FCPS HS Boundary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And yes, I see “evidence” should be “evidenced.” I’m going to give PP the benefit of the doubt by assuming she didn’t wear her reading glasses, like I am not either but clearly should be. I’ll show myself out now.

PP — No sweat. I set a much lower bar for social media thumb-typing errors. There’s something about it that seems to generate more errors (e.g., omitted words, misspellings, etc.). Published papers? That’s where I’m persnickety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or maybe instead of bickering over whose kids should get screwed in a county redistricting, perhaps we should all just admit that the redistricting would be a colossal mistake and that redistricting arbitrarily picks winners and losers.

As if the current gerrymandered boundaries don't do the exact same thing. They should hire consultants from outside the area with no skin in the game to draw up boundaries that make logical sense and fully utilize county resources.

Lake Braddock is the main gerrymandered high school.

But that is because for a long time it was the catch all school any time new neighborhoods were built.

Nothing nefarious, but definitely gerrymandered.

Lewis, Edison, Hayfield and West Springfield all have very compact borders.

Any rezoning to those schools will create geerymandering, not eliminate it.

Have you ever looked at a map? Hayfield's boundary shape puts Louisiana congressional districts to shame

It's definitely not compact like Chantilly and West Springfield, but everything zoned to Hayfield is close to Telegraph Road.

It very carefully excludes Hybla Valley and Groveton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What exactly is the goal here- is it to raise enrollment at Lewis or is it to decrease enrollment at WSHS? Or both?

I live near Hunt Valley- in a part I assume will stay with WSHS- but if we do get rezoned to Lewis, I’ll send my kids to private school. I’d rather them go to South County which is definitely closer than Lewis.

There is poster that had kids in Satatoga who was (and apparently still is) bitterly resentful that Hunt Valley along Gambril was rezoned to West Springfield 20 years ago when South County opened and that area was rezoned to fill the new school.

They have posted here for years, vengefully arguing that this 20 year old redistricting ruined Lewis (then Lee) and that all of Hunt Valley needs to be rezoned back to Lewis to right a decades old slight, even though of all of the WSHS schools, except for that small Sangster neighborhood, HV is the farthest away from Lewis. No matter which way you drive, Hunt Valley students would pass by every single WSHS elementary school (except Sangster) to get to Lewis. Geographically, HV makes the least sense (except Sangster) to rezone to Lewis.

Her goal is a vengeance rezoning, not based on sense, finances, commute or logic. One can only hope that she does not have the ear of the school board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or maybe instead of bickering over whose kids should get screwed in a county redistricting, perhaps we should all just admit that the redistricting would be a colossal mistake and that redistricting arbitrarily picks winners and losers.

As if the current gerrymandered boundaries don't do the exact same thing. They should hire consultants from outside the area with no skin in the game to draw up boundaries that make logical sense and fully utilize county resources.

Lake Braddock is the main gerrymandered high school.

But that is because for a long time it was the catch all school any time new neighborhoods were built.

Nothing nefarious, but definitely gerrymandered.

Lewis, Edison, Hayfield and West Springfield all have very compact borders.

Any rezoning to those schools will create geerymandering, not eliminate it.

Have you ever looked at a map? Hayfield's boundary shape puts Louisiana congressional districts to shame

It's definitely not compact like Chantilly and West Springfield, but everything zoned to Hayfield is close to Telegraph Road.

It very carefully excludes Hybla Valley and Groveton

You could have complained about that before FCPS expanded West Potomac to 3000 seats. And the Groveton area has always been at West Potomac (formed from the merger of Fort Hunt and Groveton HS).

[Anonymous]

Some interesting comments from the student representative to the School Board last night:

"Last week, I attended a meeting of the Student Equity Ambassador Leaders, also known as SEALs, at Herndon High School. The meeting brought together 3-4 SEALs from each high school, providing a platform to share and compare our experiences from our respective schools. Since it's the season for AP and IB exams, our discussion naturally turned towards our classes. A student from Justice High School discussed her IB classes, and another from Chantilly High School spoke about his AP courses. The Chantilly student shared that he is currently in AP Calculus BC and, if he passes the exam, will earn college credit in mathematics, which is crucial as he aims to pursue computer science. Conversely, the student from Justice mentioned she was taking IB Math Analysis, equivalent to AP Calc BC, but noted that IB test scores are
released toward the end of senior year and don’t transfer easily, making it challenging to secure college credits. She expressed a preference for an AP school to enhance her chances of earning college credits. This conversation highlighted yet another way in which a mere zip code—a simple five-digit number—can significantly impact educational opportunities and experiences."

Why are the student reps always more sensible than the School Board members themselves? Notice that she's not asking for county-wide redistricting, but pointing out how some schools that serve some zip codes are saddled with IB, to the detriment of students at those schools. And we can all see how IB dragged down Lewis over the years.

[Anonymous]

Not arguing the merits of IB or AP, per se, but why is Lewis detrimentally impacted by IB and Robinson is not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not arguing the merits of IB or AP, per se, but why is Lewis detrimentally impacted by IB and Robinson is not?

Robinson is detrimentally impacted, as there are always plenty of pupil placements to LBSS, but it has a larger catchment area and newer, more expensive housing. Lewis doesn't have those cushions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not arguing the merits of IB or AP, per se, but why is Lewis detrimentally impacted by IB and Robinson is not?

Being 100% honest here - I think IB is worse overall than AP and that FCPS should dump it at all schools. Every last one. And go AP for everyone. That shores up a lot of transfer loopholes too because even a smaller HS like Lewis should be able to at least offer Calc AB and some of the other more common AP classes. For context, my HS in the Midwest was smaller than Lewis at around 1500 kids, we had transfers in for a vocational academy and most of those kids weren’t in AP, and we still had the more popular AP classes with enough enrollment. Granted it did make scheduling difficult if the one section of AP Chemistry conflicted with the electives. But kids figured it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not arguing the merits of IB or AP, per se, but why is Lewis detrimentally impacted by IB and Robinson is not?

Being 100% honest here - I think IB is worse overall than AP and that FCPS should dump it at all schools. Every last one. And go AP for everyone. That shores up a lot of transfer loopholes too because even a smaller HS like Lewis should be able to at least offer Calc AB and some of the other more common AP classes. For context, my HS in the Midwest was smaller than Lewis at around 1500 kids, we had transfers in for a vocational academy and most of those kids weren’t in AP, and we still had the more popular AP classes with enough enrollment. Granted it did make scheduling difficult if the one section of AP Chemistry conflicted with the electives. But kids figured it out.

Kids who take algebra in 7th need more than Calc AB

[Anonymous]

IB done well, as it could be if there was a single IB magnet in FCPS, can be an excellent college prep program. Look at Richard Montgomery HS in MCPS which is an IB magnet. They have SATs at the level of Langley, and over 40 National Merit Finalists.

Most impressively, the schools is 27% White, 27% Hispanic, 24% Asian, 15% Black, and 30% FARMs.

So clearly, it is not about AP vs. IB, it is about attracting kids that want the program and who will all buy into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or maybe instead of bickering over whose kids should get screwed in a county redistricting, perhaps we should all just admit that the redistricting would be a colossal mistake and that redistricting arbitrarily picks winners and losers.

As if the current gerrymandered boundaries don't do the exact same thing. They should hire consultants from outside the area with no skin in the game to draw up boundaries that make logical sense and fully utilize county resources.

Lake Braddock is the main gerrymandered high school.

But that is because for a long time it was the catch all school any time new neighborhoods were built.

Nothing nefarious, but definitely gerrymandered.

Lewis, Edison, Hayfield and West Springfield all have very compact borders.

Any rezoning to those schools will create geerymandering, not eliminate it.

Have you ever looked at a map? Hayfield's boundary shape puts Louisiana congressional districts to shame

It's definitely not compact like Chantilly and West Springfield, but everything zoned to Hayfield is close to Telegraph Road.

It very carefully excludes Hybla Valley and Groveton

You could have complained about that before FCPS expanded West Potomac to 3000 seats. And the Groveton area has always been at West Potomac (formed from the merger of Fort Hunt and Groveton HS).

It touches on Woodlawn and Mt Vernon woods, but avoids both. It manages to border some of the poorest elementary schools in the county and avoids all of them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not arguing the merits of IB or AP, per se, but why is Lewis detrimentally impacted by IB and Robinson is not?

Robinson is detrimentally impacted, as there are always plenty of pupil placements to LBSS, but it has a larger catchment area and newer, more expensive housing. Lewis doesn't have those cushions.

PP here. Ok, thanks. This makes sense. My kids go to WS, but we have plenty of friends at Robinson and they all seem quite proud of the IB program. I’ve never heard any complaints about it from them- they seem to think it is more rigorous and better than AP. Obviously I’m extrapolating their positive feelings and generalizing, so I was curious about Robinson vs. Lewis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly is the goal here- is it to raise enrollment at Lewis or is it to decrease enrollment at WSHS? Or both?

I live near Hunt Valley- in a part I assume will stay with WSHS- but if we do get rezoned to Lewis, I’ll send my kids to private school. I’d rather them go to South County which is definitely closer than Lewis.

There is poster that had kids in Satatoga who was (and apparently still is) bitterly resentful that Hunt Valley along Gambril was rezoned to West Springfield 20 years ago when South County opened and that area was rezoned to fill the new school.

They have posted here for years, vengefully arguing that this 20 year old redistricting ruined Lewis (then Lee) and that all of Hunt Valley needs to be rezoned back to Lewis to right a decades old slight, even though of all of the WSHS schools, except for that small Sangster neighborhood, HV is the farthest away from Lewis. No matter which way you drive, Hunt Valley students would pass by every single WSHS elementary school (except Sangster) to get to Lewis. Geographically, HV makes the least sense (except Sangster) to rezone to Lewis.

Her goal is a vengeance rezoning, not based on sense, finances, commute or logic. One can only hope that she does not have the ear of the school board.

What a way to jump to conclusions. I am a current resident of Saratoga and I merely responded to this thread to say that I think it would make more sense for students in my area to go to South County vs Lewis. South County HS is much closer to my home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly is the goal here- is it to raise enrollment at Lewis or is it to decrease enrollment at WSHS? Or both?

I live near Hunt Valley- in a part I assume will stay with WSHS- but if we do get rezoned to Lewis, I’ll send my kids to private school. I’d rather them go to South County which is definitely closer than Lewis.

There is poster that had kids in Satatoga who was (and apparently still is) bitterly resentful that Hunt Valley along Gambril was rezoned to West Springfield 20 years ago when South County opened and that area was rezoned to fill the new school.

They have posted here for years, vengefully arguing that this 20 year old redistricting ruined Lewis (then Lee) and that all of Hunt Valley needs to be rezoned back to Lewis to right a decades old slight, even though of all of the WSHS schools, except for that small Sangster neighborhood, HV is the farthest away from Lewis. No matter which way you drive, Hunt Valley students would pass by every single WSHS elementary school (except Sangster) to get to Lewis. Geographically, HV makes the least sense (except Sangster) to rezone to Lewis.

Her goal is a vengeance rezoning, not based on sense, finances, commute or logic. One can only hope that she does not have the ear of the school board.

What a way to jump to conclusions. I am a current resident of Saratoga and I merely responded to this thread to say that I think it would make more sense for students in my area to go to South County vs Lewis. South County HS is much closer to my home.

I don't think the PP was talking about you. I could be wrong, of course, but I live in WSHS area so that part of this discussion thread has been of great interest to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not arguing the merits of IB or AP, per se, but why is Lewis detrimentally impacted by IB and Robinson is not?

Being 100% honest here - I think IB is worse overall than AP and that FCPS should dump it at all schools. Every last one. And go AP for everyone. That shores up a lot of transfer loopholes too because even a smaller HS like Lewis should be able to at least offer Calc AB and some of the other more common AP classes. For context, my HS in the Midwest was smaller than Lewis at around 1500 kids, we had transfers in for a vocational academy and most of those kids weren’t in AP, and we still had the more popular AP classes with enough enrollment. Granted it did make scheduling difficult if the one section of AP Chemistry conflicted with the electives. But kids figured it out.

Kids who take algebra in 7th need more than Calc AB

And for the small number of ES and Key MS kids who take Algebra in 6th or 7th, they could be on a path to transfer to, like, Hayfield or Annandale or wherever in order to take higher level math. Or they could finish out the math offerings at Lewis and take just math at those schools. Or dual-enroll at NVCC. There are options. But the highest achieving kids don’t have much to do with everyone else.