3 MS in Ward 5, but we can't have 2 in Ward 3?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:pp (13:41),

With regard to items 1 and 2...

I think foreign language is a judgement call. Deal starts language in sixth grade, I get it. But Latin doesn't start modern language until grade 8 - and does not offer Spanish at all. Hardy starts with language in 7th. Maybe they should start a year earlier, and maybe they should have more options - but their language program does not strike me as a huge weakness.

With regard to #2, Hardy started an accelerated math program this year, and it gives students the opportunities they need -- advanced students at Hardy will be able to move ahead with the same speed as advanced students at other schools.

Like I said, change is happening.

Thanks for your responses.

The language program is definitely a judgment call, agreed.

Great to hear about the math!

I really think that if Hardy can stay on this track and keep the infighting to a minimum, its future will be bright.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:pp (13:41),

With regard to items 1 and 2...

I think foreign language is a judgement call. Deal starts language in sixth grade, I get it. But Latin doesn't start modern language until grade 8 - and does not offer Spanish at all. Hardy starts with language in 7th. Maybe they should start a year earlier, and maybe they should have more options - but their language program does not strike me as a huge weakness.

With regard to #2, Hardy started an accelerated math program this year, and it gives students the opportunities they need -- advanced students at Hardy will be able to move ahead with the same speed as advanced students at other schools.

Like I said, change is happening.

Not quite true. The advanced math program at Hardy is behind the advanced math program at Deal.

[Anonymous]

In what way is it behind?

[Anonymous]

My understanding of Deal is that it tracks advanced math students such that by 8th grade they will be taking Geometry. I believe that the Hardy math program will be on the same track - allowing advanced students to take Geometry in 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

my understanding of Stuart Hobson, the other DCPS middle school with reasonably good DC-CAS scores, is that

1. only Spanish is offered, starting in Grade 6. Successfully completing in grades 6, 7, & 8 allows a 9th grader to enroll in Spanish 2.

2. accelerated math has students taking Algebra 1 in 8th grade (not 7th) and Geometry is not offered at SH.

This is information that I received at an open house, not a current parent.

Corrections welcomed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When IB families are polled about what keeps them from enrolling their DCPS ES kids at Hardy, the response is frequently the large number of OOB kids.

Where are links to these so-called polls of IB Hardy families who did not choose Hardy? I think you pulled your "poll results" straight from your own biases. Provide documentation, please. Neither I nor any of my neighbors were ever polled on this subject. If I had been asked, I can assure you that my reason for choosing a different school was NOT the large number of OOB kids at Hardy. In fact, the reasons I did not send my kids to Hardy were:

1. Inadequate foreign language program.
2. Inadequate math program.
3. Disorder in the administration.
4. Toxic environment produced by obnoxious parents on both sides of the Pope debacle.

I am so happy to hear from a current Hardy parent a few posts ago that there has been progress on numbers 3 and 4. When there's similar progress on the academic front, I think you will see more in-boundary families considering Hardy very seriously. And most of us will be perfectly happy to have OB students attend.

Well, we're IB and attending a Hardy feeder. One of the reasons we have chosen not to send our oldest to Hardy is the high OOB enrollment. The OOB lottery is just that -- a lottery. While many of the kids who win spots will come well-prepared, many will come ill-prepared. I don't know what the threshold is, but I am confident that once the number of ill-prepared students reaches a certain threshold, the school's focus turns from enrichment to remediation. I am also confident that with a high OOB enrollment, the Hardy PTA budget will not come close to the PTA budget of our Hardy feeder. The PTA at our current school provides a great deal of support.


We will reconsider our decision in the few years when our second gets to MS. Hopefully the situation at Hardy will improve significantly during that time.

[Anonymous]

PP...I don't know what the threshold is at which things turn bad and turn from enrichement to remediation, and I can only speak to the 6th grade at Hardy this year, but I can say that the 6th have not reached that threshold.

There are plenty of good, smart, prepared kids in Hardy's 6th grade - both IB and OOB students -- they are learning, they are being challenged, and as far as I can tell, they are thriving.

Your point about the PTA is well taken - but I can say that the PTA is rebuilding and emerging as a positive force. Is it as active as it is in the feeder schools? No? But is any middle school PTA as active as an elementary school PTA? I don't know, but I am curious.

At any rate, Hardy under Dr. Strefanus deserves serious attention from all IB parents - I hope you will consider it for your older child.

l