NEWS
- D.C.'s Hospitality High School to be sold, converted to condos [Maya Angelou PCS mentioned]
- Some high-performing principals to get three-year appointments
D.C.'s Hospitality High School to be sold, converted to condos [Maya Angelou PCS mentioned]
Washington Business Journal
By Michael Neibauer
May 20, 2015
Plans have just been filed to convert the historic Hospitality High School building at 1851 Ninth St. NW into a 29-unit condominium complex.
The building, designed by architect Albert Cassell, was constructed in 1932 for the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Grand United Order of the Odd Fellows in America. It has also served as home to the Maya Angelou Public Charter School and, currently, Hospitality High School.
Hollow Creek Investment Group LLC of Potomac is the contract purchaser of the building, last acquired by Hospitality High School in June 2012 for $7.5 million. It is located in the Greater U Street Historic District, which protects it from major changes, especially on the outside.
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Per an application filed with the Board of Zoning Adjustments, the “history of the building proves that a school use cannot be sustained,” and “it is apparent that this structure requires substantial investment to permit the adaptive reuse of the building for residential use.”
Hollow Creek will require significant variances from zoning regulations in order to proceed with the project. The 6,461-square-foot lot size, for example, would only allow for seven units, but Hollow Creek is requesting permission to build nearly 30.
Seven units, per the application filed Tuesday, would be “excessively large and unmarketable.” A 29-unit structure “is required for the project to be financially feasible.”
To convert the school to residential use, Hollow Creek must partially demolish “excessively large stairs” and the commercial aspects of the school (the kitchen and the HVAC system) and lower the auditorium floor to create a loft area. It must work around “exceptionally thick” masonry walls ranging from 13 to 24 inches, and a “large awkward entrance.”
“In this instance, having fewer units would produce a practical difficulty for the Applicant,” according to the statement. “Due to the exceptional circumstances ... renovation and repurposing of the existing structure into fewer than 29 units would result in economic challenges for the project.”
Additional units “are needed to offset the hardship of preserving the historic auditorium and working within the existing layout.”
The proposed building will have seven units in the cellar, eight two-story units on the first and second floors, seven units on the third floor and seven more on the fourth.
Some high-performing principals to get three-year appointments
The Washington Post
By Michael Alison Chandler
May 20, 2015
Some high-performing D.C. public school principals will be offered three-year appointments starting next school year, an effort to retain talented principals and respond to calls for more stability among city school leadership.
In all, 22 principals, or about one in five current principals, will be offered the longer appointment in exchange for an agreement that they will stay at their school for three years.
“We know it takes a considerable amount of time and hard work to get to know the school community — its students, families, staff and culture — and to improve academic performance,” D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson said in a statement. “A three-year appointment shows that we trust and value their leadership and ability to nurture a strong school community.”
The city’s public school principals have long worked under one-year contracts, but they were far more likely to keep their jobs prior to 2007, when the School Reform Act triggered a series of changes. Many of those changes — first implemented during the tenure of former chancellor Michelle A. Rhee — were built around the concept of holding principals and teachers more accountable for student progress.
In recent years, it has not been uncommon for 20 percent to 25 percent of the school system’s principals to turn over.
Last summer, D.C. public schools announced 21 new principals for the school system’s 111 schools. By comparison, Montgomery County had 23 new principals this year in a system with 203 schools.
“This gives me some space to maybe be a little more daring and bold in my work,” said Atasha James, who will be starting her third year as principal at Leckie Elementary next year. James recently learned that she will get a three-year appointment.
She has ambitious goals for the next three years, as she begins to build up a middle school program in her elementary school near Bolling Air Force base. She plans to add a grade a year for the next three years. By the time her students finish eighth grade, she wants more than 90 percent to graduate with at least one high school credit.
D.C. public schools released names for three of the 22 principals that were given the three-year appointments: Mary Ann Stinson of Truesdell Education Campus, Carmen Shepherd at Thomson Elementary, and James at Leckie.
Officials did not release the names or number of principals that they are not reappointing next year.
Terry Goings, an active alumnus of Coolidge High School, said he has been lobbying city officials to make a multi-year commitment to its principal, Richard Jackson, the fourth principal in as many years at the Ward 4 high school.
“We are losing good teachers, we are losing students, and we are losing faith from the community because nobody knows what is going on,” Goings said.
Aona Jefferson, president of the Council of School Officers, which represents principals, said that she is “pleased” that the school system is offering some longer-term contracts but that she is concerned that the way administrators will choose principals is too subjective.
The criteria for awarding multi-year contracts were developed with help from a School Leader IMPACT Task Force, which had participation from principals, assistant principals, instructional superintendents and members of the union.
Decisions are based on principal evaluations that were introduced in 2012-2013 and sort the school leaders into performance categories.
Half of a principal’s evaluation is tied to progress on school-wide achievement goals. The other half is based on a “leadership framework” that evaluates performance in various areas, including family engagement, instruction and operations.
To earn a three-year appointment, a principal must have been rated “effective” or higher for two years in a row or “highly effective” for one year, as well as have a score of 3.0 or higher in the leadership framework.
If a principal’s performance falls below the evaluation scores, the terms of the appointment would be reviewed but would not automatically lead to termination of the agreement, officials said. A longer-term appointment would not shield a principal from discipline or termination if they engage in misconduct.
The principal evaluations have been controversial in part because they have yielded low results for many District school leaders.
In the first year, the largest group received a “developing” rating, according to school system data. In 2012-2013, 61 principals were rated “developing,” 36 were rated “effective,” and 14 were rated “highly effective.” Nine principals were rated “ineffective,” which automatically leads to termination. Other principals also can be dismissed at the end of their contract for any reason.
The 2013-2014 school year was similar, with the largest number of principals rated in the “developing” category, which was renamed “minimally effective.” Seven principals were rated “ineffective.”
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