March 2016 by Claire Mays, Led By HER
My delightful elementary school from the 1960s, located across the street from Sidwell Friends School. There was a fabulous frieze around the ceiling of the kindergarten room as well as a huge ornamental aquarium there.When I attended this school it was K-6th. It was mostly attended by kids from the surrounding predominantly white neighborhoods. To respect the ideals of desegregation, children from Adams Morgan (at that time a mostly black neighborhood) or even father away in S.E. came each morning to school with a long bus ride. I remember that among these children were some of our most outstanding students, meaning that they had been hand-picked by their principals to attend this "better" school, and, that they triumphed even with the long ride and fatigue.I attended a mixed-level class (4th-6th grade, which was very daunting to me at the time). This was an experiment in education and demanded much of the teacher, Glenda Utsey, who nonetheless treated us all according to our personal capacities and merits.I transfered to John Eaton for 5th & 6th grades to "follow" Miss Utsey. At that school, in Cleveland Park, they followed the so-called "Joplin Plan" which signified that students transited between classrooms and teachers for different subjects; the periods were marked by bells.
