder Pattern Community Working Group (CWG) recently convened for our fourth meeting. In this meeting, the Strategic School Planning Team provided feedback on several options DCPS is interested in pursuing, including strategies to increase capacity and strengthen program offerings outside of the Wilson Feeder Pattern. We also shared updates from our public survey, key takeaways from an enrollment analysis, and dived deeper in the out-of-boundary (OOB) student profiles for the Wilson feeder pattern. Full details and our presentation are here. 

The Wilson Feeder Pattern CWG aims to meet once more in 2017 with a proposed outline of the summary document and additional feedback and data on existing options. DCPS will then develop a summary document that reviews the process, priorities, and analysis that this group has completed. This document is meant to reflect the priorities of the group and will be shared with DCPS leadership and DME to help inform planning.

Please contact our team if you have any questions! dcps.planning@dc.gov 

 

Wilson Feeder Pattern Community Working Group – Meeting #3

The Wilson High School Feeder Patter Community Working Group (CWG) held its third meeting on Tuesday, July 18^th at the Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library. DCPS’ Chief of School Development and Continuous Improvement, Gene Pinkard, was present along with representatives from the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME).

DCPS provided an update on responses to the public survey. This was followed by a discussion on projected enrollment ranges for schools in the feeder pattern for the years 2020 and 2025. A representative from each of the three committees – Facilities, Enrollment, and Programming – then provided summaries of their initial discussions from last month’s meeting. Finally, CWG members broke out into their committees to continue discussions.

The group will did not meet during the month of August but will resume discussions at the next meeting in September. Check out the July 18th meeting materials below:

• Presentation deck 
• Facility Committee Notes
• Enrollment Committee Notes

Wilson Feeder Pattern Community Working Group – Meeting #2

The Wilson High School Feeder Pattern Community Working Group held its second meeting on Tuesday, June 20th at Lafayette Elementary School.  Thanks to Principal Broquard and Ms. Barnes for hosting!

Representatives from the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME) and the DCPS Facilities Planning team joined, and the group discussed DCPS facility capacity and the upcoming Master Facilities Plan.  The Community Working Group (CWG) also broke into committees for the first time.  The committees are focused on Facilities, Enrollment, and Programming, and will help discuss and develop options for the full CWG and wider community to review. Meeting notes and materials are below — the next meeting is July 18^th.

6/20 Wilson Feeder CWG Deck

6/20 Wilson Feeder CWG Programming Committee Notes

6/20 Wilson Feeder CWG Enrollment Committee Notes

6/20 Wilson Feeder CWG Facilities Committee Notes

 

Wilson Feeder Pattern Community Working Group Kicks Off at Stoddert ES

The Wilson High School Feeder Pattern Community Working Group held its first meeting on Tuesday, May 16th at Stoddert Elementary School (some affectionately refer to the group as the WWSHSFPCWG). The group consists of one principal/staff member and parent from each of the 15 schools in Wilson’s feeder pattern. DCPS shared similar information related to enrollment trends and facility capacity as during the Ward 3/Wilson Feeder Education Network Meeting on June 3rd.

The Community Working Group (CWG) raised questions and concerns about DCPS data on enrollment projections, facility capacity, and the persistence of the crowding issue in Wilson’s feeder schools. Members also shared school-level perspectives on crowding and discussed ideas for how to move forward with solutions. Meeting notes and materials are below — the next meeting will be June 20th.

CWG Members discuss questions related to school crowding in small groups.

5/16 Wilson Feeder CWG Meeting Notes

5/16 Wilson Feeder CWG Deck

Wilson Feeder CWG FAQ

Wilson Feeder Pattern Education Network Meeting Recap

DCPS Chief Operating Officer Carla Watson, Chief of Family and Public Engagement Shanita Burney, and members from each of their DCPS teams met with the Ward 3/Wilson High School Feeder Pattern Education Network on Wednesday 5/3 to discuss school crowding. We shared data on enrollment, facility capacity, and population projections, and put some preliminary solutions ideas on the table for discussion.

We had a rich conversation about the parent and community perspective on school crowding, and some initial thoughts on how to address it in the short and long term. The presentation and meeting notes are below, and the first Community Working Group meeting around crowding in the Wilson HS feeder pattern will be on May 16th at Stoddert ES.

Many thanks to Principal Martin and Brian Doyle for hosting us!

Ward 3/Wilson Feeder Education Network Presentation

Ward 3/Wilson Feeder Education Network Meeting Notes