Hardy vs. Deal

[Anonymous]

Both middle schools seem to feed into Wilson and have good ES that feed into them. I see a lot of comments here about being IB for Deal as a positive, but I don’t notice much about Hardy. They appear to have similar Great Schools and Niche rankings. Am I missing something? Does Deal offer something Hardy doesn’t or are both good? We’re looking at houses and want to buy where we’ll be IB for good schools all the way through HS in case no other options present themselves.

[Anonymous]

You must be new here....

[Anonymous]

How old are the kids? Don't limit your neighborhoods. Both schools are fine.

[Anonymous]

My son went to Hardy and my dd is there now. Love it. I'd take a middle school with under 400 kids, a fabulous principal and good teachers any day. Deal is perfectly fine as well. Just A LOT bigger.

[Anonymous]

Deal is perceived as the strongest DCPS middle school in the city. it is also huge -- which is a plus or minus, depending gon your child.

Hardy is perceived as improving to good. It is a much smaller school and doesn't have as many elective and extracurricular options as Deal. Right now, the majority of students at Hardy live outside the attendance zone. Many attended one of the feeder schools as an OOB student and continued to Hardy, or they entered Hardy via the citywide lottery at 6th.

Many families in the Hardy zone attend private school and others don't think the school is yet strong enough for their academically strong children.

It's school open house season in DC -- I'd suggest you visit both, and then find the best house you can. Real estate is tight in both areas so you should probably focus on the house you live knowing that either school is going to be ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You must be new here....

I am, and I’m trying to figure out the schools issue ASAP before we get too attached to any house. We’re coming from a place where the school issue isn’t nearly so complicated. We have kids who are grade 4, 1, and pre-k. We’re looking at all options right now, but I would feel better knowing that we are IB for good public schools all the way through to relieve some of the uncertainty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Deal is perceived as the strongest DCPS middle school in the city. it is also huge -- which is a plus or minus, depending gon your child.

Hardy is perceived as improving to good. It is a much smaller school and doesn't have as many elective and extracurricular options as Deal. Right now, the majority of students at Hardy live outside the attendance zone. Many attended one of the feeder schools as an OOB student and continued to Hardy, or they entered Hardy via the citywide lottery at 6th.

Many families in the Hardy zone attend private school and others don't think the school is yet strong enough for their academically strong children.

It's school open house season in DC -- I'd suggest you visit both, and then find the best house you can. Real estate is tight in both areas so you should probably focus on the house you live knowing that either school is going to be ok.

Thank you for all the info!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You must be new here....

I am, and I’m trying to figure out the schools issue ASAP before we get too attached to any house. We’re coming from a place where the school issue isn’t nearly so complicated. We have kids who are grade 4, 1, and pre-k. We’re looking at all options right now, but I would feel better knowing that we are IB for good public schools all the way through to relieve some of the uncertainty.

Honestly, I'd pick the Deal feeder. Each year people say that Hardy will "turn the corner" and that IB (in-boundary) kids will start coming in droves; but it hasn't happened and I don't think it will as those neighborhoods are among the priciest in the city and those parents can pay for private. Deal is the "no risk" choice. But I would visit both.

[Anonymous]

Hardy is fantastic as all but one of regular posters on here who've actually sent their kids to will attest - the rest of the posters are insecure parents who are too terrified to send their precious children to a school that is slightly more diverse than the neighborhood though I actually think some of the anti-Hardy posters don't even live in the neighborhood.

It's all about perceptions which is more relevant in Real Estate than education.

[Anonymous]

We are going to Hardy. Sorry we couldn't come earlier, but we are in 5th now and ready. Not doing private, not moving yet.
OP, watch Hardy change. I don't have a house I need to sell, because we rent. I could easily move, but there is no reason for it. We have Hardy and we are excited.

[Anonymous]

It looks like the math proficiency numbers for both are pretty poor and that Deal has reading proficiency > 50%. Does either school offer ability tracking?

For those with kids at either school, can you tell me what they like/dislike about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son went to Hardy and my dd is there now. Love it. I'd take a middle school with under 400 kids, a fabulous principal and good teachers any day. Deal is perfectly fine as well. Just A LOT bigger.

I do like the idea of a smaller school; those numbers are closer to what kids are accustomed to. What did/do your kids like about Hardy? How are the sports and EC opportunities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It looks like the math proficiency numbers for both are pretty poor and that Deal has reading proficiency > 50%. Does either school offer ability tracking?

For those with kids at either school, can you tell me what they like/dislike about it?

Both schools track for math, and if you have already been taking a foreign language / are a native speaker you can take the advanced language classes at Deal.

You can drill much deeper into the math data on this spreadsheet -- it's a little daunting and confusing because in DC Alg 1 and GEometry are both considered 'high school' math. But what it says is that the most advanced math students at both schools are performing well.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5Zty67J29gLbnNGaHlkbUcyLVk/view

Another easier way is at results.osse.dc.gov -- search for each school. The challenge is if there are fewer than 25 students taking Algebra or Geometry (which is the case at hardy) their scores won't be visible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like the math proficiency numbers for both are pretty poor and that Deal has reading proficiency > 50%. Does either school offer ability tracking?

For those with kids at either school, can you tell me what they like/dislike about it?

Both schools track for math, and if you have already been taking a foreign language / are a native speaker you can take the advanced language classes at Deal.

You can drill much deeper into the math data on this spreadsheet -- it's a little daunting and confusing because in DC Alg 1 and GEometry are both considered 'high school' math. But what it says is that the most advanced math students at both schools are performing well.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5Zty67J29gLbnNGaHlkbUcyLVk/view

Another easier way is at results.osse.dc.gov -- search for each school. The challenge is if there are fewer than 25 students taking Algebra or Geometry (which is the case at hardy) their scores won't be visible.

That’s helpful; thank you for the link.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son went to Hardy and my dd is there now. Love it. I'd take a middle school with under 400 kids, a fabulous principal and good teachers any day. Deal is perfectly fine as well. Just A LOT bigger.

I do like the idea of a smaller school; those numbers are closer to what kids are accustomed to. What did/do your kids like about Hardy? How are the sports and EC opportunities?

DD is in honors math and enjoys it as well as the STEM class. Likes being challenged. Does Debate and basketball. Has a nice group of friends who came from different feeder schools. Son did basketball as well.