Anonymous wrote:Hardy is awful and drug-ridden. Deal is fine.

HAHAHAHAHAH

Anonymous wrote:Hardy is awful and drug-ridden. Deal is fine.

LOL!

Hardy is awful and drug-ridden. Deal is fine.

Anonymous wrote:this to me answers the question. for a lot of kids the sports and/or activities are a valuable part of the middle school experience. even at deal where a lot of teams are challenging to make especially as a 6th grader, some sports like track are open to all.

Track is not open to all at Deal.

Maybe they let people practice with the team? I don't know.

But DCPS restricts how many kids can participate in meets in a way that is fine for the small schools but is a real limitation for the larger MSs, especially Deal.

And DCPS pays the same for coaches, etc, whatever the school size.

this to me answers the question. for a lot of kids the sports and/or activities are a valuable part of the middle school experience. even at deal where a lot of teams are challenging to make especially as a 6th grader, some sports like track are open to all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bus from Deal to Hardy is not 45 minutes.

Unless OP is in Mount Pleasant or Shepherd Park? A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. Your kid might actually come to enjoy a long bus trip home if it means spending more time out of school with their friends (at least, my kid does).
2. It's much harder to qualify for a team, play, etc., at Deal due to its size, although this wouldn't be a problem if your kid is exceptional at or uninterested in those activities.

My kid would have significantly *less* time to spend with friends at Hardy. They would probably spend most/all of the commute time on a screen, which is obviously not ideal but having them on such a long bus ride without a phone is not ideal either. My kid does care about sports but commute/logistics might make it hard for them to participate in any after-school activities at Hardy due to other comittments (including travel sports).

Anonymous wrote:The bus from Deal to Hardy is not 45 minutes.

Probably true but we don't live *at* Deal so I am clauclating bus routes from our home to the school not school-to-school.

Anonymous wrote:The bus from Deal to Hardy is not 45 minutes.

Unless OP is in Mount Pleasant or Shepherd Park? A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. Your kid might actually come to enjoy a long bus trip home if it means spending more time out of school with their friends (at least, my kid does).
2. It's much harder to qualify for a team, play, etc., at Deal due to its size, although this wouldn't be a problem if your kid is exceptional at or uninterested in those activities.

I prefer Hardy over Deal for my child (we are at a Hardy feeder but live in Ward 6), but even I wouldn’t pick Hardy if I lived inbound for Deal. Convenience of commuting plus having friends on your street you can walk to school or bus with, hang out, etc. is worth way more than the things about Hardy I prefer (smaller size and some curricular options being mainly what puts it on the top of my list for public middles).

And if you don’t like MacArthur (curious what was such a “disaster” and where your older child ended up?) then going to Deal for middle means your child will have friends with them for high school at JR. Some scenario of Hardy for middle then JR for high school, now that Hardy only feeds to JR, is silly. Why make your child work so hard to have friends?

talk to your child about how much they care to continue on with feeder school classmates and the downsides of the commute that goes with it. some kids care a lot. others are happy to reinvent themselves at a different school.

The bus from Deal to Hardy is not 45 minutes.

Hardy isn’t worth the commute to school when you have another option.

The schools are both good. Do what is closer. Them walking is better than bus/driving.

My kid can walk to Deal but I work a few blocks from Hardy and took the bus ONCE. The bus was crazy packed and 45 minutes is long for a one way trip each day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child will have the option to attend Hardy or Deal most days.

We live closer to Deal, which is a huge plus for me but I can make Hardy work. My child would probably take the bus to Hardy, which would likely take around 45 minutes to an hour each way, which is a huge negative.

Any thoughts on how the education, afterschool activities, social drama, etc. compare at the two schools?

What do you mean by "most days?" Won't they go to the same school every day?

Oops! The "most days" refers to taking the bus. Somehow those words wound up in the wrong place.