HARDY MIDDLE SCHOOL: Record numbers from feeder schools for 2014-2015

[Anonymous]

Here's the thing....some of the feeder schools for Hardy take on lots of OOB kids in later years (4th, but mainly 5th when IB families bail for Latin, Basis, etc.). So there may be a good number of 5th graders from feeders that are heading to Hardy this fall, but who aren't "in-boundary" but are instead coming in to Hardy with feeder rights but who are OOB for those feeder schools. I think that's great and fine. We're an OOB family at a Hardy feeder school. So I know personally that OOB families care and work hard and are invested in their schools. But if people are hung up on this number of IB kids vs. OOB kids, you need to understand the nuances.

[Anonymous]

Our EOTP elementary school is more than 50% OOB and frankly it's the OOB parents who are working hardest in PTA events, etc.

Maybe the IB families don't know how good they have it vs. the OOB from other wards where parents feel there is no acceptable neighborhood school?

[Anonymous]

This is untrue, except at Hyde. Mann and Key have almost no OOB. Stoddert has few, I believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing....some of the feeder schools for Hardy take on lots of OOB kids in later years (4th, but mainly 5th when IB families bail for Latin, Basis, etc.). So there may be a good number of 5th graders from feeders that are heading to Hardy this fall, but who aren't "in-boundary" but are instead coming in to Hardy with feeder rights but who are OOB for those feeder schools. I think that's great and fine. We're an OOB family at a Hardy feeder school. So I know personally that OOB families care and work hard and are invested in their schools. But if people are hung up on this number of IB kids vs. OOB kids, you need to understand the nuances.

Thanks. We are not interested in IB vs OOB kids, rather in numbers of kids from feeder schools, i.e kids we can expect (based on aggregate figures and summary DC-CAS results) will land at Hardy with a stronger academic background. I guess numbers are not available yet, as enrollment has not started. When would we know? May? June? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing....some of the feeder schools for Hardy take on lots of OOB kids in later years (4th, but mainly 5th when IB families bail for Latin, Basis, etc.). So there may be a good number of 5th graders from feeders that are heading to Hardy this fall, but who aren't "in-boundary" but are instead coming in to Hardy with feeder rights but who are OOB for those feeder schools. I think that's great and fine. We're an OOB family at a Hardy feeder school. So I know personally that OOB families care and work hard and are invested in their schools. But if people are hung up on this number of IB kids vs. OOB kids, you need to understand the nuances.

Thanks. We are not interested in IB vs OOB kids, rather in numbers of kids from feeder schools, i.e kids we can expect (based on aggregate figures and summary DC-CAS results) will land at Hardy with a stronger academic background. I guess numbers are not available yet, as enrollment has not started. When would we know? May? June? Thanks.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.

Feeders are likely to be better prepared. That's what parents want. The distinction between IB/OOB is less relevant though more often cited out of sloppiness.

[Anonymous]

However, the notion of whether OOB kids should continue to get automatic feeder rights is real. Though, in this case with Hardy, there would clearly still be room for those kids to lottery into Hardy, and hopefully they would have a preference in the LOTTERY that they had been at a feeder school, if not getting automatic feeder rights.

[Anonymous]

It would be helpful then if more people described students as "feeder school students" versus "non-feeder school students."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:However, the notion of whether OOB kids should continue to get automatic feeder rights is real. Though, in this case with Hardy, there would clearly still be room for those kids to lottery into Hardy, and hopefully they would have a preference in the LOTTERY that they had been at a feeder school, if not getting automatic feeder rights.

I think it really needs to be a preference catagory. As a Ward 6 family, I would like to have a ward 6 prefernce for my kids to attend Stuart Hobson. I would be fine with that having equal weight with the OOB kids attending Ludlow and Watkins, who often come from Ward 7 and 8. I am frustrated by kids from other parts of the city getting preference to attend the best middle school in the neighborhood over my kids.

[Anonymous]

To me (IB Hardy parent) feeder school student is the concept which matters the most (feeders are on average better prepared).

However, IB is also a valuable concept: I am unable to drive my kid throughout the District for playdates. And the Hardy playground is so unpopulated on Saturdays, as most of the Hardy kids live far away. I would like my kid to walk to the playground and be able to just find more of his friends there on weekends, as it used to be when he was at Stoddert: no matter the time of the day, on Sat. & Sun. we would go to Stoddert playground and find a few of his schoolmates.

We are happy to read here, and hear from other sources and friends that are turning to Hardy, that we will have more feeder school students next year (i.e. more advanced students) as well as more IB neighborhood students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To me (IB Hardy parent) feeder school student is the concept which matters the most (feeders are on average better prepared).

However, IB is also a valuable concept: I am unable to drive my kid throughout the District for playdates. And the Hardy playground is so unpopulated on Saturdays, as most of the Hardy kids live far away. I would like my kid to walk to the playground and be able to just find more of his friends there on weekends, as it used to be when he was at Stoddert: no matter the time of the day, on Sat. & Sun. we would go to Stoddert playground and find a few of his schoolmates.

We are happy to read here, and hear from other sources and friends that are turning to Hardy, that we will have more feeder school students next year (i.e. more advanced students) as well as more IB neighborhood students.

Do you really think that middle school students hang out at playgrounds? Seems unlikely. My kid went to Hardy OOB but I don't think even if we had lived down the street that she would have gone to the playground. She was more into meeting her friends in Georgetown and shopping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be helpful then if more people described students as "feeder school students" versus "non-feeder school students."

Agreed: it would be helpful. But it is quite cumbersome, as you clearly displayed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me (IB Hardy parent) feeder school student is the concept which matters the most (feeders are on average better prepared).

However, IB is also a valuable concept: I am unable to drive my kid throughout the District for playdates. And the Hardy playground is so unpopulated on Saturdays, as most of the Hardy kids live far away. I would like my kid to walk to the playground and be able to just find more of his friends there on weekends, as it used to be when he was at Stoddert: no matter the time of the day, on Sat. & Sun. we would go to Stoddert playground and find a few of his schoolmates.

We are happy to read here, and hear from other sources and friends that are turning to Hardy, that we will have more feeder school students next year (i.e. more advanced students) as well as more IB neighborhood students.

Do you really think that middle school students hang out at playgrounds? Seems unlikely. My kid went to Hardy OOB but I don't think even if we had lived down the street that she would have gone to the playground. She was more into meeting her friends in Georgetown and shopping.

Yes, boys do, absolutely! Soccer, baseball, tennis... Maybe girls don't do as much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me (IB Hardy parent) feeder school student is the concept which matters the most (feeders are on average better prepared).

However, IB is also a valuable concept: I am unable to drive my kid throughout the District for playdates. And the Hardy playground is so unpopulated on Saturdays, as most of the Hardy kids live far away. I would like my kid to walk to the playground and be able to just find more of his friends there on weekends, as it used to be when he was at Stoddert: no matter the time of the day, on Sat. & Sun. we would go to Stoddert playground and find a few of his schoolmates.

We are happy to read here, and hear from other sources and friends that are turning to Hardy, that we will have more feeder school students next year (i.e. more advanced students) as well as more IB neighborhood students.

Do you really think that middle school students hang out at playgrounds? Seems unlikely. My kid went to Hardy OOB but I don't think even if we had lived down the street that she would have gone to the playground. She was more into meeting her friends in Georgetown and shopping.

Yes, boys do, absolutely! Soccer, baseball, tennis... Maybe girls don't do as much.

Oh, sure, that makes sense now. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the school is good it won't matter where the students live.

If the school is good, the kids will be predominantly IB or feeder kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If the school has a capacity for 650 and it's currently at 400, what in the hell is keeping IB parents from filling it now? If you say academic rigor and program offerings and extracurriculars, I'm ready to join your fight to make it happen, because the ward 4 problem is woefully sad and neglected.

Georgetown resident here with middle-schooler. We rejected Hardy 4 years ago solely on the basis of academics under Pope. If my child was heading to fifth grade now, the decision would probably be different because it is no longer a de facto arts magnet.