Lee HS Enrollment Falls Below 1700

[Anonymous]

The idea that "I spent more money so I deserve better schools" is so disturbing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Historical perspective. I started at Lee in 1984. That year they had redistricted several West Springfield neighborhoods over to Lee. They did not grandfather siblings. There was not a big stink because back then the two High Schools were equivalents. We had 98% of graduates in my class go on to 4 year colleges. It was very competitive. Lee also had several State Championship sports teams---particularly dominated boys and girls HS soccer in VA throughout the 80s.

So what happened? Did they pull out some of the WS neighborhoods that were brought in? Did they redistrict other neighborhoods? Did Demographics drastically change? Demographics were about 20% Vietnamese (area directly surrounding Lee) and the rest Caucasian when I attended.

Demographics. Crime. Did you hear about the kidnapping/murder at the mall? They've fixed the mall, but it took years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The idea that "I spent more money so I deserve better schools" is so disturbing.

As a current resident of the WS pyramid and a former resident of the Lee pyramid, I'd say that the difference in housing prices is really pretty minimal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just came here to point out how laughable it is that West Springfield is being called "superior." Carry on.

Well, you can laugh all you want. Doesn’t change the fact that people are willing to pay a premium to be in the West Springfield pyramid over the Lee pyramid. If you think the schools in the Lee pyramid aren’t inferior to West Springfield, well, enjoy your schools, and quit complaining.

DP here. Can you give this “premium” BS a rest? Even if houses zoned for West Springfield are more expensive than those zoned to Lee, it’s not like West Springfield is Langley. Housing there is not that expensive, and you won’t melt if FCPS decides to change the boundaries. Sheesh.

Actually, according to Great Schools, West Springfield is the only equivalent to Langley, and GS is what people use to buy houses...

In that case I wonder why homes in so many other school districts besides Langley sell at a significant “premium” to West Springfield.

West Springfield has good SOL scores and less of a performance gap than exists at many schools. But when it comes to SAT scores, AP pass rates, National Merit Semifinalists, etc., I'd put a bunch of other schools in Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun above West Springfield.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Historical perspective. I started at Lee in 1984. That year they had redistricted several West Springfield neighborhoods over to Lee. They did not grandfather siblings. There was not a big stink because back then the two High Schools were equivalents. We had 98% of graduates in my class go on to 4 year colleges. It was very competitive. Lee also had several State Championship sports teams---particularly dominated boys and girls HS soccer in VA throughout the 80s.

So what happened? Did they pull out some of the WS neighborhoods that were brought in? Did they redistrict other neighborhoods? Did Demographics drastically change? Demographics were about 20% Vietnamese (area directly surrounding Lee) and the rest Caucasian when I attended.

Funny, you and I must have been classmates. I realize the school has changed, but I'm finding the views expressed on this thread amazing.

[Anonymous]

Aside from pupil placing out for world language and AP until AP was added, there had been two move of neighborhoods out.

Demographic info last year
http://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:13:::NO:0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID,P0_EDSL:160,0
Asian 24%
Black 13%
Hispanic 43%
White 16%

From this thread http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/120/695213.page
2005 move of some Hunt Valley students from Lee to West Springfield was a last minute decision that did not consider demographic consequences.

2015 move of Daventry was essentially done under cover of darkness. No one at Lee or West Springfield knew anything about the move until it was a done deal (the only people who knew were the residents of Daventry)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historical perspective. I started at Lee in 1984. That year they had redistricted several West Springfield neighborhoods over to Lee. They did not grandfather siblings. There was not a big stink because back then the two High Schools were equivalents. We had 98% of graduates in my class go on to 4 year colleges. It was very competitive. Lee also had several State Championship sports teams---particularly dominated boys and girls HS soccer in VA throughout the 80s.

So what happened? Did they pull out some of the WS neighborhoods that were brought in? Did they redistrict other neighborhoods? Did Demographics drastically change? Demographics were about 20% Vietnamese (area directly surrounding Lee) and the rest Caucasian when I attended.

Demographics. Crime. Did you hear about the kidnapping/murder at the mall? They've fixed the mall, but it took years.

Boy, you are reaching back like 15-20 years! There was a kidnapping. I don't remember a murder. I think you are trying to make things worse than they are.

And can we just stop with the real estate arguments. Of course West Springfield is more desired than Lee (as a school). And by extension, West Springfield homes are more desirable (and yes, it costs more) than homes in the Lee pyramid. There is no legitimate argument to the contrary. The whole thrust of this thread is that no one will be zoned for Lee if the IB magnet plan takes hold. Those who are currently home owners in Lee pyrmaid, get a windfall by getting rezoned to WSHS or Hayfield or South County... .not so much for a rezone to Annandale. Sounds like the factors bringing Lee down were in play prior to the change in testing rules/ESOL/alternative programs -- but those changes are pushing it further into failing territory.

Maybe now is a good time to buy in Lee pyramid (closest to WSHS)! Make some $$.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historical perspective. I started at Lee in 1984. That year they had redistricted several West Springfield neighborhoods over to Lee. They did not grandfather siblings. There was not a big stink because back then the two High Schools were equivalents. We had 98% of graduates in my class go on to 4 year colleges. It was very competitive. Lee also had several State Championship sports teams---particularly dominated boys and girls HS soccer in VA throughout the 80s.

So what happened? Did they pull out some of the WS neighborhoods that were brought in? Did they redistrict other neighborhoods? Did Demographics drastically change? Demographics were about 20% Vietnamese (area directly surrounding Lee) and the rest Caucasian when I attended.

Funny, you and I must have been classmates. I realize the school has changed, but I'm finding the views expressed on this thread amazing.

Only 16% Caucasian now? It used to be around 85% Caucasian, rest Asian. There weren't any Hispanics 43% and Caucasians 16%! That is a huge demographic change.

[Anonymous]

West springfield doesn't have apartment complexes- Lee does. It really comes down to that. The kids at WSHS have been there for years through the system the kids at Lee may be new immigrants. Housing prices are the same, but there are many more low income apartments going to Lee

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:West springfield doesn't have apartment complexes- Lee does. It really comes down to that. The kids at WSHS have been there for years through the system the kids at Lee may be new immigrants. Housing prices are the same, but there are many more low income apartments going to Lee

Agreed. Apartment and even Condo equals transient and lower income. It really all comes down to that. Spread out the apartments and condos among schools and you won't have these issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aside from pupil placing out for world language and AP until AP was added, there had been two move of neighborhoods out.

Demographic info last year
http://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:13:::NO:0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID,P0_EDSL:160,0
Asian 24%
Black 13%
Hispanic 43%
White 16%

From this thread http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/120/695213.page
2005 move of some Hunt Valley students from Lee to West Springfield was a last minute decision that did not consider demographic consequences.

2015 move of Daventry was essentially done under cover of darkness. No one at Lee or West Springfield knew anything about the move until it was a done deal (the only people who knew were the residents of Daventry)

Tons of people who were not in Daventry knew this was happening.

Daventry was a very logical rezoning.

It was just a handful of kids in each grade who were the only kids going outside pyramid from that feeding pattern.

Fcps should use Daventry as the model for fixing weird gerrymandered feeder patterns that affect a small amount of kids who have to go to a different pyramid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:West springfield doesn't have apartment complexes- Lee does. It really comes down to that. The kids at WSHS have been there for years through the system the kids at Lee may be new immigrants. Housing prices are the same, but there are many more low income apartments going to Lee

That’s really not right, or at least it doesn’t fully explain what’s going on. Look at Saratoga - only one apartment complex of which I’m aware, which is pretty small and doesn’t have a lot of families, yet the school has terrible test scores, is Title 1, and facing accreditation problems. And, no, housing prices are not the same. Find two near identical homes - one south of the FFX County Parkway zoned for Saratoga and one north of the Fairfax County Parkway zoned for West Springfield ES or Hunt Valley ES and you’ll see at least a $50k difference in price (probably more).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historical perspective. I started at Lee in 1984. That year they had redistricted several West Springfield neighborhoods over to Lee. They did not grandfather siblings. There was not a big stink because back then the two High Schools were equivalents. We had 98% of graduates in my class go on to 4 year colleges. It was very competitive. Lee also had several State Championship sports teams---particularly dominated boys and girls HS soccer in VA throughout the 80s.

So what happened? Did they pull out some of the WS neighborhoods that were brought in? Did they redistrict other neighborhoods? Did Demographics drastically change? Demographics were about 20% Vietnamese (area directly surrounding Lee) and the rest Caucasian when I attended.

Demographics. Crime. Did you hear about the kidnapping/murder at the mall? They've fixed the mall, but it took years.

Boy, you are reaching back like 15-20 years! There was a kidnapping. I don't remember a murder. I think you are trying to make things worse than they are.

And can we just stop with the real estate arguments. Of course West Springfield is more desired than Lee (as a school). And by extension, West Springfield homes are more desirable (and yes, it costs more) than homes in the Lee pyramid. There is no legitimate argument to the contrary. The whole thrust of this thread is that no one will be zoned for Lee if the IB magnet plan takes hold. Those who are currently home owners in Lee pyrmaid, get a windfall by getting rezoned to WSHS or Hayfield or South County... .not so much for a rezone to Annandale. Sounds like the factors bringing Lee down were in play prior to the change in testing rules/ESOL/alternative programs -- but those changes are pushing it further into failing territory.

Maybe now is a good time to buy in Lee pyramid (closest to WSHS)! Make some $$.

A cold turkey switch to an IB magnet is a horrible plan.

There is simply not enough interest or demand for IB to fill a 2200 seat high school.

The rezoning that would need to be done to support this would be significant, resulting in around 20 elementary schools or more needing to be rezoned, along with overcrowding in all the receiving high schools.

Lee would not even be at half capacity if it were solely IB.

The logical path would be to close IB at those other area high schools, and create a school within a school for IB with Lee being the only option for that part of the county. This might just barely fill the current space available at Lee.

Then, if Interest grows over the next 4 years, gradually rezone one elementary at a time out of Lee, or just rezone neighborhoods from around its perimeter to minimize mass rezoning.

Going cold turkey on such an unpopular program as IB and expecting 500 kids per grade to magically want to switch to IB overnight is doubling down on poor planning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West springfield doesn't have apartment complexes- Lee does. It really comes down to that. The kids at WSHS have been there for years through the system the kids at Lee may be new immigrants. Housing prices are the same, but there are many more low income apartments going to Lee

That’s really not right, or at least it doesn’t fully explain what’s going on. Look at Saratoga - only one apartment complex of which I’m aware, which is pretty small and doesn’t have a lot of families, yet the school has terrible test scores, is Title 1, and facing accreditation problems. And, no, housing prices are not the same. Find two near identical homes - one south of the FFX County Parkway zoned for Saratoga and one north of the Fairfax County Parkway zoned for West Springfield ES or Hunt Valley ES and you’ll see at least a $50k difference in price (probably more).

Not sure about this community, but is this neighborhood zoned for Lee? If the high school and middle school get fixed and there is some investment in infrastructure, my guess is that eventually this neighborhood will improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historical perspective. I started at Lee in 1984. That year they had redistricted several West Springfield neighborhoods over to Lee. They did not grandfather siblings. There was not a big stink because back then the two High Schools were equivalents. We had 98% of graduates in my class go on to 4 year colleges. It was very competitive. Lee also had several State Championship sports teams---particularly dominated boys and girls HS soccer in VA throughout the 80s.

So what happened? Did they pull out some of the WS neighborhoods that were brought in? Did they redistrict other neighborhoods? Did Demographics drastically change? Demographics were about 20% Vietnamese (area directly surrounding Lee) and the rest Caucasian when I attended.

Demographics. Crime. Did you hear about the kidnapping/murder at the mall? They've fixed the mall, but it took years.

Boy, you are reaching back like 15-20 years! There was a kidnapping. I don't remember a murder. I think you are trying to make things worse than they are.

And can we just stop with the real estate arguments. Of course West Springfield is more desired than Lee (as a school). And by extension, West Springfield homes are more desirable (and yes, it costs more) than homes in the Lee pyramid. There is no legitimate argument to the contrary. The whole thrust of this thread is that no one will be zoned for Lee if the IB magnet plan takes hold. Those who are currently home owners in Lee pyrmaid, get a windfall by getting rezoned to WSHS or Hayfield or South County... .not so much for a rezone to Annandale. Sounds like the factors bringing Lee down were in play prior to the change in testing rules/ESOL/alternative programs -- but those changes are pushing it further into failing territory.

Maybe now is a good time to buy in Lee pyramid (closest to WSHS)! Make some $$.

A cold turkey switch to an IB magnet is a horrible plan.

There is simply not enough interest or demand for IB to fill a 2200 seat high school.

The rezoning that would need to be done to support this would be significant, resulting in around 20 elementary schools or more needing to be rezoned, along with overcrowding in all the receiving high schools.

Lee would not even be at half capacity if it were solely IB.

The logical path would be to close IB at those other area high schools, and create a school within a school for IB with Lee being the only option for that part of the county. This might just barely fill the current space available at Lee.

Then, if Interest grows over the next 4 years, gradually rezone one elementary at a time out of Lee, or just rezone neighborhoods from around its perimeter to minimize mass rezoning.

Going cold turkey on such an unpopular program as IB and expecting 500 kids per grade to magically want to switch to IB overnight is doubling down on poor planning.

So instead of having one IB school because we don't have enough interests, we should keep Annandale, Edison, Mount Vernon, Stuart, and Lee? And maybe expand because IB is more similar to Portrait of a Graduate? I'm not following.