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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I really think people who are anxious should get involved. It’s really counterproductive to be all “sky is falling” based on your subjective impression of one meeting. This is a great opportunity for a smaller high school with a lot of bright, high achieving kids. I’ve pored over area high schools extensively, and unless you are going to pull up roots and move to western MoCo, the new HS is as good an opportunity as anything else. [/quote]

Hey, great idea!  And you recommend that we get involved how exactly?  Apply to be Chancellor?  Run for Mayor?

There is an advisory-only working group with a set membership of community representatives.  They are doing great work, within the narrow parameters set by DCPS.  This CWG has help a couple of online meetings to catch the rest of us (including the meeting last week), and we’ve had the opportunity to respond to a survey.  That’s it.  That is how we can be involved.  Unless you know something we don’t?

You want to know why this once-optimistic parent is now anxious?  Because in these meetings we learn gems like this one:  The DCPS liaisons said that they had planned to hire a principal by around now, but then realized that September is not a time that candidates are looking for principal jobs.  No lie!  They are in the principal-hiring business and only now do they realize that the time to hire a principal was last Spring/Summer.  Does that give you cause for optimism?![/quote]

I think you’re looking for reasons to be critical and anxious. Some may be true, some not. You should get onto the working group and attend all the meetings. I’m guessing the Hardy PTO is also very involved. [/quote]

I’ve been a  DCPS parent for a long time. My kids are at Wilson and Walls. I can tell you that DCPS pretends to care about parent involvement but they really don’t care at all. It is all about optics with them. Most parents learn that at some point.
Maybe you can make a difference at your local school if the principal sincerely wants parental input but something like this - Nah! DCPS will set up all kinds of committees but will only follow recommendations if they agree with what they wanted to do all along [/quote]

Of course, I’m under no illusions. But I think you need to understand what’s being offered here - a new school, in your neighborhood, with your child’s peers. It is a public school so no, it’s not going to cater to your consumer choice. But it’s a heck of a lot better than other options in DC and equivalent more or less to JR and other realistic regional options. YMMV if you have the money to move to Potomac or Fairfax. [/quote]

I think you are, from your armchair, criticizing the well-founded reactions of people who have been engaged as much as they possibly can in a process that impacts them directly.

Worse, you unhelpfully have DCPS’s low-standards perspective that we should be grateful for some crumbs because the other options are bad too.

Many current Hardy 6th graders will have no choice but to attend this school in 3 years.  They need this to get off to a competent start and have good reason to be anxious about that right now.[/quote]

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