Lewis Academy - community input?

[Anonymous]

For those of us in the southeastern part of the county, this academy presents a rare opportunity to create a program of lasting value for our kids that differs from the county's typical academy courses such as those offered by Edison (STEM) and West Potomac (health sciences). It's been well over a year now since the program development was initiated but there have been few updates and no opportunity for community input. I don't agree with the current focus of the academy based on the very little material that has been shared, but I believe it can pivot to be in line with their original vision while becoming a rigorous and desirable program.

Currently a multitude of words have been included in the proposed academy name including leadership, government, public policy, justice, and human rights.

Perhaps such an academy could instead focus on critical-need languages as those identified by the US Department of State (perhaps even a French and Spanish immersion ES inside the pyramid coupled with teaching IB courses in French/Spanish as is allowed by IB regulation), deep breadth of social science courses such as the more obscure AP/IB social sciences (IB Global Politics, IB Information Technology in Global Society, AP Euro), externships for enrichment with travel abroad opportunities, a robust Model UN team, etc. I imagine parents actually would be fighting to have their kids participate so they can stand out and have global experiences. Georgetown's School of Foreign Service works with MCPS and DCPS to offer summer fellowships and scholarships in line with these topics. That's the type of program clearly missing within FCPS. But alas, it is only a dream. When, if ever, will the community be given a chance to provide formal survey input? If FCPS has already worked for a year and a half on this with no input, our opinions would be pointless this late.

[Anonymous]

A language magnet with an international focus makes SOOOOO much more sense than a ridiculous.left wing social justice indoctrination. I suggested this years ago before this politically biased new idea took root.

A language magnet within Lewis would immediately fix enrollment issues and raise test scores. It would be a huge win for this school.

The protest academy? Not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A language magnet with an international focus makes SOOOOO much more sense than a ridiculous.left wing social justice indoctrination. I suggested this years ago before this politically biased new idea took root.

A language magnet within Lewis would immediately fix enrollment issues and raise test scores. It would be a huge win for this school.

The protest academy? Not so much.

See you make your point a lot more valid if you did t use Fox News buzz words. I have no skin in the game but I agree that FCPS should make Lewis more enticing to attend. Whether it be a language magnet or a school for someone who is interested in policy or something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A language magnet with an international focus makes SOOOOO much more sense than a ridiculous.left wing social justice indoctrination. I suggested this years ago before this politically biased new idea took root.

A language magnet within Lewis would immediately fix enrollment issues and raise test scores. It would be a huge win for this school.

The protest academy? Not so much.

If a school already offers Chinese, does that mean FCPS is going to force kids to go to Lewis to take it?

I guess they could look at languages that aren't offered at many schools (for example, Russian, Arabic, Vietnamese) or aren't offered at all (for example, Hindi, Urdu, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A language magnet with an international focus makes SOOOOO much more sense than a ridiculous.left wing social justice indoctrination. I suggested this years ago before this politically biased new idea took root.

A language magnet within Lewis would immediately fix enrollment issues and raise test scores. It would be a huge win for this school.

The protest academy? Not so much.

See you make your point a lot more valid if you did t use Fox News buzz words. I have no skin in the game but I agree that FCPS should make Lewis more enticing to attend. Whether it be a language magnet or a school for someone who is interested in policy or something else.

Those words are based off the truth and the words of our school board, not fox news.

[Anonymous]

Generally, in my experience, the "community engagement" sessions are pro forma and the plan is already set by the school board. They don't actually intend to take any of your ideas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Generally, in my experience, the "community engagement" sessions are pro forma and the plan is already set by the school board. They don't actually intend to take any of your ideas.

Sure, and posts on DCUM are way more useful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally, in my experience, the "community engagement" sessions are pro forma and the plan is already set by the school board. They don't actually intend to take any of your ideas.

Sure, and posts on DCUM are way more useful.

I didn't say DCUM posts were more effective. I said that FCPS doesn't really care what happens during community engagement. They already have a plan they intend to follow. Don't get your hopes up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A language magnet with an international focus makes SOOOOO much more sense than a ridiculous.left wing social justice indoctrination. I suggested this years ago before this politically biased new idea took root.

A language magnet within Lewis would immediately fix enrollment issues and raise test scores. It would be a huge win for this school.

The protest academy? Not so much.

If a school already offers Chinese, does that mean FCPS is going to force kids to go to Lewis to take it?

I guess they could look at languages that aren't offered at many schools (for example, Russian, Arabic, Vietnamese) or aren't offered at all (for example, Hindi, Urdu, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian).

No. But an academy offering less frequently offered languages and maybe history classes and government classes for the countries those languages are from would be cool. And then kids who want to take Chinese or Russian or Japanese or Hindi or whatever languages are there would be able to take a bus to school instead of parents driving them. And it would reduce the need for kids to find a school that has room and can allow students to attend for the language they are interested in. It would be a pretty cool concept.

[Anonymous]

The Maggie Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies down in Richmond is the perfect model for this type of program. At Maggie Walker they require 140 hours of community service, four years of one language and two years of another language (they offer 10 languages at the school), and they offer sponsored spring and summer travel abroad opportunities. Their social studies department focuses on global society and government with unique courses in those topics.

I even remember one of the school board members mentioned Maggie Walker during the meeting last December when this academy was discussed. So much potential exists to create a useful academy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A language magnet with an international focus makes SOOOOO much more sense than a ridiculous.left wing social justice indoctrination. I suggested this years ago before this politically biased new idea took root.

A language magnet within Lewis would immediately fix enrollment issues and raise test scores. It would be a huge win for this school.

The protest academy? Not so much.

If a school already offers Chinese, does that mean FCPS is going to force kids to go to Lewis to take it?

I guess they could look at languages that aren't offered at many schools (for example, Russian, Arabic, Vietnamese) or aren't offered at all (for example, Hindi, Urdu, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian).

No. But an academy offering less frequently offered languages and maybe history classes and government classes for the countries those languages are from would be cool. And then kids who want to take Chinese or Russian or Japanese or Hindi or whatever languages are there would be able to take a bus to school instead of parents driving them. And it would reduce the need for kids to find a school that has room and can allow students to attend for the language they are interested in. It would be a pretty cool concept.

We already have a shortage of bus drivers, ridiculous bus routes/times, and enough pollution from buses. Are we really supposed to start running extra buses to get kids from Herndon and Great Falls to Springfield and back?

I hope a new School Board is elected next year and that they jettison this academy idea and start reforming Lewis by first eliminating IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Generally, in my experience, the "community engagement" sessions are pro forma and the plan is already set by the school board. They don't actually intend to take any of your ideas.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A language magnet with an international focus makes SOOOOO much more sense than a ridiculous.left wing social justice indoctrination. I suggested this years ago before this politically biased new idea took root.

A language magnet within Lewis would immediately fix enrollment issues and raise test scores. It would be a huge win for this school.

The protest academy? Not so much.

If a school already offers Chinese, does that mean FCPS is going to force kids to go to Lewis to take it?

I guess they could look at languages that aren't offered at many schools (for example, Russian, Arabic, Vietnamese) or aren't offered at all (for example, Hindi, Urdu, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian).

No. But an academy offering less frequently offered languages and maybe history classes and government classes for the countries those languages are from would be cool. And then kids who want to take Chinese or Russian or Japanese or Hindi or whatever languages are there would be able to take a bus to school instead of parents driving them. And it would reduce the need for kids to find a school that has room and can allow students to attend for the language they are interested in. It would be a pretty cool concept.

We already have a shortage of bus drivers, ridiculous bus routes/times, and enough pollution from buses. Are we really supposed to start running extra buses to get kids from Herndon and Great Falls to Springfield and back?

I hope a new School Board is elected next year and that they jettison this academy idea and start reforming Lewis by first eliminating IB.

The buses for Academies run during the school day so it would not add to the bus issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A language magnet with an international focus makes SOOOOO much more sense than a ridiculous.left wing social justice indoctrination. I suggested this years ago before this politically biased new idea took root.

A language magnet within Lewis would immediately fix enrollment issues and raise test scores. It would be a huge win for this school.

The protest academy? Not so much.

See you make your point a lot more valid if you did t use Fox News buzz words. I have no skin in the game but I agree that FCPS should make Lewis more enticing to attend. Whether it be a language magnet or a school for someone who is interested in policy or something else.

Those words are based off the truth and the words of our school board, not fox news.

NO THEY ARE FOX NIGHTLY NEWS WORDS

Anyone starting with that terminology I know is a moron right off the bat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Generally, in my experience, the "community engagement" sessions are pro forma and the plan is already set by the school board. They don't actually intend to take any of your ideas.

This is such a silly take. There are 180,000 kids and their families in FCPS. Just because they didn’t take your idea doesn’t mean they didn’t take feedback from the community.