FCPS is turning the new high school purchased to fix crowding into an Aviation magnet school instead of a high school??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When they moved part of Chantilly to Oakton - the move that led to the Chantilly parent assaulting Kathy Smith years later - Herndon did not have hundreds of empty seats.

Move that Oakton area back to Chantilly, part of Chantilly to Westfield, and part of Westfield north of 50 to Herndon. Then they can turn KAA into an aviation academy, or a culinary/hospitality academy, or whatever else they decide given the building’s likely capacity constraints.

Or.. hear me out… we could just make it a regular high school and stop wasting everyone’s time and money. There is not some magical pot of money. The budget is strained. Do the cost effective thing that has the most benefits to everyone.

I know. Unheard of for FCPS. But we could at least try just this once?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When they moved part of Chantilly to Oakton - the move that led to the Chantilly parent assaulting Kathy Smith years later - Herndon did not have hundreds of empty seats.

Move that Oakton area back to Chantilly, part of Chantilly to Westfield, and part of Westfield north of 50 to Herndon. Then they can turn KAA into an aviation academy, or a culinary/hospitality academy, or whatever else they decide given the building’s likely capacity constraints.

Or.. hear me out… we could just make it a regular high school and stop wasting everyone’s time and money. There is not some magical pot of money. The budget is strained. Do the cost effective thing that has the most benefits to everyone.

I know. Unheard of for FCPS. But we could at least try just this once?

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When they moved part of Chantilly to Oakton - the move that led to the Chantilly parent assaulting Kathy Smith years later - Herndon did not have hundreds of empty seats.

Move that Oakton area back to Chantilly, part of Chantilly to Westfield, and part of Westfield north of 50 to Herndon. Then they can turn KAA into an aviation academy, or a culinary/hospitality academy, or whatever else they decide given the building’s likely capacity constraints.

Or.. hear me out… we could just make it a regular high school and stop wasting everyone’s time and money. There is not some magical pot of money. The budget is strained. Do the cost effective thing that has the most benefits to everyone.

I know. Unheard of for FCPS. But we could at least try just this once?

DP - please run for school board. Please.

[Anonymous]

This makes me sick. Spend the money on safety- SROS, security guards, vaping detection, drug dogs, technology filtering/controls, more staff. Hire more staff do that elementary teachers can actually teach. There is so much fluff and show and wasted money on programs like this, when the basics of quality education and safe schools is not funded adequately.

[Anonymous]

For the sake of discussion, lets ignore the likely possibility that this school will be one of the smaller high schools in the county and the wisdom of shrinking the district boundaries to open up space for a magnet program....

Lets also ignore the wisdom of putting a magnet program on the outer western edges of the county, far away for students on the other side of the county, rather than in the middle of the county ...

Has there been any due diligence into whether there is pent up demand for Aviation magnet school? Is this just being thrown at the wall to see if will stick?

[Anonymous]

Look at Reid's emails and photo ops. Just think of the photos with jets she can post. It's all about the photos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When they moved part of Chantilly to Oakton - the move that led to the Chantilly parent assaulting Kathy Smith years later - Herndon did not have hundreds of empty seats.

Move that Oakton area back to Chantilly, part of Chantilly to Westfield, and part of Westfield north of 50 to Herndon. Then they can turn KAA into an aviation academy, or a culinary/hospitality academy, or whatever else they decide given the building’s likely capacity constraints.

Or.. hear me out… we could just make it a regular high school and stop wasting everyone’s time and money. There is not some magical pot of money. The budget is strained. Do the cost effective thing that has the most benefits to everyone.

I know. Unheard of for FCPS. But we could at least try just this once?

We don't know yet what would save or waste everyone's time and money. KAA was built to accommodate 1250 kids as a private school. It never actually had that many kids, apparently. Maybe FCPS would put more kids in classrooms, but it could still be the smallest HS in the county in terms of its design and program capacity. Would the community accept this, or would they be asking FCPS to spend tens if not hundreds millions more on top of the $150 million that the School Board dropped to aquire the building in order to customize and expand KAA so it can have as many kids as Oakton or Chantilly? Or, conversely, could a smaller academy program make more sense given the potential capacity constraints?

Again, these are open questions because there's been no transparency and the communications from FCPS have sucked. But the one thing we do know is that those who think they are entitled to this new school are likely to keep insisting they are "owed" whatever they decide they want, regardless of the price tag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the sake of discussion, lets ignore the likely possibility that this school will be one of the smaller high schools in the county and the wisdom of shrinking the district boundaries to open up space for a magnet program....

Lets also ignore the wisdom of putting a magnet program on the outer western edges of the county, far away for students on the other side of the county, rather than in the middle of the county ...

Has there been any due diligence into whether there is pent up demand for Aviation magnet school? Is this just being thrown at the wall to see if will stick?

I am not at all advocating for there to be a magnet program at KAA, but the argument that it's at the edge of the county, far away for students on the other side of the county, is laughable. Ever heard of TJHSST? It's also at the far edge of the county, far away for students on the other side of the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are more schools int he area that would want to move then there is space, the idea of using this as a magnate school is ridiculous.

I know parents at Oakhill, Navy, Crossfield, and Fox Mill who would love to be at KAA. I don't know parents at McNair or Coates so I won't speak for them. The "space" for an academy would only be there because they will be adding classes as the kids move into the building. They could easily fill the capacity by the time all four grades are in to school.

The academy feels like a project to make one school board member happy, and I guess that happened at Lewis with the leadership academy so why not an aviation academy? It also strikes me as a way to try and tell parents that there is no space for their kid to move from SLHS or Westfields to the new academy, knowing that there are parents who would be happy to have their kids moved from SLHS or Westfield. It is an excuse to keep MC and UMC at moderatly high FARMS schools to keep test scores in an ok place at those schools.

It’s Coates, Floris, McNair, and Oak Hill that have first dibs on KAA, not Fox Mill or Crossfield, much less Navy. I know some have this fantasy of creating Langley 2.0 next door to Carson, but that was never going to happen with or without an aviation program part of the picture.

PP from 09:47, arguing that aviation academy may not be a conspiracy. I live no more than 2 miles from KAA, I am familiar with the local school boundaries.

Currently ES enrollment: see https://www.fcpsboundaryreview.org/
McNair 531
Coats: 983
Floris: 666
Oak Hill: 639

Total ES students above: 2819 for 7 grades.
Estimated HS students: 2819 * 4 grades / 7 grades = 1610.

Compare to HS enrollment from other nearby HSs: Chantilly: 2916, Herndon: 2230, Westfield: 2710. It's reasonable to expect the new HS target student body would be around 2000.

As you can see, the new HS either needs 400-500 students from ES feeders like Fox Mill, Xfield and/or Lee Corners, The problem with getting students from other ES is that that will turn those ES into split feeders, something FCPS is trying to avoid.

OR they can start an academy program to get that 400-500 kids to fill up the space. Note this is not a magnet school, it's academy similar to vocational academy in Chantilly, Marshalls etc. https://www.fcps.edu/academics/high/career-and-technical-education/academies-and-specialized-programs

Not sure about your numbers. Howeve4, Crossfield goes to Oakton which I s a brutal bus ride.

My numbers are from https://www.fcpsboundaryreview.org/ It is official.

Xfld has 529 students, 529 * 4 / 7 = 302 HS students. Even moving Xfled to new HS, it still is less than 400-500 shortage after Coats/OakHill/McNair/Floris.

My theme is, there is space in the new HS for an academy program. You can advocate your school to join the new HS without calling the aviation program a boondoggle. It's close to iAD, my of my neighbors are pilots and mechanics, with so many corporations near 267 corridor, it makes sense.

did you count enrollment at mcnair upper and lower? if not your numbers are off y 600 kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the sake of discussion, lets ignore the likely possibility that this school will be one of the smaller high schools in the county and the wisdom of shrinking the district boundaries to open up space for a magnet program....

Lets also ignore the wisdom of putting a magnet program on the outer western edges of the county, far away for students on the other side of the county, rather than in the middle of the county ...

Has there been any due diligence into whether there is pent up demand for Aviation magnet school? Is this just being thrown at the wall to see if will stick?

I am not at all advocating for there to be a magnet program at KAA, but the argument that it's at the edge of the county, far away for students on the other side of the county, is laughable. Ever heard of TJHSST? It's also at the far edge of the county, far away for students on the other side of the county.

Ignoring the "Lets also ignore" preface to that argument, I don't find it laughable because TJHSST exists and is not at the center of the county. I find it suboptimal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I emailed the school board and administration. They told me that this will absolutely not be a magnet school. The intent is to alleviate overcrowding at western high schools.

I don’t believe you.

Why would I lie? Why don't you try sending emails yourself and ask the question so you can see that I'm not lying.

I’m not sure why you would lie, but what you are saying is wholly inconsistent with the school board’s materials for tomorrow’s work session. I’m also skeptical of someone who says that they emailed the school board and administration rather than specific board members or specific staff. I would not have accused you of lying if you told me that member X or Y told you that they don’t plan to make it a magnet, but the school board has not come out with a position on this and in fact appears to be considering the exact opposite of what you claim.

In a nutshell, your claim doesn’t pass muster.

You, too, can email the administration and school board and see how they respond. The responses I received said those materials are one of many considerations but they were definitely not advocating for a magnet school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The superintendent is likely inspired by the wildly successful aviation magnet high school in Tukwila south of Seattle. I imagine that for FCPS, a successful aviation magnet program would help fill the school, especially as proximity to nearby high schools may make it hard to fill and draw boundaries.

That school (Raisbeck Aviation High School) is tiny though, ~400 kids. That's completely unrealistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I emailed the school board and administration. They told me that this will absolutely not be a magnet school. The intent is to alleviate overcrowding at western high schools.

Then why are almost all the documents posted on Board Docs for the August 26 work session about FCPS plan to make the new high school an Aviation magnet? The plans are quite detailed, down to specific curriculum. There are multiple documents posted in board docs by FCPS outlining the detailed plans. The plans already discuss their chosen corporate sponsors (Amazon for example) not simply a general statement of how they are going to set up bidding for corporate sponsors.

It sounds like our school board reps need to familiarize themselves with Board Docs.

The plans talk about an Academy program.

Right. But the school board member she called said there is no discussion about turning the new school into a magnet school.

It is all right there in board docs, and very well planned out.

The school board reps need to familiarize themselves with board docs. How on earth can any of them claim ignorance?

That's not what I said. They can discuss it all they want, but no one I heard back from wants this school to be a magnet school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are more schools int he area that would want to move then there is space, the idea of using this as a magnate school is ridiculous.

I know parents at Oakhill, Navy, Crossfield, and Fox Mill who would love to be at KAA. I don't know parents at McNair or Coates so I won't speak for them. The "space" for an academy would only be there because they will be adding classes as the kids move into the building. They could easily fill the capacity by the time all four grades are in to school.

The academy feels like a project to make one school board member happy, and I guess that happened at Lewis with the leadership academy so why not an aviation academy? It also strikes me as a way to try and tell parents that there is no space for their kid to move from SLHS or Westfields to the new academy, knowing that there are parents who would be happy to have their kids moved from SLHS or Westfield. It is an excuse to keep MC and UMC at moderatly high FARMS schools to keep test scores in an ok place at those schools.

It’s Coates, Floris, McNair, and Oak Hill that have first dibs on KAA, not Fox Mill or Crossfield, much less Navy. I know some have this fantasy of creating Langley 2.0 next door to Carson, but that was never going to happen with or without an aviation program part of the picture.

PP from 09:47, arguing that aviation academy may not be a conspiracy. I live no more than 2 miles from KAA, I am familiar with the local school boundaries.

Currently ES enrollment: see https://www.fcpsboundaryreview.org/
McNair 531
Coats: 983
Floris: 666
Oak Hill: 639

Total ES students above: 2819 for 7 grades.
Estimated HS students: 2819 * 4 grades / 7 grades = 1610.

Compare to HS enrollment from other nearby HSs: Chantilly: 2916, Herndon: 2230, Westfield: 2710. It's reasonable to expect the new HS target student body would be around 2000.

As you can see, the new HS either needs 400-500 students from ES feeders like Fox Mill, Xfield and/or Lee Corners, The problem with getting students from other ES is that that will turn those ES into split feeders, something FCPS is trying to avoid.

OR they can start an academy program to get that 400-500 kids to fill up the space. Note this is not a magnet school, it's academy similar to vocational academy in Chantilly, Marshalls etc. https://www.fcps.edu/academics/high/career-and-technical-education/academies-and-specialized-programs

Not sure about your numbers. Howeve4, Crossfield goes to Oakton which I s a brutal bus ride.

My numbers are from https://www.fcpsboundaryreview.org/ It is official.

Xfld has 529 students, 529 * 4 / 7 = 302 HS students. Even moving Xfled to new HS, it still is less than 400-500 shortage after Coats/OakHill/McNair/Floris.

My theme is, there is space in the new HS for an academy program. You can advocate your school to join the new HS without calling the aviation program a boondoggle. It's close to iAD, my of my neighbors are pilots and mechanics, with so many corporations near 267 corridor, it makes sense.

did you count enrollment at mcnair upper and lower? if not your numbers are off y 600 kids

DP. I tried a different approach.

Take the 3-6th graders (4 classes) this past June at Coates (529), Floris (383), McNair Upper (612), and Oak Hill (408). That comes to 1932 students. Assume 100 go to TJ. That takes you down to 1832, the size of a smaller high school.

Crossfield would add another 312 kids, which almost takes you to the size of a typical FCPS high school. Fox Mill would add 358, but that number would need to be reduced for out-of-boundary Japanese immersion kids.

Much depends on the actual capacity of the KAA building as a public HS, something FCPS has either not yet determined or not yet disclosed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I emailed the school board and administration. They told me that this will absolutely not be a magnet school. The intent is to alleviate overcrowding at western high schools.

I don’t believe you.

Why would I lie? Why don't you try sending emails yourself and ask the question so you can see that I'm not lying.

I’m not sure why you would lie, but what you are saying is wholly inconsistent with the school board’s materials for tomorrow’s work session. I’m also skeptical of someone who says that they emailed the school board and administration rather than specific board members or specific staff. I would not have accused you of lying if you told me that member X or Y told you that they don’t plan to make it a magnet, but the school board has not come out with a position on this and in fact appears to be considering the exact opposite of what you claim.

In a nutshell, your claim doesn’t pass muster.

You, too, can email the administration and school board and see how they respond. The responses I received said those materials are one of many considerations but they were definitely not advocating for a magnet school.

This School Board is deeply incompetent in that they constantly allow Reid and FCPS staff to float crap that the School Board members then quickly try to distance themselves from. This has happened repeatedly with the larger boundary review.

When they continue to fail at providing any meaningful oversight, no one really has any clue what FCPS is doing.