Last week, the Fenty administration announced an aggressive plan calling for the closure of 24 schools within the District of Columbia Public Schools system. Parents and concerned members of the community are now being invited to attend a series of public meetings where they can raise concerns directly with Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso. We've posted the full schedule below. Wards 1, 2 & 6: *Monday, Dec. 10 from...
Results tagged “middleschool”
Harry Jaffe: As the fallout from the shooting of 14-year-old DeOnté Rawlings continues, it's now Mayor Adrian Fenty taking some of the heat. According to Jaffe, Fenty's decision to pay for Rawlings' funeral and invite his sisters to speak at a press conference has soured some police officers on the young mayor, who saw the moves as an indication of where Fenty's allegiances were. "How can Fenty rebuild trust with the police?" asks Jaffe. “'Let...
Good morning, Washington. Buried at the bottom on the Post's updated story this morning on the controversy surrounding Monday's Adams Morgan fire, which has caused Mayor Fenty and Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham to start foaming at the mouth to take WASA to task for not replacing inadequate water mains fast enough, is a little human interest nugget. Apparently fire fighters managed to recover an engagement ring left behind by one of the building's...
>> D.C. looks to be trapped in the middle of a presidential endorsement face-off, with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine already firmly in the Sen. Barack Obama camp (the first governor to endorse the candidate), and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley declaring his support for Sen. Hillary Clinton. Will D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty step into the fray with an endorsement of his own? >> Police have arrested a 12-year-old boy in connection to the "pins in the...
>> Students at George Washington Middle School in Alexandria have been locked inside the school since around 2:30 p.m. today, after some students said they may have seen another student with a BB gun, school officials said. [WaPo]
The Capital Fringe Festival gets started in earnest today, with offerings all over town. Highlights include sci-fi dating, middle school antics, Canadian exports, songs for the deaf, a day-long performance piece, and spoonbending. It could be a little overwhelming if DCist weren't here to guide you through it, no? So before we get into it, let us first introduce OUR AWESOME FRINGE FESTIVAL MAP, which details the locations of all Fringe venues, by date. Special thanks to DCist Tom for putting that together. You can go directly to all of DCist's coverage of Fringe here.
Enjoying your grey and drizzly morning, Washington? Well you're in luck. Our current perfectly reasonable precipitation is predicted to turn into an ill-tempered thunderstorm by this afternoon. If only we could prescribe psychotropic drugs and anger management classes for the weather. Alas. We'll just have to settle for some slightly upsetting headlines. Police Find More Guns In Shooter's Home: The Post brings us the latest developments in the investigation of Monday's shooting at the Sully police station in Chantilly. A newly-unsealed warrant reveals that gunman Michael Kennedy kept a collection of nine guns — not counting the seven he brought on his rampage. Police also found notebooks containing suicidal thoughts and "satanic symbolism" in his family's townhouse. Also worth noting: injured officer Michael Garbarino's doctor says that he is showing improvement and that if all goes well, Garbarino could be out of the hospital in two or three weeks. More Charges Against Maryland Teacher:A total of 12 felony threat counts have now been brought against sixth grade teacher Michelle Dohm of Thurmont, Md., reports the Times. Five male students at Thurmont Middle School now claim Dohm has been stalking them, in addition to other charges including that she threatened to blow up the school. In related news, NBC4 is taking the opportunity to warn us all about female sex offenders run amok, and Mary Kay Letourneau would like to remind you that she's still totally alive and deserving of some of your attention. Nats Might Make It To Comcast Soon: We hate to be a tease, but we can't resist mentioning the latest news in the seemingly never-ending dispute over the Nationals' TV rights. NBC4 reports that Peter Angelos has agreed to place Comcast licensing revenue into an escrow fund, allowing the situation to be temporarily resolved while the two sides continue to hash out an agreement. The relevant parties will be meeting on Friday; hopefully we'll hear definite news of a resolution then. Briefly Noted: Man killed by own pit bulls... BGE ordered top stop distributing rate-hike-related literature...Metro to be even more unpredictable than usual... Arlington police shoot a man in N.E. Washington... New Wilson Bridge to open next month, er, sometime... This Day In DCist: A year ago today a helicopter accidentally buzzed the White House as we made cajun pasta and tried to offer sage advice to the city's interns.
Too often, the words "Washington, D.C." and "public schools" are the precursor to another bout of bad press for the District. Not today - for the first time in the contest's history, a teacher from the District of Columbia has been named Teacher of the Year. The lucky winner is Jason Kamras, 31, math teacher at John Phillip Sousa Middle School. Kamras received his Bachelor's Degree from Princeton University and his Master's from Harvard. His desire to teach in an urban school district began during his stint as a volunteer in the Sacramento Unified School District, which "convinced" him that "limited access to well-funded, high quality schools for economically disadvantaged students is the greatest social injustice facing America today."
Ooops, Did I Do Thaaaaaaat?: Can Steve Urkel from "Family Matters" and Franz Kafka be used in the same post? Why yes, they can. In what the Post describes as a "series of Kafkaesque legal arguments," the District government is trying to deny any wrong doing in accidentally tearing down a Marshall Heights apartment building that was supposed to be renovated for affordable housing. Ooops! The owner of the building wants $1.9 million to replace the structure. The city wants to settle for $150,000. The bureaucratic mess is of course hard to follow. See if you can draw up a flow chart.

Thanks to This Week's Advertisers