Thoughts on Hardy MS?

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks again for all these thoughts. Are you planning to send your Hardy kids to MacArthur? I’m realizing that actually that’s the big decision for us at this point — whether to send her to Hardy and have her go on to MacArthur or another HS, or to save her from yet another disruption by sending her to a private (but my goodness those fees are…a lot).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Parent of current Hardy 8th grader here and this is very far from our experience. Teachers have always been responsive and our kid uses a Chromebook when necessary (never a tablet so perhaps that was a typo?) and has never complained of lacking access. But also they don’t use machines too much in class which we are very pleased with as we want DC off screens more than on!

If you are not getting responses, I suggest you escalate to your grade level AP who are all excellent and will make sure your needs are addressed

Middle school is definitely a different place than ES - as it should be. The kids are learning more independence and executive function. It’s a transition for sure, but Hardy is a great community!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks again for all these thoughts. Are you planning to send your Hardy kids to MacArthur? I’m realizing that actually that’s the big decision for us at this point — whether to send her to Hardy and have her go on to MacArthur or another HS, or to save her from yet another disruption by sending her to a private (but my goodness those fees are…a lot).

Our child is planning on MacArthur, yes. (also applying to DCPS app schools, but most likely MacArthur)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Cambridge Rindge and Latin is an excellent high school! A lot of wealthier parents send their kids to private middle schools and then to Rindge. It has a big range since the city has just the one HS but the academic and extracurricular opportunities are by all accounts awesome. Public middle schools in Cambridge are very mixed but improving. Ours (CSUS) has a great community and some stars among the teachers, but overall it hasn’t been good academically for our daughter. Somerville public schools are also improving but behind Cambridge. Many parents move out to Arlington for the public schools there. Or there are the super schools in Lexington but apparently there are high rates of anxiety among HS students there since they’re pushed so hard. Plus it’s not diverse at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks again for all these thoughts. Are you planning to send your Hardy kids to MacArthur? I’m realizing that actually that’s the big decision for us at this point — whether to send her to Hardy and have her go on to MacArthur or another HS, or to save her from yet another disruption by sending her to a private (but my goodness those fees are…a lot).

I have a Hardy 7th grader, and we have been enjoying Hardy, but we are very much hoping that our child gets into either the School Without Walls or Banneker (both magnet schools if you aren’t familiar). Lots of Hardy kids go on to high schools that aren’t MacArthur, so there is a good chance your daughter would know kids in any of the area high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Cambridge Rindge and Latin is an excellent high school! A lot of wealthier parents send their kids to private middle schools and then to Rindge. It has a big range since the city has just the one HS but the academic and extracurricular opportunities are by all accounts awesome. Public middle schools in Cambridge are very mixed but improving. Ours (CSUS) has a great community and some stars among the teachers, but overall it hasn’t been good academically for our daughter. Somerville public schools are also improving but behind Cambridge. Many parents move out to Arlington for the public schools there. Or there are the super schools in Lexington but apparently there are high rates of anxiety among HS students there since they’re pushed so hard. Plus it’s not diverse at all.

Thank you, this is so helpful!

[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.

Last year Hardy got a new drama teacher who is terrific. The 2025 production of Matilda was miles and miles and miles ahead of the 2023 production of Annie two years earlier, which was followed by a gap year between theater teachers. Source: one of my kids was involved in both shows (ensemble in one, stage crew in the other).

If your kids play instruments, Hardy has multiple levels of orchestra and concert band that punch above their weight. The orchestra teacher also teaches Duke Ellington, *thee* HS for artsy/theater kids, and the band and drama teachers are also well connected there.

If you don't wind up choosing Hardy, It's also good to be aware of the DC Youth Orchestra program, which rehearses on Saturdays at Takoma Park elementary up in Northeast and has performing groups at all levels. There is no All-State orchestra or band in DC, but DCYOP is very much the next best thing for star musicians, as well as very accessible to beginning and developing music students.