Three sources confirmed yesterday that Friendship PCS will be taking over City Arts and Prep PCS in the fall. The former William E. Doar, Jr. PCS for the Performing Arts (WEDJ), City Arts lost its charter last December when it failed to meet its Performance Management Framework target after demonstrating a weak academic track record for years. As a founding board member of the school and its chair for four years, I watched as a charter that started with so much promise fell apart not only in the classroom but also at the management level. This is definitely an institution with nine lives as it traveled a path that began initially with it being led by Mr. Doar’s daughter Julie, to an engagement with TenSquare Consulting, and even included a stint with John Goldman as its executive director, the gentleman who went on to work for the DC Public Charter School Board until he ran into trouble over blog posts written under an alias. Its recent history included the most vigorous defense yet by the legal team of the Stephen Marcus firm, with a claim of bias of the PMF against at-risk children, and it was in fact Mr. Marcus who negotiated the initial lease for its Edgewood N.E. location with Fred Ezra of the Ezra Company. At one point the school operated on two campuses and included a high school, teaching as many as 660 students. The current elementary and middle school has about 430 pupils.

It appears that the focus on the arts will be maintained at the new Friendship location. Let’s hope that the school is also able to keep its current highly impressive executive director Lanette Dailey-Reese.

The move by Friendship demonstrates for all to see the stamp that its dynamic and kind chief executive officer Patricia Brantley plans to place on the charter management organization. It was also this year that Friendship agreed to takeover IDEAL Academy PCS beginning next term, adding about 300 students to the 4,200 it already instructs. Five out of its current 12 campuses are ranked as Tier 1 on the PMF, the most in its history. Therefore, the recent moves are making the future strategic direction of Friendship clear. It will continue to expand in the belief that bringing more children under its umbrella will greatly improve the quality of a public education in the nation’s capital.

I’m sure Donald Hense is smiling right now.