Boundary Review Meetings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Man, I know they really want to keep the boundary review conversation to one thread, but I sure do wish everyone talking about the Springfield high schools could have their own thread. A lot of passionate conversation to be had there... And I want to hear what other people around the county are thinking about the new scenario!

The “passionate conversation” is a very small group of Lewis parents desperately wanting more middle and upper middle income neighborhoods to be rezoned to Lewis so they can feel better about themselves and their poor real estate selection decisions.

Poor real estate decisions? You mean buying a home that we could afford?

🖕you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Man, I know they really want to keep the boundary review conversation to one thread, but I sure do wish everyone talking about the Springfield high schools could have their own thread. A lot of passionate conversation to be had there... And I want to hear what other people around the county are thinking about the new scenario!

The “passionate conversation” is a very small group of Lewis parents desperately wanting more middle and upper middle income neighborhoods to be rezoned to Lewis so they can feel better about themselves and their poor real estate selection decisions.

So only people who buy in the 'right' places in Fairfax County are entitled to a good education? You sound like a swell person.

Despite the fact that the last few times FCPS rezoned Lee/Lewis houses they took out large numbers of wealthier homes and moved them to West Springfield.

Despite the fact that FCPS sticks with an underperforming IB program and has reduced language choices - encouraging people to flee through pupil placements.

Despite the fact that some people have owned their home for many years. Are they just supposed to say "This is all OK. I am fine with being screwed."?

Honestly, this county seems to attract some real as(&^oles.

THIS.
Some people bought in the area before Lewis started it's decline. There are NO EFFORTS to do anything about it, and that's become abundantly clear with scenario 4.

And to be clear, I'm not advocating to move other families in without addressing root problems. But, moving some families out is REALLY saying the quiet part out loud.

The underlined is incorrect.

Anyone with kids in school bought when Lewis' academic decline was a known reality.

It was well known for years before any current FCPS high school students were born, since st least the late 1990s.

Daventry should have been rezoned back to Lewis. But I doubt that any of those kids would have gone there.

The hundred plus Daventry high schoolers attending WSHS would have reverted to the fewer than 20 high school students that attended Lewis from Daventry when Daventry was able to negotiate their rezoning to WSHS.

Just like the 20 Rolling Valley students getting rezoned out of Lewis to WSHS are going to magically multiple to dozens or perhaps a hundred kids right after they move to WSHS.

I don't know what the answer is for Lewis

Perhaps they need to make it a trades and academy magnet, removing all the academy classes from West Po and Edison, and putting them in one centralized place at Lewis. Lewis is in a much more accessible location than those 2 schools.

Perhaps they need to close Lewis, and rezone all the Lewis kids.

Maybe they should do what the small private schools do, and run advanced classes even if there are just a handful of kids taking it, so the Lewis kids can have the same AP curriculum available to everyone else. Getting rid of IB is of course necessary.

There are no quick solutions, not even adding kids to Lewis.

[Anonymous]

Lewis (and probably also Mount Vernon) right now is in a really bad spot. The other lower or mixed income HS’s are much larger and/or still have a cohort of middle class and even wealthy families. On some level, the SB/Reid/Facilities planning etc. all know that if they move in more areas without drastically changing the programming at Lewis, the people they move in will just pupil place out under FCPS’s established rules.

The main issue is Lewis has only 2 languages and IB. They will not dump IB. The FCPS powers-that-be LOOOOVE IB. They love the buzzwords that come along with it. The “life long learners” and “global citizens” and all that. They simply cannot admit that it has been a decades long expensive failure at many schools that have it. I think getting rid of IB at Lewis would trigger a lot of parent complaints from the other schools that have it “why won’t you get rid of it here too and give us all the AP classes that X school 3 miles down the road has” and FCPS doesn’t want to go down that route because there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle once that happens. IB is their pet project and I think they would easily put it in at more schools if they thought they could get away with it. Or dump AP for something else that has the right buzzy buzzwords like Sandy Anderson wanted to do.

They could offer more languages virtually or with a traveling teacher who would cover multiple schools. But the bigger issues are IB, as well as the academy/vocational classes at Edison right down the road. They can’t invest in and change Lewis’s programming without a bunch of other schools clamoring to change their programming too and FCPS doesn’t want to go down that route, so now Lewis is in a death spiral until/unless families start moving in the developments that are coming into Springfield in the coming years. I think they’re hanging their hopes on a greater/increasing Springfield population at this point so they don’t have to make any big programming changes and possibly set off a chain of other schools asking for the same changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Man, I know they really want to keep the boundary review conversation to one thread, but I sure do wish everyone talking about the Springfield high schools could have their own thread. A lot of passionate conversation to be had there... And I want to hear what other people around the county are thinking about the new scenario!

The “passionate conversation” is a very small group of Lewis parents desperately wanting more middle and upper middle income neighborhoods to be rezoned to Lewis so they can feel better about themselves and their poor real estate selection decisions.

So only people who buy in the 'right' places in Fairfax County are entitled to a good education? You sound like a swell person.

Despite the fact that the last few times FCPS rezoned Lee/Lewis houses they took out large numbers of wealthier homes and moved them to West Springfield.

Despite the fact that FCPS sticks with an underperforming IB program and has reduced language choices - encouraging people to flee through pupil placements.

Despite the fact that some people have owned their home for many years. Are they just supposed to say "This is all OK. I am fine with being screwed."?

Honestly, this county seems to attract some real as(&^oles.

THIS.
Some people bought in the area before Lewis started it's decline. There are NO EFFORTS to do anything about it, and that's become abundantly clear with scenario 4.

And to be clear, I'm not advocating to move other families in without addressing root problems. But, moving some families out is REALLY saying the quiet part out loud.

The underlined is incorrect.

Anyone with kids in school bought when Lewis' academic decline was a known reality.

It was well known for years before any current FCPS high school students were born, since st least the late 1990s.

Daventry should have been rezoned back to Lewis. But I doubt that any of those kids would have gone there.

The hundred plus Daventry high schoolers attending WSHS would have reverted to the fewer than 20 high school students that attended Lewis from Daventry when Daventry was able to negotiate their rezoning to WSHS.

Just like the 20 Rolling Valley students getting rezoned out of Lewis to WSHS are going to magically multiple to dozens or perhaps a hundred kids right after they move to WSHS.

I don't know what the answer is for Lewis

Perhaps they need to make it a trades and academy magnet, removing all the academy classes from West Po and Edison, and putting them in one centralized place at Lewis. Lewis is in a much more accessible location than those 2 schools.

Perhaps they need to close Lewis, and rezone all the Lewis kids.

Maybe they should do what the small private schools do, and run advanced classes even if there are just a handful of kids taking it, so the Lewis kids can have the same AP curriculum available to everyone else. Getting rid of IB is of course necessary.

There are no quick solutions, not even adding kids to Lewis.

I definitely agree with your other part about FCPS saying the quiet part out loud

Other than Sandy Anderson broadcasting over the past year or so that she was going to rezone Rolling Valley to WSHS from Lewis no matter what, even if she had to disrupt other schools and rezone other WSHS kids to do it, the rezoning of kids out of Lewis to overcrowded WSHS must be a shocker, especially if you haven't been following rezoning.

For you Lewis parents, I am curious. What does your Franconia school board rep say about your school? Are they supportive of Sandy Anderson removing more students from Lewis?

Because while this Rolling Valley rezoning is a Sandy Anderson pet project, it is a Franconia school board rep problem.

Why isn't your Franconia rep advocating for their high schools?

They are as responsible for this as Sandy Anderson, perhaps more so, since Lewis is their school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Man, I know they really want to keep the boundary review conversation to one thread, but I sure do wish everyone talking about the Springfield high schools could have their own thread. A lot of passionate conversation to be had there... And I want to hear what other people around the county are thinking about the new scenario!

The “passionate conversation” is a very small group of Lewis parents desperately wanting more middle and upper middle income neighborhoods to be rezoned to Lewis so they can feel better about themselves and their poor real estate selection decisions.

Poor real estate decisions? You mean buying a home that we could afford?

🖕you.

+100. So elitist.
I own a 1.3 million dollar house zoned to Lewis. But, just because I have an expensive house doesn't mean that those living in other houses do not deserve a good education for their children. Wtf is wrong with people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...

DP and +1. I actually think they should close Lewis or turn it into a standalone ED center since the CSS model isn't working. Send the current students to WSHS and LBSS.

Probably not LBSS. Edison, Hayfield, Annandale, South County and WSHS could easily absorb the 2-300 each with some reshuffling

There is not capacity at those schools to absorb Lewis base school students. It is nonsensical to move any out of Lewis . Thru under Reid is working off SY2024-25 membership counts and transfer numbers were:
IB Lewis to IB Edison 54 - Global STEM?
IB Lewis to AP Lake Braddock 32
IB Lewis to AP South County 11
<10 each to 14 other schools totaling 100
That's 197 out net of TJ and Bryant.

Only rational to do any out of Lewis is if Reid plans to dump IB at the site. But there are IB schools Lewis students transfer besides Edison with Global STEM. Plus Thru /Reid have Annandale with the modular at 99% and the real number is 113% with the modular.

HS sites with modulars used for core instruction are Mclean, Marshall, Annandale, and Robinson. 2 others are Chantilly and Centreville which should be obsolete by KAA site dominos. Reid messed up big time on MS due to the massive AAP feeds at some sites.

[Anonymous]

There is not capacity at those schools to absorb Lewis base school students. It is nonsensical to move any out of Lewis . Thru under Reid is working off SY2024-25 membership counts and transfer numbers were:
IB Lewis to IB Edison 54 - Global STEM?
IB Lewis to AP Lake Braddock 32
IB Lewis to AP South County 11
<10 each to 14 other schools totaling 100
That's 197 out net of TJ and Bryant.

Only rational to do any out of Lewis is if Reid plans to dump IB at the site. But there are IB schools Lewis students transfer besides Edison with Global STEM. Plus Thru /Reid have Annandale with the modular at 99% and the real number is 113% with the modular.

HS sites with modulars used for core instruction are Mclean, Marshall, Annandale, and Robinson. 2 others are Chantilly and Centreville which should be obsolete by KAA site dominos. Reid messed up big time on MS due to the massive AAP feeds at some sites.

Fewer than 10 Lewis students transferring to West Springfield currently?

That number is incorrect.

There are far more than 10 Lewis zoned students attending WSHS.

How old are those numbers?

[Anonymous]

FCPS has a long history of picking winners like West Springfield, Langley, and Madison, and losers like Lewis and Mount Vernon. What people don’t recognize is these boundary changes are going to create new losers that include some higher ranked schools.

When they are down to just a dozen or so well regarded schools the whole system will crash and burn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has a long history of picking winners like West Springfield, Langley, and Madison, and losers like Lewis and Mount Vernon. What people don’t recognize is these boundary changes are going to create new losers that include some higher ranked schools.

When they are down to just a dozen or so well regarded schools the whole system will crash and burn.

The market chooses winners and losers, with an assist from the school board (e.g., liberal transfer policies)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has a long history of picking winners like West Springfield, Langley, and Madison, and losers like Lewis and Mount Vernon. What people don’t recognize is these boundary changes are going to create new losers that include some higher ranked schools.

When they are down to just a dozen or so well regarded schools the whole system will crash and burn.

The market chooses winners and losers, with an assist from the school board (e.g., liberal transfer policies)

The assist from the school board goes well beyond transfer policies and includes the allocation of capital funding and boundary decisions made and not made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Man, I know they really want to keep the boundary review conversation to one thread, but I sure do wish everyone talking about the Springfield high schools could have their own thread. A lot of passionate conversation to be had there... And I want to hear what other people around the county are thinking about the new scenario!

The “passionate conversation” is a very small group of Lewis parents desperately wanting more middle and upper middle income neighborhoods to be rezoned to Lewis so they can feel better about themselves and their poor real estate selection decisions.

So only people who buy in the 'right' places in Fairfax County are entitled to a good education? You sound like a swell person.

Despite the fact that the last few times FCPS rezoned Lee/Lewis houses they took out large numbers of wealthier homes and moved them to West Springfield.

Despite the fact that FCPS sticks with an underperforming IB program and has reduced language choices - encouraging people to flee through pupil placements.

Despite the fact that some people have owned their home for many years. Are they just supposed to say "This is all OK. I am fine with being screwed."?

Honestly, this county seems to attract some real as(&^oles.

THIS.
Some people bought in the area before Lewis started it's decline. There are NO EFFORTS to do anything about it, and that's become abundantly clear with scenario 4.

And to be clear, I'm not advocating to move other families in without addressing root problems. But, moving some families out is REALLY saying the quiet part out loud.

The underlined is incorrect.

Anyone with kids in school bought when Lewis' academic decline was a known reality.

It was well known for years before any current FCPS high school students were born, since st least the late 1990s.

Daventry should have been rezoned back to Lewis. But I doubt that any of those kids would have gone there.

The hundred plus Daventry high schoolers attending WSHS would have reverted to the fewer than 20 high school students that attended Lewis from Daventry when Daventry was able to negotiate their rezoning to WSHS.

Just like the 20 Rolling Valley students getting rezoned out of Lewis to WSHS are going to magically multiple to dozens or perhaps a hundred kids right after they move to WSHS.

I don't know what the answer is for Lewis

Perhaps they need to make it a trades and academy magnet, removing all the academy classes from West Po and Edison, and putting them in one centralized place at Lewis. Lewis is in a much more accessible location than those 2 schools.

Perhaps they need to close Lewis, and rezone all the Lewis kids.

Maybe they should do what the small private schools do, and run advanced classes even if there are just a handful of kids taking it, so the Lewis kids can have the same AP curriculum available to everyone else. Getting rid of IB is of course necessary.

There are no quick solutions, not even adding kids to Lewis.

I definitely agree with your other part about FCPS saying the quiet part out loud

Other than Sandy Anderson broadcasting over the past year or so that she was going to rezone Rolling Valley to WSHS from Lewis no matter what, even if she had to disrupt other schools and rezone other WSHS kids to do it, the rezoning of kids out of Lewis to overcrowded WSHS must be a shocker, especially if you haven't been following rezoning.

For you Lewis parents, I am curious. What does your Franconia school board rep say about your school? Are they supportive of Sandy Anderson removing more students from Lewis?

Because while this Rolling Valley rezoning is a Sandy Anderson pet project, it is a Franconia school board rep problem.

Why isn't your Franconia rep advocating for their high schools?

They are as responsible for this as Sandy Anderson, perhaps more so, since Lewis is their school.

I reached out directly to the Franconia school board rep to express my concern about the future of Lewis HS and ask what she is doing to fix it. She has not responded yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Man, I know they really want to keep the boundary review conversation to one thread, but I sure do wish everyone talking about the Springfield high schools could have their own thread. A lot of passionate conversation to be had there... And I want to hear what other people around the county are thinking about the new scenario!

The “passionate conversation” is a very small group of Lewis parents desperately wanting more middle and upper middle income neighborhoods to be rezoned to Lewis so they can feel better about themselves and their poor real estate selection decisions.

So only people who buy in the 'right' places in Fairfax County are entitled to a good education? You sound like a swell person.

Despite the fact that the last few times FCPS rezoned Lee/Lewis houses they took out large numbers of wealthier homes and moved them to West Springfield.

Despite the fact that FCPS sticks with an underperforming IB program and has reduced language choices - encouraging people to flee through pupil placements.

Despite the fact that some people have owned their home for many years. Are they just supposed to say "This is all OK. I am fine with being screwed."?

Honestly, this county seems to attract some real as(&^oles.

THIS.
Some people bought in the area before Lewis started it's decline. There are NO EFFORTS to do anything about it, and that's become abundantly clear with scenario 4.

And to be clear, I'm not advocating to move other families in without addressing root problems. But, moving some families out is REALLY saying the quiet part out loud.

The underlined is incorrect.

Anyone with kids in school bought when Lewis' academic decline was a known reality.

It was well known for years before any current FCPS high school students were born, since st least the late 1990s.

Daventry should have been rezoned back to Lewis. But I doubt that any of those kids would have gone there.

The hundred plus Daventry high schoolers attending WSHS would have reverted to the fewer than 20 high school students that attended Lewis from Daventry when Daventry was able to negotiate their rezoning to WSHS.

Just like the 20 Rolling Valley students getting rezoned out of Lewis to WSHS are going to magically multiple to dozens or perhaps a hundred kids right after they move to WSHS.

I don't know what the answer is for Lewis

Perhaps they need to make it a trades and academy magnet, removing all the academy classes from West Po and Edison, and putting them in one centralized place at Lewis. Lewis is in a much more accessible location than those 2 schools.

Perhaps they need to close Lewis, and rezone all the Lewis kids.

Maybe they should do what the small private schools do, and run advanced classes even if there are just a handful of kids taking it, so the Lewis kids can have the same AP curriculum available to everyone else. Getting rid of IB is of course necessary.

There are no quick solutions, not even adding kids to Lewis.

I definitely agree with your other part about FCPS saying the quiet part out loud

Other than Sandy Anderson broadcasting over the past year or so that she was going to rezone Rolling Valley to WSHS from Lewis no matter what, even if she had to disrupt other schools and rezone other WSHS kids to do it, the rezoning of kids out of Lewis to overcrowded WSHS must be a shocker, especially if you haven't been following rezoning.

For you Lewis parents, I am curious. What does your Franconia school board rep say about your school? Are they supportive of Sandy Anderson removing more students from Lewis?

Because while this Rolling Valley rezoning is a Sandy Anderson pet project, it is a Franconia school board rep problem.

Why isn't your Franconia rep advocating for their high schools?

They are as responsible for this as Sandy Anderson, perhaps more so, since Lewis is their school.

I reached out directly to the Franconia school board rep to express my concern about the future of Lewis HS and ask what she is doing to fix it. She has not responded yet.

I am sorry.

That stinks.

The school board should respind prompty to constituents, especially since they just doubled their staff.

-- Although I think the doubling of staff was so they could have FCPS paid employees campaign for school board members on taxpayer time and money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Man, I know they really want to keep the boundary review conversation to one thread, but I sure do wish everyone talking about the Springfield high schools could have their own thread. A lot of passionate conversation to be had there... And I want to hear what other people around the county are thinking about the new scenario!

The “passionate conversation” is a very small group of Lewis parents desperately wanting more middle and upper middle income neighborhoods to be rezoned to Lewis so they can feel better about themselves and their poor real estate selection decisions.

So only people who buy in the 'right' places in Fairfax County are entitled to a good education? You sound like a swell person.

Despite the fact that the last few times FCPS rezoned Lee/Lewis houses they took out large numbers of wealthier homes and moved them to West Springfield.

Despite the fact that FCPS sticks with an underperforming IB program and has reduced language choices - encouraging people to flee through pupil placements.

Despite the fact that some people have owned their home for many years. Are they just supposed to say "This is all OK. I am fine with being screwed."?

Honestly, this county seems to attract some real as(&^oles.

THIS.
Some people bought in the area before Lewis started it's decline. There are NO EFFORTS to do anything about it, and that's become abundantly clear with scenario 4.

And to be clear, I'm not advocating to move other families in without addressing root problems. But, moving some families out is REALLY saying the quiet part out loud.

The underlined is incorrect.

Anyone with kids in school bought when Lewis' academic decline was a known reality.

It was well known for years before any current FCPS high school students were born, since st least the late 1990s.

Daventry should have been rezoned back to Lewis. But I doubt that any of those kids would have gone there.

The hundred plus Daventry high schoolers attending WSHS would have reverted to the fewer than 20 high school students that attended Lewis from Daventry when Daventry was able to negotiate their rezoning to WSHS.

Just like the 20 Rolling Valley students getting rezoned out of Lewis to WSHS are going to magically multiple to dozens or perhaps a hundred kids right after they move to WSHS.

I don't know what the answer is for Lewis

Perhaps they need to make it a trades and academy magnet, removing all the academy classes from West Po and Edison, and putting them in one centralized place at Lewis. Lewis is in a much more accessible location than those 2 schools.

Perhaps they need to close Lewis, and rezone all the Lewis kids.

Maybe they should do what the small private schools do, and run advanced classes even if there are just a handful of kids taking it, so the Lewis kids can have the same AP curriculum available to everyone else. Getting rid of IB is of course necessary.

There are no quick solutions, not even adding kids to Lewis.

I definitely agree with your other part about FCPS saying the quiet part out loud

Other than Sandy Anderson broadcasting over the past year or so that she was going to rezone Rolling Valley to WSHS from Lewis no matter what, even if she had to disrupt other schools and rezone other WSHS kids to do it, the rezoning of kids out of Lewis to overcrowded WSHS must be a shocker, especially if you haven't been following rezoning.

For you Lewis parents, I am curious. What does your Franconia school board rep say about your school? Are they supportive of Sandy Anderson removing more students from Lewis?

Because while this Rolling Valley rezoning is a Sandy Anderson pet project, it is a Franconia school board rep problem.

Why isn't your Franconia rep advocating for their high schools?

They are as responsible for this as Sandy Anderson, perhaps more so, since Lewis is their school.

I reached out directly to the Franconia school board rep to express my concern about the future of Lewis HS and ask what she is doing to fix it. She has not responded yet.

At a minimum St. John-Cunning should be objecting to moving any kids out of Lewis. She is completely ineffective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has a long history of picking winners like West Springfield, Langley, and Madison, and losers like Lewis and Mount Vernon. What people don’t recognize is these boundary changes are going to create new losers that include some higher ranked schools.

When they are down to just a dozen or so well regarded schools the whole system will crash and burn.

The market chooses winners and losers, with an assist from the school board (e.g., liberal transfer policies)

The assist from the school board goes well beyond transfer policies and includes the allocation of capital funding and boundary decisions made and not made.

Title I schools in the county receive more funding in the same way that blue states subsidize red states.

And, while I understand that you’d like the school board to destroy high performing schools to level the playing field, boundary change decisions are merely a reaction to market forces, not the root cause of any issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Man, I know they really want to keep the boundary review conversation to one thread, but I sure do wish everyone talking about the Springfield high schools could have their own thread. A lot of passionate conversation to be had there... And I want to hear what other people around the county are thinking about the new scenario!

The “passionate conversation” is a very small group of Lewis parents desperately wanting more middle and upper middle income neighborhoods to be rezoned to Lewis so they can feel better about themselves and their poor real estate selection decisions.

Poor real estate decisions? You mean buying a home that we could afford?

🖕you.

Agreed! That was such a gross, elitist comment! So the "poors" are not entitled to a decent education? FCPS is *supposed* to be ranked as one of the best in the US, but Lewis is terrible.

Sorry that we bought pre-COVID what we could afford and thought this would be our starter and not forever home. Now with the way the economy is, prices/interests rates up, plus a one-fed household so who knows if I'll be RIF-ed, it's looking like we'll be in our 'starter' home for a long time. The elementary school close to Lewis, Springfield Estates, is a good school. That is why we chose to live here and thought either Lewis would improve or we'd eventually move. Seems like both might not happen. I'm sure many others have similar situations at Lewis or other not so great schools.