School updates: Construction and deconstruction at three campuses; UDC prof up for a Grammy; The Fonz at Murch

A rendering of Sheridan School with the addition.

We published our previous School Updates roundup at the beginning of the school year. Now, the year is half over for the K-12 and college students in our midst! Here’s some of what’s happening:

The Sidwell Friends and Sheridan School expansion projects are under way. We last reported in 2017 on Sidwell’s plans – and a delay in plans – to unite its upper and lower schools on 37th Street NW in North Cleveland Park. So we’re long past due for an update. The first phase is the renovation of the former Washington Home nursing and hospice care facility next door to the Sidwell upper school. That began in June 2024. The full timeline, renderings, and construction updates are posted here.

Sheridan School (4400 36th Street NW) is building a two-story addition in the parking lot in front of the entrance. The work began earlier this month. Here’s the project website.

UDC’s Building 41 in October 2024.

The demolition of UDC’s Building 41 continues. A painstaking interior deconstruction, including asbestos and other hazardous materials abatement, was completed in December. The demolition of the rest of the building is to begin in February, said Brad King, the project manager for the incoming DC Archives, told ANC 3F on January 14th. Project updates are posted here, but the ANC and UDC Campus-Community Task Force meetings have the latest information. Speaking of which…

The next UDC Campus Community Task Force meeting is Thursday, February 6th. The agenda includes the latest on the new DC Archives and UDC-owned retail spaces. UDC is the landlord for the MOM’s Organic Market, The Whale Tea, and Dog Haus – all incoming businesses, and all (we hope) opening in the coming weeks and months. The virtual meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Here’s the link.

A UDC professor is up for a Grammy. Jazz singer and composer Christie Dashiell is nominated for “Best Jazz Vocal Album.” That album: Journey in Black. “I am extremely nervous and happy,” Dashiell tells UDC’s communications team. “This is something you dream of as an artist. I’m honored and grateful for the recognition.”

Ayyyyy… The Fonz was at Murch Elementary. Actor Henry Winkler is also author Henry Winkler, and last October, Politics and Prose arranged for him and co-author Lin Oliver to visit Murch and talk about their latest children’s book: Detective Duck: The Case of the Missing Tadpole. Winkler and Oliver have collaborated on nearly two dozen children’s titles. The latest is their second book in the Detective Duck series.