2013 5-14 ed specs roosevelt intro justification capacity

ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM SPECIFICATION
S.H.A.P.P.E., 21ST
CENTURY SCHOOL FUND, Roosevelt SIT Committee
April, 2013
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................2
Purpose of the Educational Specification ...............................................................................2
Process for Developing and Approving the Educational Specifications ................................2
II. EXISTING FACILITY..........................................................................................................3
History.....................................................................................................................................3
Location and Site.....................................................................................................................3
III. PROJECT JUSTIFICATION AND ENROLLMENT CAPACITY ....................................6
The Need for MacFarland MS to Support Roosevelt HS Capacity ........................................7
Roosevelt’s Recent Student Population History and 2013-14 Projections .............................8
Capacity Calculation for Modernized Roosevelt ..................................................................10

S.H.A.P.P.E., 21ST
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I. INTRODUCTION
Purpose of the Educational Specification
The Educational Specification is intended for use as the basis for the design of a
modernization of Roosevelt High School (RHS) for 9th
through 12th
grade students and the
Roosevelt STAY School for adult education students who seek high school diplomas, GEDs
and job training. Roosevelt High School is a neighborhood high school with attendance
boundaries and feeder schools as well as a self-contained special education program serving
high school age autistic and emotionally disturbed students. The Educational Specification
familiarizes the members of the design team with the educational, extracurricular,
administrative and operational space requirements of the school and site. It also provides the
planning context to ensure that design decisions are consistent with neighborhood
development and plans.
Process for Developing and Approving the Educational Specifications
A standard best practice is a sign-off/approval of the educational specification by the
educators at the DCPS central office and at school level. It should also be reviewed and
approved by the Office of Planning for its consistency with population projections and
neighborhood development, as well as reviewed and approved by the area ANCs. Capital
investment is a once in a generation opportunity that needs appropriate due diligence for the
opportunity it provides.
For DCPS, this means that the completed educational specification, with input from the
School Improvement Team, should be approved by the Local School Advisory Team
(including for the STAY program), the Cluster Superintendent, Head of Schools and the
Chancellor. This will help ensure that the educational requirements and priorities guide the
architects and project managers throughout the design and construction process. A high
quality educational specification will ensure that Roosevelt has a high quality design able to
support high quality education for this community now and into the future. A high quality
educational specification will also ensure better value for DC taxpayers, as it will enable the
District to get more for its investment, in part by reducing the changes and increased costs
associated with inadequate direction from DCPS.
The Department of General Services (DGS) included as part of the RFP for the Architectural
and Engineering Services issued on November 6, 20121
a very preliminary educational
specification for Roosevelt High School that had not been approved by DCPS or reviewed by
Roosevelt day or STAY schools. DGS issued an RFP for Design-Build Services March 18,
2013. As part of this RFP DGS provided the prospective bidders a working draft educational
1
36 page “Draft Facilities List” dated September 2012, prepared by educational facility
planning consultant, Deanna Newman.

S.H.A.P.P.E., 21ST
April, 2013
3
specification dated December, 2012. AnRFP addendum wasdated March 27th
and provided a
slightly updated educational specification for Roosevelt High School modernization.
The educational specification provided little information or context for the educational
programs and services offered or planned for a modernized Roosevelt High School, STAY
School and Special Education Academy. It did not justify the reduced enrollment capacity or
provide explanation for the need for the modernization itself. It did not provide any
description of the adult education school and how it functions in the context of the day school.
It was based on providing space for only the most basic educational program, not one that
would prepare students for college or careers, but just provide a high school diploma to
minimal requirements. It contained no vision for the modernized school, even as it included
detailed specifications on individual spaces.
To address the shortcomings in the critical educational specifications document, DCPS, DGS,
and Roosevelt High School and community agreed to cooperate in an intensive and condensed
process involving DCPS central office representatives, Roosevelt teachers and staff and
community members. This intensive and necessarily abridged process results in a more
complete educational specification for Roosevelt, which needs to be officially reviewed and
approved by DCPS and Roosevelt before the architects spend time in schematic design and
before the design build team has a notice to proceed.
II.EXISTING FACILITY
History
Roosevelt was originally designed in 1930 and completed in 1932. It was built on the
MacFarland site, which had been built in 1923. The Roosevelt Stadium and pool and the new
in-fill classrooms were added 1977-79. Built of red brick and limestone in the Colonial
Revival/Neo-Classical style, it is very similar in to Wilson High School which was finished in
1935. According to the 2012 program capacity review, the program capacity of Roosevelt
High is 1059 day students. The enrollment capacity for Roosevelt was just recently evaluated.
The capacity includes a self-contained special education academy of four classes—twoclasses
of autistic youth and two of emotionally disturbed youth. DCPS responded to the under-
utilization of its facility by co-locating the Hospitality Public Charter High School on the 3rd
floor in 2007. The Hospitality Public Charter High School will not be part of the future
Roosevelt High School as they have purchased school space in another location. However,
the special education academy will continue to serve youth at Roosevelt and is expected to
increase to five self-contained classes and the STAY program will also continue and may be
expected to grow.
Location and Site
Roosevelt High School is located in Ward 4 at 4301 13th
Street, NW in Neighborhood Cluster
18. It is part of a large public complex in the lower part of Ward 4 that includes DCPS public
schools, public charter schools, the Petworth Public Library and the Upshur Recreation
Center, which includes an outdoor pool, baseball field and other park and recreation
amenities. The public complex, outlined below, encompasses nearly 36 acres of public land

S.H.A.P.P.E., 21ST
April, 2013
4
and nearly two large city blocks.
Note: Roosevelt STAY co-locates with Roosevelt High School, not MacFarland
There are two significant public education campuses within this public complex: 1) The
Roosevelt and MacFarland Education Campus; and 2) the Sharpe Health and Community
Academy Education Campus. In addition, the Powell Elementary School building and
grounds are directly south.
Roosevelt is the largest and most prominent institution within this publiccomplex. The
Roosevelt/MacFarland Education Campus includes the Roosevelt stadium,MacFarland
Middle School, twotennis courts, a basketball court, a large practice field, and parking for
approximately 125 cars on the school sites (60 for Roosevelt and 65 for MacFarland). The site
also includes two access roads to Roosevelt off Iowa Avenue. In all, the Roosevelt
MacFarland site of the public complex is about .72 miles around and a total of 18 acres—
including the Library. Roosevelt’s site area is officially given as 7.79 acres with MacFarland
listed as 8.79 acres.Public transportation via Green Line Metro and Metro Bus are readily
available.
The Roosevelt/MacFarland campus is immediately across 13th
Street from the Sharpe Health
and Community Academy public education campus. Sharpe Health serves severely disabled

S.H.A.P.P.E., 21ST
April, 2013
5
students ages 3 to 21, all with some severe physical disability. It is co-located with Bridges, a
Public Charter School. The Community Academy Public Charter School, a 500 student PS-8th
grade school occupies the Sharpe Annex, as well as the old Burdick Vocational School which
originally was the “trade” school that partnered with Roosevelt.
The remainder of the complex across 13th
Street from Roosevelt is home to the large Upshur
Recreation Center that includes two playgrounds, an outdoor pool that operates in the
summer, a baseball field and a dog park. There are also three substantial residential buildings
for senior and handicapped housing. Powell Elementary School,across Upshur Street from
the senior housing rounds out the complex of educational buildings. The block across 13th
Street from Roosevelt is about .68 miles around and also about 18 acres. All together, the two
blocks make up nearly 36 acres of civic infrastructure in the center of the northern quadrant of
the city near the Petworth Metro.2
Roosevelt High School building at 331,900 square feet and the MacFarland Middle School
building at 110,000 square feet are by far the largest, grandest and most prominently placed of
the buildings in the complex. The underlying zoning of the school sites is R-4, as befits the
medium density residential row-house neighborhood that surrounds them.
The communities around and adjacent to Roosevelt High School are racially, culturally and
economically diverse. It is also a community that is growing along with the construction
around the Petworth Metro.
Census Tracts
Abutting Roosevelt
2005-2009*
2010 Median
Household
Income
% Households
Over $200,000
Annual Income
% Households
Under $30,000
Annual Income
HS Grad
Bachelor's
or Higher
Masters +
2002 - north $73,500 18% 21% 82% 43% 19%
26 - west $140,500 32% 13% 98% 68% 38%
2502 - south $43,971 5% 34% 70% 27% 13%
24 - east $55,486 4% 22% 81% 29% 14%
2201- north east $68,382 3% 23% 68% 28% 16%
2501 - Roosevelt $51,750 8% 36% 72% 37% 26%
AVERAGE $72,265 12% 25% 79% 39% 21%
*New York Times, Mapping America, Every City, Every Block: http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer
The 2009average median household income for the census tract including Roosevelt and the 5
census tracts immediately adjacent to Roosevelt is $72,265; 18% of households in the census
tract immediately to the north of Roosevelt (block 2002) have an income over $200,000
annually; in the census tract immediately to the west of Roosevelt (tract 26) 32% of
2
This is equivalent to the 35 acres in the Hilltop Campus complex off Benning Road that
includes Spingarn, Phelps, Young and Browne schools.

S.H.A.P.P.E., 21ST
April, 2013
6
households have incomes over $200,000. In contrast, still in 2009, nearly one third of adult
residents are not high school graduates in census tract 2501 and 2502.
The community around Roosevelt High School is also racially and ethnically diverse and the
population of the Roosevelt census tract and the tract immediately to the south has been
increasing.
Census Tract 2501 2502
Census Tract Population 2,554 5,973
Population Increase 2000-2010 6.80% 8.90%
% 2010 White residents 18% 14%
% 2010 Black residents 55% 40%
% 2010 Hispanic residents 23% 42%
III. PROJECT JUSTIFICATIONAND ENROLLMENT CAPACITY
The modernization of Roosevelt High School is a critical project for the District of Columbia.
The prominence and size of the public complex, as well as the family friendly quality of the
housing stock, public recreation amenities and the substantial public education infrastructure
in lower Ward 4 position it to be one of the most desirable communities for families with
children. It also still has affordable housing and is at the same time close to transportation
and downtown.
Ward 4 has the 3rd
largest school age population in the city, 11,319 children ages 4-17 at the
time of the 2010 census. Only wards 7 and 8 had more children in 2010. The 3-11 year old
child population in Ward 4 is projected to increase substantially.
The Office of Planning projects that there will be 1,862 youth ages 15-19 in Cluster 18 in
2015 and that this age population will remain relatively stable until 2022. However, while the
secondary age population is projected to remain stable, the Office of Planning projects
significant increases in 3-11 year olds in Cluster 18—increasing from 3,472 in 2010 to 4,667
in 2015 and 5,512 in 2017.
Source: DC Office of Planning, Population Forecast by Neighborhood Cluster Final, January 25, 2013
3472
4667
5512
1121 1134 1084
2045 1862 1843
2010 Actual 2015 2017
Neighborhood Cluster 18, Population Projections
3-11 year olds 12-14 year olds 15-19 year olds

S.H.A.P.P.E., 21ST
April, 2013
7
Roosevelt’s plan and design need to respond to current opportunities and constraints, but the
plan and design must also support and advance the future for this community and
school.Whether or not the District of Columbia retains families with school age children,
particularly through middle and high school, will depend on the livability of our
neighborhoods, affordability of our housing and the quality of our schools.
The Roosevelt Education Campusis well positioned to have a significant impact on both
livability and education quality in Ward 4. It is projected to grow its day school enrollment
through an intentional strategy to increase the depth and breadth of its curriculum offerings
aligned to the modernization of the building design and condition, as well as through
rebuilding its relationship with its feeder schools. A vital element of the plan for Roosevelt is
the reopeningof MacFarland Middle School.
The Need for MacFarland MS to Support Roosevelt HS Capacity
As part of the 2012-13 school closing recommendations, the Chancellor initially proposed that
the 6-8th
grades currently at MacFarland be consolidated into Roosevelt to create a 6th
through 12th
grade school, but this was opposed by the community and so students from
Powell Elementary school have been assigned to the 6-8th
grades at Columbia Heights
Campus and the students from Barnard Elementary School have been assigned to West PS-8.
With MacFarland closed this spring, there will be no DCPS, by right, middle school serving
Ward 4. The schools that will feed into Roosevelt starting in 2013-14 will only be: West PS-
8th and Truesdell PS-8th. The combined 2012-13 8th grade enrollments for these two schools
is only 56 students—an entirely inadequate feeder for Roosevelt. However, there are strong
elementary school populations within one mile of Roosevelt including DCPS and charter
schools that could support a robust middle school at MacFarland, and support the growth of a
modernized Roosevelt High School.
There has already been substantial increase in the PS-8th
grade enrollment in the 6 elementary
and PS-8th
grade schools within a mile of Roosevelt—Powell, Bruce Monroe @Park View,
Raymond, Barnard, West and Truesdell. Enrollments at Barnard and Powell, the
neighborhood elementary schools which formerly fed into MacFarland are growing quickly.
There are temporary classrooms at Barnard because of crowding and an addition planned for
Powell, due to overcrowding. However, these elementary school students will be unlikely to
be captured by Roosevelt in the future if they do not have a middle school. The early grades
in Neighborhood Cluster 18, where the schools within a mile of Roosevelt are located,are
experiencing tremendous growth.

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Cluster 18
3
by grade total PS PK K 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
2013-14 2,792 247 342 386 363 347 284 220 239 131 120 113
2012-13 2564 243 327 381 355 279 230 242 232 135 150 139
2011-12 2360 251 310 366 305 222 245 241 203 157 138 122
2010-11 2214 232 303 327 214 234 257 240 235 154 108 90
2009-10 2030 230 215 218 220 259 253 267 229 132 93 108
Parents in Ward 5 have come to understand that expanded course offerings for middle school
students are limited by small school or PS-8 configurations. Ward 4 is now in a similar
situation, with families relying on programs for 6th-8th grade students that are at maximum
capacity at DCPSColumbia Heights and Deal Middle School or using nearby charter schools
at Bruce Prep or EL Haynes that don’t have the auditoriums, athletic facilities, science labs,
music and art facilities required for a full-scale high quality middle school program and do not
have the capacity to increase their middle grade enrollments to meet the rising population of
elementary students.
MacFarland was set to be modernized a decade ago. In fact, a full-scale feasibility study was
done in October of 2003 and presented to the Board of Education. Had that project been
carried to completion, it is likely that the feeder pattern into Roosevelt would not be a
problem now and that Deal would not be so overcrowded.
Modernizing MacFarland once Roosevelt has returned to its building would be in keeping
with findings and goals of the District’s recently issued Master Facilities Plan. Forecasts for
the next five years show continued strong growth of predicted enrollment within Cluster 18
which includes the area around Roosevelt (2013 Public Education Master Facilities Plan for
the District of Columbia, maps, p. 58) and a combined assessment of high school facility need
in the same area (2013 MFP, p.p. 101, 115.) Investing in MacFarland would align perfectly
with MFP Strategy 2, of “prioritizing modernization of school facilities that serve middle
school grades in clusters of greatest need”.
The work being done now, to improve the MacFarland facility as swing space for Roosevelt,
should be done as part of a plan for the modernization and reopening of MacFarland in 2015
when Roosevelt returns to its fully modernized facility. This will leave the
Roosevelt/MacFarland Campus positioned to serve this Ward 4 community for generations.
Roosevelt’s Recent Student Population History and 2013-14 Projections
Roosevelt’s High School’s 9th
through 12th
grade enrollment was audited at 473 students in
the 2012-2013 school year. The enrollment of the high school program has declined
considerably over the last 6 years.
3
DCPS enrollment data; omits Brightwood EC, which is in Cluster 18 but it is over a mile from Roosevelt.

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April, 2013
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There are three factors that appear to have contributed to the low enrollment and the
significant enrollment decline.
1) Loss of 14-17 year olds in the overall population—largely due to out-migration from
DC.
2) Growth of public charter middle schools and DCPS Deal Middle School, reducing
enrollment in the feeder schools (ultimately resulting in the closing of MacFarland
Middle School).
3) Modernization and program growth in other DCPS high schools—Wilson HS,
Columbia Heights Campus, and McKinley, in particular.
An understanding of why enrollment has declined so dramatically is in order since, in the
2012-13 school year, there were about 1,300 DCPS 9th
through 12th
graders within
Roosevelt’s official boundary. This does not include public charter school students or students
who are not in school or are attending private schools. Of these 1,300 DCPS students about
300 go to school at Roosevelt. The others travel to attend other DCPS schools. Those other
schools with more than about 30 students who are in-boundary for Roosevelt include:
209 Roosevelt students at Wilson
199 Roosevelt students at Columbia Heights
121 Roosevelt students at McKinley
111 Roosevelt students at Coolidge
86 Roosevelt students at Banneker
68 Roosevelt students at Ellington
64 Roosevelt students at School Without Walls
35 Roosevelt students at Cardozo
34 Roosevelt students at Eastern
Just looking at the choices students made, it seems clear that the students in Roosevelt’s
boundaries choose to attend schools that are modernized, offer more extensive academic
programs,have larger enrollments, and higher test scores. Clearly any one of these factors
may have been weighed with others and, for example, the Ellington program may outweigh
the fact that the Ellington facility is not fully modernized.
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13
2013-14
Proj.
Roosevelt High
School
840 792 717 646 551 473 446
Hospitality High PCS 176 163 174 158 196 201 0
Total Day Students 1016 955 891 804 747 674 446
Roosevelt STAY
(evening/afternoon)
345 265 247 672 579 652 655

S.H.A.P.P.E., 21ST
April, 2013
10
Given the parallel enrollment decline at MacFarland, it seems that without a strong high
school to connect to, families were trying to get into other feeder patterns and into magnet
schools. A modernized facility will help Roosevelt re-set its trajectory, but a building alone
will not address the program and school choice issues.
Roosevelt and MacFarland will need to work with their elementary feeder schools and
community to build the quality and variety of programs that serve the aspirations of the
families and their community.
Capacity Calculation for Modernized Roosevelt
There are two critical elements of an Educational Specification—the enrollment capacity for
the school and a description of the planned program and other uses of the school building and
grounds. Following from this would be the specific space and room requirements. Although
the draft Roosevelt Educational Specification recommends reducing the capacity of Roosevelt
from the existing 1059 to 840 students it provides no rationale for this change. Upon review
of population, enrollment and boundary information, acapacity of at least 1059 is
recommended; in fact, whether the existing 331,000 gross square feet could serve an even
higher enrollment should be explored. When Roosevelt rebuilds its high quality and diverse
academic and career-technical programs, so they are comparable to the schools that students
are traveling to find, and when they have a modern facility to support these programs,
Roosevelt’s enrollment will increase. The need for and potential of Roosevelt High School,
in combination with projected child population growth in Neighborhood Cluster 18 strongly
justifies the public’s investment in Roosevelt and MacFarland.
Enrollment projection assumptions:
1. Enrollment for Roosevelt for the 2013 and 2014 school year will grow slightly as a
result of improved space and excitement related to future modernization of Roosevelt
(just as they did at Cardozo).
2. Academic and co-curricular improvements, championship athletics, Universities,
cultural and social service partnerships will expand to support current students and
attract back students living in the Roosevelt boundary.
3. DCPS will permit growth in the early childhood grades (PS and PK) at Truesdell,
West, Barnard, Powell, Bruce Monroe @ ParkView and Raymond responding to
significant population pressures.
4. Expansion of early childhood, reflecting Office of Planning projected population
growth at ages 3to 11, will create crowding in the elementary grades at West,
Truesdell and Raymond PS-8th grade schools, causing such intensive crowding by
2015 that MacFarland Middle School will need to be re-opened to make room for
elementary-grade growth.

S.H.A.P.P.E., 21ST
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5. The families and communities associated with the elementary and PS-8th
grade
schools will begin the academic and program planning for MacFarland, starting in the
summer of 2013, ensuring that improvements made for swing space have lasting value
and that the school will be ready to re-open in 2015.
6. Final building improvements will be made to MacFarland in the summer of 2015 in
preparation for re-opening as a middle school.
7. Staff and students from the PS-8th
schools will together select a principal and staff and
populate the new MacFarland, relieving crowding at Truesdell, Raymond, Powell and
Barnard. Projected enrollment at MacFarland for 2015-16, would be 400 students,
with growth to 625 anticipated within 3 years.
8. MacFarland will feed into Roosevelt again starting in 2016, sending its rising 8th
graders to Roosevelt and attracting students from stand-alone public charter schools
located in Cluster 18.
9. In the fall of 2015, the modernized Roosevelt will re-openwith an enrollment of 640
students and grow rapidly because of crowding in Ward 3 and in the specialty high
schools--particularly Wilson, Columbia Heights,McKinley and Ellington.
10. STAY program will have to shrink a little in the swing space, but will be able to
expand in the modernized Roosevelt while Roosevelt recaptures its enrollment.
Projections
Modernized MacFarland Modernized Roosevelt/STAY
School Years
6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th ROOS STAY
2020-21 235 225 200 325 300 275 250 1150 600
2019-20 225 200 200 315 285 250 225 1075 650
2018-19 225 200 200 300 275 225 185 985 700
2017-18 225 200 175 275 250 215 125 865 750
2016-17 225 185 100 265 250 150 100 765 800
2015-16 200 100 100 265 175 115 85 640 750
2014-15 Swing
Space at
MacFarland
235 120 85 65 575 600
2013-14 8(ungraded) 210 88 65 75 446 655
The age appropriate population is already within the Roosevelt boundary to support these
enrollment projections at MacFarland and Roosevelt. With high quality middle and high
school options, there is likely to be an even larger youth population in this area of the city.
However, in order for Roosevelt and MacFarland to grow, they will need to attract students

S.H.A.P.P.E., 21ST
April, 2013
12
who live in the community, but are travelling out of the Ward for rich academic programs: an
International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Banneker and a college prep school with
opportunities to use GWU at School Without Walls, a dual-language, multi-cultural program
at Columbia Heights, an arts program at Ellington, science and technology at McKinley and a
multitude of curricular offerings at Wilson. However, as DCPS has invested program
energies in its application/magnet schools, many of these schools are reaching capacity
including Banneker, Columbia Heights, Ellington, McKinley, and Walls. Wilson, with the
largest number of students from the Roosevelt boundary, is crowded and over capacity and
was no longer taking out-of-boundary students as of last year. The Ward 4 community is
ready and willing to take responsibility for making its schools beacons in the community.
Implementing this vision and plan for the Roosevelt Campus and feeder schools starts with
the adoption of this revised educational program specification.

S.H.A.P.P.E., 21ST
April, 2013
13

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