My kid is in 4th grade this year and doing great. Don’t know about 5th grade, as that is the cohort that was problematic in 4th grade last year, but my older kid had the 5th grade teachers last year and had a great experience. Older kid is at Deal now, and we have noticed that Hearst alum are overrepresented in advanced math, principal’s honor roll, etc., so I think Hearst prepares them well academically.

Bumping this thread to ask if the issues described in the upper grades at Hearst persist or have been resolved?

Yes, welcome! We love it at Janney and hope you do too!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here--thanks so much for all the honest and helpful replies. We gave it a lot of thought, and enrolled our kids at Janney today. As several posters pointed out, we can always transfer to Hearst if Janney turns out not to be a great fit, and Janney is also closer (we live right at the boundary line), and easier on the days I commute. We feel really fortunate to have been able to decide between two great schools, and the feedback we received here was a huge help. We really appreciate it!

Welcome to Janney!

Thank you! We are really excited.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here--thanks so much for all the honest and helpful replies. We gave it a lot of thought, and enrolled our kids at Janney today. As several posters pointed out, we can always transfer to Hearst if Janney turns out not to be a great fit, and Janney is also closer (we live right at the boundary line), and easier on the days I commute. We feel really fortunate to have been able to decide between two great schools, and the feedback we received here was a huge help. We really appreciate it!

Wow, DCUM was actually useful. Congrats!

Haha, I honestly expected to get completely flamed and was pleasantly surprised by how helpful and nice everyone was. Thank you all!

Anonymous wrote:OP here--thanks so much for all the honest and helpful replies. We gave it a lot of thought, and enrolled our kids at Janney today. As several posters pointed out, we can always transfer to Hearst if Janney turns out not to be a great fit, and Janney is also closer (we live right at the boundary line), and easier on the days I commute. We feel really fortunate to have been able to decide between two great schools, and the feedback we received here was a huge help. We really appreciate it!

Welcome to Janney!

Anonymous wrote:OP here--thanks so much for all the honest and helpful replies. We gave it a lot of thought, and enrolled our kids at Janney today. As several posters pointed out, we can always transfer to Hearst if Janney turns out not to be a great fit, and Janney is also closer (we live right at the boundary line), and easier on the days I commute. We feel really fortunate to have been able to decide between two great schools, and the feedback we received here was a huge help. We really appreciate it!

Wow, DCUM was actually useful. Congrats!

OP here--thanks so much for all the honest and helpful replies. We gave it a lot of thought, and enrolled our kids at Janney today. As several posters pointed out, we can always transfer to Hearst if Janney turns out not to be a great fit, and Janney is also closer (we live right at the boundary line), and easier on the days I commute. We feel really fortunate to have been able to decide between two great schools, and the feedback we received here was a huge help. We really appreciate it!

OP, as you see from this post, the downside to Hearst is that the school is so small with mostly 2 classes per grade, that if there are major behavioral or staff disruptions, it has a disproportionate impact on the whole grade than at a larger school like Janney.

4th grade is a complete mess and we have not been happy with the school's handling of the situation. I'm not surprised that families are looking to go elsewhere. The things my child tells me happening in class are shocking and completely unacceptable. These include kids making anti-gay comments and using the n word, to serious bullying and behavioral issues with kids being hit, kicked, and choked in class. It hasn't helped that one of the two main teachers has hardly been in person this year and the other main teacher quit after being out the first 3 months on maternity leave. I can't speak to younger grades but our experiences at Hearst have been hit or miss. If you get a good cohort, you end up largely happy. If you end up with a problematic cohort, it's less so.

5th grade has been great this year at Hearst. No behavioral problems that we have heard of in class. Very happy with the school every year we have been there and this year no exception. Sorry to hear that someone else has had a different experience.

Anonymous wrote:There havent been any "assemblies" at Hearst since 2019 so Im not quite sure what PP is referring to in that comment.

+1

There havent been any "assemblies" at Hearst since 2019 so Im not quite sure what PP is referring to in that comment.

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Those teachers left last year. We are leaving after this year. 4th grade has been a disaster. The lower grades were amazing. Third was OK last year even though we weren’t back most of the year. This year one teacher never came back from leave. One teacher is out for huge chunks (unfortunately a family thing) and there’s not been communication or a consistent sub. The principal has taught the class too. Lots of behavioral issues. One kid moved out to another school. Multiple kids switching home rooms to try to solve behavioral issues. If you have Janney spots, go for it. And if you don’t like it, move back to Hearst. The lower grades there were fantastic. I’d want to know what the plan is for this situation not to happen again next year. So, will there be consistent 4th grade teachers? And how will this class be handled in the 5th grade?

I think these behavioral problems are specific to this year's 4th grade and not true of all upper grades at Hearst. I have kids in both 3rd and 5th grade, and those cohorts are lovely. Yes, they can be disruptive sometimes, but nothing like what I've heard about this year's 4th grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes me really sad. I love Hearst and to hear that behavioral issues are such a nightmare in the upper grades makes me sad.

We were considering attending in upper grades. I scoured social media and found some videos of assemblies.... Kids talking over each other, kids talking over teachers. I saw school culture issues. It takes a framework .. you can't run on good intentions.

Why is this a problem at Hearst? I have never heard anything similar from any of the other WOTP elementary schools. I didn't think Hearst would be that different.

What ”assemblies” have taken place?? Strange.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes me really sad. I love Hearst and to hear that behavioral issues are such a nightmare in the upper grades makes me sad.

We were considering attending in upper grades. I scoured social media and found some videos of assemblies.... Kids talking over each other, kids talking over teachers. I saw school culture issues. It takes a framework .. you can't run on good intentions.

Why is this a problem at Hearst? I have never heard anything similar from any of the other WOTP elementary schools. I didn't think Hearst would be that different.