Hardy MS 7th Grade Science Situation
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Anonymous
| The way this was and is being handled does not instill a lot of confidence in the Hardy MS administration or DCPS. At the PTC, the science teacher concerned complained about behavioral issues going unaddressed. She then quit the following week. The students then went weeks without any proper instruction, no idea what they were supposed to be doing in terms of homework, and no guidance on how to complete outstanding work. All the while, the school administration communicated nothing about the situation to parents or, apparently, to students. Only in the last week of the semester did another science teacher at the school send a note to the students and parents via Canvas on how they could complete outstanding work. And then, just now, weeks after the science teacher quit, the Principal sends out a message (in a Word attachment inaccessible on a mobile device) announcing that the 7th science teacher has quit, that a new science teacher has been hired, but that it will take 2-4 weeks to get her through the "DCPS onboarding process". So the 7th graders will go without science instruction for, what, 2 months? We were big fans of Hardy MS last year and have been generally happy with DCPS (bar the prolonged closure in 2020-21). But SNAFUs like this suggest that things are going in the wrong direction. |
Anonymous
| Only in the last week of the *term* (not semester) |
Anonymous
|
Our experience is it takes longer than 2-4 weeks to get through the process.
The biggest thing you need to be concerned about is grades - as 7th grade grades are used for applying to schools like Walls. Get it in writing NOW what the process is to address the course content as well as how grading will be done. |
Anonymous
| At the last PTO meeting the principal talked about the hiring of the science teacher and was talking about the onboarding process. That was weeks ago! I find it annoying that the letter seems to try and act like the clock just started ticking. Everything is "hiding the ball" this this new principal. At least that's been my experience. The most basic questions about enrollment are deflected. Getting rid of outdoor lunch and blaming it on pests (rats). Sorry, not buying it. |
Anonymous
| That’s terrible. In your shoes I’d make sure my kid was trying to do some studying and work in biology, to try to keep things going. I’d be working with them on the first quarter material for sure and then some of the second quarter material. |
Anonymous
This is the kind of thing that parents would have been able to do had they been notified earlier that the teacher had quit. |
Anonymous
| Any teacher that quits with no notice mid-term and any school system that hires such a teacher deserves no favors from anybody. |
Anonymous
They sit on this for weeks and then can’t even figure out how to send a proper email rather than a Word attachment. What the heck! |
Anonymous
Sit down bonehead |
Anonymous
| My Hardy 7th grader says the did nothing in Science today. NOTHING. I pressed and he said they were told the new teacher was going to be there "any day now". I saw that email but haven't read the word doc yet. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I've yet to be impressed with Hardy. It seems like things like this are constantly happening. It was the same last year with the 6th grade art teacher. Then we had the unethical behaviors of the new athletic director, now the 7th graders haven't had a legit Science class in weeks. Oh also, forget about hearing anything back from a few of the teachers I emailed about conferences and progress reports back in October. I reached out to AP Brady at the beginning of the year to express my frustration with communication issues and she basically form lettered me over and over again. |
Anonymous
| What happened to the previous principal everyone loved? The current admin sounds like a total sh#t@show….as if they are sandbagging Hardy MS on purpose. |
Anonymous
The teacher concerned has entered the chat . . . In all seriousness, in what other professional occupation would this be considered acceptable? |
Anonymous
My 7th said the same thing. They did absolutely nothing all period. And then a fight broke out between a couple of students. |
Anonymous
Lucas Cook was moved across town to MacFarland MS in Petworth. The new Hardy MS principal was previously an Assistant Principal at Dunbar HS. In addition to getting a new principal, Hardy MS had its budget cut this year. DCPS seems to have it in for the school. Guess it was getting too good or something. |
Anonymous
|
NP.
The exact same thing happened in the few weeks before the drama teacher started. I don't understand why subs in situations like this are not doing any instruction. Is it one bad sub? There is a curriculum. How dare the guy show up to class as a substitute teacher and then not teach anything at all? |