Hardy for 6th & Deal for 7th & 8th? DCPS Survey on Changing Feeder Pattern

[Anonymous]

Intl Baccalaurete (IB) is a huge plus for us. Deal is one of a limited number of schools in the country with this option in middle school. For internationals, like my spouse who completed an IB program abroad, this is THE reason to go to Deal. I would think seriously about the implications of eliminating this program.

During the elections I remember the discussion of "Deal for all," which for me was a validation of the quality of the school. Why dismantle a successful model, particularly when Hardy parents are increasingly satisfied with Hardy and the new principal? Merging schools doesn't seem to be DCPS' strong suit (Francis-Stevens-Walls, educational campuses).

Further, it seems that the number of children in the current in-boundary Deal catchment area is larger than the Hardy catchment. Intentionally busing hundreds of kids to Hardy that currently walk to Deal doesn't seem like the most sustainable solution. Seems that DC Sustainable should do an assessment of emissions and the transportation department should assess congestion on Wisconsin Avenue. With these questions answered DCPS will have the information to fully review the plan and consult families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Intl Baccalaurete (IB) is a huge plus for us. Deal is one of a limited number of schools in the country with this option in middle school. For internationals, like my spouse who completed an IB program abroad, this is THE reason to go to Deal. I would think seriously about the implications of eliminating this program.

During the elections I remember the discussion of "Deal for all," which for me was a validation of the quality of the school. Why dismantle a successful model, particularly when Hardy parents are increasingly satisfied with Hardy and the new principal? Merging schools doesn't seem to be DCPS' strong suit (Francis-Stevens-Walls, educational campuses).

Further, it seems that the number of children in the current in-boundary Deal catchment area is larger than the Hardy catchment. Intentionally busing hundreds of kids to Hardy that currently walk to Deal doesn't seem like the most sustainable solution. Seems that DC Sustainable should do an assessment of emissions and the transportation department should assess congestion on Wisconsin Avenue. With these questions answered DCPS will have the information to fully review the plan and consult families.

The real value of IB is in the IB diploma - 11th & 12th grade. The MYP is better than no MYP, but it's hardly the jewel in the crown.

[Anonymous]

Our family will be attending Hardy for the next 6 years (2 kids). I do not want this sort of disruptive change to happen for them so I will vocally oppose this plan for many of the reasons PPs suggest. DCPS would rather undertake the Herculean task of merging two very important schools than deal with questions relating to boundaries and OOB (I say that as an OOB family myself)? Why do DC residents always allow the DC govt to try out the most risky ideas rather than embracing the solutions in front of them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our family will be attending Hardy for the next 6 years (2 kids). I do not want this sort of disruptive change to happen for them so I will vocally oppose this plan for many of the reasons PPs suggest. DCPS would rather undertake the Herculean task of merging two very important schools than deal with questions relating to boundaries and OOB (I say that as an OOB family myself)? Why do DC residents always allow the DC govt to try out the most risky ideas rather than embracing the solutions in front of them?

What schools are unimportant in your opinion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate the idea. My kid doesn't transition well and with that plan he'd have to go to three different schools in three years and then another new school two years later. No way. Plus, they walk to school now and getting to Hardy will be a PITA and major change in our lifestyle. Avoiding that is why we live here.

A 6-12 school would be a much better plan.

You are greatly missing the point.

Then explain. As I read it, they are proposing that you go from your 5th grade school to Hardy for 6th then back up to Deal for 7th and 8th then on to Wilson for 9th. That's 4 schools in 5 years, and that is nuts.

You are conflating the, frankly, snowflake-y needs of your kid with the crushing, overwhelming wave of kids Tee'd up for deal and wilson in the next few years. It's like complaining about the quality of the sand in the sandbags used to stop the flood.

And btw, it's not crazy at all. Many school systems have elementary, middle, junior high and high schools as their feeder pattern. Or early elementary, middle elementary, middle and high school-- as they do in many parts of MoCo.

Crushing overwhelming? Many school systems have schools as large as Deal is projected to be. Yes, it is a problem that would be nice to solve, but it's not the catastrophe you're painting it as.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our family will be attending Hardy for the next 6 years (2 kids). I do not want this sort of disruptive change to happen for them so I will vocally oppose this plan for many of the reasons PPs suggest. DCPS would rather undertake the Herculean task of merging two very important schools than deal with questions relating to boundaries and OOB (I say that as an OOB family myself)? Why do DC residents always allow the DC govt to try out the most risky ideas rather than embracing the solutions in front of them?

What schools are unimportant in your opinion?

Oh FFS. Thread puller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our family will be attending Hardy for the next 6 years (2 kids). I do not want this sort of disruptive change to happen for them so I will vocally oppose this plan for many of the reasons PPs suggest. DCPS would rather undertake the Herculean task of merging two very important schools than deal with questions relating to boundaries and OOB (I say that as an OOB family myself)? Why do DC residents always allow the DC govt to try out the most risky ideas rather than embracing the solutions in front of them?

What schools are unimportant in your opinion?

Not to put words in the PP's mouth, but perhaps instead of "important" she should have said large and oversubscribed. Schools with WLs are higher profile than schools that are going begging to attract students.

[Anonymous]

Make Jefferson Middle School, Brookland, and Stuart Hobson and other middle schools more competitive and attractive to make more appealing to parents for their children to attend. Make Coolidge a phenomenal high school to draw from Wilson. Think about what parents may be looking for--safety, networking and diversity--in addition to a great curriculum that will help prepare future global leaders, change-makers, tech and business stars, and responsible citizens. Start a sports management, media, and entertainment program at Spingarn High School to take advantage of Langston golf course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make Jefferson Middle School, Brookland, and Stuart Hobson and other middle schools more competitive and attractive to make more appealing to parents for their children to attend. Make Coolidge a phenomenal high school to draw from Wilson. Think about what parents may be looking for--safety, networking and diversity--in addition to a great curriculum that will help prepare future global leaders, change-makers, tech and business stars, and responsible citizens. Start a sports management, media, and entertainment program at Spingarn High School to take advantage of Langston golf course.

Bump. But in the meantime, developmentally, it seems to be a strong idea to pull 6th graders into a different space than 7th and 8th graders. Poking around academic literature now to see what the experts say...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make Jefferson Middle School, Brookland, and Stuart Hobson and other middle schools more competitive and attractive to make more appealing to parents for their children to attend. Make Coolidge a phenomenal high school to draw from Wilson. Think about what parents may be looking for--safety, networking and diversity--in addition to a great curriculum that will help prepare future global leaders, change-makers, tech and business stars, and responsible citizens. Start a sports management, media, and entertainment program at Spingarn High School to take advantage of Langston golf course.

Bump. But in the meantime, developmentally, it seems to be a strong idea to pull 6th graders into a different space than 7th and 8th graders. Poking around academic literature now to see what the experts say...

Pull the 5th and 6th graders together at Hardy and you'll solve some of ES capacity issues at JKLMM as well!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make Jefferson Middle School, Brookland, and Stuart Hobson and other middle schools more competitive and attractive to make more appealing to parents for their children to attend. Make Coolidge a phenomenal high school to draw from Wilson. Think about what parents may be looking for--safety, networking and diversity--in addition to a great curriculum that will help prepare future global leaders, change-makers, tech and business stars, and responsible citizens. Start a sports management, media, and entertainment program at Spingarn High School to take advantage of Langston golf course.

Bump. But in the meantime, developmentally, it seems to be a strong idea to pull 6th graders into a different space than 7th and 8th graders. Poking around academic literature now to see what the experts say...

Pull the 5th and 6th graders together at Hardy and you'll solve some of ES capacity issues at JKLMM as well!

It blows my mind how people on this thread spout off "easy peasy" solutions as if you just snap your fingers. There a myriad issues to consider. Staffing, administration, families who are expected to deal with multiple campuses and commutes, extra curriculars that go across grades (sports). We are a Hardy family and happy with how our future looks there with our new principal and newly engaged PTO and increasing feeder school population. Just leave us alone. Capacity issues at JKLMM stem from DCPS being spineless when it came to rewriting the boundaries and addressing OOB policies. It's absurd to devise these new solutions that destablize exisiting schools by contemplating solutions that are so overwhelmingly complex (compared to the easier solutions...ie boundaries and OOB policies).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make Jefferson Middle School, Brookland, and Stuart Hobson and other middle schools more competitive and attractive to make more appealing to parents for their children to attend. Make Coolidge a phenomenal high school to draw from Wilson. Think about what parents may be looking for--safety, networking and diversity--in addition to a great curriculum that will help prepare future global leaders, change-makers, tech and business stars, and responsible citizens. Start a sports management, media, and entertainment program at Spingarn High School to take advantage of Langston golf course.

Bump. But in the meantime, developmentally, it seems to be a strong idea to pull 6th graders into a different space than 7th and 8th graders. Poking around academic literature now to see what the experts say...

Pull the 5th and 6th graders together at Hardy and you'll solve some of ES capacity issues at JKLMM as well!

It blows my mind how people on this thread spout off "easy peasy" solutions as if you just snap your fingers. There a myriad issues to consider. Staffing, administration, families who are expected to deal with multiple campuses and commutes, extra curriculars that go across grades (sports). We are a Hardy family and happy with how our future looks there with our new principal and newly engaged PTO and increasing feeder school population. Just leave us alone. Capacity issues at JKLMM stem from DCPS being spineless when it came to rewriting the boundaries and addressing OOB policies. It's absurd to devise these new solutions that destablize exisiting schools by contemplating solutions that are so overwhelmingly complex (compared to the easier solutions...ie boundaries and OOB policies).

Not to mention that Hardy isn't big enough to hold the 5th and 6th grades form Deal feeders alone, let alone coupled wth those from Hardy. Just drop this dumb idea already.

[Anonymous]

My concern is this plan adds complication without addressing the overcrowding at Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My concern is this plan adds complication without addressing the overcrowding at Wilson.

Agree. Make sure to say that in the survey. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ipTNuOvk5_t4UrFuY...8/viewform?edit_requested=true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My concern is this plan adds complication without addressing the overcrowding at Wilson.

Agree. Make sure to say that in the survey. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ipTNuOvk5_t4UrFuY...8/viewform?edit_requested=true

Oops - try this link instead - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ipTNuOvk5_t4UrFuYIsfEpefhZfF0EpFUOrq_0au6U8/viewform?edit_requested=true