FCPS' plans to address concerns at under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

1. Gunston/Halley/Laurel Hill/Lorton Station ES boundaries

2. Bren Mar Park ES feeders

My suspicion with these two is that FCPS will fill Lewis with Bren Mar Park elementary, which also serves to take kids out of over-enrolled and still growing with new development Edison. I’m not sure what the middle school situation will be but I suspect they will stay at Holmes.

The first situation is significantly more complicated now that they aren’t moving any students out of WSHS to South County. Let me just say if they WERE moving some of Hunt Valley to South County, the move here would actually be more straightforward: the Hagel Circle (Halley) attendance island would almost certainly go to Lorton Station ES and then to Hayfield. South County is not as large as many other MS and HS and would need to lose some students if it picked up 40% of large HVES. LSES is already at Hayfield so the move is pretty clean.

However, without any new students coming into SC, I believe the right thing to do now in terms of balancing enrollments between SC and Hayfield is sending Hagel Circle to Gunston and keeping them at South County, and not adding new students to LSES and keeping them at Hayfield. But there is a lot going on there. Lorton Station’s PTA is lobbying to have their whole school at South County with or without Hagel Circle. I suspect they would have to take Hagel Circle as a prisoner swap if the powers that be grant their wishes to be zoned for SC, but they are fighting against it. And the influential Mason Neck people are lobbying to keep Hagel Circle out of Gunston ES. South County would be bursting at the seams with an additional large elementary (LSES is quite large) added to its attendance area, especially the middle school would be well over capacity. Hayfield would then be well UNDER capacity if it lost a whole feeder and, with Bren Mar Park being added to Lewis, it doesn’t seem likely that Hayfield would pick up students from Edison. But adding Hagel Circle to Gunston would likely push Gunston into Title 1 status. And the SB members have already announced they want to fill Halley Elementary’s excess capacity once Hagel Circle is gone with a Korean immersion program, so staying at Halley as an attendance island won’t be happening long term.

Also - Lorton Station is the AAP center for the South County pyramid + Saratoga ES which is zoned for Lewis. If LSES was fully added to the SC pyramid, I believe enrollments would go haywire at the other elementary schools in the SC pyramid. Right now barely anyone goes to the center because everyone sees it as “less than” compared to the neighborhood elementaries and it’s not even in pyramid. The center at LSES is full of Saratoga kids backdooring out of there and Key MS. If it was in pyramid - I think people’s decision making would change and you’d see some significant enrollment drops starting in 3rd at Newington Forest and Halley (the two smaller schools - Silverbrook is large enough to support a larger LLIV program and I believe Laurel Hill is as well but not sure on that).

The Lorton issue will get ugly. I am glad my kids are out of Gunston soon. The school is becoming overwhelmed with lower income students with behavioral issues. Mason Neck residents should be fighting hard to keep Hagel Circle out. It’s a shame since Mason Neck is a truly beautiful area of the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The boundary review made it very clear that parents don't want their kids to be moved from one school to another. This is even more true when the move requires moving from a higher ranked school with better test scores to a school that it far lower in the rankings, with bad test scores, and fewer offerings of higher level courses. Toss in moving kids from an AP HS to an IB HS and you have all sorts or rioting.

The school board is trying to limit students moving out of the lower ranked schools by removing the pupil placement option for a foreign language, which will turn off the moves from one AP school to another for a language, think Herndon to Langley for Russian. It does nothing to stop the move from an IB school to an AP school, which provides plenty of room for kids to leave Lewis. Removing the language option does reduce the students ability to ask for a specific school because they want to take a language offered at West Springfield that is not offered at Lewis or the other near by AP school that is not over enrolled.

There are fewer than 10 transfers from Herndon to Langley this year. On the other hand, there are 158 transfers from Herndon (AP) to South Lakes (IB).

They have shown no interest in replacing IB with AP at schools, which would eliminate the basis for many pupil placements. On the other hand, they do seem intent on having AAP at every middle school and that should reduce the number of high school pupil placements out of pyramids like Herndon, Lewis, and Robinson that don't have middle school AAP centers. If and when every middle school has AAP that could require adjustments at middle schools like Rocky Run (which would lose a lot of kids) and Thoreau (which would gain a lot of kids), with accompanying changes eventually to some high school boundaries.

Apart from that, there were a number of boundary issues that weren't addressed this year, but which Reid has said will be revisited by January 2027. FCPS staff has said they include:

1. Gunston/Halley/Laurel Hill/Lorton Station ES boundaries

2. Bren Mar Park ES feeders

3. Greenway Downs/Jefferson Village/City Park Homes/Kingsley Commons

3. Rolling Valley feeders and Keene Mill ES.

Interesting on Herndon, I remember reading about there being a parent paid bus to get kids to Langley from Herndon using the russian langauge so I thought the number was higher than 10 kids. I knew about the SLHS kids, I think people have explained that as the AAP kids who attend Hughes pupil place a SLHS using either IB or Japanese, now it would have to be IB.

But yes, making IB a program kids can apply to participate in, like Loudon and Arlington do, while having full AP at every school would end a lot of the pupil placement and would bring back some higher test scores to the IB schools that lose kids to AP placements. I believe that the kids who apply for the program in other counties commit to completing the diploma and not just taking 4 IB classes.

I do like that they are putting AAP at all the MS and eliminating MS Centers. There are enough kids coming from different ES to have AAP offerings at all the MS. That will reduce some of the desire to pupil place to be with friends from ES and MS in HS.

It was families at Westfield, not Herndon, supposedly organizing a bus of some sort to get to Langley.

Yes, but it was families in Herndon zoned to Carson--Westfield who were basically paying to upgrade their kids to Langley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

1. Gunston/Halley/Laurel Hill/Lorton Station ES boundaries

2. Bren Mar Park ES feeders

My suspicion with these two is that FCPS will fill Lewis with Bren Mar Park elementary, which also serves to take kids out of over-enrolled and still growing with new development Edison. I’m not sure what the middle school situation will be but I suspect they will stay at Holmes.

The first situation is significantly more complicated now that they aren’t moving any students out of WSHS to South County. Let me just say if they WERE moving some of Hunt Valley to South County, the move here would actually be more straightforward: the Hagel Circle (Halley) attendance island would almost certainly go to Lorton Station ES and then to Hayfield. South County is not as large as many other MS and HS and would need to lose some students if it picked up 40% of large HVES. LSES is already at Hayfield so the move is pretty clean.

However, without any new students coming into SC, I believe the right thing to do now in terms of balancing enrollments between SC and Hayfield is sending Hagel Circle to Gunston and keeping them at South County, and not adding new students to LSES and keeping them at Hayfield. But there is a lot going on there. Lorton Station’s PTA is lobbying to have their whole school at South County with or without Hagel Circle. I suspect they would have to take Hagel Circle as a prisoner swap if the powers that be grant their wishes to be zoned for SC, but they are fighting against it. And the influential Mason Neck people are lobbying to keep Hagel Circle out of Gunston ES. South County would be bursting at the seams with an additional large elementary (LSES is quite large) added to its attendance area, especially the middle school would be well over capacity. Hayfield would then be well UNDER capacity if it lost a whole feeder and, with Bren Mar Park being added to Lewis, it doesn’t seem likely that Hayfield would pick up students from Edison. But adding Hagel Circle to Gunston would likely push Gunston into Title 1 status. And the SB members have already announced they want to fill Halley Elementary’s excess capacity once Hagel Circle is gone with a Korean immersion program, so staying at Halley as an attendance island won’t be happening long term.

Also - Lorton Station is the AAP center for the South County pyramid + Saratoga ES which is zoned for Lewis. If LSES was fully added to the SC pyramid, I believe enrollments would go haywire at the other elementary schools in the SC pyramid. Right now barely anyone goes to the center because everyone sees it as “less than” compared to the neighborhood elementaries and it’s not even in pyramid. The center at LSES is full of Saratoga kids backdooring out of there and Key MS. If it was in pyramid - I think people’s decision making would change and you’d see some significant enrollment drops starting in 3rd at Newington Forest and Halley (the two smaller schools - Silverbrook is large enough to support a larger LLIV program and I believe Laurel Hill is as well but not sure on that).

The Lorton issue will get ugly. I am glad my kids are out of Gunston soon. The school is becoming overwhelmed with lower income students with behavioral issues. Mason Neck residents should be fighting hard to keep Hagel Circle out. It’s a shame since Mason Neck is a truly beautiful area of the county.

This has racial implication and a negative connotation.

Lorton Station is in the Hayfield pyramid, and part of Gunston split feeds to hayfield, but yes, it serves the 4 core south county pyramid schools, Gunston, plus 2 others not in the pyramid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The boundary review made it very clear that parents don't want their kids to be moved from one school to another. This is even more true when the move requires moving from a higher ranked school with better test scores to a school that it far lower in the rankings, with bad test scores, and fewer offerings of higher level courses. Toss in moving kids from an AP HS to an IB HS and you have all sorts or rioting.

The school board is trying to limit students moving out of the lower ranked schools by removing the pupil placement option for a foreign language, which will turn off the moves from one AP school to another for a language, think Herndon to Langley for Russian. It does nothing to stop the move from an IB school to an AP school, which provides plenty of room for kids to leave Lewis. Removing the language option does reduce the students ability to ask for a specific school because they want to take a language offered at West Springfield that is not offered at Lewis or the other near by AP school that is not over enrolled.

The part is bold is accurate:

“The school board is trying to limit students moving out of the lower ranked schools”

- that school board philosophy is entirely consistent with the board’s commitment to equity (as well as diversity and inclusion).

It is right in their “One Fairfax” plan, which directs every decision they and Reid make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The boundary review made it very clear that parents don't want their kids to be moved from one school to another. This is even more true when the move requires moving from a higher ranked school with better test scores to a school that it far lower in the rankings, with bad test scores, and fewer offerings of higher level courses. Toss in moving kids from an AP HS to an IB HS and you have all sorts or rioting.

The school board is trying to limit students moving out of the lower ranked schools by removing the pupil placement option for a foreign language, which will turn off the moves from one AP school to another for a language, think Herndon to Langley for Russian. It does nothing to stop the move from an IB school to an AP school, which provides plenty of room for kids to leave Lewis. Removing the language option does reduce the students ability to ask for a specific school because they want to take a language offered at West Springfield that is not offered at Lewis or the other near by AP school that is not over enrolled.

The part is bold is accurate:

“The school board is trying to limit students moving out of the lower ranked schools”

- that school board philosophy is entirely consistent with the board’s commitment to equity (as well as diversity and inclusion).

It is right in their “One Fairfax” plan, which directs every decision they and Reid make.

Yawn. We all know they rarely act in ways that align with One Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

1. Gunston/Halley/Laurel Hill/Lorton Station ES boundaries

2. Bren Mar Park ES feeders

My suspicion with these two is that FCPS will fill Lewis with Bren Mar Park elementary, which also serves to take kids out of over-enrolled and still growing with new development Edison. I’m not sure what the middle school situation will be but I suspect they will stay at Holmes.

The first situation is significantly more complicated now that they aren’t moving any students out of WSHS to South County. Let me just say if they WERE moving some of Hunt Valley to South County, the move here would actually be more straightforward: the Hagel Circle (Halley) attendance island would almost certainly go to Lorton Station ES and then to Hayfield. South County is not as large as many other MS and HS and would need to lose some students if it picked up 40% of large HVES. LSES is already at Hayfield so the move is pretty clean.

However, without any new students coming into SC, I believe the right thing to do now in terms of balancing enrollments between SC and Hayfield is sending Hagel Circle to Gunston and keeping them at South County, and not adding new students to LSES and keeping them at Hayfield. But there is a lot going on there. Lorton Station’s PTA is lobbying to have their whole school at South County with or without Hagel Circle. I suspect they would have to take Hagel Circle as a prisoner swap if the powers that be grant their wishes to be zoned for SC, but they are fighting against it. And the influential Mason Neck people are lobbying to keep Hagel Circle out of Gunston ES. South County would be bursting at the seams with an additional large elementary (LSES is quite large) added to its attendance area, especially the middle school would be well over capacity. Hayfield would then be well UNDER capacity if it lost a whole feeder and, with Bren Mar Park being added to Lewis, it doesn’t seem likely that Hayfield would pick up students from Edison. But adding Hagel Circle to Gunston would likely push Gunston into Title 1 status. And the SB members have already announced they want to fill Halley Elementary’s excess capacity once Hagel Circle is gone with a Korean immersion program, so staying at Halley as an attendance island won’t be happening long term.

Also - Lorton Station is the AAP center for the South County pyramid + Saratoga ES which is zoned for Lewis. If LSES was fully added to the SC pyramid, I believe enrollments would go haywire at the other elementary schools in the SC pyramid. Right now barely anyone goes to the center because everyone sees it as “less than” compared to the neighborhood elementaries and it’s not even in pyramid. The center at LSES is full of Saratoga kids backdooring out of there and Key MS. If it was in pyramid - I think people’s decision making would change and you’d see some significant enrollment drops starting in 3rd at Newington Forest and Halley (the two smaller schools - Silverbrook is large enough to support a larger LLIV program and I believe Laurel Hill is as well but not sure on that).

The Lorton issue will get ugly. I am glad my kids are out of Gunston soon. The school is becoming overwhelmed with lower income students with behavioral issues. Mason Neck residents should be fighting hard to keep Hagel Circle out. It’s a shame since Mason Neck is a truly beautiful area of the county.

This has racial implication and a negative connotation.

Lorton Station is in the Hayfield pyramid, and part of Gunston split feeds to hayfield, but yes, it serves the 4 core south county pyramid schools, Gunston, plus 2 others not in the pyramid.

If you’re referring to the Lorton Station AAP center impacting its capacity, the numbers are available online. The largest amount of students using the center are from Saratoga Elementary which is not in the South County or Hayfield Pyramid. It’s not students from Gunston or the other South County elementary schools seeking to use the AAP center since they have local level IV. Lorton Station’s capacity is being impacted by parents from a Lewis zoned elementary school seeking a back door out of Lewis. If they use the Lorton Station AAP center, they can attend Lake Braddock for middle school AAP. Without the center, there is plenty of room for Hagel Circle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

1. Gunston/Halley/Laurel Hill/Lorton Station ES boundaries

2. Bren Mar Park ES feeders

My suspicion with these two is that FCPS will fill Lewis with Bren Mar Park elementary, which also serves to take kids out of over-enrolled and still growing with new development Edison. I’m not sure what the middle school situation will be but I suspect they will stay at Holmes.

The first situation is significantly more complicated now that they aren’t moving any students out of WSHS to South County. Let me just say if they WERE moving some of Hunt Valley to South County, the move here would actually be more straightforward: the Hagel Circle (Halley) attendance island would almost certainly go to Lorton Station ES and then to Hayfield. South County is not as large as many other MS and HS and would need to lose some students if it picked up 40% of large HVES. LSES is already at Hayfield so the move is pretty clean.

However, without any new students coming into SC, I believe the right thing to do now in terms of balancing enrollments between SC and Hayfield is sending Hagel Circle to Gunston and keeping them at South County, and not adding new students to LSES and keeping them at Hayfield. But there is a lot going on there. Lorton Station’s PTA is lobbying to have their whole school at South County with or without Hagel Circle. I suspect they would have to take Hagel Circle as a prisoner swap if the powers that be grant their wishes to be zoned for SC, but they are fighting against it. And the influential Mason Neck people are lobbying to keep Hagel Circle out of Gunston ES. South County would be bursting at the seams with an additional large elementary (LSES is quite large) added to its attendance area, especially the middle school would be well over capacity. Hayfield would then be well UNDER capacity if it lost a whole feeder and, with Bren Mar Park being added to Lewis, it doesn’t seem likely that Hayfield would pick up students from Edison. But adding Hagel Circle to Gunston would likely push Gunston into Title 1 status. And the SB members have already announced they want to fill Halley Elementary’s excess capacity once Hagel Circle is gone with a Korean immersion program, so staying at Halley as an attendance island won’t be happening long term.

Also - Lorton Station is the AAP center for the South County pyramid + Saratoga ES which is zoned for Lewis. If LSES was fully added to the SC pyramid, I believe enrollments would go haywire at the other elementary schools in the SC pyramid. Right now barely anyone goes to the center because everyone sees it as “less than” compared to the neighborhood elementaries and it’s not even in pyramid. The center at LSES is full of Saratoga kids backdooring out of there and Key MS. If it was in pyramid - I think people’s decision making would change and you’d see some significant enrollment drops starting in 3rd at Newington Forest and Halley (the two smaller schools - Silverbrook is large enough to support a larger LLIV program and I believe Laurel Hill is as well but not sure on that).

The Lorton issue will get ugly. I am glad my kids are out of Gunston soon. The school is becoming overwhelmed with lower income students with behavioral issues. Mason Neck residents should be fighting hard to keep Hagel Circle out. It’s a shame since Mason Neck is a truly beautiful area of the county.

This has racial implication and a negative connotation.

Lorton Station is in the Hayfield pyramid, and part of Gunston split feeds to hayfield, but yes, it serves the 4 core south county pyramid schools, Gunston, plus 2 others not in the pyramid.

If you’re referring to the Lorton Station AAP center impacting its capacity, the numbers are available online. The largest amount of students using the center are from Saratoga Elementary which is not in the South County or Hayfield Pyramid. It’s not students from Gunston or the other South County elementary schools seeking to use the AAP center since they have local level IV. Lorton Station’s capacity is being impacted by parents from a Lewis zoned elementary school seeking a back door out of Lewis. If they use the Lorton Station AAP center, they can attend Lake Braddock for middle school AAP. Without the center, there is plenty of room for Hagel Circle.

Parents in the Lewis pyramid with LLIV-eligible kids have as much right to send their kids to an AAP center as any other parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

1. Gunston/Halley/Laurel Hill/Lorton Station ES boundaries

2. Bren Mar Park ES feeders

My suspicion with these two is that FCPS will fill Lewis with Bren Mar Park elementary, which also serves to take kids out of over-enrolled and still growing with new development Edison. I’m not sure what the middle school situation will be but I suspect they will stay at Holmes.

The first situation is significantly more complicated now that they aren’t moving any students out of WSHS to South County. Let me just say if they WERE moving some of Hunt Valley to South County, the move here would actually be more straightforward: the Hagel Circle (Halley) attendance island would almost certainly go to Lorton Station ES and then to Hayfield. South County is not as large as many other MS and HS and would need to lose some students if it picked up 40% of large HVES. LSES is already at Hayfield so the move is pretty clean.

However, without any new students coming into SC, I believe the right thing to do now in terms of balancing enrollments between SC and Hayfield is sending Hagel Circle to Gunston and keeping them at South County, and not adding new students to LSES and keeping them at Hayfield. But there is a lot going on there. Lorton Station’s PTA is lobbying to have their whole school at South County with or without Hagel Circle. I suspect they would have to take Hagel Circle as a prisoner swap if the powers that be grant their wishes to be zoned for SC, but they are fighting against it. And the influential Mason Neck people are lobbying to keep Hagel Circle out of Gunston ES. South County would be bursting at the seams with an additional large elementary (LSES is quite large) added to its attendance area, especially the middle school would be well over capacity. Hayfield would then be well UNDER capacity if it lost a whole feeder and, with Bren Mar Park being added to Lewis, it doesn’t seem likely that Hayfield would pick up students from Edison. But adding Hagel Circle to Gunston would likely push Gunston into Title 1 status. And the SB members have already announced they want to fill Halley Elementary’s excess capacity once Hagel Circle is gone with a Korean immersion program, so staying at Halley as an attendance island won’t be happening long term.

Also - Lorton Station is the AAP center for the South County pyramid + Saratoga ES which is zoned for Lewis. If LSES was fully added to the SC pyramid, I believe enrollments would go haywire at the other elementary schools in the SC pyramid. Right now barely anyone goes to the center because everyone sees it as “less than” compared to the neighborhood elementaries and it’s not even in pyramid. The center at LSES is full of Saratoga kids backdooring out of there and Key MS. If it was in pyramid - I think people’s decision making would change and you’d see some significant enrollment drops starting in 3rd at Newington Forest and Halley (the two smaller schools - Silverbrook is large enough to support a larger LLIV program and I believe Laurel Hill is as well but not sure on that).

The Lorton issue will get ugly. I am glad my kids are out of Gunston soon. The school is becoming overwhelmed with lower income students with behavioral issues. Mason Neck residents should be fighting hard to keep Hagel Circle out. It’s a shame since Mason Neck is a truly beautiful area of the county.

This has racial implication and a negative connotation.

Lorton Station is in the Hayfield pyramid, and part of Gunston split feeds to hayfield, but yes, it serves the 4 core south county pyramid schools, Gunston, plus 2 others not in the pyramid.

If you’re referring to the Lorton Station AAP center impacting its capacity, the numbers are available online. The largest amount of students using the center are from Saratoga Elementary which is not in the South County or Hayfield Pyramid. It’s not students from Gunston or the other South County elementary schools seeking to use the AAP center since they have local level IV. Lorton Station’s capacity is being impacted by parents from a Lewis zoned elementary school seeking a back door out of Lewis. If they use the Lorton Station AAP center, they can attend Lake Braddock for middle school AAP. Without the center, there is plenty of room for Hagel Circle.

Parents in the Lewis pyramid with LLIV-eligible kids have as much right to send their kids to an AAP center as any other parents.

Sure but why is Saratoga’s AAP center Lorton Station and not Springfield Estates like the rest of the pyramid?

Regardless, it doesn’t seem like changing AAP center feeder patterns is on the table right now anyway.

[Anonymous]

Get rid of IB or offer a full AP slate at IB schools and you would solve a LOT of problems. Pupil placement is out of control.

[Anonymous]

The school board just sent out an email about a meeting on April 24 to discuss future boundary changes for Bren Mar Park so looks like things might be changing soon there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school board just sent out an email about a meeting on April 24 to discuss future boundary changes for Bren Mar Park so looks like things might be changing soon there

It seems like they are moving forward with the possible reassignment of Bren Mar Park to Lewis or Annandale, but may have abandoned for now the possible movement of more Glasgow/Justice kids to Poe/Falls Church and Holmes/Annandale. Reid originally said they would take that up by January 2027, but it wasn't included on a list of timelines circulated in advance of a work session earlier this week.

[Anonymous]

Great Falls Elementary School enrollment is down as well patents are opting for private schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great Falls Elementary School enrollment is down as well patents are opting for private schools

Is it that or is it that millennial parents with elementary age kids don’t want to live in Great Falls? It’s a little more isolated than many areas of the county and that doesn’t appeal to everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

1. Gunston/Halley/Laurel Hill/Lorton Station ES boundaries

2. Bren Mar Park ES feeders

My suspicion with these two is that FCPS will fill Lewis with Bren Mar Park elementary, which also serves to take kids out of over-enrolled and still growing with new development Edison. I’m not sure what the middle school situation will be but I suspect they will stay at Holmes.

The first situation is significantly more complicated now that they aren’t moving any students out of WSHS to South County. Let me just say if they WERE moving some of Hunt Valley to South County, the move here would actually be more straightforward: the Hagel Circle (Halley) attendance island would almost certainly go to Lorton Station ES and then to Hayfield. South County is not as large as many other MS and HS and would need to lose some students if it picked up 40% of large HVES. LSES is already at Hayfield so the move is pretty clean.

However, without any new students coming into SC, I believe the right thing to do now in terms of balancing enrollments between SC and Hayfield is sending Hagel Circle to Gunston and keeping them at South County, and not adding new students to LSES and keeping them at Hayfield. But there is a lot going on there. Lorton Station’s PTA is lobbying to have their whole school at South County with or without Hagel Circle. I suspect they would have to take Hagel Circle as a prisoner swap if the powers that be grant their wishes to be zoned for SC, but they are fighting against it. And the influential Mason Neck people are lobbying to keep Hagel Circle out of Gunston ES. South County would be bursting at the seams with an additional large elementary (LSES is quite large) added to its attendance area, especially the middle school would be well over capacity. Hayfield would then be well UNDER capacity if it lost a whole feeder and, with Bren Mar Park being added to Lewis, it doesn’t seem likely that Hayfield would pick up students from Edison. But adding Hagel Circle to Gunston would likely push Gunston into Title 1 status. And the SB members have already announced they want to fill Halley Elementary’s excess capacity once Hagel Circle is gone with a Korean immersion program, so staying at Halley as an attendance island won’t be happening long term.

Also - Lorton Station is the AAP center for the South County pyramid + Saratoga ES which is zoned for Lewis. If LSES was fully added to the SC pyramid, I believe enrollments would go haywire at the other elementary schools in the SC pyramid. Right now barely anyone goes to the center because everyone sees it as “less than” compared to the neighborhood elementaries and it’s not even in pyramid. The center at LSES is full of Saratoga kids backdooring out of there and Key MS. If it was in pyramid - I think people’s decision making would change and you’d see some significant enrollment drops starting in 3rd at Newington Forest and Halley (the two smaller schools - Silverbrook is large enough to support a larger LLIV program and I believe Laurel Hill is as well but not sure on that).

The Lorton issue will get ugly. I am glad my kids are out of Gunston soon. The school is becoming overwhelmed with lower income students with behavioral issues. Mason Neck residents should be fighting hard to keep Hagel Circle out. It’s a shame since Mason Neck is a truly beautiful area of the county.

This has racial implication and a negative connotation.

Lorton Station is in the Hayfield pyramid, and part of Gunston split feeds to hayfield, but yes, it serves the 4 core south county pyramid schools, Gunston, plus 2 others not in the pyramid.

If you’re referring to the Lorton Station AAP center impacting its capacity, the numbers are available online. The largest amount of students using the center are from Saratoga Elementary which is not in the South County or Hayfield Pyramid. It’s not students from Gunston or the other South County elementary schools seeking to use the AAP center since they have local level IV. Lorton Station’s capacity is being impacted by parents from a Lewis zoned elementary school seeking a back door out of Lewis. If they use the Lorton Station AAP center, they can attend Lake Braddock for middle school AAP. Without the center, there is plenty of room for Hagel Circle.

Parents in the Lewis pyramid with LLIV-eligible kids have as much right to send their kids to an AAP center as any other parents.

They do, but it doesn’t need to be an AAP Center in another pyramid. Springfield Estates is the Lewis AAP center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great Falls Elementary School enrollment is down as well patents are opting for private schools

Is it that or is it that millennial parents with elementary age kids don’t want to live in Great Falls? It’s a little more isolated than many areas of the county and that doesn’t appeal to everyone.

Agree, most people with young children don't find aging mcmansions out in the middle of nowhere appealing.