When will Hardy Middle School be as attractive as Deal Middle School?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will it say honors on the transcript?

Who cares what is on the transcript? What matters is what kind of education is happening in the classroom.

And an education geared to the weakest students sucks for the rest.

Which is what Wilson has decided to do.

Cynical, I know, but is it possible Wilson is doing this in hopes that some of the higher SES families will go private, thus helping solve the overcrowding problem without having to take measures like adjusting boundaries?

As someone who has been part of these conversations at Wilson, I can tell you this is absolutely not the case. The objective of the honors initiative is to encourage and set high expectations for all students from the beginning of their high school experience. The instructional approach is not to teach to the bottom. As a long-time DCPS parent, I share PP's general general reaction of cynicism to many things. But there is no malicious or suspicious intent with this initiative. Whether it will be successful remains to be seen, of course.

Then why get rid of honors classes?

It is not possible to simultaneously challenge advanced and severly lagging kids in one classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, rising 9th graders to Wilson could simply decide to home school their kids for one year. The self-study subject books are readily available, and grade-level-or-above kids could arguably learn more through self-study than the nothingburger they're going to get in a mainstream class. Weekly Science and Art self-study are right there at the Smithsonian. Then re-enter at 10th grade for the AP courses.

The fact that that is a serious option is an indication of a failure on the part of the school.

+1 absolutely ridiculous

What's ridiculous is parents on this thread. You guys have really gone off the rails. Please, please please homeschool your snowflakes! And not just for freshman year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, rising 9th graders to Wilson could simply decide to home school their kids for one year. The self-study subject books are readily available, and grade-level-or-above kids could arguably learn more through self-study than the nothingburger they're going to get in a mainstream class. Weekly Science and Art self-study are right there at the Smithsonian. Then re-enter at 10th grade for the AP courses.

The fact that that is a serious option is an indication of a failure on the part of the school.

+1 absolutely ridiculous

What's ridiculous is parents on this thread. You guys have really gone off the rails. Please, please please homeschool your snowflakes! And not just for freshman year.

No need to go all Trumpian on us.

It is not too much to ask that the biggest and best comprehensive high school in the city offer classes at levels appropriate for the wide range of students attending. Wilson is already not doing that for 9th grade, and these changes may exacerbate the problem. It's hard to understand how behind the times Wilson is until you have a student there and compare to what your friends' and relatives' kids are doing in 9th grade at other public schools, whether in the area or not.

[Anonymous]

Agree, PP. It is not like parents are expecting something totally novel, unheard of, or unreasonable. It's pretty standard public high school fare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, rising 9th graders to Wilson could simply decide to home school their kids for one year. The self-study subject books are readily available, and grade-level-or-above kids could arguably learn more through self-study than the nothingburger they're going to get in a mainstream class. Weekly Science and Art self-study are right there at the Smithsonian. Then re-enter at 10th grade for the AP courses.

The fact that that is a serious option is an indication of a failure on the part of the school.

+1 absolutely ridiculous

What's ridiculous is parents on this thread. You guys have really gone off the rails. Please, please please homeschool your snowflakes! And not just for freshman year.

What's ridiculous is academically sharp kids having to suffer through your pushy social engineering product. There's simply not enough prevalence of guilt sufficient to withstand this nonsense.

[Anonymous]

When OOB kids are no longer allowed to hop scotch across the city into other neighborhood's schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When OOB kids are no longer allowed to hop scotch across the city into other neighborhood's schools.

Without those kids 'hop scotching' Hardy would have been closed years ago for under utilization.

[Anonymous]

Or maybe Hardy would have offered above grade-level classes years ago to keep it from closing, or housed the test-in MS program high SES parents have long been clamoring for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When OOB kids are no longer allowed to hop scotch across the city into other neighborhood's schools.

Without those kids 'hop scotching' Hardy would have been closed years ago for under utilization.

Which would have been fine with IB parents who would have been redistricted to Deal.

[Anonymous]

"But many parents say that what they want most are high-performing and academically challenging schools. They want schools where students are disciplined if they misbehave, and they want vibrant school communities that welcome and engage parents. Some said they did not even consider sending their children to their neighborhood DCPS middle schools."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/despite-dcs-pledges-hundreds-of-families-a-year-bypass-citys-public-middle-schools/2017/05/20/b1ed6944-2b71-11e7-b605-33413c691853_story.html?utm_term=.4c6d8a65c75c

The WP article is not just about Hardy: all parents who are motivated by "achievement" want challenging classes and an environment of discipline to be offered by their kids' school. DCPS is missing the boat if it truly wishes to attract achievement-oriented kids to Hardy, starting with the 6th grade curriculum that is currently empty of accelerated courses. Same problem with Wilson in 9th grade: mainstreaming classes is a good way to prevent good students from seeking a seat there. Hopefully Bowser reads the article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Or maybe Hardy would have offered above grade-level classes years ago to keep it from closing, or housed the test-in MS program high SES parents have long been clamoring for.

The irony is that when Patrick Pope was principal he turned Hardy into an application-only school on the down-low and the IB parents ran him out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or maybe Hardy would have offered above grade-level classes years ago to keep it from closing, or housed the test-in MS program high SES parents have long been clamoring for.

The irony is that when Patrick Pope was principal he turned Hardy into an application-only school on the down-low and the IB parents ran him out.

LOL! Another DCPS cock-up, young DCPS downtown staff knows best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or maybe Hardy would have offered above grade-level classes years ago to keep it from closing, or housed the test-in MS program high SES parents have long been clamoring for.

The irony is that when Patrick Pope was principal he turned Hardy into an application-only school on the down-low and the IB parents ran him out.

LOL! Another DCPS cock-up, young DCPS downtown staff knows best.

Pope made it application only to keep the most disruptive students out.

But he also refused to consider advanced classes or test based placements, and basically told IB families they were racists for wanting classes appropriate for the level of their kids achievement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or maybe Hardy would have offered above grade-level classes years ago to keep it from closing, or housed the test-in MS program high SES parents have long been clamoring for.

The irony is that when Patrick Pope was principal he turned Hardy into an application-only school on the down-low and the IB parents ran him out.

LOL! Another DCPS cock-up, young DCPS downtown staff knows best.

Pope made it application only to keep the most disruptive students out.

But he also refused to consider advanced classes or test based placements, and basically told IB families they were racists for wanting classes appropriate for the level of their kids achievement.

Don't disagree, but the point is that making a school selective-admissions doesn't by itself guarantee anything.

[Anonymous]

I realize it’s about a year after the last post but think much of the content is still relevant. 13:37 has it right - parents on this thread are off the rails. Your expectations for challenging your clearly brilliant kids or compromising curriculum for, as one post notes, a “social experiment” is very disturbing. My 2 kids will be attending Hardy and as a member of the community I will work with fellow families and faculty to enhance what works and improve what doesn’t. I would prefer, actually, to not have “achievement oriented” or “high test scoring” parents there as I don’t blame the kids for there’s attitudes. I’m also quite sure they will get a great education and, as an alumni of DCPS, go on to live happy fruitful and successful lives. Please do not lower your standards and send your kids to Hardy and I think we’ll all be much happier for it.