Having written a book about the District and reported on our fair city for two decades, I thought I knew most details about the capital city’s history.
Apparently not.
Last week I chaperoned a field trip for my daughter’s Algebra class at Alice Deal Junior High. The annual foray into the city, “Math on the Mall — and Beyond,” is the creation of math teacher, Guy Brandenburg.
He took us way beyond math — to history and warfare and public policy and art and architecture.
I had always pondered the purpose of the majestic, masonry towers behind Deal on Nebraska Avenue. Brandenburg’s running notes and math problems revealed they house water towers built in the 1930s. Problem solved.
While outlining an Algebra problem that asked students to compute the velocity of a cannonball fired during the Civil War, when Fort Reno was part of the city’s circle of fortifications, Brandenburg dropped in a history lesson, which explained that the pricey neighborhood of Tenleytown was once a predominantly African-American community. Thanks to the “City Beautiful” movement in the 1930s, the blacks were moved out so middle class whites could move in.
Call it “urban removal” at an early date.
Guy Brandenburg is an example of what’s working in the D.C. Public Schools. At a time when the school system has its detractors (your columnist), and a recent poll showed that education tops voter concerns in the upcoming mayoral election, it is important to remember this:
It’s the Teacher, Stupid.
Thanks to the teachers at Alice Deal, I would match my daughter’s education against any she could have received at one of the elite, $44,000 a year private schools.
Brandenburg, a D.C. native, attended Deal from 1961-64. He went on to attend Phillips Exeter Academy and Dartmouth College. He’s been teaching math at Deal since 1994.
He’s one of many great teachers at Deal. There are others, like Cynthia Mostoller, one of the best history teachers in the region; Ginette Suarez, who’s been teaching French and English since 1970; Ms. Fowlin Parker, a great chorus teacher; and Ms. Helm a star Biology teacher.
Like other schools in the D.C. system, Alice Deal is old and in need of repair. Completed in 1931, Deal is the District’s largest junior high, with 850 students.
Like other students, they suffer from the mismanagement that has sullied the reputations of once great schools such as Eastern High. There is no library to speak of. Books arrive late and might not be as good as those in other schools. The classrooms look and feel as they did when Deal opened its doors 75 years ago.
Yet I wouldn’t choose to send my daughter to Sidwell Friends if they paid me the $44,000 tuition. She would agree. Walk through Deal’s doors andyou will see a peaceable kingdom of kids of all colors, from all social classes, from many parts of the city.
Claire Jaffe graduates this year and heads to Wilson Senior High. Too bad she can’t take Guy Brandenburg along.
Harry Jaffe has been covering the Washington area since 1985. E-mail him at [email protected].
