Pros
There are a few awesome, stand out teachers at the school. The current principal is an amazing person, and the kids are so resilient and amazing.
Cons
There are terrible behavior problems at the school, which are solved by suspending kids. DP claims that they are here for scholars, but yet every day are perpetuating the school to prison pipeline. Praising kids for compliance, walking on straight lines, being silent. Little room for creativity on the part of teachers, as well as coteaching with no coaching, leading to some pretty terrible relationships between coteaching pairs. Over half of staff quit over the course of the year, leaving the school in total chaos. Of the staff that did stay, there were some pretty terrible teachers who were hired out of desperation- who clearly did not care about kids, yelling at students, even being physical with students at time. Constantly recreating policies and procedures--no consistency. Honestly a poor excuse for a school, and parents should look to other more successful charters in DC as alternatives bc the kids at DP are most certianly not getting the education that they deserve.