Reply to So how many IB are going to really be at Hardy?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Watta troll!  We've gone from a discussion of IB/residents and IB/feeder to IB/own vs. rent!!  This is some triflin' stuff.  At least it keeps the limbo game going.  Keep the thread alive!

But uniforms.  That gets to the heart of it -- who's with me?![/quote]

I don't know what the uniforms look like at Hardy,  but my oldest really liked her uniform at Washington Latin.  She is now at Basis, and we feel the financial hit and the hassle of having to buy clothes that probably the younger girls will not wear (tweens can get really picky)....

I am hoping to feel quite confident about Hardy by the time my next girl is ready to go in a couple of years, and uniforms would be such a blessing to me as a parent for this child I really don't care she thinks.  Since the alternative would be to go to Basis I don't think I will have a problem. I had a uniform at NCS which for 4th - 6th was awful - it was a striped pastel dress that had pleats at the bottom that allowed any boy who got near enough to do a "bloomer check."  These uniforms allow the girls to wear pants, so I am not sure what the problem is.  Once going to Hardy does not seem like a stigma, the uniforms won't either.  Uniforms to me definitely don't mean anything except that a child goes to a particular school - we see Catholic kids in uniforms at after school church activities all the time.......[/quote]

I'm sure it seems silly to some, but the uniforms are an issue that keeps IB families away from the school.  Uniforms at Hardy vs. No Uniforms at Deal just reinforces that these schools are different and not necessarily in a favorable way for Hardy.  Those who CHOOSE uniforms at private or charters are making an affirmative choice to do so.  Why should some public schools wear uniforms and others not?  If the Chancellor decided that all DCPS kids would wear uniforms, then I would not have a problem with it, but why should my child be told to wear a uniform at Hardy while her friends at Deal don't have to.  If the Hardy community wants to get more IB students -- and I'm not sure they do -- the principal should reconsider the uniform policy.  [/quote]

Please allow me to kindly tell you that you are wrong, for a number if reasons:

The Principal would not change the policy without consulting with current parents and prospective IB parents.
Current parents , including the IB component (which I belong to) are all for uniforms. Once you experience on your skin the changes and peer pressures middle school students are subject to, you start see things differently. Uniforms simplify things at a time in life when boys and girls are building their self-identity (seek your inner identity, not your look). And help keeping a focus on the academic aspects of the school experience. 
The several and repeated consultations with the prospective parents (4th and 5th grade) unanimously showed a focus on curriculum, academic enrichment, sport activities, and social/behavioral discipline. Almost no concerns were expressed on uniforms by parents close to the decision point. Some parents pointed out that, from a "marketing" prospective, removing the uniforms would have maybe helped a bit for the school perception in the neighborhood. But just "maybe" and "a bit" . 
The Principal, the current parents, including IB parents, and the 4-5th grade parents who are seriously looking into Hardy are well-aware that the school is in a transitioning phase, with a very high degree of "diversity" especially in higher grades. In this context, uniforms are an effective and smart measure to mitigate such diversity. Hardy students, especially in higher grades, come from a multitude of backgrounds, and areas of the city. In the absence of uniforms, this would be reflected in their look, generate unwanted social profiling in a school context which has finally found its way into integration and improvement. 
All these considerations in favor of uniforms are at the moment considered very important to the Principal, to current parents (including IB). And uniforms seem to be very low in the wish-list of prospective IB parents with kids in 4th-5th grade. This community of stakeholders believes that the "maybe" and "a bit" marketing effect is not a strong enough benefit to drop uniforms in the present context. 
This decision could well be re-assessed in the future or near future. But current parents, including IB parents, and parents seriously looking into the school for next year are informed and responsible decision-makers, and as such believe that uniforms are helping and instrumental to the current smooth and successful changes undergoing at Hardy. Those who say (and have a right to say so, I am not criticizing them) "Hardy uniforms are so-ghetto" are not serious prospective parents for the near future (have no affinity or tolerance for the transitioning status of the school and have already made up their mind for alternative middle school options) and are thus not relevant stakeholders to the school at the moment. 
Auspices for a uniform-free future Hardy are welcome and respected. But if you are a prospective parent in 4th or 5th grade, I would invite you to review your position at the light of the above considerations. 
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