Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please, stop the fake racism meme. There's criticism of Hardy uniforms because public school kids don't wear uniforms unless they are too poor to purchase normal clothes; virtually NO public schools in the US require uniforms and Hardy is an extreme outlier in that regard.

Uniforms across the board are either worn by the extremely privileged in private schools or wanna-be imitators, or by the extremely poor. Hardy kids are neither. Nuff said.

I said it before, I'll say it again: if your reaction to a predominantly middle-class, AA student body wearing uniforms is "this is a group of thugs that is forced to wear these uniforms so they can be controlled" then the problem is you, not the uniforms. Please take some time to carefully consider the implications of your views.

Wow. DC is not Missouri. We desire integration/diversity here; whereas your interpretation of a benign issue like school uniforms (!,?) is coming from a different place/p.o.v. entirely.

Anonymous wrote:Please, stop the fake racism meme. There's criticism of Hardy uniforms because public school kids don't wear uniforms unless they are too poor to purchase normal clothes; virtually NO public schools in the US require uniforms and Hardy is an extreme outlier in that regard.

Uniforms across the board are either worn by the extremely privileged in private schools or wanna-be imitators, or by the extremely poor. Hardy kids are neither. Nuff said.

I said it before, I'll say it again: if your reaction to a predominantly middle-class, AA student body wearing uniforms is "this is a group of thugs that is forced to wear these uniforms so they can be controlled" then the problem is you, not the uniforms. Please take some time to carefully consider the implications of your views.

Please, stop the fake racism meme. There's criticism of Hardy uniforms because public school kids don't wear uniforms unless they are too poor to purchase normal clothes; virtually NO public schools in the US require uniforms and Hardy is an extreme outlier in that regard.

Uniforms across the board are either worn by the extremely privileged in private schools or wanna-be imitators, or by the extremely poor. Hardy kids are neither. Nuff said.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Latin, it was definitely an attempt to instill discipline. It bugs me that Hardy parents give years ago got to decide what my kid wears to a PUBLIC school. Ridiculous! What if parents refuse to put their kids in uniforms?

I think you've hit upon a real issue here.

There is a fundamental difference between a charter school, a private school, and a neighborhood school. You attend a neighborhood school as a matter of right, you don't apply. At an application school, the leaders of the school can tailor the school atmosphere to attract the kind of student they want to apply. At a neighborhood school the school leaders should be tailoring the school to the people who live in the neighborhood.

Hardy has a difficult legacy because at one time it was run essentially as a magnet school, students had to apply. The uniforms are a vestige of that legacy. They need to go.

I don't think Hardy is the only neighborhood school that requires uniforms. Let's not get sidelined.

No, the pp makes a good point. The neighborhood surrounding Hardy is comprised of parents and potential parents who I feel certain would eschew the inner city public school uniform. The message of the inner city school uniform is a turn off.

A turn off, but not an absolute barrier. So many glover park and palisades parents wind up applying to uniform-positive Latin and basis.

So khaki pants and polo shirts worn by a predominantly middle-class AA student body at a Georgetown school becomes an "inner city school uniform"? At this point, the stupidity, racism, and general ignorance on this thread could not be piled any higher or deeper.

Signed,

Hardy Dad who's looking forward to sending his child back for another great year on Monday.

Anonymous wrote:If I were Principal Pride, I would be very concerned that the IB parents who have a bad reaction to "uniforms" would have an even worse reaction to the present student body without uniforms. You cannot eliminate uniforms only for white sixth graders, you know.

Of course not, that would be silly. They should be eliminated for all.

If I were Principal Pride, I would be very concerned that the IB parents who have a bad reaction to "uniforms" would have an even worse reaction to the present student body without uniforms. You cannot eliminate uniforms only for white sixth graders, you know.

Anonymous wrote:^^^sorry for the typos

And just to get it out of the way, no I'm not saying that St Alban's and Hardy are the same school. It would be foolish to compare St.Alban's with any public school. I'm just responding to the poster who asserts that Hardy's uniform policy is about controlling unruly urban youths while St Alban's policy is simply about "tradition."

Whatever. I'm sure that poster will drum up another reason to hate on Hardy. In the meantime let me go make sure my son has his khakis and navy blue polo ready for school on Monday.

--a Hardy mom

Public school uniforms are among the portfolio of measures, that were once the latest fad thought to add control and focus to failing, inner city schools. Uniforms were part of a tough, regimented approach to discipline believed necessary to bring order out of chaos. A PP said that Montgomery County, MD schools do not allow uniforms while many PG schools mandate them. Of these templates, I think that most parents would say, if you're going to have a public schools role model, it should be closer to MoCo's than to PG's. I mean that some PG schools are apparently so dysfunctional that parents are sneaking their kids across the District line to enroll them in so-so DCPS schools. Whatever conditions once prevailed at Hardy that compelled uniforms, I hope that the school has moved beyond them. Or has it? From the standpoint of Hardy recruiting a more diverse, higher IB share student body, school uniforms do send the wrong signal.

Anonymous wrote:^^^sorry for the typos

And just to get it out of the way, no I'm not saying that St Alban's and Hardy are the same school. It would be foolish to compare St.Alban's with any public school. I'm just responding to the poster who asserts that Hardy's uniform policy is about controlling unruly urban youths while St Alban's policy is simply about "tradition."

Whatever. I'm sure that poster will drum up another reason to hate on Hardy. In the meantime let me go make sure my son has his khakis and navy blue polo ready for school on Monday.

--a Hardy mom

You rock, Hardy mom!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Latin, it was definitely an attempt to instill discipline. It bugs me that Hardy parents give years ago got to decide what my kid wears to a PUBLIC school. Ridiculous! What if parents refuse to put their kids in uniforms?

I think you've hit upon a real issue here.

There is a fundamental difference between a charter school, a private school, and a neighborhood school. You attend a neighborhood school as a matter of right, you don't apply. At an application school, the leaders of the school can tailor the school atmosphere to attract the kind of student they want to apply. At a neighborhood school the school leaders should be tailoring the school to the people who live in the neighborhood.

Hardy has a difficult legacy because at one time it was run essentially as a magnet school, students had to apply. The uniforms are a vestige of that legacy. They need to go.

Hardy was never a magnet school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do other DCPS schools require uniforms? Why some and not others? I dislike uniforms in private and public school, so I can't figure out why certain public school kids should have to wear them.

At Hardy, the families voted on whether or not to have uniforms. My kid was in 8th grade there when the vote was taken. I can't remember if we decided to vote since dd was graduating but as I recall we supported the idea. ~white professional OOB mom

IMHO the uniforms send a message that "we have to hold the reins very tight to maintain discipline in our urban school." If this is the message -- among other challenges -- it any wonder that only 13% of the in-bounds population chooses Hardy?

So then IYHO, why then does St. Albans have uniform? Why does Latin have one? Same reasoning?

Albans does it for tradition. I think Latin's thinking was perhaps closer to Hardy's, although the founder of Latin was also rather fond of old school traditions.

Martha Cutts came from the Cathedral Schools, in fact she built them.

Odds are that she's forgotten more about uniforms and schools than you will ever know.

Agreed. But Martha Catts was not Latin's founder. She was its savior.

Disagreed. I respect Cutts a great deal. But she did not "build" 114-year-old NCS or even take a meh NCS to a different level. Her tenure there continued an already-excellent foundation

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do other DCPS schools require uniforms? Why some and not others? I dislike uniforms in private and public school, so I can't figure out why certain public school kids should have to wear them.

At Hardy, the families voted on whether or not to have uniforms. My kid was in 8th grade there when the vote was taken. I can't remember if we decided to vote since dd was graduating but as I recall we supported the idea. ~white professional OOB mom

IMHO the uniforms send a message that "we have to hold the reins very tight to maintain discipline in our urban school." If this is the message -- among other challenges -- it any wonder that only 13% of the in-bounds population chooses Hardy?

So then IYHO, why then does St. Albans have uniform? Why does Latin have one? Same reasoning?

Albans does it for tradition. I think Latin's thinking was perhaps closer to Hardy's, although the founder of Latin was also rather fond of old school traditions.

Martha Cutts came from the Cathedral Schools, in fact she built them.

Odds are that she's forgotten more about uniforms and schools than you will ever know.

Agreed. But Martha Catts was not Latin's founder. She was its savior.

^^^sorry for the typos

And just to get it out of the way, no I'm not saying that St Alban's and Hardy are the same school. It would be foolish to compare St.Alban's with any public school. I'm just responding to the poster who asserts that Hardy's uniform policy is about controlling unruly urban youths while St Alban's policy is simply about "tradition."

Whatever. I'm sure that poster will drum up another reason to hate on Hardy. In the meantime let me go make sure my son has his khakis and navy blue polo ready for school on Monday.

--a Hardy mom

From the St. Alban's handbook. Don't see any mention of "tradition" as the reason for students having to wear khakis and blazers. In fact, I believe I see the word "conduct" right there in the first sentence. The policy and reasoning below ate pretty much the same as Hardy's policy which can be found at hardyms.org

So to re-cap: uniforms/dress code at St Alban's and at Hardy are pretty the same AND they're done for the same reason.

Dress Guidelines
To promote a standard of dress consistent with the School’s goals for conduct and academic excellence, St. Albans requires students to follow the guidelines listed below. The School also asks parents to monitor their son’s dress
and grooming before he leaves home each morning. The School believes that rules alone cannot guarantee good appearance and therefore expects the spirit, as well as the specific guidelines below, to govern each boy’s manner of dress. All St. Albans students have the responsibility to dress in a manner appropriate for and respectful of the learning environment of the School.
• Boys must be well groomed; beards and mustaches are not allowed.
• Boys’ clothing must be neat, clean, in good repair, and appropriately sized.
• All equipment and articles of clothing should be marked with the boy’s name.
• All boys must wear socks and dress or laced shoes properly tied (athletic shoes are acceptable); solid long dress or khaki slacks or solid dress shorts; a belt; and either a collared dress shirt and a necktie, or a high-collared turtleneck. Shirts and turtlenecks must be tucked in at all times.
• Upper School boys must wear a suit coat, sport jacket, or blazer.
• Lower School boys must wear a suit coat, sport jacket, or blazer, or a long-sleeved, non-hooded sweater. When in Upper School areas, Lower School boys must wear a sport coat or sweater.
• Boys may not wear hats or outdoor jackets inside the School. Examples of other unacceptable clothing are sandals or heavy boots; denim jeans of any color; coveralls, athletic gear, cargo pants, or military-type trousers; mock turtlenecks; crew-neck, polo, rugby, denim, or flannel shirts; tee-shirts; and sweatshirts or athletic shirts.
In all matters of dress and appearance, the deans of stu- dents of the Upper and Lower schools have the author- ity to interpret and enforce these guidelines. On some occasions, the School may relax the dress guidelines for a day. For certain school functions, the School will require boys to wear a jacket, necktie, dress shirt, and polished dress shoe

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, if Hardy had uniforms that included plaid skirts and blue blazers, would we be having this conversation?

Yes we would . Why do kids at one public school have to wear uniforms??? Eaton kids will go from feeding into a non-uniform school to a uniform school. Why the difference?

The poor dears! They will be forced to wear polo shirts and cacky pants. My heart reels with the injustice.

My brain reels at the thought you can say "cacky" (it's khaki, dear). Hopefully my tax dollars are providing you with the opportunity for an education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do other DCPS schools require uniforms? Why some and not others? I dislike uniforms in private and public school, so I can't figure out why certain public school kids should have to wear them.

At Hardy, the families voted on whether or not to have uniforms. My kid was in 8th grade there when the vote was taken. I can't remember if we decided to vote since dd was graduating but as I recall we supported the idea. ~white professional OOB mom

IMHO the uniforms send a message that "we have to hold the reins very tight to maintain discipline in our urban school." If this is the message -- among other challenges -- it any wonder that only 13% of the in-bounds population chooses Hardy?

So then IYHO, why then does St. Albans have uniform? Why does Latin have one? Same reasoning?

Albans does it for tradition. I think Latin's thinking was perhaps closer to Hardy's, although the founder of Latin was also rather fond of old school traditions.

Martha Cutts came from the Cathedral Schools, in fact she built them.

Odds are that she's forgotten more about uniforms and schools than you will ever know.