CHPSPO will meet on Tuesday, March 17, from 6:30 – 8 p.m. at Maury Elementary, 1250 Constitution Ave., NE. Attached is our agenda. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Suzanne
J.O. Wilson hosts a summer camp fair – March 25th, 6-7:30PM
Get resources and information about local summer options.
Register for summer camps and programs.
All are welcome! See attached flyer for details.
Public Hearing with Mayor, DME, OSSE: FY 2016 Budget for Public Schools in the District of Columbia
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Fiscal Year 2016 Budget for Public Schools in the District of Columbia
Monday March 16, 2016
6:00 pm – 7:30pm
Columbia Heights Education Campus
3101 16th St., NW
Washington, DC 20010
Mayor Muriel Bowser, Deputy Mayor for Education, Jennifer Nile, and Acting State Superintendent of Education, Amy Maisterra, will hold a public hearing on the Fiscal Year 2016 budget for public schools. The hearing will be held on Monday, March 16, 2015 from 6:00 pm to 7:30pm at Columbia Heights Education Campus, 3103 16th St., NW, Washington, DC 20010.
The purpose of the hearing is to solicit the views of the public on levels of public funding to be sought in the FY 2016 operating budget for public schools in the District of Columbia, pursuant to the District of Columbia Official Code § 38-917.
Members of the public are invited to testify. Testimony is limited to three minutes per witness and five minutes per organization or group. Those wishing to testify should contact Tara Lynch in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education via email at tara.lynch@dc.gov or by telephone at (202) 727-3636 by 4 pm on Thursday, March 12, 2015. Witnesses should bring three (3) copies of their written testimony to the hearing.
Members of the public may submit written testimony, which will be made part of the official record. Copies of written statements should be submitted to the contact listed above no later than 4 pm on Thursday, March 12, 2015.
If members of the public need interpretation services, please contact Mrs. Lynch to arrange services for the hearing.
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Anacostia River Festival Bike Parade and Fish Windsock Workshops
THEARC’s ARTREACH (program invites you to join uson April 12, 2015, for the first annual Anacostia River Festival Fish Bike Parade. What is a Fish Bike Parade? Well, picture hundreds of bikes riding around the DC streets with colorful handmade fish windsocks like the one’s pictured below flying above their heads and convening at the festival to create an above water river display. We think it will be a beautiful and memorable sight.
Over the next few weeks we will be creating fish flags inspired by the Japanese tradition of creating carp-shaped windsocks known as “Koinobori”. The fish windsocks will then be attached to poles on the back of bikes for a flying fish performance at the festival.
Anyone and everyone is invited to participate in learning about fish native to the Anacostia River and creating a fish windsock of their own. We are hoping to get as many biking “schools” or “clubs” as possible to join in the fun!
In preparation of th
e parade we will be hosting a few workshops to create fish windsocks at the ArtReach studio at THEARC and various DC neighborhoods. The workshops are free, open to all ages, and for everyone regardless of creative experience. Don’t hesitate to join!
Upcoming workshops – REGISTER HERE: http://bridgepark.org/events.
- Saturday, March 28: 3:30 – 5:30pm Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) (545 7th Street, SE)
- Tuesday, March 31: 6:30 – 8:30pm GW’s Corcoran Printmaking Dept (1801 35th Street NW
- Wednesday, April 1: 6:00 – 8:00pm THEARC (ArtReach studio -1901 Mississippi Ave SE)
- Saturday, April 4: 9:00am – 12:00pm Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) (545 7th Street, SE)
- Saturday, April 4: 10:00am – 1:00pm THEARC (ArtReach studio – 1901 Mississippi Ave SE)
- Wednesday, April 8: time TBD Happy Hour AWS
- Thursday, April 9: 4:30 – 6:30pm Hill Center (921 Pennsylvania Ave SE)
- Thursday, April 9: 6:30 – 8:30pm Hill Center (921 Pennsylvania Ave SE)
REGISTER HERE: http://bridgepark.org/events.
Need more information or want to join the mailing list? Please contact Melissa Green at mgreen@thearcdc.org
Melissa Green
Director of ArtReach and the Community Gallery at THEARC
1901 Mississippi Ave SE
Washington, DC 20020
mgreen@thearcdc.org
CHPSPO Meeting Notes – February 17, 2015
February 17, 2015, 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
- Extension of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Flexibility Waiver, OSSE
Learn more about the waiver here.
- By end of March, DC needs to submit updated ESEA flexibility waiver
- The substantive updates in this draft application include:
- DC’s transition to the Next Generation Assessments (NGAs);
- Increased flexibility to take high school level courses in middle school;
- Updated language related to OSSE’s State System of Support (SSOS);
- A requested pause in school classification during the assessment transition; and
- A proposed pause in the use of state assessment growth data for teacher evaluations.
- Opportunity to influence:
- Role of Assessments, how much we are assessing students
- Accountability plans
- Types of resources schools should get vis a vis school rankings
- Role of IMPACT
- End of summer, vote for new accountability framework
- OSSE committed to have meaningful public engagement
- OSSE’s support of students w/ disabilities (who qualify for any sort of IEP)
- OSSE will ask teachers/Principals these types of Qs
- Grants avail through this process for research
- Upcoming Committee on Education Performance Oversight Hearings – Schedule here.
ACTION: Encourage families to attend working groups and hearings.
- Questions to consider:
- Too much testing??
- How are teachers being evaluated? Are they being evaluated fairly? How do we get the best teachers in our schools and keep them?
- How are students with disabilities being supported?
- What was impact of the Proving What’s Possible/Student Satisfaction funding?
- Is the at-risk funding truly following the at-risk students?
- How is DCPS marketing its schools? How are the feeder patterns being promoted? How are 4th graders being engaged at the middle schools? Charter schools are out-marketing DCPS with fact sheets and open houses.
- Have assessments been done on impact of ½ time foreign language teachers in elementary schools?
- Possible CHPSPO/ANCs meeting with Deputy Mayor for Education to discuss education issues from our community’s perspective.
- Will reach out to ANCs to find dates. Sandra will contact 6b, Marty 6d, and Joe 6e.
- Modernization of our middle schools is an issue to discuss with the DME.
- Libraries update by Peter Macpherson
Next CHPSPO Meeting: March 17, 2015
Upcoming Events
February 21 10 to 11:30 am, Stuart Hobson Middle School, 410 E Street NE.
Meeting hosted by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education on the role of testing in our schools, how to close achievement gaps, and how to improve the quality of instruction for all students. This conversation is designed to get the public’s input on important topics in advance of the State Board of Education voting in March on a waiver to the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), commonly known as No Child Left Behind.
March 7 SWS Auction
March 13 Cluster Rocks Auction
March 14 Alchemy of Great Taste, Tyler Fundraiser
March 28 Maury at the Market
April 11 Anacostia Fish Bike Festival
May 6 Bike to School Day
May 17 Capitol Hill Classic
Upcoming Committee on Education Performance Oversight Hearings on FY 14/15
Wednesday, 2/18/2015, 10:00am, Room 123
- Public Charter School Board
- Bullying Prevention Taskforce
- Healthy Youth and Schools Commission
Thursday, 2/19/2015, 10:00am, Room 412
- District of Columbia Public Schools (Public Witnesses Only)
Tuesday, 2/24/2015, 10:00am, Room 500
- District of Columbia Public Schools (Government Witnesses Only)
Thursday, 3/5/2015, 10:00am, Room 412
- Office of the State Superintendent of Education
- State Board of Education
Tuesday, 3/10/2015, 10:00am, Room 123
- Deputy Mayor for Education
- District of Columbia Public Library System
Persons wishing to testify about the performance of any of the foregoing agencies may contact: Christina Henderson, chenderson@dccouncil.us, or by calling 202-724-8191.
CHPSPO Meets Tuesday, February 17
Dear Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization members,
CHPSPO will meet on Tuesday, February 17, at 6:30 p.m. at a private home. We will be discussing the ESEA waiver, upcoming education hearings, Living Classrooms, and CHPSPO priorities for the coming year. I will send a final agenda around on Tuesday morning.
Hope everyone has a good weekend. Stay warm!
Suzanne Wells
DC Council Committee on Education – Oversight Hearings on FY 2014-15
Oversight Hearings on Fiscal Year 2014-2015
The Committee on Education (http://dccouncil.us/committees/committee-on-education) will conduct Performance Oversight Hearings; the following agencies will testify:
Wednesday, 2/18/2015, 10:00am, Room 123
- Public Charter School Board
- Bullying Prevention Taskforce
- Healthy Youth and Schools Commission
Thursday, 2/19/2015, 10:00am, Room 412
- District of Columbia Public Schools (Public Witnesses Only)
Tuesday, 2/24/2015, 10:00am, Room 500
- District of Columbia Public Schools (Government Witnesses Only)
Thursday, 3/5/2015, 10:00am, Room 412
- Office of the State Superintendent of Education
- State Board of Education
Tuesday, 3/10/2015, 10:00am, Room 123
- Deputy Mayor for Education
- District of Columbia Public Library System
Persons wishing to testify about the performance of any of the foregoing agencies may contact: Christina Henderson, chenderson@dccouncil.us, or by calling 202-724-8191.
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Thank you to CM Charles Allen’s staff for helping us to keep track of these.
ANC 6C Grant Writing Seminar February 7
Dear Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization members,
On February 7, 2015, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., ANC 6C is hosting a grant writing seminar for non-profit organizations. The seminar will be at Kaiser Permanente Capitol Hill Medical Center, 1st floor conference room, 700 2nd St., NE.
The ANC 6C typically awards grants that range from $500 – $2,500. Larger grant requests may be considered, but must demonstrate significant lasting impact to the ANC 6C community. The deadline for this grant cycle is March 15, 2015.
The ANC 6C funds projects that benefit ANC 6C community members. Applicants do not need to be located in our ANC. ANC 6C’s boundaries are Florida Ave north of L, 8th Street east of Florida, East Cap between 8th and New Jersey, First Street south of North Cap, North Cap south of New York, New York north of North Capitol (see a map of their boundaries on www.anc6c.gov.
Suzanne Wells
CHPSPO Meeting Notes – December 16, 2014
Tyler Elementary School, Art Room, 1001 G St., SE
December 16, 2014, 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
- A representative from OSSE did not attend the meeting to discuss the extension of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) flexibility waiver. They will be invited to the January meeting.
- DCPS Education Councils Meeting – DCPS held a meeting in December with representatives from the education councils from all eight wards. CHPSPO was represented by George Blackmon (Maury), Samantha Caruth (J.O. Wilson and Stuart Hobson), Mandla Deskins (Payne), and Suzanne Wells (Tyler). The main topics discussed were the FY15/16 school budgets, and a new Young Men of Color initiative DCPS is undertaking. We discussed that we expect to vary who from CHPSPO attends future meetings based on the topics and interests of CHPSPO members.
- DCYOP – Joe Weedon mentioned that the DC Youth Orchestra Program is looking for a home for a summer camp they are planning. They will need five to eight classrooms, and a performing space. It is a two-week camp in July. The camp will be for pre-school through 5th grade. The DCYOP recently received a grant to develop a string curriculum.
- Levine School of Music – Joe also mentioned a meeting that the Levine School of Music held to discuss how they can help bring musical instruction into the schools (band, string and choral). Representatives from Eastern, Maury, Tyler, Payne, Stuart Hobson, and Jefferson attended the meeting.
- Challenger Center – Joe said the Challenger Center is working to put together a delegation to meet with DCPS to discuss a space use agreement. Eliot Hine and Jefferson are potential sites.
- State Board of Education Priorities – Joe Weedon is our newly elected Ward 6 representative to the State Board of Education. Joe explained that some current roles of the State Board of Education are developing graduation requirements and serving as an advocate for parents.
Some suggestions we gave Joe for future work for the State Board of Education are:
- Look at whether funding follows the student, e.g., at-risk youth funding and funding for students who leave a school after the audited enrollment date;
- Look at the small school cutoff, and what impact it has had in DCPS. The small school cutoff number has been rising in recent years, i.e., from 250 to now 400. How do other systems handle staffing critical positions at small schools, e.g., librarians, art & music, world languages? What are the impacts of the staffing formula when looked at in light of the per student allocation?
- Look at transparency in spending between the charter schools and DCPS.
- Look at the new elementary world language instruction. Is DC implementing programs that have proven results in other settings? Is the current structure of world language instruction a good use of resources? What can DCPS do to support increasing desire for dual language instruction?
7. Art sculptures – Marty Welles shared how Amidon Bowen used some of their Proving What’s Possible grants to fund an artist, Kevin Reese, to work with K – 2nd grade students to build a moveable sculpture that is outside the entrance of the school. The project cost $20K. A second project is planned for 3rd – 5th graders. Visit schoolsculptures.com to see examples of the projects. The sculpture outside of Amidon Bowen says this is a school that people care about, and where good things are happening.
8. 3rd grade sports participation. Marty also discussed his efforts to get DCPS to allow 3rd graders to compete in the school sports. More to come on this issue.
Next CHPSPO Meeting: January 20, 2015
Upcoming Events
March 7 SWS Auction
March 13 Cluster Rocks Auction
March 14 Alchemy of Great Taste, Tyler Fundraiser
March 28 Maury at the Market
May 17 Capitol Hill Classic
CHPSPO Meets Tuesday, December 17 at Tyler ES
Dear Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization Members,
CHPSPO will meet on Tuesday, December 16, at 6:30 p.m. at Tyler Elementary (1001 G Street, SE). Attached is the agenda for our meeting.
Many of you know that George Arlotto, a parent who lives on Capitol Hill, was selected earlier this year to be the Superintendent of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools. This week he delivered his recommendations for his school system’s FY16 Operating and Capital Budget. I’ve included a link to his remarks because he is a strong and clear voice for public education. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L__oL9ENiQ&feature=youtu.be
Finally, I hope you read the editorial in today’s Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/where-are-the-public-benefits/2014/12/12/db94ac04-7b14-11e4-b821-503cc7efed9e_story.html) about a proposal to turn a 40-acre asphalt lot at RFK Stadium into a youth sports park that would provide much needed recreational space in our city.
See you on Tuesday.
Suzanne Wells
Ward 6 Public School Parents Organization 