Are in boundary families leaving Hardy because if MacArthur?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grade daughter at Hardy has also reported her gym teacher is sexist.

Mine too, and everyone's 6th grade daughters have reported it to the AP when called into a girls-only assembly a few weeks ago.

Except nothing changed, the locker rooms remained locked, etc. until this week when they had a sub for gym one of the days, but that was the last day of gym so the girls ended up having a bad experience with a bad male teacher for an entire quarter. Just another example of the crappy year at the school.

I agree. The first half of the year was rough. The new principal is hopefully getting his sea legs and learning that being a school principal means being on top of everything within the school, from students to teachers to custodians to DGS work orders. He didn't seem to grasp this, and perhaps still doesn't.

Some changes have been implemented -- see website and tutoring offerings -- and more are coming I hope. The principal has vanishingly short time to salvage this year and then start convincing parents that next year will be different.

DCPS seems to put caretaker or newbie principals into schools they think are already doing fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grade daughter at Hardy has also reported her gym teacher is sexist.

Mine too, and everyone's 6th grade daughters have reported it to the AP when called into a girls-only assembly a few weeks ago.

Except nothing changed, the locker rooms remained locked, etc. until this week when they had a sub for gym one of the days, but that was the last day of gym so the girls ended up having a bad experience with a bad male teacher for an entire quarter. Just another example of the crappy year at the school.

I agree. The first half of the year was rough. The new principal is hopefully getting his sea legs and learning that being a school principal means being on top of everything within the school, from students to teachers to custodians to DGS work orders. He didn't seem to grasp this, and perhaps still doesn't.

Some changes have been implemented -- see website and tutoring offerings -- and more are coming I hope. The principal has vanishingly short time to salvage this year and then start convincing parents that next year will be different.

DCPS seems to put caretaker or newbie principals into schools they think are already doing fine.

Actually you know what, I apologize. I just looked at Mr Johnson’s bio and he seems extremely good. But I still maintain that DCPS views Hardy as disposable in the way they installed a new principal (w no prior MS principal experience) AND screwed him on the budget in his first year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grade daughter at Hardy has also reported her gym teacher is sexist.

Mine too, and everyone's 6th grade daughters have reported it to the AP when called into a girls-only assembly a few weeks ago.

Except nothing changed, the locker rooms remained locked, etc. until this week when they had a sub for gym one of the days, but that was the last day of gym so the girls ended up having a bad experience with a bad male teacher for an entire quarter. Just another example of the crappy year at the school.

I agree. The first half of the year was rough. The new principal is hopefully getting his sea legs and learning that being a school principal means being on top of everything within the school, from students to teachers to custodians to DGS work orders. He didn't seem to grasp this, and perhaps still doesn't.

Some changes have been implemented -- see website and tutoring offerings -- and more are coming I hope. The principal has vanishingly short time to salvage this year and then start convincing parents that next year will be different.

DCPS seems to put caretaker or newbie principals into schools they think are already doing fine.

Actually you know what, I apologize. I just looked at Mr Johnson’s bio and he seems extremely good. But I still maintain that DCPS views Hardy as disposable in the way they installed a new principal (w no prior MS principal experience) AND screwed him on the budget in his first year.

I've recently come around to the view that bios mean little. Fancy degrees from top institutions give little if any indication of leadership ability. (I say this as someone with fancy degrees from top institutions.) I realized this with the new Macarthur principal. My first inclination was to dismiss him based on his paper credentials. (Yes, I'm a jerk.) But I've seen him a few times now and think he looks like he's going to be a strong and effective leader. He appears to understand what being a leader entails, and that's not something that can be effectively gleaned from a bio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we talking about Hardy or DCPS? Doesn’t that make a huge difference? How widespread and nasty are these fights at Hardy’s? Nobody downplays violence when our kids may be affected. I just feel like we are not talking about the same thing.

This thread is about Hardy. My friend has her kid at a school in NoVa with similar demographics in terms of housing costs and there is nothing like what is going on at Hardy with daily fights, behavior issues in the classes, no specials, no PE, no issues with bathrooms, etc….

What world do people live in on here to say that this is just normal? Seriously? Maybe in a high poverty neighborhood, I don’t know. But no way in a neighborhood where housing stock is 1.5-3 million plus.

The fights at Hardy, which aren't daily, are among students who do not live in $1.5M+ homes.

My kid says that aside from the one awful episode a while ago of 2 older boys beating up a younger boy who was hurt, the fights are usually around lunch time and just boys hopping around with their fists up in position to box, calling each other names, surrounded by a crowd of students recording on their phones. Says it's just sad.

[Anonymous]

Ech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grade daughter at Hardy has also reported her gym teacher is sexist.

Mine too, and everyone's 6th grade daughters have reported it to the AP when called into a girls-only assembly a few weeks ago.

Except nothing changed, the locker rooms remained locked, etc. until this week when they had a sub for gym one of the days, but that was the last day of gym so the girls ended up having a bad experience with a bad male teacher for an entire quarter. Just another example of the crappy year at the school.

I agree. The first half of the year was rough. The new principal is hopefully getting his sea legs and learning that being a school principal means being on top of everything within the school, from students to teachers to custodians to DGS work orders. He didn't seem to grasp this, and perhaps still doesn't.

Some changes have been implemented -- see website and tutoring offerings -- and more are coming I hope. The principal has vanishingly short time to salvage this year and then start convincing parents that next year will be different.

DCPS seems to put caretaker or newbie principals into schools they think are already doing fine.

Actually you know what, I apologize. I just looked at Mr Johnson’s bio and he seems extremely good. But I still maintain that DCPS views Hardy as disposable in the way they installed a new principal (w no prior MS principal experience) AND screwed him on the budget in his first year.

I've recently come around to the view that bios mean little. Fancy degrees from top institutions give little if any indication of leadership ability. (I say this as someone with fancy degrees from top institutions.) I realized this with the new Macarthur principal. My first inclination was to dismiss him based on his paper credentials. (Yes, I'm a jerk.) But I've seen him a few times now and think he looks like he's going to be a strong and effective leader. He appears to understand what being a leader entails, and that's not something that can be effectively gleaned from a bio.

Agree but I like the fact that the Hardy principal highlights his success on PARCC. He seems committed to high standards. I can’t imagine how hard it is to start a new job under these conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we talking about Hardy or DCPS? Doesn’t that make a huge difference? How widespread and nasty are these fights at Hardy’s? Nobody downplays violence when our kids may be affected. I just feel like we are not talking about the same thing.

This thread is about Hardy. My friend has her kid at a school in NoVa with similar demographics in terms of housing costs and there is nothing like what is going on at Hardy with daily fights, behavior issues in the classes, no specials, no PE, no issues with bathrooms, etc….

What world do people live in on here to say that this is just normal? Seriously? Maybe in a high poverty neighborhood, I don’t know. But no way in a neighborhood where housing stock is 1.5-3 million plus.

The fights at Hardy, which aren't daily, are among students who do not live in $1.5M+ homes.

My kid says that aside from the one awful episode a while ago of 2 older boys beating up a younger boy who was hurt, the fights are usually around lunch time and just boys hopping around with their fists up in position to box, calling each other names, surrounded by a crowd of students recording on their phones. Says it's just sad.

I mean the bad fights happen because the little ones are tolerated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we talking about Hardy or DCPS? Doesn’t that make a huge difference? How widespread and nasty are these fights at Hardy’s? Nobody downplays violence when our kids may be affected. I just feel like we are not talking about the same thing.

This thread is about Hardy. My friend has her kid at a school in NoVa with similar demographics in terms of housing costs and there is nothing like what is going on at Hardy with daily fights, behavior issues in the classes, no specials, no PE, no issues with bathrooms, etc….

What world do people live in on here to say that this is just normal? Seriously? Maybe in a high poverty neighborhood, I don’t know. But no way in a neighborhood where housing stock is 1.5-3 million plus.

The fights at Hardy, which aren't daily, are among students who do not live in $1.5M+ homes.

My kid says that aside from the one awful episode a while ago of 2 older boys beating up a younger boy who was hurt, the fights are usually around lunch time and just boys hopping around with their fists up in position to box, calling each other names, surrounded by a crowd of students recording on their phones. Says it's just sad.

I mean the bad fights happen because the little ones are tolerated.

You know way more about little fights and big fights than my kid and I.
What should the AP do to not tolerate the little fights and keep them from escalating into big fights?
Are those fights the real reason why the indoor/outdoor lunch/recess flexibility started under the previous principal suddenly went away? We were told it was about littering and rodents. But was it actually for better control of those behavioral issues?
I'm told you can barely hear the person sitting next to you at lunch, because the cafeteria is so loud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we talking about Hardy or DCPS? Doesn’t that make a huge difference? How widespread and nasty are these fights at Hardy’s? Nobody downplays violence when our kids may be affected. I just feel like we are not talking about the same thing.

This thread is about Hardy. My friend has her kid at a school in NoVa with similar demographics in terms of housing costs and there is nothing like what is going on at Hardy with daily fights, behavior issues in the classes, no specials, no PE, no issues with bathrooms, etc….

What world do people live in on here to say that this is just normal? Seriously? Maybe in a high poverty neighborhood, I don’t know. But no way in a neighborhood where housing stock is 1.5-3 million plus.

The fights at Hardy, which aren't daily, are among students who do not live in $1.5M+ homes.

My kid says that aside from the one awful episode a while ago of 2 older boys beating up a younger boy who was hurt, the fights are usually around lunch time and just boys hopping around with their fists up in position to box, calling each other names, surrounded by a crowd of students recording on their phones. Says it's just sad.

My 8th grader says pretty much the same. Most of these are for show - boys blowing off steam, according to him. The lack of specials, orchestra etc. is more problematic. The teachers are trying but the budget cuts really hut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we talking about Hardy or DCPS? Doesn’t that make a huge difference? How widespread and nasty are these fights at Hardy’s? Nobody downplays violence when our kids may be affected. I just feel like we are not talking about the same thing.

This thread is about Hardy. My friend has her kid at a school in NoVa with similar demographics in terms of housing costs and there is nothing like what is going on at Hardy with daily fights, behavior issues in the classes, no specials, no PE, no issues with bathrooms, etc….

What world do people live in on here to say that this is just normal? Seriously? Maybe in a high poverty neighborhood, I don’t know. But no way in a neighborhood where housing stock is 1.5-3 million plus.

The fights at Hardy, which aren't daily, are among students who do not live in $1.5M+ homes.

My kid says that aside from the one awful episode a while ago of 2 older boys beating up a younger boy who was hurt, the fights are usually around lunch time and just boys hopping around with their fists up in position to box, calling each other names, surrounded by a crowd of students recording on their phones. Says it's just sad.

I mean the bad fights happen because the little ones are tolerated.

You know way more about little fights and big fights than my kid and I.
What should the AP do to not tolerate the little fights and keep them from escalating into big fights?
Are those fights the real reason why the indoor/outdoor lunch/recess flexibility started under the previous principal suddenly went away? We were told it was about littering and rodents. But was it actually for better control of those behavioral issues?
I'm told you can barely hear the person sitting next to you at lunch, because the cafeteria is so loud.

I've been in the cafeteria at lunch time, and it is oppressively noisy. Just not a big enough room for all the people. (Enough, if cramped, floor space, but no additional ceiling height.) Enough to make anyone want to scream and run away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grade daughter at Hardy has also reported her gym teacher is sexist.

Mine too, and everyone's 6th grade daughters have reported it to the AP when called into a girls-only assembly a few weeks ago.

Except nothing changed, the locker rooms remained locked, etc. until this week when they had a sub for gym one of the days, but that was the last day of gym so the girls ended up having a bad experience with a bad male teacher for an entire quarter. Just another example of the crappy year at the school.

Ugh. Well, next quarter they likely get to experience the (female) (onboarded a month into the school year) drama teacher's harshness, for balance, which was also discussed at that assembly.

What does this mean re: the drama teacher?

[Anonymous]

Few in-boundary Ward 3 kids will switch to Douglas Macarthur High in the first few years. They will stay in the current feeder pattern as long as they are grandfathered. The property was too small even for the private GDS lower grades; it's hard to see how it supports a real high school. And the transportation options from most Ward 3 neighborhoods that will feed to the new high school. In the short to medium term MacArthur will create a lot of Ward 3 high school spots for kids outside of Upper Northwest. It will be a great political win for the mayor and a number of council members who will benefit politically with their base. It won't be so great for Ward 3.

The best solution would be for DCPS, which is taking over Ellington, to move Ellington to a more central location in the next 5 years. Wisconsin Avenue is like the spine of Ward 3, so Western would be a lot easier to reach by bus than a school on Macarthur Bldv. Then Western High School could be reconstituted, complete with its adjacent playing field a block away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Few in-boundary Ward 3 kids will switch to Douglas Macarthur High in the first few years. They will stay in the current feeder pattern as long as they are grandfathered. The property was too small even for the private GDS lower grades; it's hard to see how it supports a real high school. And the transportation options from most Ward 3 neighborhoods that will feed to the new high school. In the short to medium term MacArthur will create a lot of Ward 3 high school spots for kids outside of Upper Northwest. It will be a great political win for the mayor and a number of council members who will benefit politically with their base. It won't be so great for Ward 3.

The best solution would be for DCPS, which is taking over Ellington, to move Ellington to a more central location in the next 5 years. Wisconsin Avenue is like the spine of Ward 3, so Western would be a lot easier to reach by bus than a school on Macarthur Bldv. Then Western High School could be reconstituted, complete with its adjacent playing field a block away.

Umm, no. None of what you say is likely. Obviously I cannot guarantee MacArthur will be a success for the Hardy feeder pattern, but I truly expect it to be a success, and a run-away one at that.

Transportation is currently a problem, but some people are making progress on that front as I type. Will it be enough quickly enough? I don't know. I hope so.

I actually agree that taking over Ellington is the best option. I pushed for it in 2014. It got nowhere then, and $225 million later, it will make even less forward progress now. If you don't understand what happened over the last 8 years, I could see why you'd think your insights are, well, insightful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Few in-boundary Ward 3 kids will switch to Douglas Macarthur High in the first few years. They will stay in the current feeder pattern as long as they are grandfathered. The property was too small even for the private GDS lower grades; it's hard to see how it supports a real high school. And the transportation options from most Ward 3 neighborhoods that will feed to the new high school. In the short to medium term MacArthur will create a lot of Ward 3 high school spots for kids outside of Upper Northwest. It will be a great political win for the mayor and a number of council members who will benefit politically with their base. It won't be so great for Ward 3.

The best solution would be for DCPS, which is taking over Ellington, to move Ellington to a more central location in the next 5 years. Wisconsin Avenue is like the spine of Ward 3, so Western would be a lot easier to reach by bus than a school on Macarthur Bldv. Then Western High School could be reconstituted, complete with its adjacent playing field a block away.

Umm, no. None of what you say is likely. Obviously I cannot guarantee MacArthur will be a success for the Hardy feeder pattern, but I truly expect it to be a success, and a run-away one at that.

Transportation is currently a problem, but some people are making progress on that front as I type. Will it be enough quickly enough? I don't know. I hope so.

I actually agree that taking over Ellington is the best option. I pushed for it in 2014. It got nowhere then, and $225 million later, it will make even less forward progress now. If you don't understand what happened over the last 8 years, I could see why you'd think your insights are, well, insightful.

Why take over Ellington rather than Hardy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Few in-boundary Ward 3 kids will switch to Douglas Macarthur High in the first few years. They will stay in the current feeder pattern as long as they are grandfathered. The property was too small even for the private GDS lower grades; it's hard to see how it supports a real high school. And the transportation options from most Ward 3 neighborhoods that will feed to the new high school. In the short to medium term MacArthur will create a lot of Ward 3 high school spots for kids outside of Upper Northwest. It will be a great political win for the mayor and a number of council members who will benefit politically with their base. It won't be so great for Ward 3.

The best solution would be for DCPS, which is taking over Ellington, to move Ellington to a more central location in the next 5 years. Wisconsin Avenue is like the spine of Ward 3, so Western would be a lot easier to reach by bus than a school on Macarthur Bldv. Then Western High School could be reconstituted, complete with its adjacent playing field a block away.

Umm, no. None of what you say is likely. Obviously I cannot guarantee MacArthur will be a success for the Hardy feeder pattern, but I truly expect it to be a success, and a run-away one at that.

Transportation is currently a problem, but some people are making progress on that front as I type. Will it be enough quickly enough? I don't know. I hope so.

I actually agree that taking over Ellington is the best option. I pushed for it in 2014. It got nowhere then, and $225 million later, it will make even less forward progress now. If you don't understand what happened over the last 8 years, I could see why you'd think your insights are, well, insightful.

Why take over Ellington rather than Hardy?

And Hardy would go where?