School Without Walls students won’t have to split their time between two campuses next year after all, a top D.C. schools leader announced this week.
The public magnet high school, located on G Street, was slated to merge with a nearby primary school called Francis-Stevens Education Campus.
That school, which teaches pre-k through eighth grade about two blocks off campus, avoided closure in 2012 after it was marked as a satellite campus for School Without Walls. Many parents at School Without Walls protested the decision, saying it would not benefit their students.
In a Dec. 20 letter to School Without Walls parents, D.C. schools chief John Davis, said that their children would not have to take classes in the Francis-Stevens building in the 2014-2015 school year, though it could be an option in the future.
Davis wrote that a group of School Without Walls parents has raised “relevant challenges” regarding the merger, and that he will “continue to study the enrollment situation and opportunities that arrive.”
Terry Lynch, a seven-year School Without Walls parent, called the decision a “welcomed step,” adding that if his daughter had not been a senior this year, he would have considered sending her to a different school.
Parents were also concerned about the decision to share the School Without Walls principal Richard Trogisch between the two schools.
“There’s no replacing a presence,” Lynch said of Trogisch. “You can’t be in two places at once. Both schools need full-time principals.”
Since the merger was announced, School Without Walls students have had access to Francis Stevens’ auditorium, gymnasium and athletic fields.
Conversations between parents and DCPS will continue as details of the merger are decided, according to a post on the School Without Walls website.
“We as parents will need to remain involved in this issue to ensure that the integrity of School Without Walls High School is maintained,” the post read.
A jump in enrollment at Francis-Stevens threatened the merger last spring, when enrollment for fall 2013 increased by 100 students and a waiting list was created for the sixth grade class.
Enrollment is now at 297, up from 220 last year, Francis-Stevens parent Chris Sondreal said.