How has Hardy drawn inbound families?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This field poster is a loon. The sports are already part of the school. They have it figured out. Relax.

Ha! How many times have we heard over the years to "calm down, DCPS has it all figured out"?

So please enlighten us, what do the Hardy teams use as their home fields and practice fields?

Why don't you call the school and find out? Better yet ask when the next home baseball game is and go watch. You aren't this helpless are you?

Don't you know?? I thought you said DCPS had it all figured out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the fields/sports poster is a little batty, but it IS important to some parents whose kids are into sports to have decent on-site (or close to on-site) facilities whenever possible. It's not a completely stupid concern, although his/her insufferably entitled attitude makes it seem so.

It IS a shame that the city apparently sold Jellef field rights to Maret (which paid for field restoration) and another private school or two without being forced to make allowances for neighborhood public school use. I work a block away from the field, and see that it is frequently empty during the school day.

And the tennis court at Hardy is/was beautiful, but they don't maintain it or seem to have a tennis team. Why has the net been broken for 6 months? Appearances matter; community support matters. (Neighborhood players used this court all the time on weekends, and it's been out of commission for a really long time.)

Unfortunately, this is pretty common in DCPS. Even when they get something new or modern, they don't always have the wherewithall or follow through to maintain it, like simply getting a new net.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the fields/sports poster is a little batty, but it IS important to some parents whose kids are into sports to have decent on-site (or close to on-site) facilities whenever possible. It's not a completely stupid concern, although his/her insufferably entitled attitude makes it seem so.

It IS a shame that the city apparently sold Jellef field rights to Maret (which paid for field restoration) and another private school or two without being forced to make allowances for neighborhood public school use. I work a block away from the field, and see that it is frequently empty during the school day.

And the tennis court at Hardy is/was beautiful, but they don't maintain it or seem to have a tennis team. Why has the net been broken for 6 months? Appearances matter; community support matters. (Neighborhood players used this court all the time on weekends, and it's been out of commission for a really long time.)

Even though nothing surprises in DC, I would hope that the Maret agreement was for a limited term, say 10 years. If so, it should be up soon.

[Anonymous]

My son is at Hardy and plays on the basketball team. The court is fine. He plays soccer on the weekends with Stoddert, so not having a school team isn't an issue for him. I know that Deal has a soccer field--do they have a team?

I do know there is a football team, but I'm not sure where they practice. I'll ask him.

[Anonymous]

is there any word yet on how the IB enrollment is going for next year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think having a principal who does/cares about outreach is a good first step. Offering music, foreign language, extracurriculars/sports and especially an enrichment program matter too. But honestly what seems to be working is that there is a school that

a) has room for lots more in-bounds kids
b) is a destination school for elementaries that have a growing in-bound percentage
c) has a boundary with a very high-income and highly-educated population

and the families can no longer get into Deal out of bounds

To attract IB families, Hardy also has to address its athletic facilities issues, particularly fields. I was walking by there this weekend. Most of the school yard seems to have been given over to a parking lot that is used for flea markets. The playing field, if you can call it that, is a kind of "mini-me" embarrassing imitation that is 25-30% the size of a regulation soccer field.

Then go inside, and take a look at the gym and basketball court , which is one of the largest in the whole city, and just renovated. Almost twice in size than the Macomb St Basketball court of St Albans to say one...

None of the current and prospective parents is embarrassed by the sports and soccer court. This is a downtown/mid-town school facilities in the most expensive DC estate area (Georgetown). The small parking area serves the needs of the school teachers who would otherwise have to pay the on-street parking fee (and allows the school to retain several bright teachers who drive to work) . The field is perfectly adequate for athletic and soccer practice. You did not mention the tennis court.

IB families are looking and seeing things beyond the soccer field.

?? St Albans isn't on Macomb Street.

Sorry, I meant the basketball field entering from Garfield, not Macomb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:is there any word yet on how the IB enrollment is going for next year?

No, there is no word. The only person with that information is Principal Pride. She was not in attendance at the PTO meeting last week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think having a principal who does/cares about outreach is a good first step. Offering music, foreign language, extracurriculars/sports and especially an enrichment program matter too. But honestly what seems to be working is that there is a school that

a) has room for lots more in-bounds kids
b) is a destination school for elementaries that have a growing in-bound percentage
c) has a boundary with a very high-income and highly-educated population

and the families can no longer get into Deal out of bounds

To attract IB families, Hardy also has to address its athletic facilities issues, particularly fields. I was walking by there this weekend. Most of the school yard seems to have been given over to a parking lot that is used for flea markets. The playing field, if you can call it that, is a kind of "mini-me" embarrassing imitation that is 25-30% the size of a regulation soccer field.

The parking lot is not used for flea markets. It is used by school teachers and administrators (Georgetown has a 2 hrs limit parking for non residents).

The City rents it out on Sundays for the flea market.

Lots of public schools don't provide off street parking. The streets around John Eaton are all resident-zoned, for example. Given the limited space, I would think the right decision is for student recreation facilities to take precedence over administrators' convenience. But I guess we shouldn't be surprised at what is DCPS' priority.

Untrue. For Eaton you can park on the west part of Lowell. There's not a single unzoned parking in Georgetown or nearby. The parking area is a triangle area just next to the soccer field , would not be geometrically suitable to extend the soccer field. i believe it is a good idea to offer teachers a limited parking facility if no free parking space is available nearby and no metro connection.

For all parents who chose their kids MS school depending on the soccer field extension... God bless your kids!!..

[Anonymous]

If they want inbounds families, make it a school for inbound families and the people will come. When they come they will fire up the PTA, raise funds, implement high quality after school enrichment, secure additional academic resources, and yes, work to get the sports facilities maintained and improved. Why even use the term boundary when most of the students live outside the "boundary"?

[Anonymous]

Was just announced GW has taken over the Corcoran building behind Hardy and that GW plans to sell it. Dcps could work with GW to get it back into public hands. Then they could return that parking lot to its original use, a play field for the public schools on its border. This would help rectify the Jelleff takeover by Maret.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This field poster is a loon. The sports are already part of the school. They have it figured out. Relax.

Ha! How many times have we heard over the years to "calm down, DCPS has it all figured out"?

So please enlighten us, what do the Hardy teams use as their home fields and practice fields?

Why don't you call the school and find out? Better yet ask when the next home baseball game is and go watch. You aren't this helpless are you?

Don't you know?? I thought you said DCPS had it all figured out?

Actually I never mentioned DCPS, but you did. Hardy is a together school which offers many indoor and outdoor team sports. If that is your interest the. You should find out the answers to your questions.

No, the don't have lacrosse. (I can sense that is a sport you like)

[Anonymous]

Im surprised sports has taken over this thread. I would assume the number 1 to attract IB families if more differentiated classes/tracking.

[Anonymous]

Of course it is. The rest is just a sideshow meant to distract people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think having a principal who does/cares about outreach is a good first step. Offering music, foreign language, extracurriculars/sports and especially an enrichment program matter too. But honestly what seems to be working is that there is a school that

a) has room for lots more in-bounds kids
b) is a destination school for elementaries that have a growing in-bound percentage
c) has a boundary with a very high-income and highly-educated population

and the families can no longer get into Deal out of bounds

To attract IB families, Hardy also has to address its athletic facilities issues, particularly fields. I was walking by there this weekend. Most of the school yard seems to have been given over to a parking lot that is used for flea markets. The playing field, if you can call it that, is a kind of "mini-me" embarrassing imitation that is 25-30% the size of a regulation soccer field.

The parking lot is not used for flea markets. It is used by school teachers and administrators (Georgetown has a 2 hrs limit parking for non residents).

The City rents it out on Sundays for the flea market.

Lots of public schools don't provide off street parking. The streets around John Eaton are all resident-zoned, for example. Given the limited space, I would think the right decision is for student recreation facilities to take precedence over administrators' convenience. But I guess we shouldn't be surprised at what is DCPS' priority.

Untrue. For Eaton you can park on the west part of Lowell. There's not a single unzoned parking in Georgetown or nearby. The parking area is a triangle area just next to the soccer field , would not be geometrically suitable to extend the soccer field. i believe it is a good idea to offer teachers a limited parking facility if no free parking space is available nearby and no metro connection.

For all parents who chose their kids MS school depending on the soccer field extension... God bless your kids!!..

Maybe there are some parents who would choose a school on the basis of athletic facilities alone. However, the lack of playing fields or access to Jelleff is just one more reason -- aside from academics, preparation of student body, etc. -- that Hardy is not yet up to Deal's level. Parents who currently have Deal as an option don't want to be forced into a school that currently is not as good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This field poster is a loon. The sports are already part of the school. They have it figured out. Relax.

Ha! How many times have we heard over the years to "calm down, DCPS has it all figured out"?

So please enlighten us, what do the Hardy teams use as their home fields and practice fields?

Why don't you call the school and find out? Better yet ask when the next home baseball game is and go watch. You aren't this helpless are you?

Don't you know?? I thought you said DCPS had it all figured out?

Actually I never mentioned DCPS, but you did. Hardy is a together school which offers many indoor and outdoor team sports. If that is your interest the. You should find out the answers to your questions.

No, the don't have lacrosse. (I can sense that is a sport you like)

Deal has a crew program at 8th grade which is the orientation to the well-established Wilson team. I'm hoping that since Hardy is even closer to the river, crew is an option there, too.