Hardy v Francis Safety

[Anonymous]

We have the choice between these two for our child.

According to the DC school report card at
https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/ , the sense of safety at Hardy seems considerably lower than at Francis.

Is this accurate? Francis is a bigger school so I’m surprised. Our child experienced a gun related incident in elementary and was scared to go to school for a while so this is a very important aspect for us.

Would really appreciate hearing from parents at either school. What has your experience been like in terms of physical safety and/or perception of safety (secured doors, etc.)?

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have the choice between these two for our child.

According to the DC school report card at
https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/ , the sense of safety at Hardy seems considerably lower than at Francis.

Is this accurate? Francis is a bigger school so I’m surprised. Our child experienced a gun related incident in elementary and was scared to go to school for a while so this is a very important aspect for us.

Would really appreciate hearing from parents at either school. What has your experience been like in terms of physical safety and/or perception of safety (secured doors, etc.)?

Thank you!

My guess is because Francis is in a shared building with an elementary school -- feels extremely safe. The level of safety the principal needs to account for since there are little kids there must be higher.

Academics-wise, Hardy seems much better, though.

[Anonymous]

Why do you say Francis is a bigger school? The total population of the two schools is pretty similar, but Hardy had more students last year. And as PP observed, the population at Francis includes students in PK3 through 8th grade. The middle school has only about 300 kids, about half the size of Hardy. It feels very safe.

[Anonymous]

I would look at the feeder pattern of those schools. When you do, Hardy is the obvious choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you say Francis is a bigger school? The total population of the two schools is pretty similar, but Hardy had more students last year. And as PP observed, the population at Francis includes students in PK3 through 8th grade. The middle school has only about 300 kids, about half the size of Hardy. It feels very safe.

More people on campus. Glad to hear it feels safe — are you a current MS parent? Would love to hear more of your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would look at the feeder pattern of those schools. When you do, Hardy is the obvious choice.

Thanks, yes, academically there is a notable difference.

[Anonymous]

Francis is better than many DC middle schools but that is a low bar. Hardy is much better especially because of the high school. We did a lot of research on academics. But I don't know about the safety issues.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the kid. Francis is a smaller middle school (which is great for some kids). Hardy has more sports and extras (which may matter for your kid). Hardy is likely to offer more in terms of advanced math and an advanced student cohort if that fits your particular child too.

[Anonymous]

Oldest just graduated Hardy, youngest still a student there. The only safety issue our kids have experienced is the theft of dangling charms off of backpacks. Before this principal arrived in 2023 it was rougher, but she's done a lot to maintain order.

[Anonymous]

what was up with prior principal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oldest just graduated Hardy, youngest still a student there. The only safety issue our kids have experienced is the theft of dangling charms off of backpacks. Before this principal arrived in 2023 it was rougher, but she's done a lot to maintain order.

This is good to hear, thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what was up with prior principal?

Ousted after multiple failures including safety issues. DCUM thread on the topic as it happened: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1132525.page