CHPSPO meeting on Tuesday, Feb 21 2012 @ JO Wilson

The Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization February meeting will be on Tuesday, February 21, at the J.O. Wilson Elementary School library (660 K Street, NE, on 2nd floor).At the February meeting, we will have a discussion of Safe Routes to Schools and Mindful Parenting Workshops. We will also be further refining CHPSPO’s 2012 priorities with the goal of reaching consensus on specific actions we want CHPSPO to accomplish in 2012. Attached are the ideas for CHPSPO 2012 priorities that we discussed at our January meeting.

See you on Tuesday.

Suzanne Wells

022112 agenda CHPSPO.doc

CHPSPO Brainstorm 2012 Priorities.docx

CHPSPO Meeting Notes – January 12, 2012

Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization

Capitol Hill Montessori @ Logan

215 G Street, NE

January 17, 2012

6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

 

 

This meeting marked the 7th anniversary of CHPSPO!!! Congratulations!

Full house with 25 attendees!

1)      Brent’s Middle School Series, Jason Townsend

Discussion:

Jefferson – not all things that the Brent folks thought would be done were done.

–          Why was the Brent Middle School group started?

    • Recognize success of elementary school is contingent on success of middle school
    • Trying to get younger parents involved to revive MS group/discussion

–          What does this group do?

    • Coordinate Open Houses for middle schools and invites
      • Principal of Jefferson Academy has attended Brent PTA (1 parent attended)
      • KIPP prez (2dozen attended)
      • BASIS prez (3 dozen attended)
    • Help parents get educated around options in younger grades and bring new parents in
    • Will continue to invite DCPS and charters to give presentations

–          Issues with the current DCPS middle school approach:

    • 2 feeders for Brent a little divisive
    • Resources promised (high tech/high touch) not delivered

–          Group is excited, but it’s going to take something more radical and group energy/foundation

2) No Child Left Behind Waiver Application Process, Jeralyn Cave, OSSE, + 2 other representatives

Background: DC+40 other states are applying for waivers around requirements

–          FAQs are on OSSE’s website

–          OSSE Press Release on waivers

–          One of Fed Reqs of presenting application for waiver = rigorous public engagement

–          NOTE: Charters are very active in this space in making sure their voices are at the table w/ Sec Duncan

–          Consensus is the $ that is spent on Title 1 does not actually help kids.

–          Principles:

    • College- and Career-Ready Expectations for All Students
    • State-Developed Differentiated Recognition, Accountability, and Support
    • Supporting Effective Instruction and Leadership
    • Reduction of administrative burden

–          Q: Will this make schools less accountable? A: OSSE’s largest concern is continuing to keep schools accountable.

–          Q: What impact will waiver have on IMPACT evaluation? A: Very little.

–          Q: What happens after waiver is implemented/applied?  A: confident that assessments will stay in place going forward.

–          Q: Does state office have ability to track children as they move around DCPS/Charter, etc? To determine that as children move, they are w/in same framework so parents can track?  A: Yes, OSSE is able to track students as they move from grade to grade at DCPS and Charter schools.

–          Q: Does application address school success criteria beyond testing/AYP ? A: Application  proposes to measure: Growth (in school population), Academic growth, Graduation from HS

–          Q: What are Charter School advocates trying to put into waiver? A: Focus is not to have themselves subject to same measures and accountabilities that DCPS are subject to.  (ex: trying to exclude re-enrollments from application)

Next Steps:  OSSE has published a public draft version: http://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/page_content/attachments/OSSE_ESEA%20Flexibility%20Application%20Draft_01-18%2012_0.pdf

–          Comment via Osse.comments@dc.gov

–          Encourage comments on this. Will submit final application on Feb 21, after feedback has been incorporated.

–          Encourage Instructional Superintendent to press DCPS leadership to make sure principals’ voices are heard. Only 25 out of all schools public and charter made AYP.

OSSE offered to come back w/ full presentation of entire waiver, go over section by section at a future date.

Call to action: ANYONE INTERESTED IN SERVING AS POINT OF CONTACT FOR THIS?

Follow up: meeting to discuss waiver.  Joe W. to send a note to CHPSPO once the waiver is posted

3)      DCPS Lottery Information Session, Laura Marks

  • Monday, Jan 23, 6-7:30 PM @ Payne Elementary School
  • All principals invited, focused on DCPS schools on the Hill.  Recommend following up with your principal to ensure your school will have a presence.

4) Brainstorm 2012 CHPSPO Priorities, All

Idea Seconds Comments
Middle schools, including reaching more consensus as a community on middle schools 10 Vision is fractured, need to come back to a consensus
After school 2 Sharing resources with Hill Center
Sharing lessons learned, e.g., fundraising 1
Encouraging more collegiality between schools, positive comments supportive of our schools 1
Create “community” schools 1 Use schools more as community resources, activities for adults
Hill-wide events where schools come together for activities, e.g., art, sports 1 Event collaboration around education
Expand sport opportunities 1 Collaboration around sports; girls on the run
Keep tabs on Eastern 1
Schoolyard greening 1
Safe biking/walking routes
Number of school choices and resulting fragmentation within our community
Keep an eye on Hine property development, and advocate for educational benefit
Explore establishing Montgomery County-like facilitated discussions Facilitated discussions within schools, e.g., on race
Testify at hearings dealing with education issues Advocacy to elected leadership
Summer camp opportunities
Better connect neighborhoods with their schools and get community members involved in the schools
Encourage more interaction between schools

Next meeting at JO Wilson

Next CHPSPO Meeting:   February 21, 2012

Upcoming Events:

January 19       Stuart Hobson Modernization Community Meeting, Stuart Hobson, 6:30 – 8 pm

January 23       DCPS Lottery Information Session, Payne Elementary, 6:00 – 7:30 pm

Check the CHPSPO Calendar for upcoming open houses: http://chpspo.org/calendar/

Visit CHPSPO on the web at http://chpspo.org

DCPS Preschool, Pre-K and Out-of-Boundary Information Night – Jan 23

January 17 CHPSPO Meeting

Happy New Year, CHPSPO Community!

Our next Capitol Hill Public School Parent Organization meeting will be January 17 at 6:30 pm at Capitol Hill Montessori @ Logan.

At our meeting on the 17th, we will be joined by Jeralyn Cave from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education who will be giving us an overview of the No Child Left Behind flexibility waiver application process. OSSE will be submitting a flexibility waiver request in February 2012 that is intended to guide the support and interventions for schools that don’t make AYP. Since most of the schools on the Hill did not meet AYP in 2011, this will be an important effort for us all. Attached is an OSSE briefing about the flexibility waiver application.

At our January meeting, we will be brainstorming ideas for what we want CHPSPO to do in 2012. Please bring your ideas, big and small, to share. As we discuss our priorities for 2012, please remember the Helen Keller quote, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”

There are two important meetings in January. On January 19, there will be a community meeting about the modernization of Stuart Hobson Middle School. A very exciting renovation is planned for Stuart Hobson, but of course, there aren’t enough modernization funds to do all that is needed at the school. The renovation is on a fast track, and this meeting will be an opportunity to voice expectations before the renovation begins. Flyer is attached.

On January 23, DCPS will be hosting an Lottery Information Session at Payne Elementary School. As the lottery process begins, many new parents are weighing their school options. There will be an opportunity for schools to have brochures and/or other information to disseminate to interested parents, if you are interested.

See you on Tuesday.

Suzanne Wells

Stuart Hobson modernization flyer.pdf

OSSE-ESEA Flexibility Dec SBOE FINAL.ppt

011712 agenda CHPSPO.doc

CHPSPO Meeting Notes – December 13, 2011

Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization

Ludlow Taylor Elementary School

659 G St., NE

Room 302

December 13, 2011

6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

1. Ed Lazere, the Chair of the Public Education Finance Reform Commission (PEFRC or the Commission) spoke about the legislation that established the Commission, and the Commission’s charge.  The Commission is an independent body convened to make recommendations to the Mayor regarding the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) to inform the 2013 FY Budget.  The Commission has been asked to specifically look at issues of adequacy, equity, affordability and transparency. Information about process, past and future meetings is available on  http://PEFRC.org and in the legislation document.  All meetings are open to public.

CHPSPO members (and all DC residents) are encouraged to weigh in via comments through the Commission’s website and their hearings. The Commission would benefit from comments on how to manage the DCPS facilities better, e.g., how to pay for buildings efficiently, and maintain them.  Also, comments on how to direct money toward low-income and special education students would be of interest to the Commission.

2. CHPSPO By-laws.  Those present at the meeting (representatives from Maury, Tyler, Ludlow-Taylor, the Capitol Hill Cluster School, Brent, Payne, and Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan) voted to pass the by-laws.

3. Race to Nowhere Report Out

Special thanks to to Sherry Trafford and to Liz Festa for organizing the event. to Atlas Performing Arts Centre for hosting, to our panelists, and to the Capitol Hill Community Foundation for making it possible for us to put on this event free of charge.

    • Many participants completed evaluations and wanted to continue discussion.
    • Steve Seiden discussed the Mindful Parenting session that was recently brought to the Capitol Hill Cluster School.  Steve said there was a willingness to deliver the session to other schools. Tips and ideas learned from a Mindful Parenting session might mesh nicely with an interest to continue discussions about Race to Nowhere.
4. Looking Ahead to 2012.
  • Priorities for 2012 will be discussed at the next meeting.  It was suggested we may want to work collaboratively on after-care issues.

—————————-

Next CHPSPO Meeting:   January 17, 2012

Coming up – OPEN HOUSES in January:

DCPS will sponsor a lottery information session January 25 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at Payne ES, 1445 C Street, SE


Happy New Year!

DCPS PS/PK/Out of Boundary Lottery Information Session Jan 23 @ Payne ES

Interested 
in 
enrolling 
your 
child
 in
 Preschool,
 Pre‐K
 or

 an 
Out‐of
-Boundary 
school?

  Attend
 a DCPS 
info 
session
 to 
have 
all 
of
 your
 questions 
about 
the 
lottery 
process
 answered!

Where and When:

Monday, January 
23, 
2012

6:00 
pm 
‐ 
7:30 
pm

Payne 
Elementary 
School

1445
 C 
Street, 
SE

—————————————————————————————————————————————————-
For 
more 
information 
about 
the 
info
 sessions:
  • Visit 
dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/oob
  • Tweet 
@dcpublicschools
  • Or
 contact 
Jennifer 
Skates 
at 
jennifer.skates at dc dot gov
 or 
202.442.8824

DCPS Open Houses Resume in January!

It may still be the holidays, but our CHPSPO schools are busy planning for open houses, where they will showcase their programs. Open houses are a great way to check out your local or out of boundary schools.

DC Public Schools (DCPS) keeps a central list of upcoming open houses, but it’s a good idea to check in with the school, in case of inclement weather.

The DCPS pre-school/pre-K/out of boundary lottery for the 2012-13 school year is open January 30-February 27, 2012. Read more about this on the DCPS website.

CHPSPO Meeting on Tuesday, Dec 13

The Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization (CHPSPO) will hold it’s December meeting on Tuesday, December 13, at 6:30 p.m. at Ludlow Taylor (639 G Street, NE). We will be joined at our meeting by Ed Lazere who is the Chair of the DC Public Education Finance Reform Commission. The Commission is an independent body convened to make tecommendations to the Mayor regarding the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula as it relates to DC public schools and public charter schools in order to inform the 2013 FY budget. The Commission’s website is http://www.pefrc.org/.

We will vote at the meeting on the CHPSPO by-laws. Formalizing our by-laws is an important step in becoming a 501(c)3 organizations.

We’ll also report out at the meeting on the screening of the documentary Race to Nowhere.

See you on Tuesday.

Suzanne Wells

Bylaws December 2011.docx

121311 agenda CHPSPO.doc

Troop 500 Coat Drive – Eastern Market, Dec 3rd and 4th

Dear Neighbors,

This Weekend, Bring Your Spare Coats to the Eastern Market Winter Coat Drive for the Homeless on Capitol Hill

For the past 12 years, part of the Eastern Market scene has been the Boy Scout Troop 500 Coat Drive. On the
weekend after Thanksgiving, Scouts in uniform give up their free time to leaflet the holiday crowds near Eastern
Market to advertise this important coat drive effort.

Now, this coming weekend, from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday and Noon to 4 pm on Sunday, more Scouts donate
their time and energy to collect the coats generous neighbors bring to the Troop 500 Coat Drive table, located
this year in front of the Home Health Care Building near 7th and C Street SE. This year, Troop 500 Scout Daniel
Herman of the 600 block of North Carolina Ave. SE is the Scout leader, and his dad, Chris Herman, is the adult leader.

Each year, 300 to 400 coats are collected by Troop 500 and distributed to those who need them. Reaching their
goal depends on you. Please bring any coats in your closet that you no longer need—men’s, women’s and
children’s coat—this Saturday and Sunday to the collection location across from Eastern Market, and don’t forget to
thank the Scouts for their selfless efforts on behalf of the neediest.

Warm Holiday Wishes