It's shocking that 87 percent of the IB school population doesn't choose Hardy. Why not. |
They need to do what they did on Capitol Hill, get together and pledge to attend Hardy: http://chpspo.org/about-2/ Just read about this in the Natalie Wexler article that was linked in another thread: http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/24018/anxious-about-the-new-school-boundaries-here-are-some-things-to-consider/ |
Exactly, when the IB parents form a cohort and pledge to go, then the school will start to get better. Until then, it's just not a very good school. And while I would not focus on uniforms in making my decision, I have to admit they are offputting to me. |
Why would so many people get together and pledge to send their kids to Hardy when so many have doubts about the quality of the educational program? Middle school years are short and fundamental improvements can take years. |
They probably won't, but that's what would have to happen for the school to improve. |
Lingering or not, its not what the OP asked. And there is certainly a possibility that it is a prisoner's dilemma thing - the IB pop is low cause IB people do not choose it, and IB people do not choose it because the IB percent is low. If the IB percent goes from 13% to 16%, or better to 20%, then that begins to solve itself. |
I can see how adding some higher SES students can result in a short term bump in test scores. But goosing scores does not fundamentally improve the education -- it's still the same teachers, the same facilities, the same program, the same culture (what one booster called Hardy following its own course). |
either because their doubts are NOT about the quality of the educational program, but by the issues presented by a small IB percent, or because they believe a higher percent of IB kids would lead in short order to changes in the educational program, or both. |
| It's one thing to take a big risk yourself, but it's quite another to take a huge risk with your child's education. The middle school years are crucial. How is a parent of a 6th grader supposed to react when you say, "if you go here, it will be a better school in five years." |
| ^^NP here. I'm having a hard time understanding this: why is it when IB parents say that their concern is the educational quality, that Hardy parents ignore that and claim it's about something else? Do you think we're lying? |
| The Hardy parents are probably working hard to make their school a better place and they don't want to hear that the school is not academically as good as Deal. For outsiders though, the difference is clear. I do not know any parent who would choose Hardy over Deal -- if given the choice. |
Um you are kidding right? CHPSPO screwed up the middle school situation on Capitol Hill. They are a case study in how NOT to approach school reform. |
You are ALWAYS taking risks with your child's education. The top ranked suburban school can have the one bad teacher who turns your kid off to the subject they would otherwise have excelled in. It can have the gang of mean girls who sends your kid into a full blown clinical depression. There ARE no guarantees. Period. Its all a matter of tradeoffs. Some IB families are already making the tradeoff to go to Hardy. It is, after all, probably the second most highly regarded MS in the District. If the percent of IB families goes from 13% to 20%, probably some who wouldn't make the tradeoff at 13% will be inclined to do so. I wonder if the people making so much effort to discourage people from choosing to attend Hardy are not OOB families afraid of losing their slots? |
Perhaps, but you try to avoid risks. I am not an OOB parent. I'm in bound, but my kids are already in high school -- private because of Hardy. |
| The real proof for Hardy will be in next year's (not this year's) rising 5th grade class: if the class sizes of the 5th grades of feeder schools go up, you will fairly reliably predict the in-boundary increase into Hardy's 6th grade. I think the past year's DME process created what amounts to a 2-year stall in the IB increases we'll see in the next few years. |