Cancellation of Arts Magnet Raises Questions About D.C. Middle Schools

A proposed arts magnet school, Principal Patrick Pope and, some would argue, are all casualties of D.C. Public Schools efforts to develop a city-wide comprehensive middle school plan. But critics worry that DCPS is not doing enough to share its plans with parents and invested community members.

Georgetown resident and Greater Greater Washington contributor, Ken Archer, reports that DCPS has canceled the promised arts magnet middle school that former Hardy Middle School Principal Pope was to have started. Pope is now serving as the principal at Savoy Elementary in Southeast between Barry Farms and Historic Anacostia. His promised middle school has been canceled.

In an email to Archer, DCPS spokesperson Frederick Lewis wrote:

We stopped the planning process for a proposed arts magnet middle school last school year with the appointment of Patrick Pope as principal of Savoy Elementary. This school year, faced with major questions to resolve around school closures and a city-wide demand for a comprehensive middle school plan, we are rethinking all of our options.

Pope was the center of controversy at Hardy Middle School when Adrian Fenty was still mayor and Michelle Rhee was still leading her crusade as D.C. Schools Chancellor. Rhee removed Pope from his position in favor of Principal Dana Nerenberg, who was and still is the principal of .

Nerenberg served as principal from through , when continued with how Hardy was being run compelled Chancellor Kaya Henderson to make a change. Nerenberg went back to running just one school and Henderson began the . began the 2011-2012 school year with little fuss.

Hardy, writes Archer, is one of the few successful middle schools in the city that also has a high out-of-boundary enrollment for students. It gives parents in other neighborhoods the option of a good middle school for their children. Pope's removal and the uncertainty around it was a microcosm for a bigger concern for DCPS parents: what do you do about middle school?

Patch previously covered the that could serve the Palisades community.

"I see the community that I live in as a very strong community, and somewhere between fourth and fifth grade, all the parents and all the students all go somewhere ... the community gets fractured" said Palisades resident and parent Geoff Kuck in an earlier interview. Kuck said often the kids go to private school or the families move to the suburbs.

Susan Schaeffler, KIPP D.C.’s chief executive officer, also sounded the alarm about middle schools when she spoke with Patch in August.

"The city is desperate for more quality middle schools,".

Archer called on DCPS to either be more transparent about their plans or to start planning if they haven't.

He writes, "a comprehensive, city-wide middle school plan is the most effective way to retain District families who will otherwise move to the suburbs."