Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't know about her but one candidate I will definitely not be voting for is Tricia Braun. She decilined to send her own child to Hardy. However, while a member on the boundary committee she decided that Hardy should be good enough for other Ward 3 families being moved out of Deal who, unlike Ms Braun, may not have private school as an available option. Talk about being clueless, arrogant and hypocritical.

I agree. She might have had my vote but for the boundary debate and my neighborhood getting moved from feeding into a very good middle school to feeding into an okay middle school. She may have just been an "ant" in the process (as someone suggested), but she did not protect the kids in Ward 3. I doubt anyone who got bumped out of Hardy is voting for Bowser or Braun.

You mean bumped out of Deal?

Yes, sorry, bumped out of Deal.

I think IB Eaton kids will be applying to SP and Hearst to into the feeder pattern for Deal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will kids still go from SP to eaton? And will Eaton families try to lottery in to Hearst for the Deal feeder?

As long as SP families feel that Eaton is a better elementary alternative, they probably will want to go there as OOB. Then at 6th grade they can rely on IB right for Deal. Best of both worlds.

Why don't SP families just send their kids to the school right smack in the middle of SP? ie, Sheperd park ES.


I've never grasped why this school would be skipped over. Who is attending that is sucking down the quality to below that of Eaton? Where do they come from, if not SP? It would seem, given the SP demographics, it should be just fine.

While historically this may have been the case, I predict sending SP kids to Eaton will be less of a thing in coming years. We recently bought our house in SP from a family with kids at Eaton. Shepherd's classes in the upper grades tend to have more OOB, but my kid's PK class at Shepherd is all IB.

If Braun was "just an ant" on the school boundary committee (an assignment she nonetheless touts as qualification to elect her) then how much of an impact would she have on a body that is largely advisory and has no supervisory authority over the "State" Shperintendent for Education, no oversight of charters and no influence at all over the DCPS chancellor?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't know about her but one candidate I will definitely not be voting for is Tricia Braun. She decilined to send her own child to Hardy. However, while a member on the boundary committee she decided that Hardy should be good enough for other Ward 3 families being moved out of Deal who, unlike Ms Braun, may not have private school as an available option. Talk about being clueless, arrogant and hypocritical.

I agree. She might have had my vote but for the boundary debate and my neighborhood getting moved from feeding into a very good middle school to feeding into an okay middle school. She may have just been an "ant" in the process (as someone suggested), but she did not protect the kids in Ward 3. I doubt anyone who got bumped out of Hardy is voting for Bowser or Braun.

You mean bumped out of Deal?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't know about her but one candidate I will definitely not be voting for is Tricia Braun. She decilined to send her own child to Hardy. However, while a member on the boundary committee she decided that Hardy should be good enough for other Ward 3 families being moved out of Deal who, unlike Ms Braun, may not have private school as an available option. Talk about being clueless, arrogant and hypocritical.

I agree. She might have had my vote but for the boundary debate and my neighborhood getting moved from feeding into a very good middle school to feeding into an okay middle school. She may have just been an "ant" in the process (as someone suggested), but she did not protect the kids in Ward 3. I doubt anyone who got bumped out of Hardy is voting for Bowser or Braun.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will kids still go from SP to eaton? And will Eaton families try to lottery in to Hearst for the Deal feeder?

As long as SP families feel that Eaton is a better elementary alternative, they probably will want to go there as OOB. Then at 6th grade they can rely on IB right for Deal. Best of both worlds.

Why don't SP families just send their kids to the school right smack in the middle of SP? ie, Sheperd park ES.


I've never grasped why this school would be skipped over. Who is attending that is sucking down the quality to below that of Eaton? Where do they come from, if not SP? It would seem, given the SP demographics, it should be just fine.

IB Parent here:Iwas surprised to hear that Principal Mann was not at the Open House He loves talking about the great thing happening at Eaton.He is currently on medical leave(i understand a stroke from a blood clot) Overall, I think most parents are pleased with the admin team at Eaton. Mann & AP/ActingPrincipal Anderson are passionate, approachable leaders who are open and transparent. I've heard that Mann communicates well & consistently focuses on what is best for the children they serve I can only share my experience--Mann observed my son in a private Pre-Kand met w/me twice to reassure that my son would "be fine"at Eaton Mann matched our son with the perfect teacher We are having an incredible year w/ Ms. Thompson in Kindergarten Our son adores her and he is making great progress.The music program has really been engaging---& my son loves the librarian(who is Nats fanatic) I have no plans on leaving Eaton. The experience has been very positive. I've already heard incredible things about first grade......This year they are offering more enrichment, clubs and activites. The PE teacher is magnificent. He oversees several informal athletic activities after school

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents who do not send their kids to Hardy won't send their kids to the NW charter middle school either. Charters won't have neighborhood preferences. The lottery mechanism will skew the school student body towards a larger OOB population more than Hardy's. Applications from OOB will be huge, due to parents perception of NW as a safer area. The final result will be just an additional traffic source for an area of the city already badly affected by school-induced traffic from nearby areas and from Virginia and Maryland dropping their kids to the DC private schools.

This is just political propaganda by Stephanie Lilley, Ward 3 candidate to the School Board of Education, and strong proponent of the privatization and charterisation of the DC school system. Good luck with her.

I don't know about her but one candidate I will definitely not be voting for is Tricia Braun. She decilined to send her own child to Hardy. However, while a member on the boundary committee she decided that Hardy should be good enough for other Ward 3 families being moved out of Deal who, unlike Ms Braun, may not have private school as an available option. Talk about being clueless, arrogant and hypocritical.

You have a flawed picture or you are speaking in bad faith: as anyone knows, all Ward 3 members (M. Frumin) tried to do their best to keep the feeding status of Ward 3 schools including Eaton and Oyster (initially moved to Cardozo) . However this was not enough to contrast the political pressures of the democratic mayoral candidate, Ms Bowser, to keep Deal feeding rights for her Ward 4 voter basin. At the end Eaton families have been redistricted, Shepherd and Bancroft in Ward 4 have not.

So blame Ms Bowser for your outcome, and her supporters in Ward 4, not Tricia Braun, who did her best but was an ant compared to forces that were at play in that process.

I am no fan of Bowser, but you could at least do some research or some thinking prior to posting stuff like this. Bancroft is in Ward 1, not Ward 4. And although Shepherd stayed in Deal (as did Lafayette, also a Ward 4 school), Crestwood and parts of 16th St Heights were removed from Deal. So it's not as if Bowser's constituents all did well under the changes, and it's not as if everyone who did well was a Bowser constituent. In fact, the DME process was reasonably objective and non-political, which is probably one reason why the new boundaries and assignment policies enjoy strong city-wide support, per recent polling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents who do not send their kids to Hardy won't send their kids to the NW charter middle school either. Charters won't have neighborhood preferences. The lottery mechanism will skew the school student body towards a larger OOB population more than Hardy's. Applications from OOB will be huge, due to parents perception of NW as a safer area. The final result will be just an additional traffic source for an area of the city already badly affected by school-induced traffic from nearby areas and from Virginia and Maryland dropping their kids to the DC private schools.

This is just political propaganda by Stephanie Lilley, Ward 3 candidate to the School Board of Education, and strong proponent of the privatization and charterisation of the DC school system. Good luck with her.

I don't know about her but one candidate I will definitely not be voting for is Tricia Braun. She decilined to send her own child to Hardy. However, while a member on the boundary committee she decided that Hardy should be good enough for other Ward 3 families being moved out of Deal who, unlike Ms Braun, may not have private school as an available option. Talk about being clueless, arrogant and hypocritical.

She actually had the nerve to campaign outside of Eaton this morning.

Anonymous wrote:For posterity, I'm posting this here. It will updated sometime in the future:

Hardy Middle School
STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS
(2013-14)

Enrollment: 371
Black: 64%
Hispanic/Latino: 14%
White: 11%
Asian: 8%
Pacific/Hawaiian: 0%
Native/Alaskan: 0%
Multiple races: 2%

English language learners 6%
Free and reduced-price lunch 55%
Special education 12%
In-boundary 13%
Average Core Class Size 20
Powered By OCTO
Inside DCPS Highlights.

From http://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Hardy+Middle+School

Interesting. Back when dd was there when Pope was principal, I believe that Hardy was about 1/3 white. If I'm right about that, the change could be due to the expansion after the renovation, the growth of charters, or the removal of Pope leading to several years of disruption as the school was working towards the right mix of leadership or some combination of those things.

That's what was ironic about the removal of Pope. I understand that some IB families resented him. Maybe I would have, too, in their situation. But he would have been the best person to handle the expansion of the student body. That man knew how to take charge. I didn't alway agree with him but I knew him to be a strong leader and had confidence in him.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You mean all the traffic from the commuting students (80-90% OOB in some schools WOTP)?

Also all the traffic of kids leaving the area to go to private school and charters. The most dangerous time of the day is 8:40.

There is also all the inbound OOB traffic to Hearst, Hyde, Eaton and, yes, Hardy.

Anonymous wrote:

You mean all the traffic from the commuting students (80-90% OOB in some schools WOTP)?

Also all the traffic of kids leaving the area to go to private school and charters. The most dangerous time of the day is 8:40.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents who do not send their kids to Hardy won't send their kids to the NW charter middle school either. Charters won't have neighborhood preferences. The lottery mechanism will skew the school student body towards a larger OOB population more than Hardy's. Applications from OOB will be huge, due to parents perception of NW as a safer area. The final result will be just an additional traffic source for an area of the city already badly affected by school-induced traffic from nearby areas and from Virginia and Maryland dropping their kids to the DC private schools.

This is just political propaganda by Stephanie Lilley, Ward 3 candidate to the School Board of Education, and strong proponent of the privatization and charterisation of the DC school system. Good luck with her.

More kids who are in-boundary for Hardy attend Latin and Basis than Hardy.

Not from my IB school.
A total of 4 kids (including those who left after 4th grade) are at Basis. 4 are at Latin (including those who left after 4th grade). 6 are at Hardy.

IB 5th grade mom, who is looking into Hardy as the best option so far for her 5th grader (and not only because is free. None of the private schools I have visited so far has impressed me, or do not look like a good fit. Only exception is WES, which looks like a very well-balanced school, but is far from where I live, and attends more to the MD families than DC. A DC family attending WES, extremely happy with it, confirmed they have become a shuttle service for their kids 7 days a week).

This is Horace Mann, right?
I believe it is, as I do recognize the numbers, though I have a smaller number for Washington Latin, only two girls, who left at the end of 4th grade. So at Horace Mann , from last year 5th grade, as far as I know we have:

6 at Hardy
4 at Basis
2 at Latin

A middle school charter in Ward 3 would not do any good service for parents who are unwilling to attend Hardy. They will not attend the charter either. There will just be disruption, and additional shipments of students travelling East to West in the morning and West to East in the afternoon. Not good for anyone.

Traffic in Ward 3 drops dramatically the day after schools close. Please stop Ward 3 school commuting congestion, we cannot take any more of that.

You mean all the traffic from the commuting students (80-90% OOB in some schools WOTP)?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sarah Bax is amazing!

How is she "amazing"? Is it her skill on the trapeze or magic tricks?

Yes. And she can juggle. But more importantly, she is a great math teacher, knows how to teach kids at all levels, makes math fun and exciting, and is an incredible mentor for the other teachers in the math program.

When my kid had her, Ms. Bax had very high expectations and expected the kids to work hard, but at the same time she was very supportive and was always available to help. (Seriously, I had to buy a college algebra review book to refresh my memory so I could help my kid with her homework.) She really kicked my kid's ass but in the nicest way. If your kid gets Ms. Bax, he/she will learn algebra and won't be able to just slide by by filling out mindless homework sheets.