Back-to-school season is now under way. UDC students started classes on August 21st. DC Public Schools students (except for pre-K) return today. And most private primary and secondary schools welcome students after Labor Day. What's your favorite spot on campus? pic.twitter.com/feZyapUogW — UDC Library (@udc_library) August 7, 2024 What’s new at UDC: At the August […]
School updates: Report cards for DC schools; What’s in the news at JRHS; Save the date for grade school auctions
The DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), the agency that oversees DC public and charter schools, is revamping its system for assigning grades to public schools. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, OSSE compiled and publicly posted STAR ratings for each school. Parents and guardians could and did consider these grades while deciding […]
Photos: A long-awaited snowy day
by Marlene Berlin We just got our most substantial snowfall in two years. I wouldn’t have missed walking in it for anything. I set out for Van Ness via Rock Creek Park trails, during a period that the Capital Weather Gang described as “light and polite.” A thin veneer of snow was mostly melting on […]
January in the Neighborhood: Save local forests and sing to the trees
The world’s problems – political, environmental, and otherwise – can seem overwhelming, and it can feel like there’s little we can do as individuals to effect change. We do have the power to tackle local issues, however, and can make a big and immediate difference. DCist recently gave, as an example, the non-native invasive species […]
The tale of Murch Elementary and the two bears
Sorry, Goldilocks. This story is about two bears who reside on the grounds of Murch Elementary School. These sculptures were installed at the tail end of the the school’s 2016-2018 renovation, and puzzled many a Murch parent and neighbor, as the Murch mascot is the mustang. Bears are a Lafayette Elementary thing. Now we know […]
A moment of peace and joy at the playground, and a neatnik crow
by Marlene Berlin It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning. I was walking by Forest Hills Playground on Chesapeake. And I heard the mingling of many joyful voices. Kids were in the sandbox chatting away. Others were on the track giving their scooters a workout. Their grownups were nearby, shooting the breeze or soaking […]
ANC 3F Sept. 19 agenda: Sheridan School addition, DC Archives, meet the 3F01 candidates
Sheridan School (4400 36th Street NW) is planning to build a two-story addition. It is seeking zoning exemptions in three areas: the expansion of the private school, the requirement for walls surrounding rooftop mechanical equipment, and minimum parking requirement. Sheridan wants to build the addition on the parking area in front of the school, and […]
Opinion: What our schools need? More data and an independent body empowered to collect it.
by Marlene Berlin As a new school year begins, I want to draw your attention to Ruth Wattenberg’s May 26th article for the Washington City Paper, “You Can’t Fix What You Can’t Face. How Our Education System Is Failing Us.” Wattenberg, who served as Ward 3’s representative on the DC State Board of Education (SBOE) […]
Murch Kids Report: When the teachers were kids
by Danil Smolar and Megan O’Keefe Murch Blue and Gold staff It’s hard to imagine your teacher as a kid in elementary school. So when Daniel Marcus showed us a photo of himself as a 6th-grader in a Melbourne, Australia, classroom, it looked old, as if it came from another world. Mr. Marcus, who now […]
Murch Kids Report: The line between bad behavior and bullying
by Edward Williams and Ella DuFresne Murch Blue and Gold staff A student remembers the day when a group of kids “started to make fun of me…After that, I was so sad that I … cried,” the student said. Was that bullying? Is it bullying to tease a student about a test score? Or insult […]