Hardy Middle School -- 5th grade in feeder school -- who's considering Hardy for 6th?

[Anonymous]

Looking at the list of faculty at Hardy, I was surprised by the number of "Special Education" faculty. Is that for kids with hearing loss, or other issues? Anyone know?

[Anonymous]

^^ About 10% of the population has some sort of learning disability - ranging from a physical disability like deafness to ADHD, dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders, dysgraphia, speech and language disorders. Look at the school profile page and see what the percentage of special education kids is at Hardy. Some DC schools have a larger percentage, approaching 20%.

But please keep in mind that the ways a teacher with special education credentials teaches can be helpful to typical learners as well. Most special eduction happens in the regular classroom. And special education teachers may not just be working with students identified as having a learning disability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But can't anyone get in? As in there is no waiting list? So it doesn't matter if you need to lottery.

there was waiting list this year and as of the beginning of the school year some 50 kids were in the list. They might have taken in some, as there's always no-shows. I do not have the final figures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But can't anyone get in? As in there is no waiting list? So it doesn't matter if you need to lottery.

there was waiting list this year and as of the beginning of the school year some 50 kids were in the list. They might have taken in some, as there's always no-shows. I do not have the final figures.

My kid has been low 30s on Hardy 6th grade wait list for months. Moved just 2 spaces from April to Sept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the list of faculty at Hardy, I was surprised by the number of "Special Education" faculty. Is that for kids with hearing loss, or other issues? Anyone know?

That angry, militant English teacher who was the ringleader against Michelle Rhee's "Rhee-forms" to add more IB families to Hardy, follows her own "special education" recipe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the list of faculty at Hardy, I was surprised by the number of "Special Education" faculty. Is that for kids with hearing loss, or other issues? Anyone know?

That angry, militant English teacher who was the ringleader against Michelle Rhee's "Rhee-forms" to add more IB families to Hardy, follows her own "special education" recipe.

does that mean you have to fight the teacher AND the school?

We are very familiar with these recipes, and while they are illegal, they are also extremely emotionally destructive..........

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at the list of faculty at Hardy, I was surprised by the number of "Special Education" faculty. Is that for kids with hearing loss, or other issues? Anyone know?

That angry, militant English teacher who was the ringleader against Michelle Rhee's "Rhee-forms" to add more IB families to Hardy, follows her own "special education" recipe.

Really? This was years ago now. Everyone seems to have moved on except you.

[Anonymous]

Just who IS this mythological, super-avenging teacher? Over the years on this board, s/he has been accorded powers much greater than the title, "Teacher." Can we have a name? Initials? Concerned parents might want to investigate before sending their kids to this alleged tyrant.

[Anonymous]

Let's not focus on individual teachers in this thread, OK? Hardy is much bigger and let's hope better than that to focus on one teacher.

By the way, I was talking with a middle school parent this weekend who sent a child to Basis rather than Hardy. One concern mentioned was that a family they knew that did send their child to Hardy started swearing around the house. Swearing wasn't part of the family's vocabulary at all - it was something the child had picked up from other kids at Hardy. Maybe that's a minor thing to some but it's a sign of the morals and values of some kids at the school and their families. Parents who swear around their kids and who permit their kids to swear are, frankly, not kids/families I want my kids around.

Yes, kids are going to hear that eventually but ... in middle school??

[Anonymous]

Wondering how old your child is PP.

There is plenty of middle schoolers swearing at BASIS too. And at Deal. And among kids at Latin, Sidwell, GDS and in Montgomery County. The savvier ones only do it when adults aren't around but it's not uncommon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how old your child is PP.

There is plenty of middle schoolers swearing at BASIS too. And at Deal. And among kids at Latin, Sidwell, GDS and in Montgomery County. The savvier ones only do it when adults aren't around but it's not uncommon.

In Catholic schools too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's not focus on individual teachers in this thread, OK? Hardy is much bigger and let's hope better than that to focus on one teacher.

By the way, I was talking with a middle school parent this weekend who sent a child to Basis rather than Hardy. One concern mentioned was that a family they knew that did send their child to Hardy started swearing around the house. Swearing wasn't part of the family's vocabulary at all - it was something the child had picked up from other kids at Hardy. Maybe that's a minor thing to some but it's a sign of the morals and values of some kids at the school and their families. Parents who swear around their kids and who permit their kids to swear are, frankly, not kids/families I want my kids around.

Yes, kids are going to hear that eventually but ... in middle school??

Is this a real post? Kids were dropping the f-bomb at my upper middle class elementary school inthe70s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's not focus on individual teachers in this thread, OK? Hardy is much bigger and let's hope better than that to focus on one teacher.

By the way, I was talking with a middle school parent this weekend who sent a child to Basis rather than Hardy. One concern mentioned was that a family they knew that did send their child to Hardy started swearing around the house. Swearing wasn't part of the family's vocabulary at all - it was something the child had picked up from other kids at Hardy. Maybe that's a minor thing to some but it's a sign of the morals and values of some kids at the school and their families. Parents who swear around their kids and who permit their kids to swear are, frankly, not kids/families I want my kids around.

Yes, kids are going to hear that eventually but ... in middle school??

focusing on Hardy as a former Mann parent with children elsewhere - we know of one transfer so far and one family who wishes they could. They both say the focus is on discipline not education - don't know precisely what that means - but they definitely feel deceived and shortchanged about Hardy the way it was marketed to Mann parents..................

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just who IS this mythological, super-avenging teacher? Over the years on this board, s/he has been accorded powers much greater than the title, "Teacher." Can we have a name? Initials? Concerned parents might want to investigate before sending their kids to this alleged tyrant.

Yeah. This mighty woman keeps coming up out of nowhere. Is she the reason Hardy keeps replacing English teachers? Didn't they just get new ones within the last week or two? (Or am I mistaking them for another school?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's not focus on individual teachers in this thread, OK? Hardy is much bigger and let's hope better than that to focus on one teacher.

By the way, I was talking with a middle school parent this weekend who sent a child to Basis rather than Hardy. One concern mentioned was that a family they knew that did send their child to Hardy started swearing around the house. Swearing wasn't part of the family's vocabulary at all - it was something the child had picked up from other kids at Hardy. Maybe that's a minor thing to some but it's a sign of the morals and values of some kids at the school and their families. Parents who swear around their kids and who permit their kids to swear are, frankly, not kids/families I want my kids around.

Yes, kids are going to hear that eventually but ... in middle school??

focusing on Hardy as a former Mann parent with children elsewhere - we know of one transfer so far and one family who wishes they could. They both say the focus is on discipline not education - don't know precisely what that means - but they definitely feel deceived and shortchanged about Hardy the way it was marketed to Mann parents..................

Hardy has historically attracted a few IB kids every year but has had trouble keeping them. More than anything this is what IB families watch. When a family that was a Hardy booster goes private or moves to the burbs people notice.