[WardFive] Fwd: Consolidation & Reorganization Proposal: Better Schools for All Students

Below please find the correspondence that DCPS emailed out regarding the pending school closures. 

Best,

Faith

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Faith Gibson Hubbard

President

Ward Five Council on Education (W5COE)

fg1913@gmail.com

W5COE Phone: 202-505-4309

Begin forwarded message:

From: "DC Public Schools" <dcps.communications@dc.gov>

Date: November 13, 2012 4:01:32 PM EST

Subject: Consolidation & Reorganization Proposal: Better Schools for All Students

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DCPS Families and Community,   Earlier today, I released my proposal to consolidate and reorganize our school system to better support the five big goals we announced last spring when we released our strategic plan, A Capital Commitment.  To reach these goals, we need our schools to look very different. We need elementary schools that can offer students a wide range of opportunities, and we need middle schools with robust course offerings to prepare students for high school. We need high schools that provide challenging coursework to college-ready students; alternative schools that offer students a second chance; and career and technical education programs that prepare our students for great jobs. Unfortunately, as we are now organized, our students cannot realize their full potential and our schools cannot offer everything our students deserve. That is because too many of our schools are too small and not located in close proximity to where our children live. With so many small schools, we cannot make smart investments in better programming. We cannot organize teachers and schedules to provide the most benefit to children, and we cannot get the most out of our modernized buildings.  We have a chance to make a big investment in our children. We have the opportunity to consolidate and reorganize schools so that we can offer the programs our students deserve. The proposal I just released begins to do just that. You can find the full proposal at dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/cr. This proposal does not impact any schools during the current school year, school year 2012-2013. If the final decision is to consolidate a school, the earliest the school will consolidate is June 2013 after the last day of school.  This is a proposal and not a final decision. Final decisions have not, and will not be made until after the community has an opportunity to provide feedback through a series of meetings scheduled in the coming weeks. I expect the Mayor and I will finalize decisions in January 2013, prior to the opening of the out of boundary lottery. I want to make sure that you have as much information as possible about why we decided to propose schools for consolidation. All of the information regarding the proposal can be found in one of three places: our main website (dcps.dc.gov); our online discussion room (engagedcps.com); or one of the public meetings that's been scheduled in your community (the schedule is at the end of this email). I remain excited to work with you to meet our commitment to our students. As I visit schools, I see tremendous potential and energy in our students. I want to ensure that our priority is always investing in our children's education. I know that by working together, we can create a system that provides our students with the world-class education they deserve.   Thank you for your ongoing support, Kaya Henderson Chancellor   Meetings Location Date Time City Council Hearing Wilson Building 1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW November 15, 2012 4-8 p.m. City Council Hearing Wilson Building 1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW November 19, 2012 2-6 p.m. Ward 8 Community Dialogue Savoy ES 2400 Shannon Place, SE November 27, 2012 6-8 p.m. Ward 7 Community Dialogue Sousa MS 3650 Ely Place, SE November 28, 2012 6-8 p.m. Wards 5 Community Dialogue Langley EC 101 T Street, NE November 29, 2012 6-8 p.m. Wards 1-4, 6 Community Dialogue Brightwood EC 1300 Nicholson Street, NW December 5, 2012 6-8 p.m. District of Columbia Public Schools | 1200 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002 | (202) 442-5885 | dcps.dc.gov Notice of Non-Discrimination

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