FOCUS DC News Wire 12/9/13

 

 

Thanks to a unique collaboration, students from some of DC's most popular charter schools will join together to continue their Chinese, Spanish, or French immersion instruction through high school. Next fall, students from the 5 feeder schools will become part of the inaugural 6th- and 7th-grade classes at DC International School (DCI).

 

For the first year the school will operate with 200 students in a temporary location that is yet to be determined. In the fall of 2015, DCI plans to open at the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Ward 4 with 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Eventually the school will expand to 12th grade with 1,000 to 1,200 students and will graduate its first class in 2020.

 

The agreement between the feeder schools offers students a path to further their language development while attending a middle and high school that offers a wide choice of courses and activities, something none of the charter schools would likely be able to afford to do on their own. 

 

The feeder schools are Latin American Montessori Bilingual (LAMB), Mundo Verde, DC Bilingual, Elsie Whitlow Stokes, and Washington Yu Ying. Enrollment will also be open to students not currently attending those schools.

 

For the 5 schools, the collaboration came naturally. In addition to language immersion, all employ similar flavors of inquiry-based curriculums. Yu Ying follows the International Baccalaureate framework, while the other schools use inquiry-based learning, Expeditionary, or Montessori instruction. DCI will follow the IB curriculum framework with a focus on internationalism, inquiry, environmental stewardship, and social justice.

 

Schools too small to offer rich secondary experience

 

Yu Ying, where two of my children are enrolled, opened in the fall of 2008 as a Mandarin immersion school with pre-k, kindergarten, and 1st grades. The school planned to add one grade per year through 8th grade. But in 2011, it became clear to then-Executive Director Mary Shaffner that the size of the school would eventually limit options for students in the upper grades.

 

"We believed that our school was too small to provide a rich middle school experience," said Shaffner, now DCI's chief operating officer.

 

Shaffner found that many other charter leaders shared her frustration. This led her and administrators from Mundo Verde, LAMB, and Stokes to think about creating a combined middle/high school that would allow students who have been enrolled in immersion programs for as many as six years to continue their language instruction. DC Bilingual joined the team a few months later.

 

DCI aims to create an inclusive environment through choice. Everyone who graduates will receive a DC high school diploma, but beyond that, students will be able to pursue a range of options. Students will be able to choose to take selected IB courses or earn the IB diploma. They can also earn the IB diploma in their target language. Students who may not be planning to attend college will be able to obtain a career certificate in a particular field of study.

 

Students at DCI will technically remain enrolled at the feeder schools they came from. The school also plans to admit some students who come from other schools every year, depending on available space, through 9th grade. Due to the rigorous nature of the IB program, DCI will not accept new students after 9th grade.

 

The plan is to offer science, fine arts, PE, language instruction, and humanities in some or all of the target languages. Students admitted in later grades, who will have varying levels of language mastery, will be able to receive language instruction before taking other classes in their target language.

 

Benefits of language immersion

 

Studies have shown that language immersion, when done right, can benefit students cognitively while not negatively affecting scholastic performance in the non-immersion language. Two critical aspects of successful programs, which are in place at Yu Ying, are parallel curriculums in both languages and plenty of support in the non-immersion language.

 

DCI is already working on architectural and construction plans for the Walter Reed location. The medical center was closed in 2005 as part of a broader closure of military bases and the property is expected to be transferred to the District any day.

 

The school's permanent home will include 130,000 square feet in Delano Hall, which was built in 1933 as a nurse's dormitory and later converted to office space. DCI will be just one part of an extensive reuse plan for the 67-acre site.

 

The DC government recently chose a team of master developers, Hines and Urban Atlantic. That clears the way for DCI to solidify a schedule for its construction.

 

Considerable renovations will be needed to turn the space into a school, but DCI's architect, Perkins Eastman, is well equipped for the job. Recently, the firm designed the Concordia International School in Shanghai, shown below.

 

DC residents can also view the firm's handiwork at the recently renovated Washington Latin School. Among other features, DCI will have a gym/auditorium, student commons, and a soccer field.

 

I grew up in a city where students attended their neighborhood schools almost without exception, because every school provided a similar high-quality learning experience. When I moved to DC in 2006, navigating the school system was a bit overwhelming. I appreciate the quality education my oldest has already received at Yu Ying, and knowing that my children will be able to attend DCI provides added peace of mind.

 

DCI is hosting an information session at Yu Ying (220 Taylor St., NE) on December 10th at 6:30pm. DCI is not participating in the common lottery this year. Those interested can apply through this link. 

 

 

When August Valentine transferred from the District’s McKinley Technology High School to Spingarn High School as a sophomore last year, her credits didn’t.

 

“I was considered a 9.5,” she said. She was not really a freshman, but not quite a sophomore.

 

In addition to adjusting to a new school and taking a full course load, she also took night classes twice a week for a semester to get back on track. “I was really having a hard time,” she said.

 

So she went to Mentors Inc. — a nonprofit organization that matches D.C. public and charter high school students with the city’s professionals — to find someone who could give her the encouragement she needed.

 

For 26 years, Mentors has been making those connections in a quest to get more students across the stage on graduation day. It’s a five-person operation that Deirdre Bagley, Mentor’s executive director, estimates has reached 5,000 students over the years.

 

After an initial “match party,” during which students meet their mentors over pizza and chicken wings at the group’s offices off McPherson Square, the relationship takes place entirely on a pair’s own time, unlike mentoring programs that are run through schools. Bagley said that’s a big factor in the 80 percent of mentoring pairs who stay together for at least a year. Some stay close for years after.

 

And although college enrollment isn’t specifically part of the organization’s mission, Bagley said many students continue their education.

 

When the group’s student recruiter, Rameka Blakely, goes into high school classrooms across the city, most in wards 7 and 8, the students often have big plans for themselves that might not square with the reality around them. “There’s a disconnect,” Blakely said.

 

Many students don’t know anyone who has gone to college. Even the path to high school graduation can seem elusive.

 

Valentine, who on this day sports frosting-pink lipstick, long braids and bright teal on her nails, has always wanted to go to college but wasn’t sure how to do it. The self-possessed but sometimes shy junior thinks she might want to be a journalist but struggles with public speaking. Her GPA still isn’t where she wants it to be, she said, but “I know my teachers see me trying.”

 

Working with her mentor, financial analyst Sheila Harrison, she said she’s getting the encouragement she needs to meet her goals. Harrison wakes up early every day to go running and, for the past few weeks, Valentine has done the same, starting her days at 5:30 a.m. “She’s inspiring me,” Valentine said.

 

Valentine has also started branching out more, finding new friends and new things to do in the city. She and Harrison go to bookstores, restaurants and neighborhood cookouts together. They talk regularly. Harrison often texts her in the morning: “Have an A+ day.”

 

That kind of support can make a real difference. “These are kids who could go either way,” Bagley said.

 

Many come in with clear goals but lack the support needed to accomplish them, she said. Others simply want to talk with someone.

 

This past year, Mentors expanded its reach to include eighth-graders in a pilot program. The goal is to reduce attrition rates in the first year of high school, when students struggle to make the academic and social adjustments needed to succeed.

 

Mentors pairs the freshmen-to-be with professionals, using funding from the United Way of the National Capital Area. As part of the pilot program, Mentors partners with a nonprofit group called City Year, whose volunteers work on site with students at D.C. middle schools.

 

Bagley said the group plans to put a $25,000 grant from the Washington Post Charities awarded in the summer toward expanding that program as well as toward general operating costs.

 

After Mentors started recruiting specifically in higher-need wards seven years ago, its results have actually improved. For the past two years, 100 percent of the program’s senior-year proteges have graduated.

 

Bagley, who grew up in Silver Spring, said her work gives her a different perspective on the difficult educational issues related to student achievement and D.C.’s graduation rate, which hovers around 60 percent. “My belief is, we raise them,” she said, “so if we’re talking about them, we’re really talking about us.”

 

 

While his teammates stretched during halftime Friday night, H.D. Woodson quarterback Rashad Cooper snuck away to the equipment bag by the bench. He pulled out a football and ran out to midfield by himself, starting to run play-action fakes against an imaginary defense, rolling out and making cuts against defenders made of air.

 

“I just wanted to make sure I was hitting, that I was ready,” Cooper said.

 

It was Cooper’s way of staying in the right mental place during Friday night’s D.C. State Athletic Association AA title game against Friendship Collegiate, a way to use his imagination. In that time alone, he visualized a big play early in the second half.

 

But a long touchdown pass on the first play? That seemed too good to be true. Yet after Cooper hit All-Met D’Andre Payne with a 54-yard touchdown pass to open the second half, the quarterback and his teammates affirmed something they knew all along: They were simply the best team in the city this season.

 

Cooper threw for 186 yards and three touchdowns, and H.D. Woodson’s defense was dominant as the Warriors beat Friendship Collegiate, 25-8, to win the school’s first DCSAA title at Catholic University in Northeast.

 

“I just executed, tried to get the ball in the hands of playmakers, let them make plays,” Cooper said. “We just came out and proved that we’re number one.”

 

The Warriors (11-3) finished the season on a 10-game winning streak, but this final victory was the most resounding statement of all, coming against Friendship Collegiate (7-5), a team loaded with major college prospects and tested against some of the country’s best teams this season. It started with Cooper, who set the tone when he hit Payne on the team’s first play from scrimmage for a 31-yard gain, setting up a five-yard touchdown pass from Cooper to Daijon Carson to make it 6-0.

 

That started one of the best performances of Cooper’s career on a night when torrential rain swamped both teams. But there were plenty more showcase performances from H.D. Woodson’s defense and special teams: Dereon Carr intercepted two passes, the first of which set up Cooper’s 32-yard touchdown pass to Parnell Motley right before halftime.

 

After Cooper hit Payne to open the second half for a 19-0 lead, Motley blocked a punt and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. Motley added an interception in the end zone for good measure, giving him a pivotal play in each of the three phases of the game. It was a signature night for the defensive-minded Warriors, who with players such as Payne, held opponents to a combined 88 points during their 10-game winning streak.

 

“We worked hard all year,” said Payne, who was named the game’s MVP. “We were pretty much the underdogs. We were supposed to get beat by 30 points . . . so we just came out. We didn’t talk. We just came out and played football.”