Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fillmore is during school, not after.

And is part of Hardy's problem with IB kids. Most kids at our ES hate going there so there is are negative associations with the building and the arts focus.

Would you clarify, PP? My kids have never attended Fillmore, but I understand that they run after school program arts enrichment program that is attended by local elementary school kids. The Fillmore mom's kids seem to have attended that program since they're at Stoddert during the day.

Several schools near Hardy banded together years ago to centralize their specials, art and music. So schools like Stoddert and a handful of others don't have art/music teachers - once a week they bus their kids over to Fillmore, which is located at Hardy, and the kids have their special class then. They spend about half a day once per week. I remember hearing about it at open houses, and wasn't a fan. The argument goes that the kids are learning from professionals who only teach the special (i.e., no other school responsibilities). The arguments against - well, time spent on the bus, not being able to switch classes around and go see the art teacher whenever you want, etc, etc. So, yes, a bunch of elementary school kids are in proximity to Hardy during the school day, once per week.

I heard about this in our elementary school's open house too and thought it was a fine idea. It's like having a fun field trip every week!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fillmore is during school, not after.

And is part of Hardy's problem with IB kids. Most kids at our ES hate going there so there is are negative associations with the building and the arts focus.

Would you clarify, PP? My kids have never attended Fillmore, but I understand that they run after school program arts enrichment program that is attended by local elementary school kids. The Fillmore mom's kids seem to have attended that program since they're at Stoddert during the day.

In the early 1970's DCPS proposed closing six WOTP elementary schools -- Key, Mann, Stoddert, Hyde, Hardy and Fillmore. (At that time Hardy was an elementary school and located on Foxhall Road. Fillmore was the building next to current-day Hardy.) All were under-enrolled and were in dilapidated facilities built in the 1930's. The buildings lacked features that had become mandatory for elementary schools: libraries, gyms, art and music rooms. The proposal was to build a single consolidated, modern elementary school.

The parents of those schools came up with an alternative proposal: close Hardy and Fillmore, and distribute the students among the other four. For each school, one day a week would be "specials" day where they get on a bus and go to Burleith. They had art and music in the Fillmore building, gym at the Jelleff gym, and library at the Georgetown Library. Hardy was converted into a middle school for the other four schools, and since it didn't have a gym, library or art and music rooms either, the fifth day of the week middle schoolers would go over and have specials too.

Somewhat surprisingly, DCPS accepted this proposal and it went into effect in 1972. In 1996 Hardy Middle School moved into the old Gordon Junior High on Wisconsin. The Fillmore program was moved into Hardy and the Fillmore building was sold to the Corcoran. The city has tried several times to sell the old Hardy building but the neighbors have blocked it each time. Over the years Key, Mann, Hyde and Stoddert have all been renovated and expanded and have acquired gyms and libraries, so their kids no longer do those outside of the building. But they still do art and music in the Fillmore program. The Fillmore program has since expanded to include more other schools, and after-school and summer programs.

Two years ago DCPS proposed abolishing Fillmore. The idea had not been thought out, and it failed. Key, Mann and Stoddert are all now over-crowded and have trailers. There isn't room to have art and music inside the building, and sending the kids out one day a week is a safety valve. Also, there are significant economies of scale with Fillmore, so participating in the program costs the schools less than having art and music teachers on staff. Since DCPS had no plan to provide the space or money needed to bring art and music instruction in-house, the plan failed. It will probably be revived in the future.

The Fillmore program has a decidedly mixed reputation among the member schools. Teachers and administrators seem to like it -- it allows them to outsource a mandate that is a pain to implement, and yields more resources for the rest of the school. Having all of the kids out of school for a half day a week makes it easier for teachers to find time to meet and plan. Kids seem to either love it or hate it -- riding a bus and leaving their familiar school is tough on kids, but many really take to the instruction. The opinion of parents generally follows their kids' experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fillmore is during school, not after.

And is part of Hardy's problem with IB kids. Most kids at our ES hate going there so there is are negative associations with the building and the arts focus.

Would you clarify, PP? My kids have never attended Fillmore, but I understand that they run after school program arts enrichment program that is attended by local elementary school kids. The Fillmore mom's kids seem to have attended that program since they're at Stoddert during the day.

Several schools near Hardy banded together years ago to centralize their specials, art and music. So schools like Stoddert and a handful of others don't have art/music teachers - once a week they bus their kids over to Fillmore, which is located at Hardy, and the kids have their special class then. They spend about half a day once per week. I remember hearing about it at open houses, and wasn't a fan. The argument goes that the kids are learning from professionals who only teach the special (i.e., no other school responsibilities). The arguments against - well, time spent on the bus, not being able to switch classes around and go see the art teacher whenever you want, etc, etc. So, yes, a bunch of elementary school kids are in proximity to Hardy during the school day, once per week.

Anonymous wrote:Ok, are we shifting from "if they'd only get rid of uniforms" to "if they'd only get rid of Fillmore"? Or maybe I'm jumping to conclusions. Sorry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fillmore is during school, not after.

And is part of Hardy's problem with IB kids. Most kids at our ES hate going there so there is are negative associations with the building and the arts focus.

Would you clarify, PP? My kids have never attended Fillmore, but I understand that they run after school program arts enrichment program that is attended by local elementary school kids. The Fillmore mom's kids seem to have attended that program since they're at Stoddert during the day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fillmore is during school, not after.

And is part of Hardy's problem with IB kids. Most kids at our ES hate going there so there is are negative associations with the building and the arts focus.

Would you clarify, PP? My kids have never attended Fillmore, but I understand that they run after school program arts enrichment program that is attended by local elementary school kids. The Fillmore mom's kids seem to have attended that program since they're at Stoddert during the day.

Anonymous wrote:Fillmore is during school, not after.

And is part of Hardy's problem with IB kids. Most kids at our ES hate going there so there is are negative associations with the building and the arts focus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids at Stoddert and they are both afraid to go to Hardy bc of what they see when they are in the building to attend Fillmore. Kids are aggressive in the hallways and my kids have witnessed fights. The teachers don't seem in control of the students at all.

This is an outright lie. Absolutely untrue.
My son is in his third year at Hardy. He is there every single day, all day. I asked him about this in several ways. He has seen 2 fights total. The teachers were on it in seconds. You have no idea what you are talking about. A hundred bucks says you have never crossed the threshold of the school during the school day before.

Go away.

Yeah, this same troll was making similar stuff up a few posts back. She doesn't want IBs to view Hardy in a positive light. This is what you get with an anonymous forum -- non-serious people seeking to entertain themselves with baiting the dialogue. Extremely juvenile stuff, but no way to avoid it.

Come on, PPs. Of course there are fights at Hardy. There are fights at BASIS. There are fights at Latin. There are probably even fights at Deal.

Her kids, attending Fillmore, witnessed a fight at Hardy and it scared them. They probably didn't stick around long enough to see the fight broken up. After all, it was after school, and there were probably fewer Hardy teachers around, so that fight lasted longer than it might have during the day.

Your son, who has attended Hardy for two and half years (and apparently never missed a day of middle school) has witnessed two fights, both of which were broken up in seconds, and probably took place during the school day.

These two reports about fighting at Hardy are simply not inconsistent.

By the way, who cares if the Fillmore mom has crossed the Hardy threshold during the school day? She doesn't need to. It's not her job to visit Hardy during the day before posting about her kids experiences at Fillmore after school. It's the job of Hardy administrators to enforce a strict no-fighting policy on or near the school grounds before, during, and after school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids at Stoddert and they are both afraid to go to Hardy bc of what they see when they are in the building to attend Fillmore. Kids are aggressive in the hallways and my kids have witnessed fights. The teachers don't seem in control of the students at all.

This is an outright lie. Absolutely untrue.
My son is in his third year at Hardy. He is there every single day, all day. I asked him about this in several ways. He has seen 2 fights total. The teachers were on it in seconds. You have no idea what you are talking about. A hundred bucks says you have never crossed the threshold of the school during the school day before.

Go away.

Yeah, this same troll was making similar stuff up a few posts back. She doesn't want IBs to view Hardy in a positive light. This is what you get with an anonymous forum -- non-serious people seeking to entertain themselves with baiting the dialogue. Extremely juvenile stuff, but no way to avoid it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids at Stoddert and they are both afraid to go to Hardy bc of what they see when they are in the building to attend Fillmore. Kids are aggressive in the hallways and my kids have witnessed fights. The teachers don't seem in control of the students at all.

This is an outright lie. Absolutely untrue.
My son is in his third year at Hardy. He is there every single day, all day. I asked him about this in several ways. He has seen 2 fights total. The teachers were on it in seconds. You have no idea what you are talking about. A hundred bucks says you have never crossed the threshold of the school during the school day before.

Go away.

Yeah, this same troll was making similar stuff up a few posts back. She doesn't want IBs to view Hardy in a positive light. This is what you get with an anonymous forum -- non-serious people seeking to entertain themselves with baiting the dialogue. Extremely juvenile stuff, but no way to avoid it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids at Stoddert and they are both afraid to go to Hardy bc of what they see when they are in the building to attend Fillmore. Kids are aggressive in the hallways and my kids have witnessed fights. The teachers don't seem in control of the students at all.

This is an outright lie. Absolutely untrue.
My son is in his third year at Hardy. He is there every single day, all day. I asked him about this in several ways. He has seen 2 fights total. The teachers were on it in seconds. You have no idea what you are talking about. A hundred bucks says you have never crossed the threshold of the school during the school day before.

Go away.

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids at Stoddert and they are both afraid to go to Hardy bc of what they see when they are in the building to attend Fillmore. Kids are aggressive in the hallways and my kids have witnessed fights. The teachers don't seem in control of the students at all.