Reply to So how many IB are going to really be at Hardy 2015-2016?

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Reply to "So how many IB are going to really be at Hardy 2015-2016?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My only concern about Hardy is that it won't be the same - in term of diversity - for my second kid (now in 2nd grade). 
The school has irreversibly flipped. Each of next 2 years will see twice the IB enrollment compared to the previous year (just like we've had in the past two years).

IB Mom with a middle schooler at Hardy (and a second grader at Stoddert).

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[b]To be perfectly honest, I value diversity but if higher quality comes at the expense of a little diversity, the.n so be it.  For us, diversity is the  icing on the cake. But it's not the cake.  Sometimes I think there are those in DCPS who view that backwards.[/b]

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I do not value diversity per se. I have been a college teacher for many years, and I have come to realize that there's nothing more harmful for youngsters than developing that sense of entitlement that I see in so many students from privileged backgrounds and which can lead to frustration (when your expectations are not met) and poor academic performance.  As much as my husband and I try our best to teach our kids that nothing is granted, and that all that we have comes from hard work and investment in our human capital, they remain VERY privileged kids...

Learning at middle school age means not only academic advancement, but also, and equally importantly, gaining the appreciation of the process of learning, developing stamina and awareness of own abilities (and weaknesses). Entitlement antagonizes with stamina. Hardy has provided my kid with a reality check. He's become very appreciative of his  privilege of learning at Hardy (where some of his peers, including very gifted kids, have 3 hours a day of commuting), of the academic support we are able to give him for his complex geometry homework (which most of his peers do not have at home), for having a bagged lunch for his field trips (same kids show us at field trips with no lunch from home). He has evolved into a enthusiast, aware and inclusive learner. [b]With the right learning attitude[/b], middle age kids learn from EVERYWHERE. Magazines, documentaries, news on the radio, you tube, foreign languages through music...

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From a Latino high school child who went to Mann and onto a charter several years ago:  "Mom, at Horace Mann we were taught that racism was bad......... and we had to listen to x story do y project and read z book.  At "fill in the blank" charter school, we are taught that racism is bad.  And we have had to read x,y and z books.  Why can't we ever read anything with a happy ending that has nothing to do with racism?"

Over program, and your over privileged kid becomes over exposed and overly cynical. Even while they understand the poverty aspect, the race aspect becomes a subject for ridicule, and for some reason the book "Night" by Elie Wiesel, about his personal experiences as a 12 year old child did not affect my jaded 12 year old (and another parent piped up that it was required reading in 5th grade at a different charter school and not too heavy for her son.......)

I think people ought to consider very carefully what they are doing because yes everything is available on UTube.  Just look up the SNL skit "28 reasons.........." on Black History Month.  How did my child find this?  Turned on to it by his friends.  And then you have his black friends who have a very interesting sense of humor about race as well....... their parents would be just as shocked as I was.  And none of us are white.

I think what you are saying is more about poverty than race.  And I think maybe our kids already realize that for them (unless they have to interact with a white policeman which we are still teaching them could turn deadly) it is more about poverty than race.

And a little child shall lead them.......[/quote]

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