Eaton Thrown Under the Bus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The proposals provide that John Eaton ES will be forced out of Deal, and be assigned to Hardy, What do Eaton parents think of that??

Eaton and Oyster were always the most vulnerable. They're both closer to Hardy than Deal anyway. Even if there weren't a re-alignment of the boundaries in the political works, it always made sense to anyone who can read a map.

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Can't remember if I posted in this thread or another, but reading a map doesn't mean much unless it had an overlay of bus and metro lines. However close Eaton and Oyster may be to Hardy, the commute will be twice or three times as long than the one the kids would make via the red line.

Have no horse in this race, just know that there is basically no easy east-west bus route (bit better for Eaton, but pretty bad for Oyster) for those two neighborhoods.

Eaton itself may be a little closer to Hardy but those who are inbound for Eaton live mostly closer to Deal. Eaton itself is the southern edge of its district .

Working with the very unlikely assumption that all Eaton students begin their trip from Eaton itself (as opposed to an OOB location)

Assuming walking:

shortest Eaton to Hardy = 1.6 miles

shortest Eaton to Deal = 1.8 miles

Assuming driving (Google maps):

shortest Eaton to Hardy = 5 min. driving, 16 min. public transit

shortest Eaton to Deal = 5 min. driving, 17 min. public transit

Assuming Public Transportation (WMATA trip planner):

shortest Eaton to Hardy = $1.60

shortest Eaton to Deal = $1.60

The Cleveland Park Metro stop might be a better starting point, ,because that is the major transit point in the Eaton district. From there, Deal and Wilson are two stops north on the Red line. How to get to Hardy? You could take a bus up Porter to Wisconsin Ave, Then wait and transfer to another bus. Then take the notoriously slow (and bunched) 30s line down Wisconsin Avenue at rush hour. By car, in the morning you are going to Deal northbound against traffic. Driving to Hardy requires going with rush hour traffic, when there's no way of avoiding constrained Wisconsin through Glover Park.

I doubt the "I prefer the red line to the bus" argument will gain traction, or anything other than eye-rolling. Eaton is closer to Hardy. Period. If you can map out the majority of student commutes to get to Eaton in the first place, go for it but considering how many are OOB, that is unlikely to be persuasive.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Eaton is to be thrown under, the parents should advocate for the full lottery plan. That way they'd have at least a chance at a sect school . Hardy is awful.

Great logic. Let's screw the whole damn system if we are unhappy with a completely predictable outcome?

Just go to Hardy, it will get better. Don't vindictively advocate for the nuclear option C.

People just want the best for their kids. A chance at a decent high school education is better than none. There is little chance at Hardy.

Now you see why there is support for choice sets outside of Ward 3. The only difference is the others would give up a kidney for the opportunity to attend Hardy, which you won't consider.

Then let them have the opportunity, as it will likely be better than their other options. However, for schools that are being moved to Hardy unwillingly, you are forcing them to accept an inferior opportunity compared to what they had before.

You may not know the history of Hardy, which btw, is far from a failing school, but once "they" did get the opportunity. Michelle Rhee, at the behest of inbounds families, changed all that. Now the school is increasingly popular with inbounds families. The drop off from Deal to Hardy is not all that big and probably won't exist at all soon. Come over to my neighborhood where we are being switched from Deal to West. Then talk to me about being forced to accept an inferior opportunity.

+100 thanks Jeff! These posters complain about being sent to an inferior school (Hardy) at the same time they suggest Shepherd kids go to an even worse performing school (Takoma, and a K-8 to boot). The current Deal proposed West change is even worse. Then the posters mention that they want access to a school they depended in when they bought IB for Deal like Crestwood families didn't have the same motive when buying)...so I guess their $1m house is more worthy than our $800k one. We will never get anywhere in the debate if we continue to throw each other under the bus at the risk of saving our feeders. Clear, unbiased and logical thinking is needed. Sadly, that has been missing from 99% of these threads lately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be plenty of room at Wilson because this plan will inspire most people to consider private. Why on earth would a family who could afford private take the chance of sending a kid to Hardy? Eaton kids have had the Hardy option for years, but I've never seen a single kid take that option.

1) many families cannot afford private

2) many IB feeder families for Mann, etc are voluntarily sending their children to Hardy as it is.

IF this were true (hint - it's not) then why is Hardy majority OOB, with Mann being the least represented among its IB schools?!

Mann sent 0 kids to hardy last year or the year before.

[Anonymous]

The argument we should be making is that uncertainty is bad and will erase gains made at neighborhood schools. No one wants to risk being the one shut out of a good local option, and they should focus on improving the schools for people with weak local options. That might mean more ms charters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question: If both Deal and Hardy fed into Wilson, would that exceed Wilson's capacity?

Deal- capacity 1200, three grades=400 per grade
Hardy - capacity 500, three grades=166 per grade

Wilson- capacity 1600, four grades=400 per grade

So the per-grade capacity of Deal and Hardy combined is about 40% greater than Wilson. Granted, 100% of Deal and Hardy graduates don't go to Wilson. But Deal has only been super-popular for a few years, the kids who are in Wilson now are kids who were in Deal when it was significantly smaller. And Wilson is about 10% over capacity right now. The middle school drama of the past few years is about to get repeated for high school.

Wilson should be expanded. Most DC-area public high schools, in popular neighborhoods, are close to 2,000 students and growing. Deal is already large for a jr high or middle school so expanding Deal may not be a good idea... If Hardy made the uniforms optional would more IB students attend?

[Anonymous]

Why should Wilson expand when 1) it just had a major renovation and 2) there are so many OOB attending?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question: If both Deal and Hardy fed into Wilson, would that exceed Wilson's capacity?

Deal- capacity 1200, three grades=400 per grade
Hardy - capacity 500, three grades=166 per grade

Wilson- capacity 1600, four grades=400 per grade

So the per-grade capacity of Deal and Hardy combined is about 40% greater than Wilson. Granted, 100% of Deal and Hardy graduates don't go to Wilson. But Deal has only been super-popular for a few years, the kids who are in Wilson now are kids who were in Deal when it was significantly smaller. And Wilson is about 10% over capacity right now. The middle school drama of the past few years is about to get repeated for high school.

Wilson should be expanded. Most DC-area public high schools, in popular neighborhoods, are close to 2,000 students and growing. Deal is already large for a jr high or middle school so expanding Deal may not be a good idea... If Hardy made the uniforms optional would more IB students attend?

Its not the uniforms, its the academics.

There are limited language options, advanced math students have to travel to Ellington, etc. There is a wide gap between what advanced students get at Deal vs Hardy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question: If both Deal and Hardy fed into Wilson, would that exceed Wilson's capacity?

Deal- capacity 1200, three grades=400 per grade
Hardy - capacity 500, three grades=166 per grade

Wilson- capacity 1600, four grades=400 per grade

So the per-grade capacity of Deal and Hardy combined is about 40% greater than Wilson. Granted, 100% of Deal and Hardy graduates don't go to Wilson. But Deal has only been super-popular for a few years, the kids who are in Wilson now are kids who were in Deal when it was significantly smaller. And Wilson is about 10% over capacity right now. The middle school drama of the past few years is about to get repeated for high school.

Wilson should be expanded. Most DC-area public high schools, in popular neighborhoods, are close to 2,000 students and growing. Deal is already large for a jr high or middle school so expanding Deal may not be a good idea... If Hardy made the uniforms optional would more IB students attend?

Its not the uniforms, its the academics.

There are limited language options, advanced math students have to travel to Ellington, etc. There is a wide gap between what advanced students get at Deal vs Hardy.

This is outdated. There is a gap, but it is shrinking rapidly. Is it still there? Yes. Will there be a gap next year? Yes. But within 2-3 years there will likely be a much smaller or non-existent gap.

The polemics voiced in this thread are beyond belief. Hardy is not Deal; there is no debate here. But the troll saying Hardy is a non-starter is so incredibly misguided that his writings must surely be for incendiary purposes only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There will be plenty of room at Wilson because this plan will inspire most people to consider private. Why on earth would a family who could afford private take the chance of sending a kid to Hardy? Eaton kids have had the Hardy option for years, but I've never seen a single kid take that option.

1) many families cannot afford private

2) many IB feeder families for Mann, etc are voluntarily sending their children to Hardy as it is.

IF this were true (hint - it's not) then why is Hardy majority OOB, with Mann being the least represented among its IB schools?!

Mann sent 0 kids to hardy last year or the year before.

Exactly. Either prove the enrollment now, or wait until you can prove the enrollment if and when it happens later. Parents talk about commitment to a school in advance all the time, it's the dynamic of "psyching up" the group. The beginning of actual proof is in the ones who are verified on Count Day, nothing less.

[Anonymous]

Hardy is even worse than I thought if advanced math kids need to go to Ellington for instruction.

[Anonymous]

In 2014-2015 school year, Hardy will have THE SAME MATH OPTIONS that Deal has ON CAMPUS. People who had an impression of what Hardy was like in recent years need to understand that change has come to the school and the current leadership is working to provide greater language options and more enrichment opportunities. Hardy is a rapidly rising school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really think Eaton families have 1) a right to voice their frustration or disappointment 2) a responsibility to see that if they mobilize to make Hardy better they will likely be glad they didn't send their kids to Deal.

At this point it seem easier to make Hardy better than to fight these plans.

I'm going to fight them. It's my kid who will live through a transitional school that is not as solid as what she could have had, By the time Hardy is better, I'll be a grandparent.

My sentiments exactly. Hardy will not get better anytime soon. And not enough Eaton parents will go to make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hardy is even worse than I thought if advanced math kids need to go to Ellington for instruction.

And Ellington is a performing arts magnet. I don't think of it as exactly being a strong STEM curriculum school!

[Anonymous]

I guess Eaton is being punished for being the most diverse school in Ward 3 and the most welcoming to OOB students. Looks like we will no longer feed into the increasingly not diverse Wilson HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And will people choose it when it no longer feeds into Wilson?

No, they will not. Taking Hardy out of Wilson is the quickest way to arrest and reverse any upward momentum that Hardy has had. And putting John Eaton into Hardy and then into an uncertain high school future guarantees the reversal of the steadily upward number of neighborhood kids attending Eaton. More parents will bail out of Eaton early or pass on DCPS altogether. If DCPS' secret objective is to open up even more out of boundaries slots at places like Eaton and Oyster, however, then maybe the DME proposals are a calculated stroke of genius.