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Monthly Archives: December 2009
Friday Night Fights: Rhee Announces Hardy Principal Changes to Irate Crowd
Last Friday night, Chancellor Michelle Rhee came before the Hardy School PTA to announce significant changes to the school. As described earlier, this meeting came as a culmination of months of speculation and recriminations regarding the present and future states of the school.
The meeting was led by Hardy parent Keenan Keller. He began the meeting by setting out the ground rules of three minutes for questions and three minutes for answers. Before handing the microphone to Rhee, Keller read an email off of his phone that was sent from Hyde-Addison principal Dana Nerenberg describing her new role as principal of Hyde-Addison and Hardy. The email was apparently sent around 5:00 that night to the Hyde-Addison community. Thus before Rhee even took the microphone, the audience already knew that Patrick Pope was not going to remain as principal of Hardy School after this year.
Rhee began her remarks by stating that Hardy’s arts integration program is a model both for the city and the nation. She further stated that not withstanding any personnel changes at Hardy, the arts program will remain. She then segued into announcing that a new performing arts magnet school would be created and that Patrick Pope was offered the position to design, plan, implement and lead the new school. He will remain principal through this school year. Next year Dana Nerenberg would take over the principal function of Hardy on top of her responsibilities at Hyde-Addison. Patrick Pope would then take a year to create the new school. While implied, it was not 100% clear that he will actually be the principal of the new school when it opens in 2012. Continue reading
Filed under Schools
The Morning Metropolitan
Merriment Clown by M.V. Jantzen.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- In case you missed it, Pope is out at Hardy, Nerenberg will take over both Hyde-Addison and Hardy next year. More on this later.
- Merriment in Georgetown was a huge success. It was cold but not frigid and the crowds were much bigger this year. While there are still a few kinks, it appears that this tradition will take hold.
- Georgetown’s getting a Target! Kinda.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
BREAKING NEWS: Pope to Leave Hardy to Form New Arts and Music Magnet School; Hyde Principal to Replace Him
Tonight at a meeting for the Hardy PTA, Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced that Patrick Pope would leave his position as principal of Hardy Middle School and become the principal of a new arts and music magnet middle school. Dana Nerenberg, principal of Hyde-Addison, will become principal of both Hyde-Addison and Hardy.
The announcement was not taken well by the Hardy PTA. With Mr. Pope sitting silently in the audience, speaker after speaker criticized Chancellor Rhee for the content and process of the decision. GM will write up a fuller account of this, but for the curious, here is a recording of the bulk of Chancellor Rhee’s Q&A session (GM’s batteries died after 80 minutes or so):
What was not caught on the tape was what happened after Rhee left. Mr. Pope gave a heart felt speech of thanks and encouragement to the audience (he did not, however, discuss the plans for the new magnet school or whether he was in fact forced out; but in not addressing those issues he appeared to be confirming the PTA’s suspicions that he was forced out and that he was not entirely excited about starting over at a new school). After Pope spoke, Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander gave a rousing speech in support of the PTA and Mr. Pope. Big quote: “We’ve got to get rid of Fenty. And Rhee. And you can quote me on that!”
Filed under Breaking News
Showdown at Hardy: Rhee To Announce Plans Tonight
Tonight at 6:00 (UPDATE: The meeting is starting at 6:30, not 6:00, however it appears that the Hardy PTA is encouraging its members to arrive at 6:00, so if getting a good seat is important to you, you might want to arrive early.) DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is scheduled to speak at the Hardy School. This is expected to be the culmination of weeks of speculation and recriminations revolving around the future of the middle school.
The story begins at least as far back as February of this year. A group of parents who send their children to Key Elementary School in the Palisades had created a group called “Life After Key”, which focuses on exploring middle school options for their children. One of those options is the local middle school, the Hardy School (which is also the middle school that Georgetown’s Hyde feeds into). Concerned about the quality of Hardy, the group arranged for a meeting with Chancellor Rhee to discuss the future of the school. The minutes of that meeting are available here.
According to these minutes, Rhee acknowledged to the group that parents are anguished over their decisions for middle school and that they wish they could view Hardy as an option for their children. Rhee stated that DCPA has a unique opportunity with Hardy since it has a newly renovated building with an excellent core group of teachers. She stated that within 3 to 4 years Hardy could be a school in high demand as “changes occur.” Continue reading
Filed under Schools
The Morning Metropolitan
Sunset on Wisconsin and M by Jim Malone.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Willard Wigan, who specializes in microscopic art, is showing his lilliputian art at Georgetown’s Parish Gallery.
- As neighborhoods, Capitol Hill and Georgetown have never been all that tight. Maybe it’s because they stole our resident’s name.
- Speaking of Peabody, DC Metrocentric checks out the repairs of the Georgetown Library.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
Merriment in Georgetown This Sunday
Come out this Sunday for the second annual Merriment in Georgetown festival. The festivities kick off at 3:00 and the current forecast is a high of 46 (so hopefully we’ll avoid last year’s bone-chilling colds).
There will be horse-drawn carriage rides, entertainment, food, Santa Claus and much, much more. This festival is a great addition to the Georgetown calender and GM hopes to see you all out there!
On another note: GM would like to compliment the BID on its great marketing of this event. The posters and website are wonderfully graphic and nostalgic. If only the BID could take the $30,000 it spends on its own website and make it look as good as the Merriment in Georgetown website. That would truly be money well spent.
Filed under Events
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Pinachina.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- According to the Post, several years ago Montana Senator Max Baucus used his bold faced name to weigh in against the proposed paving of the Georgetown trolley tracks near his home. The proposal was eventually dropped in favor of rehabbing the tracks.
- Even without snakes, the Georgetown University population was able to reduce the number of vermin in its midsts.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
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