DCPS School Planning

On January 7, 2026, DC Public Schools (DCPS) hosted the Schematic Design Presentation meeting for the New Middle School on Euclid St Community Working Group (CWG). (To read past posts about the new middle school opening in 2028, click on New DCPS Middle School – Euclid St under Categories).

During the meeting, the architecture and design team working on the modernization presented a draft design for the interior of the building and asked the group to consider options for interior colors, use of space, and “adjacencies” (or the intentional layout of certain rooms near each other). Over the next two weeks, CWG members will gather community feedback to bring back for group discussion at the next meeting, which is scheduled for January 21, 2026.

You can view the meeting recording here and the presentation in English here, in Spanish here, in Chinese here, and in Amharic here.

On November 12, 2025, DC Public Schools (DCPS) hosted the November meeting of the New Middle School on Euclid St Community Working Group (CWG). (To read past posts about the new middle school opening in 2028, click on New DCPS Middle School – Euclid St under Categories).

During the meeting, the group gave feedback on school identity and brand. The conversation focused on the following four questions:

• What feels important when it comes to school colors?
• What feels important when it comes to a mascot?
• Public Signals of Support: What promotional items might resonate in your communities?
• Events: What activities could draw out your community?

For more information, view the meeting recording. You can find materials from all public meetings in this folder. The CWG will meet next in January 2026 to discuss the Schematic Design of the building.

On September 10, 2025, DC Public Schools (DCPS) hosted the September meeting of the New Middle School on Euclid St Community Working Group (CWG). (To read past posts about the new middle school opening in 2028, click on New DCPS Middle School – Euclid St under Categories). 

During the meeting, the group had an open discussion about the building concept designs presented at the last meeting. Much of the discussion was about how each concept repurposed the building’s existing courtyards. Members gave feedback on how to prioritize maximizing natural light and maximizing space for academics and storage.  

For more information, view the meeting recording and the presentation in English, in Spanish, in Chinese, and in Amharic. You can find materials from all public meetings in this folder. The CWG will meet next in November 2025.

On August 27, 2025, DC Public Schools (DCPS) hosted the August meeting of the New Middle School on Euclid St Community Working Group (CWG).  (For more about the new school opening in 2028, check out past posts about the FY25 budget and a visit to the building.) 

During the meeting, the architecture and design team working on the modernization presented three building concept design options. Each option maintained historical elements of the school including the auditorium and gymnasium which are centrally located in the building. The options differed in how they made use of existing courtyard spaces in the school; one option maintained them and two transformed them into enclosed atriums for more instructional space. 

All three options are outlined in the materials from the meeting. You can view the meeting recording here and the presentation in English here, in Spanish here, in Chinese here, and in Amharic here. At the next meeting on September 10, the CWG will provide feedback on the three options. 

In spring 2025, members of the New Middle School on Euclid St Community Working Group (CWG) collected feedback from their communities on a range of topics to plan for the new middle school’s opening. This included school culture, academic focus, arts, athletics, world language offerings, and career and technical education (CTE).

A few themes emerged. Within school culture, respondents stressed the need to build culture early on and include families who speak languages other than English. When asked about academic focus, respondents said they want to see opportunities to learn languages, be prepared for high school and STEM focused CTE options. For athletics, sports like soccer, basketball, swimming, tennis, baseball, and volleyball were requested by multiple communities. 

Quotes from community members make up the first draft of a report from the CWG. The report will evolve and ultimately be presented to the future school leader of the middle school as they make key decisions about the school. The final report is intended to serve as a resource for the new school leader and to provide context on community engagement. The report will evolve and ultimately be presented to the future school leader as they make key decisions about the school aligned with DCPS leadership and education standards.  

On June 24 and June 25, 2025, DC Public Schools (DCPS), along with DC Department of General Services (DGS), and the design-build team conducted a site visit of the future middle school at 800 Euclid St NW (for more details about the new school, check out our posts about the FY25 budget and the June meeting). 

During the walk, members of the CWG got a chance to visit the classrooms, auditorium, cafeteria, and gymnasium, and learn about the different spaces in the building. They also discussed the building’s modernization and educational specifications with the design-build team.  
The site visits will help in informing the CWG members’ feedback on the building’s design concepts that will be reviewed in the fall meetings.

The CWG will not meet over the summer but will reconvene in August 2025. 

On June 11, 2025, DC Public Schools (DCPS) hosted the June meeting of the New Middle School on Euclid St Community Working Group (CWG) (for more details about the new school, check out our posts about the FY25 budget and the May meeting).    
 
During the meeting, the members of the CWG shared quotes from members of their community to start the first draft of a report for the eventual new school leader. The group also previewed the fall, when they will review design concepts for the building’s modernization. In addition, Council member Nadeau joined to discuss how Council will approach naming the new school.  

You can view the meeting recording here and the presentation here (English), here (Spanish), here (Chinese) and here (Amharic). Over the summer, the CWG will have opportunities to tour the building at 800 Euclid St NW and review new resources before meeting again in August 2025. 

On May 27, 2025, Mayor Bowser released the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) budget for Fiscal Year 2026 to Fiscal Year 2031.  

Consistent with the previously announced modernization schedule, planning for the new middle school’s modernization project began during School Year 2024-2025. There will be two years of construction before the school opens for School Year 2028-2029. This project will receive a full modernization in line with district-wide best practices and educational standards. 

For more information about the CIP, please visit Annual Operating Budget and Capital Plan | ocfo. For more information about DCPS Facilities, please visit the DC Public Schools Facilities website.  

Read the letter from DCPS Interim Deputy Chief of Facilities, Oni Gaston here (in English) and here (in Spanish).  

On May 14, 2025, DC Public Schools (DCPS) hosted the May meeting of the New Middle School on Euclid St Community Working Group (CWG) (for more details about the new school, check out our posts about the FY25 budget and the April meeting).    
 
During the meeting, the DCPS School Planning team provided guidance to members to prepare to engage their communities. The group also debriefed recent school visits to four schools: MacFarland MS, Cardozo EC, Eliot-Hine MS, and Columbia Heights EC. Learn more about those visits in this post. 

You can view the meeting recording here and the presentation here in English, here in Spanish, here in Chinese and here in Amharic. The next CWG meeting is scheduled for June 11, 2025.