As a Hardy parent I can confirm some of this. I have heard of meangirl incidents but my own daughter has a group of lovely racially diverse and international friends who are not part of this. There is a little clickyness so she sometimes needs to alternate which group she sits with. She reports some "popular" girls getting big applause at the student honor roll assemblies, but she doesn't care. The social media is appalling and out of control. I do not allow my daughter to have a phone, nor to share her image so she is not a part of this. I can confirm incidents of violence, but feel the school to be safe overall, as well as the usual foul language/inappropriate behavior in the neighborhood. The difference between eighth grade and sixth is indeed stark when none of these problems seemed to exist. I share the last posters concern that eroding the diversity of the school can have negative consequences. Principal Cooke preaches unity and i think that this remains a value. I do think that it is an uphill battle for the teachers, but all are excellent as far as we have seen. Cooke himself is responsive and really puts himself on a parents shoes. We have never been more thrilled with a principal and have had several minor issues resolved. I have heard of an assistant principal successfully resolving a meangirl issue also. To me these issues are partly or entirely the result of the school closure. I am sending my next child there for sixth grade with zero hesitation. It is an excellent school. Teachers are indeed often out, but probably taking their annual leave, which is unfortunate for the kids but part of their contract. Athletics are phenomenol.

I believe this could have happened. There are frequent fights still at Hardy. Hardy is a mess. The principal puts on a good show that he’s involved and cares but it’s obvious he is struggling and can barely keep up. The school admin is pretend responsive and issues never get resolved. They’ll email you back or call but don’t really address ANY of the long-standing problems there. teachers are constantly out without explanation (sometimes for weeks and you’ll learn from your kid theres a sub for the last month), rampant bullying and a toxic mean girl culture, some spectacularly terrible teachers, a building that is boiling hot in some classrooms kids have damn near passed out, water fountains removed, bathrooms locked during the day. Super understaffed everywhere. Did I mention the toxic mean girl culture—truly out of control. Loads of social media bullying the school refuses to address or even talk about—all done under the Hardy logo. Principal Cooke always looks like he’s putting out a fire. It’s odd—had a child there almost 4 years ago and one there now—the school has a very changed demographic recently. LOTS of Palisades Key parents and kids and the school culture has suffered. A ton of uber rich Key kids running the school yard like a scene out of Mean Girls. Oh and unless your kid is in all advanced classes you will be stuck with the total dregs of the teachers. I’ve known a few people who had to pull their kids due to TERRIBLE special education department and support. One even got private placement Hardy was so bad. I’ve also known of a few girls over the last 4-5 years who had to leave due to mean girl problems. Hardly any electives, no clubs (even pre covid), crappy sports. The one good thing Hardy has going for it—it’s small.

In other news a dad packed a lunch which he rarely does and put mustard on the sandwich. Mac doesn’t like mustard and a kid went hungry at hardy today

Anonymous wrote:I’m not surprised by any of this. Many children in DC and around the world suffered trauma last year (and prior to that as well). But those from disfunctional homes spent a lot more time around disfunctional people during Covid and BLM. People are angry, hungry and grieving. Kids are being beaten and belittled at home. They pass it on to other targets at school. Some are so on edge and ready to explode that they are easily provoked to violence. Schools are trying to address this but they are way understaffed with mental health professionals. This is a larger societal issue.

Great to see your point of view .

Anonymous wrote:Why is your posting style so weird?

You are not making sense. kids bad behavior are because people like you.