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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
FCPS is turning the new high school purchased to fix crowding into an Aviation magnet school instead of a high school??
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Anonymous
Yes, Westfield. |
Anonymous
westfield. westfield and chantilly will go to KAA. centreville will backfill westfield. they will likely leave some space at both chantilly and westfield to allow for growth (especially westfield area) |
Anonymous
There are parts of South Lakes (the Floris area at SLHS) that will probably move as well. Some at Oakton would like to move but it doesn't seem like there will be enough room, unless they move Coates to Herndon instead of KAA. It's going to be one of the smaller schools in the county. The Carson families pushing this don't want Centreville families to be upset so they claim all these kids can get moved out of Westfield without any CVHS kids needing to move to Westfield. It's a lie. Part of Centreville absolutely will need to backfill Westfield, and they won't need to expand CVHS to 3000 any longer with 2000 seats getting added at KAA. |
Anonymous
| Look, "Carson families" just don't want our kids at a 4-way split feeder. It's absurd. |
Anonymous
Wait. So Carson will remain as three way split feeder: KAA, SLHS, and Oakton? |
Anonymous
I don't know what they'll do but Carson is going to remain a split feeder because its capacity will be large for a middle school while KAA will be one of the smallest high schools in the county. If Carson is anywhere close to capacity, KAA can't handle all of it. Some of the MS boundaries will need to be redrawn in any event when they make every MS an AAP center. Either way, there are some Carson posters who gloss over the reality that KAA opening will be disruptive for the Centreville families who have to back fill Westfield. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
If they don't send Crossfield to KAA, they might send it to Franklin along with Navy. But, it looks like Oakton is going to need relief. Not sure much will be needed to backfill Westfield. Maybe, some of those Chantilly kids who live between Walney Rd and 28. |
Anonymous
| Wonder what they'll do with Oak Hill elementary kids? There was hope they'd all end up at one high school. |
Anonymous
| I would think they will go to KAA. All of them. They will not send the Lee's Corner or Fox Mill kids who go there for AAP. |
Anonymous
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I just watched the session, and it seems the consensus is leaning toward a traditional school with a possible special program. Reid kept talking about the "possibilities," but even she read the room and didn’t push for the magnet school like last time.
1) They plan to present a boundary for the western high school by the end of October. Aren’t they supposed to provide new scenarios for boundary changes soon? I’m unclear on how and when they’ll combine these two boundary studies. 2) The current draft model for the western high school will only relieve Westfield, Centreville, and Chantilly. Does this mean Crossfield and Fox Mill students won’t go to KAA? What about Oak Hill? McDaniel said relief should also be provided to Oakton and SLHS. Oakton is getting overcrowded, so this will be interesting to watch. 3) The first few years will be rough. They plan to start with 9th and 10th grades. No juniors, no seniors, and no traditions. The county needs to retrofit/renovate the building to increase capacity. Sports teams will likely be weaker and smaller if they field teams in the first year (but easier to get in) |
Anonymous
Another poster who watched the work session. Here are my reactions to your points: 1) Dr. Reid doesn't want to slow down the county-wide boundary study, so she wants to stick to the current October community meetings. She hopes they'll have draft boundaries for KAA by the end of October, and that it could be merged with the other boundary proposals by the time the School Board votes on boundary changes next January. If they can pull that off, they may need to have some separate public hearings on KAA boundaries. 2) The slide deck pointed to Westfield, Centreville, and Chantilly as the three overcrowded schools in the region. That doesn't mean that there can't or won't be boundary adjustments affecting other schools. As to the schools that will feed into KAA, they are saying KAA will only accommodate around 2000 when it's been modified in 3-5 years. So it's going to be a small school. The most likely schools to feed into KAA will be Coates, McNair, Floris, and Oak Hill. Anything else would depend on space. Fox Mill probably stays at South Lakes, though the South Lakes part of Floris could move. For sure, they will end up moving some Centreville feeder(s) into Westfield, and it's possible that the rest of Crossfield will be moved into South Lakes to give kids now going to Oakton a shorter commute. 3) The first two or three years will be rough. There will be a contingent of people happy that they have their "own school," and others unhappy that their kids aren't having a typical high school experience for the first few years. Right now, the building only has room for about 1200-1300 kids, which is why they want to start with two grades and around 1000 kids. They will spend another $50-75 million on top of the $150 purchase price to get the school in an eventual position to accommodate 2000 kids. It's going to be one of the smaller HS in the county. Maybe for the first two years they only have JV teams and don't compete at the varsity level. They also probably won't be able to offer the same breadth of courses in the first two years that a school with three or four grades can offer, which will be an issue for some advanced kids. |
Anonymous
Carson is large only because it’s a popular AAP center. If I remember correctly, its boundary includes only five elementary schools: Floris, McNair, Coates, Fox Mill, and Crossfield (and a fraction of Oak Hill kids, which will be moved to Chantilly according to the proposal) Assuming an average class size of 100 students per grade, that’s approximately 500 students per year. Since KAA’s capacity is 2,000, it could accommodate every student in Carson’s boundary. This seems like the cleanest solution. If Oak Hill goes to KAA, then either Fox Mill students stay with SLHS, Crossfield stay with Oakton, or Coates students are moved to HHS. |
Anonymous
You are putting your own speculation into some of this. You may be correct, but I disagree with you on some points. I do not think they will move Crossfield to South Lakes. Opening a school with only two grades is normal. I experienced that many years ago. But, being in a new school also comes with some energy. I feel sure they can have a wide expanse of classes. Agree about varsity limitations. That will start when they have juniors--except in sports that have only varsity. I never heard anything about $75 million. Someone else put that out there (you ?) Sounds like you are trying to throw cold water. Why? I think they may take some Chantilly kids into Westfield and a small number of Centreville. |
Anonymous
I made it clear when I'm speculating. Of course, I don't know if they'll move any part of Crossfield. What we do know is that board members like Frisch and McDaniel keep coming back to the long commutes that some families have to Oakton. There likely won't be room for Crossfield at KAA, but if KAA takes part of South Lakes then more of Crossfield could go there. It doesn't give them a new school, but it does give them a shorter commute. Otherwise, it looks pretty stupid for Frisch and McDaniel to keep suggesting KAA is part of a solution to the long commutes some have to Oakton. Opening a high school with only two grades is not normal in FCPS. It may be the norm elsewhere, but when new high schools opened in FCPS in the past they opened with 9-11 grades. The proposal to open it as a 9-10 school is a function of the limited current capacity of KAA and the desire of Reid to open the school sooner rather than later. There might be a good case to hold off for another year, spend more time customizing KAA, and opening it as a 9-11 school. Especially if they want to have some type of "pathways" program at KAA that they haven't landed on yet and might require some special courses. I don't disagree that there's energy associated with a new school, but that doesn't mean everyone will be happy if there kids are assigned or re-assigned (and there won't be grandfathering) to a new school that won't have the same activities or courses as a typical high school for a few years. As for the incremental costs beyond the initial $150 million, the Facilities head said the main building costs could be $50 million and the costs to get the two small 15,000 square feet buildings ready could be $12 million. Add in some other costs for sports facilities and cost creep, and you could potentially get to $75 million - which is a figure that others (not me) previously suggested. Personally, I'd rather we spend as little on top of the $150 million as possible, since the KAA expenditures weren't anticipated before 2034 and are going to delay other renovation projects. I'm not trying to throw cold water on the new school, only for there to be some measure of candor that the additional costs could be substantial and that it's not necessarily going to be a great deal for everyone, especially if their kids don't have the same opportunities at KAA that they would have had at their current schools or they are redistricted to a school other than KAA school against their wishes. Why aren't YOU prepared to acknowledge this? |