Dear Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization members,

1.  W6PSPO Monthly Meeting Moved to Monday, November 20, 6 pm.  W6PSPO’s November meeting is being moved to Monday, November 20, and will start at 6 pm.  At our meeting we will be joined by staff from the DME’s office who will discuss the Boundary and Student Assignment process, and some ideas that are being considered for boundary changes at the Ward 6 schools.  The DME’s office has been scheduling meetings with individual schools, and this will be an opportunity to hear at one time all the ideas being considered for Ward 6.Note that a community conversation is scheduled with Maury on Tuesday, November 28, at 6 pm.  The link to register for this meeting is currently not available.If you registered for a previous W6PSPO meeting, the link you received for that meeting will work for this and future W6PSPO meetings.  If you don’t already have the meeting link, you can register at

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAudOqsqDorHdOqNZKiWVfvLL0TPp_az3Wp.  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

2.  School Nurse Community Meeting, November 28.  Amidon-Bowen parents, Sarah Buckley and Brian Riley, have organized a community meeting to discuss the implementation of the cluster staffing model for school nurses.  Below is information about the meeting.

Come and join in a conversation about changes that were made to the delivery of school health in the District! 

• Who should attend: Parents of DC Public School students, school nurses, and other interested community stakeholders.
• What will be discussed: The newly implemented “Cluster Model” to deliver school health services- what it is and is not. Our concerns. What questions do we have for leadership?

• When:  Tuesday, November 28, 2023, 6 – 7:30 pm 

• Where: Northeast Library, 330 7th St., NE 

For questions, comments, concerns, and to RSVP, email:  Robert Allen, BSN, RN DC Nurses Association interim vice chair.

3. School Report Card – OSSE and SBOE Engagement Sessions.  These sessions are important as the changes to the report card affect the way our schools are seen and evaluated. Register to attend an engagment session: https://osse.dc.gov/page/dc-school-report-card-resource-library.

Monday, December 4, 6 to 7 pm (virtual).  What should the DC School Report card look like?You can also fill out this survey bit.ly/DC SchoolReportCardFeedback. 

4.  School Facilities Sponsorship and Naming Amendment Act of 2023 hearing, November 28, 11 am.  This act is aimed at encouraging financial and other support from private and philanthropic organizations for DCPS schools in exchange for naming rights for interior parts of DCPS properties, e.g., auditoriums, libraries.  See here for more information and to sign up to testify.

5.  Teacher Retention Hearings.November 21 at 2 pm is a hearing on Council Member Robert White’s bill to provide educators mental health days, bolster flexible scheduling, study increasing paraprofessional pay, give high need schools wellness coordinators and more. It’s also a hearing on Council Member Henderson’s new bill to provide student loan relief for educators.November 28 at 4 pm, there is a general hearing on teacher retention. If you care about teacher evaluation, over-testing, improve teacher PD, housing support, a new WTU contract or anything else to support teacher retention: this is your chance to be heard.
You can sign up to testify at these hearing here.  

6.  Hill Family Biking.  The next Hill Family Biking ride is this Saturday, November 18, at 10:30 am. This ride is in collaboration with the DC Public Library.  Librarian Jo Percell will be riding the new DCPL Book e-Bike as the grand marshal.  The ride will start at the Eastern Market Metro Plaza to talk about the upcoming SE Library renovations, then head to the NE Library, and will end at the Rosedale Library.  After the ride, they are partnering with local store P.S. Mercantile (formerly the Cupboard) to make Hot Chocolate ($2) and Ice Cream Sandwiches ($4) available for purchase at the end of the ride.Hill Family Biking is seeking parents to promote their events to area school parent/teacher organizations, listserv’s and newsletters. This is a minimal commitment (1-2 hours a month) and will ensure Hill Family Biking will sustain as an organization well into the future. Become a School Ambassador!

7.  Rachel Royster, a reporter for the Hill Rag, is working on a story about locks at the Ward 6 schools.  She is interested in talking with anyone who has information about locks that aren’t working.  You can contact Rachel at rachel@hillrag.com 

8.  EdFEST

Register for EdFEST (PK3 – Grade 8)

Saturday, Dec. 2
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
DC Armory

Register for EdFEST (Grades 9-12) 
Saturday, Dec. 9 
10 a.m. – 1 p.m. 

Eastern High School

Suzanne Wells