- Enrollment Projections: Mr. C and Ms. Fuller were not able to attend tonight so the committee was not able to discuss this topic. Beth and Sabrina will follow‐up with the administration to determining the timing of establishing projections for 2015‐16 school year.
- Behavioral Support: Last year discussed having a behavioral specialist but was too late in the budget cycle. Staff reported that there has been some progress this year on behavioral challenges even without a programmatic change. Having a dedicated Special Ed Coordinator and full time social worker is helpful. It was noted that it seems as though the school does not have as many kids with severe behavioral challenges this year as previous years, but there do remain some challenges. The Responsive Classroom (RC) program is very helpful for classroom management.
Several staff members attended the Responsive Classroom leadership conference in Chicago the previous weekend during which they attended a very helpful session addressing behavior. Tomorrow, the RC committee is presenting four different sessions to the staff during the professional development day. Is it possible to get an RC consultant or an instructional coach for RC on staff part time? Currently, it is believed that RC is not fully implemented at the school. As a rough estimate, approximately 75% of classrooms are doing morning meeting well. Only a handful of teachers are capable of adhering to RC’s guidelines on teacher language/responses. The RC committee has discussed with Mr. C doing a parent information night dedicated to RC, tentatively in Spring 2015.The committee discussed possible options for investing further in RC. Due to turnover there is a continual need for additional RC training. We discussed the possibility of focusing on RC as part of the Paddles Up portion of the live auction. Lisa and Lauren agreed to work together to identify the specific training needs of the school and the cost. How does Fairfax County support its extensive investment in RC? How do Janney, Mann, Maurey, and Key keep their teachers trained?
- Topics for Future meetings: Due to time limitations, our discussion of topics for future meetings was limited. We agreed to have a Basecamp discussion about what is needed for the January meeting. Some high priority topics include:
- School data -‐Consistent with Mr. C’s previous suggestion, we will look at school data in January after next set of unit testing. Committee would like to review last year’s CAS scores, including subgroups, as compared to prior years. [Beth/Sabrina to ask Mr. C to provide at January meeting.] iReady data also would be helpful to review. Sabrina will request Fountas and Pinnell data.
- Assessments -‐ Are we doing too many assessments? Which ones are the most helpful for educators? There was some discussion of whether teacher created assessments produce more reliable data, but they are more difficult to gather and compare. There is a parent information night on Assessments scheduled for Dec. 9, and there will be a separate night on the Parc later in the year.
- Feedback on Current staffing Model/Enrichment -‐There were alot of staffing changes this year and it will be helpful to gather feedback on how it is going. With the large number of support positions, students are being pulled out of class alot. Staff committee members agreed to poll the staff before the January meeting to ask what positions are they finding the most valuable this year. At that point we will discuss how/whether to poll parents. One option is to modify the school satisfaction survey from last year.
- Aides -‐ There were discussions last year of deploying aides in a more instructional capacity this year. There has been no top-‐down direction this year on implementing this change. Some aides are doing enrichment as part of their own initiative, but not as part of Ms. Presnik’s program. Each grade level decides how to use its aides.
Archives for December 2014
Murch Renovation Update – December 19, 2014
On December 16, the Murch School Improvement Team (SIT) met with Brian Hanlon, Director of the DC Department of General Services (DGS), Lisa Ruda, Deputy Chancellor of DC Public Schools (DCPS), Councilmember Mary Cheh, and members of their staffs.
Here is what we learned:
- DGS now has agreed to issue an RFP for design planning next week, prior to December 26. That should allow an architecture firm to be selected near the end of February.
- DGS intends to begin construction as soon as school ends in June 2016.
- In order to complete the entire scope of the project at one time, an additional $25-26 million dollars would need to be allocated in the DC budget for Fiscal Years (FY) 2016 and 2017. To allow for proper planning, those additional funds would need to be identified during the FY 2016 budget process taking place this spring.
- A complete modernization and expansion of the scope needed at Murch will take 18-24 months. This means that if construction begins in June 2016, and takes place all at once, the project would be completed for occupancy in January or August 2018.
- If additional, sufficient funding is not secured in the FY 2016 budget process, the project would be completed in phases. Work would still begin in June 2016 and the construction timeline would be similar, however, work on some aspects of the project would have to continue into future years as funding was allocated. In that case, the details of how the project could be structured would be worked out in the design process.
- Students would need to be moved out of the current building during all or the majority of construction. DGS and DCPS have not identified appropriate swing space, but will prioritize finding space and working with the SIT and school to better inform them of the progress of their efforts.
The SIT members made it very clear that the school community was frustrated and angry that the early estimates of construction were so far from the current estimates. They also expressed frustration with the lack of high-level negotiating by DGS and DCPS with the National Park Service and the Historic Preservation Board. Likewise, the group communicated their disappointment at the efforts to identify swing space.
Getting these additional funds will not be easy as the DC budget has increasing constraints. The SIT stressed to DGS and DCPS officials that the community expects them to prioritize the Murch project and fight for the needed funds along with the Murch community.
What is next? The HSA is working on a plan of outreach to District leaders. We have already begun reaching out to Mayor-Elect Muriel Bowser and her staff. We once again will be inviting every member of the DC Council to tour Murch. The Council will have 3 new members and two Council seats (Wards 4 & 8) will be vacant throughout the budget process. We will reach out to education advocates across the city and encourage them to visit Murch.
What can families do now? As we return to school in January, you will receive more information about what you can do to help. We will need the help of all our families with outreach at various times. But if you are able to devote more time to this effort, please let us know by sending an email to HSAMurch@gmail.com.
Over break, we ask families, including our students, to take a moment to write Mayor-Elect Bowser to emphasize the importance of getting these additional funds for the Murch modernization. Please note: The HSA will work to educate the Mayor-Elect and her staff on the latest developments regarding the Murch modernization. Mayor-Elect Bowser toured Murch last year; she understands the incredible need for modernizing the school and supported our efforts last year. What we need to emphasize now is the need for her continued support and that adequate funding for school modernizations, and Murch in particular, must be prioritized among the many building projects desired by people across the District.
Mayor-Elect Bowser takes office on January 2, so this is a great post-holiday activity. Letters can be sent to:
Mayor Muriel Bowser
1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Suite 316
Washington, DC 20004
Update on the Murch Renovation
Several years ago, Murch was scheduled to begin renovation in the 2014-2015 school year, but that timeline was delayed in the DC budget process in the spring of 2013. In 2014, the Murch community mounted a campaign to educate city leaders about the overwhelming need for Murch to be renovated as quickly as possible. As a result, in April 2014, the DC Council approved increased funding for the project, from $32.4 million to $43.7 million. Of note, the Council increased funding for Fiscal Year 2015 (which began in October 2014), with the hope that work on the renovation could begin as early as the summer of 2015.
The Department of General Services (DGS), working in conjunction with DCPS, is the agency responsible for planning and managing school modernizations. In response to the Murch community’s outreach last spring, DGS Director Brian Hanlon appointed a project manager to begin working with the Murch School Improvement Team (SIT). The specific needs of the school were outlined in a document to be used in hiring a design architect. To meet the modern needs of a school and the projected population of the school, a renovated Murch will need approximately twice the building space that it currently has in the main building and the Kaufman Wing.
Over the past summer, DGS used their own funds to conduct a feasibility study of the Murch project. This step is used only in more complicated projects. For the feasibility study, an architecture firm was hired to survey the property, review the educational specifications, and determine if there were design concepts that would meet the needs of the school within the limitations of the space and the restrictions that may be imposed by the National Park Service (NPS) and the DC Historic Preservation Review Board. NPS owns one-third of the property on which Murch is situated, including the hill, the area with the playground equipment, and the space occupied by the Kaufman Wing. NPS has indicated that they will not allow any structures to be built on that land. Staff from the DC Historic Preservation Office has told DGS that they likely would object to any change to the original exterior structure of the building, because Murch is one of the only schools of that era that has not been altered over the years. The feasibility study was completed in September and resulted in several design concepts. The Murch SIT provided DGS with feedback on those concepts, and the school was told that a Request for Proposals (RFP) to design the renovation would be issued in October.
In mid-November, the SIT requested a meeting with DGS because the RFP had not been issued and the SIT had not received any updates. On December 2, the DGS project manager met with the SIT and informed the group that, based on the feasibility study, the project cost is now estimated to be $65-70 million. This is a significant enough difference that DGS saw two options for moving forward. The first option would be to request additional funding for the project in the upcoming budget process, which runs from January through late April. Once adequate funding is secured, an RFP would be issued, the project could move forward, and the entire renovation conducted at one time. The second option would be to issue an RFP in January for a phased renovation project, with the hope that over time the necessary funding for the complete project would be provided. Either way, planning would not be complete to allow any work to be done prior to the fall of 2015, at the earliest, and likely not until the summer of 2016.
It is not clear to the SIT members why planning for the project should be delayed or the scope of the project changed. In response to this news, the HSA, Councilmember Mary Cheh, and ANC 3F all have requested that DGS Director Hanlon and DCPS Chancellor Henderson meet with the school community to explain their expectation for the Murch modernization project. We have not heard a response from DCPS, however, DGS Director Hanlon now has agreed to meet with the SIT on Tuesday, December 16 at 5 pm.
The HSA will continue to push city leaders to ensure that Murch is renovated as soon as possible and in a way that best serves the Murch community. We will continue to update the community on both the latest developments.