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Photo: Duke Ellington School | It’s Me Tivoni – Tivoni Hughes – started this petition | Duke Ellington is currently under the control of DESAP, so the District of Columbia Public Schools has no control over him. The DESAP board collaborates with the school to hire all administrative personnel.

As well as teachers, the District of Columbia Public Schools is currently trying to come in and take over, and part of their mission is to make all teachers certified under District of Columbia Public Schools, meaning Duke Ellington could lose most of their teachers if they do come in. The way Duke Ellington and the DESAP board hire teachers is based on whether they have real-life experience in their field, meaning if one of the art teachers is not certified, they could lose their job.

An example would be Mr. Charles Augins. He is Duke Ellington’s internationally acclaimed Dance Chair, as well as Charles Augins’ renowned director and choreographer of Five Guys Named Moe, for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award. He demands physical and intellectual rigor from his students to prepare them as assuredly for life as for performing ballet, modern, and ethnic dance. If the District of Columbia Public Schools come in, we could lose such an extraordinary teacher and role model. These teachers have made an impact on all of us here, and by getting rid of them, you are also getting rid of our education, our history, and our discipline. Duke has a graduation rate of 95% (top 5%) and a minority enrollment of 87%. By taking over our school, they will be taking away opportunities for many children. Students graduate with an arts certificate from Duke, which gives us all an advantage in getting into college. Students are worried that we won’t get the same opportunities. We are worried that we will lose our teachers. We are worried that what makes our school the way it is will change. We are worried that the legacy of our school will be forgotten. Our goal is to keep our school the way it is. Please help us fight for our school.

Jahzira Watkins: My name is Jahzira Watkins, I am a freshman at Duke. I’m in the theater department. Now, I can talk about the department and its classes and performances alone but the way this school has already had so much of an impact on me has changed my life. Hearing that our school may be taken away from us is heartbreaking, especially due to the amount of fun I’ve had since I started going there; the friends I’ve made, lessons I’ve learned, they all tie into why Duke shouldn’t be taken. They want the arts and we aren’t going to give it to them and I stand by that. I will fight to keep this school for as long as I can until it’s either taken or the entire DCPS are letting us keep it. I’m sure other students feel this way. I feel as though it’s unfair, a lot of poc go to that school because other high schools in DC don’t focus on the arts in the way Ellington does. They want to take the arts knowing that if they take away the main component of the school, they are taking away the school entirely. I know I can’t do much because I’m a freshman that lives in southeast but that should let people know even more how much this school means to me and other students. I drive almost an hour everyday to get to that school. The amount of memories and experiences, good and bad, that I’ve had at that school had taught me a bunch of things that a regular highschool in southeast could never. I will say this again, just incase it wasn’t clear the first time, I will not give up trying to save this school no matter what. I will do anything in my power to save this school. Not only for me but also for my peers, the freshman who just got here, the sophomores who are starting their journeys, the juniors who are ready to become something, and the seniors that have led me and most likely others to want to be great and grow.

https://www.change.org/p/save-duke-elliongton-school-of-the-arts

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