Eaton versus Hearst (moving to DC from abroad)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two great schools. You cannot go wrong. Our kids go to Eaton, and we love it, but I bet I would say the same thing if my kids went to Hearst. Here is what I love the most about Eaton:

-It has a top-notch teaching roster, led by a well-loved administration.

-Music and arts are very impressive. The two new music teachers put on a winter concert with the kids, and it was spectacular.

-A hard-working and enthusiastic parent organization. They work to raise a lot of money for fantastic extras at the school, and they know how to get down at the auction.

-A truly international student body. There are kids from all 8 wards of the city, including lots of children of World Bank and embassy parents.

In terms of Hardy vs. Deal, I think that both are good schools. Our children will still have the choice to attend either when they graduate from Eaton, and we have not made a firm decision on where they will go. Hardy causes a lot of controversy on this site, but if middle school is a factor in your decision of which elementary school to choose, it couldn't hurt to attend open houses (I know, it sounds silly for 1st grade).

Good luck with your decision, and if you decide to go to Eaton, please reach out to the HSA. We would love to welcome you to the community.

Our kids go to Hearst, and I'd actually say the exact same as these bullets above (not that it's a competition, I just think we have similar positives!). We have excellent teachers, an awesome PTA, and an international body with kids from every ward and from several embassies (we have 20+ embassies within our boundaries). I would give Hearst an edge in both facilities (newly renovated) and also the surroundings-- it borders a nice big park and has a DC rec center right on the premises.

I really don't think you can go wrong at either school. Eaton might offer slightly better apartment options (closer to the metro) but I think you should focus on getting an apartment you love and then take whichever school you get-- you can't lose either way.

Welcome!

[Anonymous]

It's nice to see so many great things on this thread about both schools. And as a Hearst parent, I'm really thrilled b/c just a few years ago, we weren't getting this kind of love on here. Like previous posters, we love our school but we have friends at Eaton and they seem really happy too. The PTAs of both schools are really strong and for me, that is important. Solid parental involvement all around.

What a great thread!

[Anonymous]

OP here -- thank you for the insightful comments on your personal experiences with the schools and for the positive tone of the messages. Both of the schools sound wonderful, so as one poster suggested, I think we will go for an dwelling that we like and take it from there. Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We ranked Hearst over Eaton. Hearst is smaller (class sizes of 20, at Eaton for K+ it was 25; only 2 classes/grade at Hearst, more at Eaton). Eaton was also in bad shape in terms of the actual building relative to Hearst (which is brand new, with construction finishing up this August). If you break out test scores by demographics, they're pretty similar, so that didn't concern us at all--it seems like kids do well at both schools. In the end, I thought that my child would do fine at either school, but that I thought the smaller school experience at Hearst was better.

OH, good heavens, this is a bit of an overstatement. They are both lovely old schools in old, established neighborhoods. Neither has the country club suburban feel, but so what? Eaton's building is fine OP and certainly not in "bad shape" as compared to Hearst.

For a long time I think Eaton was considered the stronger school. Hearst for many years seemed to be "lost" -- it had little neighborhood following (even today fewer than n20% of the students live in the designated boundary area). It was proposed to be used as swing space, then considered for possible closure or sale, but it attracted a following among families out of the boundary area who were looking for a better school in a safe area, versus what they would otherwise have. In the past 5 years, Hearst has really come up, with more neighborhood families choosing it and a renovated school.

Eaton also improved, and historically it was more tethered it its Cleveland Park neighborhood than Hearst is to its, even though neighborhood kids haven't been a majority of its students since the 1960s. For many years it had a lackluster, time-clock puncher of a principal, but he was replaced about 9 years ago and Eaton has steadily gotten better since. Regrettably, however, Easton may be plateauing. DCPS' reassignment of Eaton, from top performing Deal middle school, where Eaton has fed for decades, to lesser-performing Hardy, is discouraging to a number of Eaton families. Those who live in boundary for Eaton may consider other options, such as charter schools or private schools, to avoid Hardy, which may mean leaving before the end of 5th grade. There is much frustration that Eaton forever seems to be slipping in the renovation queue. It's facilities haven't been renovated in over 40 years. Hearst, however, managed to maintain its Deal feeder rights, which is a further boost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eaton no longer feeds Deal.

Matthew Frumin. the Ward 3 rep on the school boundary advisory committee (and failed Council candidate) dismissed Easton as the "collateral damage" of the school boundary adjustment plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hearst is on a serious upswing. With the new buildings, small class sizes, and path to Deal it will be among the fabled "JKLMM" group in a few years. With the switch to Hardy, some are predicting a decline in IB students at Eaton, which would be sad.

Hate to say it, but Hearst will only get to the JKLM level if and when its student population becomes overwhelmingly in-bounds. It's a matter of SES demographics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd say they are both pretty good choices. Hearst has more out-of-boundary students, has more lower income students whose parents are making an effort to bring them from all over the city. There is a terrific program of optional aftercare activities, a spanking new building, a city rec center and beautiful soccer field lined with old oak trees...Eaton has an older facility but also more white kids, fewer kids on subsidies, and higher test scores which may indicate more effective teaching but may be related to the 45% inbound population who live in a relatively expensive part of town and have parents with more resources. It is in a nice part of town with a very cute city playground/rec center nearby (Macomb). For me, Cleveland Park where Eaton is located is an easy neighborhood to live in, there is the little strip of restaurants, the Metro, but Hearst is also walking distance (if a bit of a stretch) from two Metro stops. It's located right across the street from Sidwell Friends where the president's daughters go to school so there are Secret Service vehicles parked visibly near it.
Not sure what the deal is with Eaton now in terms of feeding to which middle school? Hardy or can students choose Deal?

You know when you make this statement in conjunction with pros and cons it's pretty racist. Not even subtle as you call out income separately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hearst is on a serious upswing. With the new buildings, small class sizes, and path to Deal it will be among the fabled "JKLMM" group in a few years. With the switch to Hardy, some are predicting a decline in IB students at Eaton, which would be sad.

Hate to say it, but Hearst will only get to the JKLM level if and when its student population becomes overwhelmingly in-bounds. It's a matter of SES demographics.

Being that Hearst white students outperform Janney by a pretty large margin, I assume you mean Hearst will not become "elite" like JKLM until they are more white like JKLM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We ranked Hearst over Eaton. Hearst is smaller (class sizes of 20, at Eaton for K+ it was 25; only 2 classes/grade at Hearst, more at Eaton). Eaton was also in bad shape in terms of the actual building relative to Hearst (which is brand new, with construction finishing up this August). If you break out test scores by demographics, they're pretty similar, so that didn't concern us at all--it seems like kids do well at both schools. In the end, I thought that my child would do fine at either school, but that I thought the smaller school experience at Hearst was better.

OH, good heavens, this is a bit of an overstatement. They are both lovely old schools in old, established neighborhoods. Neither has the country club suburban feel, but so what? Eaton's building is fine OP and certainly not in "bad shape" as compared to Hearst.

For a long time I think Eaton was considered the stronger school. Hearst for many years seemed to be "lost" -- it had little neighborhood following (even today fewer than n20% of the students live in the designated boundary area). It was proposed to be used as swing space, then considered for possible closure or sale, but it attracted a following among families out of the boundary area who were looking for a better school in a safe area, versus what they would otherwise have. In the past 5 years, Hearst has really come up, with more neighborhood families choosing it and a renovated school.

Eaton also improved, and historically it was more tethered it its Cleveland Park neighborhood than Hearst is to its, even though neighborhood kids haven't been a majority of its students since the 1960s. For many years it had a lackluster, time-clock puncher of a principal, but he was replaced about 9 years ago and Eaton has steadily gotten better since. Regrettably, however, Easton may be plateauing. DCPS' reassignment of Eaton, from top performing Deal middle school, where Eaton has fed for decades, to lesser-performing Hardy, is discouraging to a number of Eaton families. Those who live in boundary for Eaton may consider other options, such as charter schools or private schools, to avoid Hardy, which may mean leaving before the end of 5th grade. There is much frustration that Eaton forever seems to be slipping in the renovation queue. It's facilities haven't been renovated in over 40 years. Hearst, however, managed to maintain its Deal feeder rights, which is a further boost.

For the current school year Hearst is 27% IB overall. Probably 50% IB in the younger grades.

[Anonymous]

In the first round Pk4 lottery spots went more than 2/3 to IB or proximity (based on current proximity definition these almost undoubtedly are families IB for Eaton) . The trend is definitively headed toward higher IB participation at Hearst

OP - good luck with funding a place you like to live; you can't go wrong with either school. That said we hope to see you at Hearst in August

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hearst is on a serious upswing. With the new buildings, small class sizes, and path to Deal it will be among the fabled "JKLMM" group in a few years. With the switch to Hardy, some are predicting a decline in IB students at Eaton, which would be sad.

Hate to say it, but Hearst will only get to the JKLM level if and when its student population becomes overwhelmingly in-bounds. It's a matter of SES demographics.

Many of us at Hearst have no desire for the school to be overwhelmingly in-bounds. We love the diversity of the school and aren't interested in our kids only being around high SES families. It is one of the reasons we did not even consider a house in the JKLM boundaries.

The good thing is that with the tiny boundaries that Hearst (and to some degree Eaton) has, there isn't much chance of it ever being all IB. To me, the diverse nature of the school community is what makes both Hearst and Eaton special.

[Anonymous]

We are IB for Hearst but are on the very edge of the boundary. We toured both Eaton and Hearst last year; we are at Hearst and preferred it over Eaton, but frankly, I don't think there's a clear answer to which one is the "better" school. I think your child will thrive at either and that you should be comfortable making your real estate decisions on other factors.

[Anonymous]

Wow, happy hour must have ended around 5:48!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, happy hour must have ended around 5:48!

Ha! It is very true though. Hard to stay happy and ignore when someone says something so offensive.

[Anonymous]

My neice goes to Eaton. It seems like a really nice school but the facilities need an upgrade.