could West Potomac become a Marshall in 10 years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The person in charge of boundary changes comes from West Springfield. Go figure.

To be fair, I live in West Springfield and it just isn't a very economically diverse section of the county. They did redistrict Daventry from Lee to WS. This is a townhome area, but high end town homes and these families go to elementary and middle school with kids that go to WSHS. So it really did make sense. They also geographically are closer to WSHS - to get to Lee, though the mileage isn't much more, you have to cross the mixing bowl area.

My point is that there isn't really a way to redistrict WSHS that would include more low income families without creating very odd boundaries. We don't have any multi-million dollar homes (see that previous post) but we also have few low income areas. It's a diverse area culturally, but not economically.

There are two title I elementary schools like crest wood that could easily be moved over to west Springfield. They could move sangster to lake Braddock or another feeder since there is so much capacity there. But they won't. It's strange that the only schools on the west Springfield side of the mixing bowl that go to Lee are poor.

I'd be on board with moving Crestwood and Garfield to West Springfield. My kids are still in elementary (rolling valley) and I don't have all the feeder schools figured out yet. So I'm not sure about the school numbers - is WSHS underenrolled compared to Lee (where Crestwood and Garfield go)? I don't know anyone who goes to Crestwood, but I know many people from Garfield (also a title 1 school).

Lee and West Springfield are both underenrolled once you factor in the temporary capacity issues due to construction. WSHS was underenrolled before construction and will be underenrolled after construction. Lee is slightly more underenrolled than WS.

Fcps is not going to move the Sangster kids away from LB (under capacity) and the handful of Sangster houses zoned for WS are the closest to LB and WS than any of the other Sangster homes. To rezone the WSHS Sangster families to South County woukd require fcps to take a tiny donut hole out of the very edge of Sangster's boundaries and they are notgoing to do something that makes so little sense.

I think they should move Crestwood to West Springfield and move Hunt Valley to Lee.

That is laughable considering that there are nine elementary schools between Hunt Valley and Lee high school: Garfield, Crestwood, Springfield Estates, Keene Mill, West Springfield, Rolling Valley, Cardinal Forest and Forestdale. Orange Hunt and Hunt Valley are on the same road about a block apart and are the farthest WSHS feeders from Lee HS.

Hunt Valley is next to Rolling Valley, part of which already goes to Lee. Orange Hunt is further away from Lee.

I think it's a good idea. Those kids are going to get on a bus whether they go to WS or Lee, and swapping Crestwood and Hunt Valley would somewhat balance the demographics.

[Anonymous]

Crestveiw is around 2-3 miles to Lee.

Hunt Valley is around 7 mikes from lee.

Honestly, Rolling Valley should go to WSHS at 100% instead of 75% before Crestveiw.

Garfield should go to WS before Crestview.

Orange Hunt is closer to Lee HS than Hunt Valley (6 miles away vs 7 miles). Hunt Valley is the farthest WS elementary school from Lee HS.

You are weirdly focused on Hunt Valley going to Lee. It makes no sense whatsoever because your idea completelynlacks logic or reason.

If you want fcps to rezone a WSHS elementary school you need to fixate on one that makes more sense geographically, such as Cardinal Forest or Keene (the two closest WSHS elementaries to Lee).

But really, your idea is quite silly with no legitimate justification for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crestveiw is around 2-3 miles to Lee.

Hunt Valley is around 7 mikes from lee.

Honestly, Rolling Valley should go to WSHS at 100% instead of 75% before Crestveiw.

Garfield should go to WS before Crestview.

Orange Hunt is closer to Lee HS than Hunt Valley (6 miles away vs 7 miles). Hunt Valley is the farthest WS elementary school from Lee HS.

You are weirdly focused on Hunt Valley going to Lee. It makes no sense whatsoever because your idea completelynlacks logic or reason.

If you want fcps to rezone a WSHS elementary school you need to fixate on one that makes more sense geographically, such as Cardinal Forest or Keene (the two closest WSHS elementaries to Lee).

But really, your idea is quite silly with no legitimate justification for it.

Crestwood ES is 3.8 miles from West Springfield HS and many homes zoned for CES are closer.

Hunt Valley ES is 5.7 miles from Lee HS and many homes zoned for HVES are closer.

Orange Hunt ES is 6.1 miles from Lee HS and many homes zoned for OHES are further.

I've never mentioned moving Crestwood ES to West Springfield HS, or moving Hunt Valley ES to Lee HS, before today. The fact that another poster must have done so previously tells me others also think it might balance the demographics between those schools, which is very much in line with the "One Fairfax" initiative adopted by the county Board of Supervisors and School Board.

Either we care about over-concentrating poverty in certain schools, or we don't. It's pretty obvious where you stand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crestveiw is around 2-3 miles to Lee.

Hunt Valley is around 7 mikes from lee.

Honestly, Rolling Valley should go to WSHS at 100% instead of 75% before Crestveiw.

Garfield should go to WS before Crestview.

Orange Hunt is closer to Lee HS than Hunt Valley (6 miles away vs 7 miles). Hunt Valley is the farthest WS elementary school from Lee HS.

You are weirdly focused on Hunt Valley going to Lee. It makes no sense whatsoever because your idea completelynlacks logic or reason.

If you want fcps to rezone a WSHS elementary school you need to fixate on one that makes more sense geographically, such as Cardinal Forest or Keene (the two closest WSHS elementaries to Lee).

But really, your idea is quite silly with no legitimate justification for it.

Crestwood ES is 3.8 miles from West Springfield HS and many homes zoned for CES are closer.

Hunt Valley ES is 5.7 miles from Lee HS and many homes zoned for HVES are closer.

Orange Hunt ES is 6.1 miles from Lee HS and many homes zoned for OHES are further.

I've never mentioned moving Crestwood ES to West Springfield HS, or moving Hunt Valley ES to Lee HS, before today. The fact that another poster must have done so previously tells me others also think it might balance the demographics between those schools, which is very much in line with the "One Fairfax" initiative adopted by the county Board of Supervisors and School Board.

Either we care about over-concentrating poverty in certain schools, or we don't. It's pretty obvious where you stand.

Hunt Valley is farther than Orange Hunt via Old Keene Mill Rd.

Orange Hunt is farther than Hunt Valey using the FC Pkwy.

The difference in which school is farther is almost exactly the distance between the two schools on the same street.

Regardless, Hunt Valley and Orange Hunt are the fsrthest elementary schools from Lee High School. Your srgument would be co.pletely illogical whether you were suggesting Hunt Valley or Orange Hunt.

Both elementary schools are the farthest from Lee of any of the WSHS feeders and it make no sense to zone either one to Lee based off geography when there are so many elementary schools between those two schools and Lee. It would be pulling a random island out of one school zone and moving it across town and past 8 other elementary schools. It is completely illogical to suggest either of those schools be zoned for Lee HS.

Your argument would carry more water if you picked an elementary like Keene or Cardinal Forest which are actually close to Lee. (And I am not sugegesting they rezone, just that they make at least a tiny bit more sense.)

[Anonymous]

And quite frankly, why does that poster need to drag West Springfield zone and Hunt Valley Elementary into a discussion about Marshall, West Potomac and IB?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crestveiw is around 2-3 miles to Lee.

Hunt Valley is around 7 mikes from lee.

Honestly, Rolling Valley should go to WSHS at 100% instead of 75% before Crestveiw.

Garfield should go to WS before Crestview.

Orange Hunt is closer to Lee HS than Hunt Valley (6 miles away vs 7 miles). Hunt Valley is the farthest WS elementary school from Lee HS.

You are weirdly focused on Hunt Valley going to Lee. It makes no sense whatsoever because your idea completelynlacks logic or reason.

If you want fcps to rezone a WSHS elementary school you need to fixate on one that makes more sense geographically, such as Cardinal Forest or Keene (the two closest WSHS elementaries to Lee).

But really, your idea is quite silly with no legitimate justification for it.

Crestwood ES is 3.8 miles from West Springfield HS and many homes zoned for CES are closer.

Hunt Valley ES is 5.7 miles from Lee HS and many homes zoned for HVES are closer.

Orange Hunt ES is 6.1 miles from Lee HS and many homes zoned for OHES are further.

I've never mentioned moving Crestwood ES to West Springfield HS, or moving Hunt Valley ES to Lee HS, before today. The fact that another poster must have done so previously tells me others also think it might balance the demographics between those schools, which is very much in line with the "One Fairfax" initiative adopted by the county Board of Supervisors and School Board.

Either we care about over-concentrating poverty in certain schools, or we don't. It's pretty obvious where you stand.

Remember, a good part of Hunt Valley did go to Lee until 2005. It is literally straight down the Fairfax County Parkway to Frontier Drive. Very easy.

Of course, you can see that the Hunt Valley people (nor any other West Springfield feeder) would allow their schools to be sent to Lee. This is where FCPS screwed up by letting the schools get too far apart in demographics. If they had moved Crestwood to West Springfield in 2005 and left Hunt Valley at Lee then the two schools would have actually moved closer together demographically. But to FCPS it was all about closing split feeders and the noisiest parents. Now they have Lee and a growing list of other high schools (Mt. Vernon, Falls Church, Annandale, and Stuart) that many parents won't allow their students to attend. And the F/R lunch numbers of Herndon and West Potomac are moving in the wrong direction as well. They are crossing the point of no return.

So boundaries will not be changed, IB will stay at too many schools in the eastern side of the County, and Lee High School will probably cross 60% F/R lunch in the next couple of years (up from 24% in 2002). Way to go FCPS.

I actually think that this is partly to blame on the fact that the Fairfax School Board is elected. They are directly beholden to voters for very tough things like boundaries. When the Board was appointed by the Board of Supervisors there was some insulation from the really tough decisions. People could, of course, throw out the Supervisors who appointed those School Board members, but the schools were only part of the voting decision. Now any decision the School Board makes is weighed against being thrown out of office.

[Anonymous]

Crestwood is one of the closest Lee feeder elementsry schools to Lee High School.

If you weee suggesting Rolling Valley or Garfield getting rezoned to WSit woukd at least make sense but Crestwood does not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And quite frankly, why does that poster need to drag West Springfield zone and Hunt Valley Elementary into a discussion about Marshall, West Potomac and IB?

The OP was speculating whether, over time, West Potomac's demographics might move in the direction of Marshall's. That led to a broader discussion of schools like Lee with even higher poverty rates than West Potomac and what might be done about it.

An easy and obvious way to concentrate less poverty at Lee is to swap some of the Lee and West Springfield feeders. The two schools are next to each other, after all, yet have very different FARMS rates.

If FCPS wants to do more than talk the talk (i.e., One Fairfax), it should revisit boundaries. You can use the term "illogical" until you turn blue in the face, but moving Crestwood to West Springfield and Hunt Valley to Lee would demonstrate FCPS's commitment to a quality education for all students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crestveiw is around 2-3 miles to Lee.

Hunt Valley is around 7 mikes from lee.

Honestly, Rolling Valley should go to WSHS at 100% instead of 75% before Crestveiw.

Garfield should go to WS before Crestview.

Orange Hunt is closer to Lee HS than Hunt Valley (6 miles away vs 7 miles). Hunt Valley is the farthest WS elementary school from Lee HS.

You are weirdly focused on Hunt Valley going to Lee. It makes no sense whatsoever because your idea completelynlacks logic or reason.

If you want fcps to rezone a WSHS elementary school you need to fixate on one that makes more sense geographically, such as Cardinal Forest or Keene (the two closest WSHS elementaries to Lee).

But really, your idea is quite silly with no legitimate justification for it.

Crestwood ES is 3.8 miles from West Springfield HS and many homes zoned for CES are closer.

Hunt Valley ES is 5.7 miles from Lee HS and many homes zoned for HVES are closer.

Orange Hunt ES is 6.1 miles from Lee HS and many homes zoned for OHES are further.

I've never mentioned moving Crestwood ES to West Springfield HS, or moving Hunt Valley ES to Lee HS, before today. The fact that another poster must have done so previously tells me others also think it might balance the demographics between those schools, which is very much in line with the "One Fairfax" initiative adopted by the county Board of Supervisors and School Board.

Either we care about over-concentrating poverty in certain schools, or we don't. It's pretty obvious where you stand.

Remember, a good part of Hunt Valley did go to Lee until 2005. It is literally straight down the Fairfax County Parkway to Frontier Drive. Very easy.

Of course, you can see that the Hunt Valley people (nor any other West Springfield feeder) would allow their schools to be sent to Lee. This is where FCPS screwed up by letting the schools get too far apart in demographics. If they had moved Crestwood to West Springfield in 2005 and left Hunt Valley at Lee then the two schools would have actually moved closer together demographically. But to FCPS it was all about closing split feeders and the noisiest parents. Now they have Lee and a growing list of other high schools (Mt. Vernon, Falls Church, Annandale, and Stuart) that many parents won't allow their students to attend. And the F/R lunch numbers of Herndon and West Potomac are moving in the wrong direction as well. They are crossing the point of no return.

So boundaries will not be changed, IB will stay at too many schools in the eastern side of the County, and Lee High School will probably cross 60% F/R lunch in the next couple of years (up from 24% in 2002). Way to go FCPS.

I actually think that this is partly to blame on the fact that the Fairfax School Board is elected. They are directly beholden to voters for very tough things like boundaries. When the Board was appointed by the Board of Supervisors there was some insulation from the really tough decisions. People could, of course, throw out the Supervisors who appointed those School Board members, but the schools were only part of the voting decision. Now any decision the School Board makes is weighed against being thrown out of office.

I'm not so convinced all the schools you mention have passed a point of no return. But what parents want to see is some affirmative indication that either the county or FCPS cares about their area or school pyramid.

Right now it breaks down as follows:

Annandale - all people see is FCPS over-concentrating poverty at Poe MS and Annandale HS.

Falls Church - mixed messages (on the one hand, the Mosaic/Merrifield area is getting new investment, yet FCPS appears poised to drive up the FARMS percentage at Jackson MS by moving its wealthiest areas to Thoreau MS).

Lee - all people see is complete neglect of the pyramid and a failure to adjust boundaries with West Springfield when it's an obvious way to balance the demographics

Mount Vernon - FCPS sends a very clear message this is a pyramid to avoid at all costs by proposing to expand West Potomac HS when there are hundreds of empty seats at Mount Vernon

Stuart - the ESOL/FARMS population goes up every year, but at least FCPS regularly sends top administrators to schools in the pyramid

Clearly FCPS could do a better job with some of these pyramids.

[Anonymous]

We bought in West Springfield after renting in Lee and being warned away by neighbors. This was several years ago, before the new mall. I think people are discounting the revitalization from the mall and now the TSA. I'm not sure redrawing boundaries would do a better job of improving Lee than Fairfax county is already doing.

[Anonymous]

Any WSHS families getting rezoned for Lee will just pupil place out for AP, Japanese, Latin or French.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We bought in West Springfield after renting in Lee and being warned away by neighbors. This was several years ago, before the new mall. I think people are discounting the revitalization from the mall and now the TSA. I'm not sure redrawing boundaries would do a better job of improving Lee than Fairfax county is already doing.

I agree.

I think Hayfield is going to get a bump in quality too, more than any of the schools in that area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any WSHS families getting rezoned for Lee will just pupil place out for AP, Japanese, Latin or French.

They'd need to change the MS assignments, too, of course. Then the kids don't want to pupil place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any WSHS families getting rezoned for Lee will just pupil place out for AP, Japanese, Latin or French.

They'd need to change the MS assignments, too, of course. Then the kids don't want to pupil place.

Seems like an awful lot of unnecessary hassle and disruption of a LOT of people who are happy and settled.

Not going to happen. Fcps is not going to go out of their way to swap 1200+ kids from the high school and middle school they are each closest to and moving them to a school they are far from with no justificstion for so drastically lowering the quality of school zone for 600 families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any WSHS families getting rezoned for Lee will just pupil place out for AP, Japanese, Latin or French.

They'd need to change the MS assignments, too, of course. Then the kids don't want to pupil place.

Seems like an awful lot of unnecessary hassle and disruption of a LOT of people who are happy and settled.

Not going to happen. Fcps is not going to go out of their way to swap 1200+ kids from the high school and middle school they are each closest to and moving them to a school they are far from with no justificstion for so drastically lowering the quality of school zone for 600 families.

Not so sure about that. Seems like the right thing to do.