WHAT IS THE LOCAL SCHOOL ADVISORY TEAM (LSAT)?

A Local School Advisory Team (LSAT) is a group of elected and appointed members that shall exist in every DCPS school. The team consists of parents, teachers, non-instructional school staff, and a community member to advise the principal on matters that promote high expectations and high achievement for all students.

The primary responsibilities of the LSAT include: advising the principal on school priorities, budget decisions, and the Comprehensive School Plan (CSP).

Additionally, last year the LSAT was dual-hatted and also served a Stoddert’s Reopen Community Corps (RCC), a body designated by DCPS with advising and supporting the school leadership on their plans for a successful reopening. The LSAT will continue to serve as the RCC this academic year, advising and supporting Principal Rivas on Stoddert’s reopening plans.

WHO ARE STODDERT’S LSAT MEMBERS?

Lauren Welsh (Chair, parent)

Lisa McCluskey (parent)

Shilpa Challa (parent)

Marie O’Hara (parent)

Mary-Lou Bruno (teacher)

Kate Gillespie (teacher)

Julie Schnieder (teacher)

Lauren Guaraldo (teacher)

PTO Co-President Michelle Leonard (parent)

Teri Thompson (staff)

Thomas Morris (WTU rep)

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DCPS Decision on New Foxhall and MacArthur Schools Affects Stoddert Elementary and Glover Park

DCPS announced two decisions mid-March that will have an impact on Stoddert Elementary and the Glover Park community.

First, DCPS will build a new elementary school (Foxhall School) on the property of the Hardy Recreation Center, and will re-assign portions of Key, Mann and Stoddert to become the new in-boundary students for Foxhall.

Second, DCPS also announced it will convert the former Georgetown Day School on MacArthur Blvd to a new public high school, and Hardy Middle School would become a feeder school for the new high school.

Why should you care? 

Current or future Stoddert students could be reassigned to the new Foxhall School.  Based on the proposals shared by DCPS last spring, it appears that DCPS is considering a significant change to Stoddert’s current boundaries. Additionally, the new MacArthur High School also changes the feeder pattern for Hardy Middle School.

Last spring DCPS convened a working group to discuss these issues; the position articulated by the Stoddert PTO in this working group was that Stoddert did not wish to have its community divided and that the new proposed Foxhall School was not walkable from the neighborhood serving Stoddert.

Stoddert’s capital improvement project of $20.5 million is in the Mayor’s FY 2023 budget, which is great news. Planning is expected to begin in Fall 2022. The Stoddert Elementary Local School Advisory Team (LSAT) and PTO Executive Board are grateful for the restoration of resources essential to addressing long-standing space constraints.

At the same time, we are concerned the planned renovation of Stoddert may be unnecessarily narrow in order to re-draw the boundaries to send a portion of Stoddert students to the new Foxhall School. We have asked DCPS for a broader renovation and expansion plan for Stoddert that will meet the needs of the Stoddert community for the foreseeable future.

It is vital that families and the community weigh in with the Mayor, DC Council and DCPS on the plans for Foxhall, MacArthur, and Stoddert’s renovation. 

So, what can you do? :

Find out more information:• Letters from Chancellor Dr. Lewis Ferebee about the new Foxhall and MacArthur schools• DCPS announcement on Foxhall and MacArthur and link to related materials from the Community Working Group (CWG): https://dcpsplanning.wordpress.com/2022/03/17/foxhall-and-macarthur-decision-announcement/ • May 2021 ANC3B Resolution on the Foxhall School Proposal: https://anc3b.org/wp-content/uploads/ANC3B-Resolution-on-Foxhall-School-5-13-21.pdf

Make your voice heard: • Submit written testimony for the record to the DC Council budget hearing on the Mayor’s FY 2023 budget. You can email written statements to: cow@dccouncil.us until Monday, April 11. • Engage with the ANC (anc3bmail@gmail.com), GPCA (gpcadc@yahoo.com), and PTO (president@stoddert.org). They are all closely following these developments and value community voices.• Attend the virtual ANC3B meeting on April 14th at 7pm at which Chancellor Ferebee is slated to present. Check www.anc3b.org after April 7 for the Zoom link and proposed meeting agenda. • Write to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor for Education, Chancellor Ferebee, Council Member Mary Cheh, and other representatives to share your views. (mayor.bowser@dc.gov; dme@dc.gov; Lewis.Ferebee@k12.dc.gov; mcheh@dccouncil.us)• Participate in the initial community meeting with DCPS about Stoddert’s capital improvement project on April 19. Check Stoddert.org for details. 

There is a diversity of views on these issues, and community engagement is important and will play a critical role in helping to shape these plans. We encourage everyone to get involved!