Thoughts on Hardy MS?

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

We'll probably be moving to DC from Boston next year. We have two kids, currently in grades 3 and 7. Our housing would come with my job, and assigned schools for the address are Stoddert/Hardy/MacArthur. Seems like Stoddert is a good ES for our younger kid, but I'm trying to find out about Hardy for our daughter. Would love to hear any thoughts! We are researching private schools too but have always done public and the applications for private are pretty overwhelming. But maybe worth it??

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

3 kids who all went/are going to Hardy, one in high school and two currently at Hardy.
All 3 loved it!
The principal and Assistant principals are great and very involved. They send out weekly newsletters and greet the children at the door.
Its diverse and my kids became more confident and made many new friends. If your student has any feedback or problems they can ALWAYS talk to the principal, Assistant principal or counselor. The teachers are pretty good and you can tell they enjoy their job and care about the kids. The sports especially cross country are great and same with the clubs. I would really recommend it and I'm sure Macarthur is on the right track as well!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3 kids who all went/are going to Hardy, one in high school and two currently at Hardy.
All 3 loved it!
The principal and Assistant principals are great and very involved. They send out weekly newsletters and greet the children at the door.
Its diverse and my kids became more confident and made many new friends. If your student has any feedback or problems they can ALWAYS talk to the principal, Assistant principal or counselor. The teachers are pretty good and you can tell they enjoy their job and care about the kids. The sports especially cross country are great and same with the clubs. I would really recommend it and I'm sure Macarthur is on the right track as well!

My kid goes to Hardy (also in 7th grade) and she really enjoys it. The building is great except for the bathrooms which are a bit trashy but so are most middle and high school bathrooms and the administration is working to fix it. What are some of your daughters interests such as hobbies or sports?

[Anonymous]

Wow I would LOVE to talk to you OP, because we may be moving to Boston and I literally sat down this second to research schools and the algorithms that seem to control my life opened your thread.

We have two kids in one of the top elementary school in DC and we were planning on moving closer to Hardy based on all we know about it so far.

They have a list of open houses on the website and you could even try to schedule a tour during school hours (I am going to be doing this myself in January, in case we don’t move to Boston).

The DCPS section of this forum will have more specific feedback on Hardy.

[Anonymous]

There are many fans of DCPS and just as many who are not fans of DCPS. Good that you are looking into this question. Dig deeply and form your own views.

[Anonymous]

Hardy is fine. There only reason to go elsewhere is if you are considering a K-12 private or other option that would reduce the number of transitions for your current 7th grader.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much everyone! My daughter loves theater, art, and music, and as far as I can te these are reasonably strong at Hardy? We were wondering if a private school would be better with the transition, but it’s great to hear these positive comments on Hardy. I’ll see if we can go to a tour in January.

And happy to provide thoughts on Boston! We’re actually in Cambridge, so my knowledge of public schools here is for this district, not Boston itself.

[Anonymous]

If you have been in public, I expect you would be quite pleased with Hardy.

Waiting until 8th to consider private would give you time to know the options well, and everybody is making a move at that point. i know several students who have been at Hardy for 8th grade only and who had a great experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much everyone! My daughter loves theater, art, and music, and as far as I can te these are reasonably strong at Hardy? We were wondering if a private school would be better with the transition, but it’s great to hear these positive comments on Hardy. I’ll see if we can go to a tour in January.

And happy to provide thoughts on Boston! We’re actually in Cambridge, so my knowledge of public schools here is for this district, not Boston itself.

Yes, they have a good music program and winter and spring concerts. They even performed at the Kennedy center once! They also have a great theater and drama program. Your daughter can take drama as an elective and every year they have a musical. Last year is was Annie

[Anonymous]

Annie was in 2023. There was no theatre programming in 2024 at all.

Hardy is fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Annie was in 2023. There was no theatre programming in 2024 at all.

Hardy is fine.

Last year the musical was Matilda. This Spring it will be West Side Story.

There is a new drama teacher that started last year (Sept 2024), and there are 2 music teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Annie was in 2023. There was no theatre programming in 2024 at all.

Hardy is fine.

Last year the musical was Matilda. This Spring it will be West Side Story.

There is a new drama teacher that started last year (Sept 2024), and there are 2 music teachers.

Sorry, I was thinking about the year or two before Matilda where it was Annie

[Anonymous]

Not OP, but I appreciate this thread!

For parents whose children have attended Hardy and then went to private HS?

How did your kids fare academically and socially when they switched to HS? Did HS feel daunting to make new friends, adjust academically, and then have to start the college search only two years in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks so much everyone! My daughter loves theater, art, and music, and as far as I can te these are reasonably strong at Hardy? We were wondering if a private school would be better with the transition, but it’s great to hear these positive comments on Hardy. I’ll see if we can go to a tour in January.

And happy to provide thoughts on Boston! We’re actually in Cambridge, so my knowledge of public schools here is for this district, not Boston itself.

Thank you, OP!

I would really appreciate hearing about Boston as well as the Cambridge district. I was just reading about Rindge… I truly don’t know anything about the area or where to start.

[Anonymous]

Child currently attends Hardy and its fine. I get very little if any communication from their teachers and when I email to ask something I rarely get a response. No, I am not emailing often. My child has repeatedly had to share tablets because they either don’t have enough to go around or they are broken. Teachers are hit or miss. Some are amazing and some clearly hate their jobs. It’s disappointing because the feeder elementary schools are exceptional so Hardy feels like a step down.