High School Overcrowding 2024

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

Yes, these estimates aren't accurate looking ahead to when today's elementary kids are going to be in MS and HS (when we're going to gain at least 250 to 400 students per grade over what we have now).

APS has delayed and planned poorly for the past decade. They were going to throw everything at the Career Center (a terrible plan and not thought out at all) but of course have discovered that it won't work within budget. They will be making a final decision this week though based on absolutely no plan. I guess they'll be winging it and hope for the best.

So, I would look elsewhere. APS in the next decade is going to be pretty bad for secondary students. At any rate, don't judge based solely on which school is the most overcrowded now. APS will be re-drawing MS and HS boundaries again this fall, and will probably re-do them every 2 to 3 years for the foreseeable future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

I thought PP was saying with WL addition, and probably trailers at YT and WK, we have enough capacity for the enrollment pipeline. If we had 3000 at WL, then would have a crisis.

Isn’t HB also expanding enrollment to relive the other schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

Yes, these estimates aren't accurate looking ahead to when today's elementary kids are going to be in MS and HS (when we're going to gain at least 250 to 400 students per grade over what we have now).

APS has delayed and planned poorly for the past decade. They were going to throw everything at the Career Center (a terrible plan and not thought out at all) but of course have discovered that it won't work within budget. They will be making a final decision this week though based on absolutely no plan. I guess they'll be winging it and hope for the best.

So, I would look elsewhere. APS in the next decade is going to be pretty bad for secondary students. At any rate, don't judge based solely on which school is the most overcrowded now. APS will be re-drawing MS and HS boundaries again this fall, and will probably re-do them every 2 to 3 years for the foreseeable future.

NP. We bought in Arlington for commute and schools. Now the schools are failing and commute is non existent. Should we just bail for Hoco or FFX?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

I thought PP was saying with WL addition, and probably trailers at YT and WK, we have enough capacity for the enrollment pipeline. If we had 3000 at WL, then would have a crisis.

Isn’t HB also expanding enrollment to relive the other schools?

LOL, you are the new resident, right? APS will never increase capacity at HB because it "would ruin the program." APS just spent $120 million on the building and still spending more to fix it's construction problems (for the brand new, cutting edge building). APS does not know how to manage a construction budget or how to do urban planning, but somehow it has been tasked with this by the County.

I think 3,000 students at WL is highly likely. We've also been told that Yorktown can't take trailers, so...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

I thought PP was saying with WL addition, and probably trailers at YT and WK, we have enough capacity for the enrollment pipeline. If we had 3000 at WL, then would have a crisis.

Isn’t HB also expanding enrollment to relive the other schools?

LOL, you are the new resident, right? APS will never increase capacity at HB because it "would ruin the program." APS just spent $120 million on the building and still spending more to fix it's construction problems (for the brand new, cutting edge building). APS does not know how to manage a construction budget or how to do urban planning, but somehow it has been tasked with this by the County.

I think 3,000 students at WL is highly likely. We've also been told that Yorktown can't take trailers, so...

Hasn’t the news changed on HB after pandemic?
At least the new addition at WL adds more common space like cafeteria etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

I thought PP was saying with WL addition, and probably trailers at YT and WK, we have enough capacity for the enrollment pipeline. If we had 3000 at WL, then would have a crisis.

Isn’t HB also expanding enrollment to relive the other schools?

LOL, you are the new resident, right? APS will never increase capacity at HB because it "would ruin the program." APS just spent $120 million on the building and still spending more to fix it's construction problems (for the brand new, cutting edge building). APS does not know how to manage a construction budget or how to do urban planning, but somehow it has been tasked with this by the County.

I think 3,000 students at WL is highly likely. We've also been told that Yorktown can't take trailers, so...

Hasn’t the news changed on HB after pandemic?
At least the new addition at WL adds more common space like cafeteria etc?

Not really. The common space is merely space for a "digital library" and a small, multi-purpose space that students could potentially eat lunch in and a couple wide hallways. That's it. No extra outside space being developed either. The directive from the SB was to design the building in a very basic manner, almost without HS students in mind, with the thought that it could also be used someday as an ES. There isn't even a covered walkway to WL. Has the SB decided how exactly this building will be used for WL? There has been talk of 9th grade only and IB expansion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

I thought PP was saying with WL addition, and probably trailers at YT and WK, we have enough capacity for the enrollment pipeline. If we had 3000 at WL, then would have a crisis.

Isn’t HB also expanding enrollment to relive the other schools?

LOL, you are the new resident, right? APS will never increase capacity at HB because it "would ruin the program." APS just spent $120 million on the building and still spending more to fix it's construction problems (for the brand new, cutting edge building). APS does not know how to manage a construction budget or how to do urban planning, but somehow it has been tasked with this by the County.

I think 3,000 students at WL is highly likely. We've also been told that Yorktown can't take trailers, so...

Hasn’t the news changed on HB after pandemic?
At least the new addition at WL adds more common space like cafeteria etc?

Not really. The common space is merely space for a "digital library" and a small, multi-purpose space that students could potentially eat lunch in and a couple wide hallways. That's it. No extra outside space being developed either. The directive from the SB was to design the building in a very basic manner, almost without HS students in mind, with the thought that it could also be used someday as an ES. There isn't even a covered walkway to WL. Has the SB decided how exactly this building will be used for WL? There has been talk of 9th grade only and IB expansion.

The "commons" according to the latest "Pre-construction community meeting" looks like flexible areas for socialization, group work, etc. That was the desire of the BLPC from the beginning, i.e., large interior flexible spaces like those at Wakefield and Yorktown to bring the W-L facility up to similar standards. All the new FCPS schools like Langley and Oakton also have similar flexible spaces or terraces. APS did remove the additional dining facility, however. Assuming seniors will still be able to eat off campus post pandemic, and if students are still allowed to eat in the hallways, this arrangement may work fine. Link: https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/200305-Ed-Center-Community-Meeting-Final-2020-0305.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

Yes, these estimates aren't accurate looking ahead to when today's elementary kids are going to be in MS and HS (when we're going to gain at least 250 to 400 students per grade over what we have now).

APS has delayed and planned poorly for the past decade. They were going to throw everything at the Career Center (a terrible plan and not thought out at all) but of course have discovered that it won't work within budget. They will be making a final decision this week though based on absolutely no plan. I guess they'll be winging it and hope for the best.

So, I would look elsewhere. APS in the next decade is going to be pretty bad for secondary students. At any rate, don't judge based solely on which school is the most overcrowded now. APS will be re-drawing MS and HS boundaries again this fall, and will probably re-do them every 2 to 3 years for the foreseeable future.

Here are the kids currently in the system:
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/U-MEM_281_Membership_Summary_All.pdf

Biggest class is rising 3rd grade -- 2110. I do agree that all our seats are used to max with the kids in the system.

I didn't know they screwed the W&L design. Why APS? Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

Yes, these estimates aren't accurate looking ahead to when today's elementary kids are going to be in MS and HS (when we're going to gain at least 250 to 400 students per grade over what we have now).

APS has delayed and planned poorly for the past decade. They were going to throw everything at the Career Center (a terrible plan and not thought out at all) but of course have discovered that it won't work within budget. They will be making a final decision this week though based on absolutely no plan. I guess they'll be winging it and hope for the best.

So, I would look elsewhere. APS in the next decade is going to be pretty bad for secondary students. At any rate, don't judge based solely on which school is the most overcrowded now. APS will be re-drawing MS and HS boundaries again this fall, and will probably re-do them every 2 to 3 years for the foreseeable future.

Here are the kids currently in the system:
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/U-MEM_281_Membership_Summary_All.pdf

Biggest class is rising 3rd grade -- 2110. I do agree that all our seats are used to max with the kids in the system.

I didn't know they screwed the W&L design. Why APS? Why?

I don’t think that’s it exactly. I’ve been told that W-L was even a much bigger school 40 years ago. Also the PTA supported expanding the school. That’s all I know. The PTA and then the BLPC had a lot of influence over the design of a W-L expansion at the Ed Center. I think the PTA was also bitter after losing a huge chunk of neighborhoods to Wakefield and Yorktown in the boundary change.

[Anonymous]

And the communities that just underwent the boundary changes had also favored expansion at W-L.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

Yes, these estimates aren't accurate looking ahead to when today's elementary kids are going to be in MS and HS (when we're going to gain at least 250 to 400 students per grade over what we have now).

APS has delayed and planned poorly for the past decade. They were going to throw everything at the Career Center (a terrible plan and not thought out at all) but of course have discovered that it won't work within budget. They will be making a final decision this week though based on absolutely no plan. I guess they'll be winging it and hope for the best.

So, I would look elsewhere. APS in the next decade is going to be pretty bad for secondary students. At any rate, don't judge based solely on which school is the most overcrowded now. APS will be re-drawing MS and HS boundaries again this fall, and will probably re-do them every 2 to 3 years for the foreseeable future.

Here are the kids currently in the system:
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/U-MEM_281_Membership_Summary_All.pdf

Biggest class is rising 3rd grade -- 2110. I do agree that all our seats are used to max with the kids in the system.

I didn't know they screwed the W&L design. Why APS? Why?

I don't think looking at the May 2021 enrollment is at all reliable. A lot of kids (especially elementary) were pulled out of APS this year but many will be returning. The Fall 2020 enrollment projections may be a better guess. Rising 3rd grade is estimated to be 2,379 and rising 2nd is 2,343. I expect we will be short on both MS and HS seats for these students.

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Fall-2020-Enrollment-Projections-Report-Final-for-Website.pdf

[Anonymous]

That's the big variable, right? We are down 2000 students. how many will come back? We will know more in Sept., I guess. To OP's q, APS is kind of perpetual mess, that's how I am feeling a decade into having kids in this system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

I thought PP was saying with WL addition, and probably trailers at YT and WK, we have enough capacity for the enrollment pipeline. If we had 3000 at WL, then would have a crisis.

Isn’t HB also expanding enrollment to relive the other schools?

LOL, you are the new resident, right? APS will never increase capacity at HB because it "would ruin the program." APS just spent $120 million on the building and still spending more to fix it's construction problems (for the brand new, cutting edge building). APS does not know how to manage a construction budget or how to do urban planning, but somehow it has been tasked with this by the County.

I think 3,000 students at WL is highly likely. We've also been told that Yorktown can't take trailers, so...

Hasn’t the news changed on HB after pandemic?
At least the new addition at WL adds more common space like cafeteria etc?

Not really. The common space is merely space for a "digital library" and a small, multi-purpose space that students could potentially eat lunch in and a couple wide hallways. That's it. No extra outside space being developed either. The directive from the SB was to design the building in a very basic manner, almost without HS students in mind, with the thought that it could also be used someday as an ES. There isn't even a covered walkway to WL. Has the SB decided how exactly this building will be used for WL? There has been talk of 9th grade only and IB expansion.

The "commons" according to the latest "Pre-construction community meeting" looks like flexible areas for socialization, group work, etc. That was the desire of the BLPC from the beginning, i.e., large interior flexible spaces like those at Wakefield and Yorktown to bring the W-L facility up to similar standards. All the new FCPS schools like Langley and Oakton also have similar flexible spaces or terraces. APS did remove the additional dining facility, however. Assuming seniors will still be able to eat off campus post pandemic, and if students are still allowed to eat in the hallways, this arrangement may work fine. Link: https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/200305-Ed-Center-Community-Meeting-Final-2020-0305.pdf

Well, that's certainly something that should be the primary goal and driver for an addition.
No wonder APS can't solve its capacity problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

Yes, these estimates aren't accurate looking ahead to when today's elementary kids are going to be in MS and HS (when we're going to gain at least 250 to 400 students per grade over what we have now).

APS has delayed and planned poorly for the past decade. They were going to throw everything at the Career Center (a terrible plan and not thought out at all) but of course have discovered that it won't work within budget. They will be making a final decision this week though based on absolutely no plan. I guess they'll be winging it and hope for the best.

So, I would look elsewhere. APS in the next decade is going to be pretty bad for secondary students. At any rate, don't judge based solely on which school is the most overcrowded now. APS will be re-drawing MS and HS boundaries again this fall, and will probably re-do them every 2 to 3 years for the foreseeable future.

Here are the kids currently in the system:
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/U-MEM_281_Membership_Summary_All.pdf

Biggest class is rising 3rd grade -- 2110. I do agree that all our seats are used to max with the kids in the system.

I didn't know they screwed the W&L design. Why APS? Why?

I don’t think that’s it exactly. I’ve been told that W-L was even a much bigger school 40 years ago. Also the PTA supported expanding the school. That’s all I know. The PTA and then the BLPC had a lot of influence over the design of a W-L expansion at the Ed Center. I think the PTA was also bitter after losing a huge chunk of neighborhoods to Wakefield and Yorktown in the boundary change.

Not really, and I am a member of the BLPC. The budget was/is extremely tight and the directive was clear that the space had to be designed in such a way that it would be possible to use it as an ES in the future with minimal additional construction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current projections don't really show us needing a 4th HS right now. All the classes in the pipeline (current K and up) are around 2000-2100 students, that means we need about 8200 HS seats.

That's:
W&L 2700
Wakefield 2100
Yorktown 2100
HB 450
CC 800 (assuming they add 300 or so in the next 4-5 years)
Shriver/Langston/New Directions 100

That's 8250.

So we have enough HS seats, but just barely. It probably would be smart to grow Tech to 800 not 600 to give us a bit more breathing room, but there's not a mad rush to build more than that.

By the same logic, MS seats are also fine. That's 6200 or so MS seats, which is 6 1000K MS + HB. So also fine.

All that said, the boundaries need to be done really well. Because we need to fill all the seats to make it work.

You are using enrollment numbers, not seat capacity numbers. The point is that our current buildings are overcrowded (except for HB).

Yes, these estimates aren't accurate looking ahead to when today's elementary kids are going to be in MS and HS (when we're going to gain at least 250 to 400 students per grade over what we have now).

APS has delayed and planned poorly for the past decade. They were going to throw everything at the Career Center (a terrible plan and not thought out at all) but of course have discovered that it won't work within budget. They will be making a final decision this week though based on absolutely no plan. I guess they'll be winging it and hope for the best.

So, I would look elsewhere. APS in the next decade is going to be pretty bad for secondary students. At any rate, don't judge based solely on which school is the most overcrowded now. APS will be re-drawing MS and HS boundaries again this fall, and will probably re-do them every 2 to 3 years for the foreseeable future.

Here are the kids currently in the system:
https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/U-MEM_281_Membership_Summary_All.pdf

Biggest class is rising 3rd grade -- 2110. I do agree that all our seats are used to max with the kids in the system.

I didn't know they screwed the W&L design. Why APS? Why?

I don’t think that’s it exactly. I’ve been told that W-L was even a much bigger school 40 years ago. Also the PTA supported expanding the school. That’s all I know. The PTA and then the BLPC had a lot of influence over the design of a W-L expansion at the Ed Center. I think the PTA was also bitter after losing a huge chunk of neighborhoods to Wakefield and Yorktown in the boundary change.

Not really, and I am a member of the BLPC. The budget was/is extremely tight and the directive was clear that the space had to be designed in such a way that it would be possible to use it as an ES in the future with minimal additional construction.

If they know there's a high likelihood of wanting it to be an elementary school, then they should just go ahead and make it an elementary school or a preschool center. Wasting time and money to make it a "commons" that won't significantly relieve the experience of overcrowded classrooms and hallways for the high school kids is just stupid.