The letter below is from their Aunt updating us on the progress of the two brothers in our community that are doing well.
Hello Woodridge North Family:
Marcus is adjusting well to 6th Grade at Brookland Middle School.
He continues to maintain honor roll and is doing amazing with his classwork, particularly writing Mandarin and speaking Chinese.
Thanks for your encouragement and support of Marcus.
I'm updating you on Jamar's progress this school year. He's transitioning well in 9th Grade at KIPP College Preparatory in DC and just celebrated his 15th birthday.
Jamar continues to maintain honor roll and is enjoying school, particularly Literature and Geometry.
Tomorrow, he'll be visiting Temple and Rutgers University in NJ to scout college programs and speak with advisors.
Thanks again, for all your support and encouraging Jamar.
Antionette
DC SUN
Solar Information Session
DC SUN is dedicated to solar being accessible and affordable for every resident of Washington, DC. We are dedicated to the vision that if a large and diverse number of people have a financial stake in the clean energy economy, they will fight for it. By building, demonstrating, promoting, and advocating for ways for people to financially benefit from clean energy, we build a broad new constituency for change.
On Wednesday March 22, 2016 at 6:30pm at Hellbender Brewing Company (5788 2nd Street NE) we will be hosting a solar information session for people who are interested in joining the Manor Park Solar Co-op.The closest metro stop to the location is Fort Totten. Please RSVP for the event here . If you’re interested in going solar with us or would like to get more involved with our efforts to solarize DC, please visit this link .
Please email me at jameka@dcsun.org if you have any questions.
Note: The Manor Park Co-op is open to ALL DC residents. That means if you don’t live in Manor Park
The new DCPS Chancellor will be in Ward 5 Tuesday, March 21 at Luke C. Moore HS
1001 Monroe Street, NE • Please plan to attend.
The New DCPS Chancellor Is Going Ward By Ward, Asking For Input On D.C.'s Schools
Ward 7 community members viewed DCPS goals on poster boards at a meeting at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School on March 7. (Photo by Christina Sturdivant)
A month into the job, D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson is making his rounds across the city to get public input as he makes plans for the next several years. The first of eight community meetings took place last night in Ward 7, as residents expressed concerns about motivating students who attend schools in some of the city’s most impoverished communities.
As dozens of teachers, parents, and community members filed into Ron Brown College Preparatory High School, male students in blue blazers, white collared shirts, neck ties, and khakis greeted and directed them to the all-boys school’s newly renovated cafeteria.
There, guests got a glimpse of Wilson’s priorities, outlined on poster boards, as they waited for the former head of Oakland's public school system to arrive. They were also encouraged to give feedback to questions like “What do you hope to see as you walk into a DCPS classroom/school?” Answers, which were displayed on colored index cards, included everything from valued educators and empowerment to authentic assessments and cleanliness.
In 2012, DCPS' Capital Commitment initiative set several goals for the system with a deadline of June 2017. Shanita Burney, who heads DCPS' office of family and public engagement, said officials will collect written and verbal feedback at each meeting for a new strategic plan that’s slated to be released before the 2017-2018 school year.
Dr. Benjamin Williams, the principal of the preparatory school that opened in Deanwood last fall, introduced the chancellor. “This is a man that I've come to admire over the past month,” Williams said. “Every time I have a conversation with him, I'm learning more and more about the direction he wants to take our school system and the support he wants to give our young men here at Ron Brown.”
DCPS Chancellor Antwan Wilson speaks to Ward 7 residents at a community meeting on March 7. (Photo by Christina Sturdivant)
And for the next fifteen minutes, Wilson proceeded to tell his audience about progress and challenges in the system and ward.
As part of the Capital Commitment plan, officials set a goal that at least 75 percent of DCPS 9th graders will graduate from high school within four years. The system is “on track to meet the graduation target,” Wilson said, adding that Ward 7 is “on track to outpace the District’s growth” in that area. Conversely, while enrollment across the school system is going up, Wilson said that it’s going down in Ward 7, which has 12 elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools, an alternative school for special education students, and another for incarcerated youth.
He also said that the ward has a lower number of students who take and pass advanced placement courses compared to other parts of the city. And he pointed to significant gaps by race, gender, and ward in student results on the annual PARCC assessment, which tracks students' math and English skill levels.
To close those gaps, Wilson said a strategic plan could include smaller classroom sizes and structured tutoring during the day, which could lead to longer hours in school for some students.
This school year, nearly a dozen schools, mostly in Wards 7 and 8, had extended academic years. Among other things, Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the additional days on the front and back ends of the schoolyear would help prevent the "summer slide," referring to the fact that students tend to lose some of the academic gains they made during the previous school year.
And as far as investments in field trips, arts, music, and entertainment, the system has improved, Wilson told the audience. "It's important that students get opportunities outside the classroom," he said. “I don't believe it should be a matter of how much wealth exists amongst the families in a particular school that students get opportunities outside the classroom to learn.”
Ward 7 community members split into small groups to discuss DCPS goals at Chancellor Wilson's meeting on March 7.
In the next portion of the meeting, guests split into small groups to discuss the questions that were posted on boards throughout the room. They were also told to express thoughts and concerns via an online platform where posts were publicly viewed and favorited. The questions with the most likes were read aloud during the meeting's last segment—a Q&A with Wilson.
The top question involved the scarcity of middle school options in Ward 7 and how to make those existing schools successful.
“I want to make sure that we highlight what we do well,” Wilson said, noting that oftentimes parents are unaware of resources that already exist in a school. He also said that he will work to provide incentives and programs that are missing. “School development around secondary schools is a lot of fun and something that I know we can do well,” he continued.
The second most popular post questioned involved a lack of exclusive opportunities for girls of color similar to those offered at Ron Brown, which has been criticized for leaving girls behind.
"I want to make sure that we have an effort focused on young women that is unique to their needs—we need to design a program that's specific to the issues that matter to them that are going to make a difference to them," Wilson said, adding that the system is in the process of creating programming for girls. “Just be looking for that information because it's coming.”
The next two most popular questions involved resources for students with disabilities and "divestment" of middle and high schools that lie east of the Anacostia River. In response to the latter, Wilson said that while the city has raised its standards in creating citywide initiatives, it will pour more resources into schools that don’t have things like strong Parent Teachers Associations, and so forth.
After the two-hour meeting ended, Wilson told DCist that he isn't taking the community members' comments lightly. "I don't like wasting my time," he said. "I don't want to come and talk to a bunch of people and ignore everything that they have to say" because it won't be beneficial for the system's future.
Chancellor Wilson is slated to attend community meetings in each ward.
Thursday, March 16 at Roosevelt HS
4301 13th Street, NW • Ward 4
Tuesday, March 21 at Luke C. Moore HS
1001 Monroe Street, NE • Ward 5
Monday, March 27 at Deal MS
3815 Fort Drive, NW • Ward 3
Thursday, April 6 at Turner ES
3264 Stanton Road, SE • Ward 8
Tuesday, April 11 at Eastern HS
1700 East Capitol Street, NE • Ward 6
Thursday, April 13 at Columbia Heights EC
3101 16th Street, NW • Ward 1
Monday, April 24 at SWW @ Francis-Stevens
2425 N Street, NW • Ward 2
Shirley Rivens Smith, President
North Woodridge Citizens
2000 Upshur St., NE
Washington, DC 20018
202-635-3138
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