Initial boundary options for Crown/Damascus study

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why move Dufief though? It’s attended Frost and Wootton for decades (neither school is over crowded) and has such a small student population it barely makes a difference in total numbers.

Because DuFief is not geographically close to Wootton. There are many other neighborhoods and schools that are closer and DuFief is very close to QO. Why dont you care about neighborhood schools and geographic proximity like all the other parents?

Sure, neighborhood schools. That’s why three out of four of the dufief options have split articulation and bus them all over. And they make massive changes to Dufief while making more minor ones to the surrounding Travilah and Stone Mill. I’m sure it’s really about neighborhood schools and geographic proximity and not at all about the fact they think DuFief will just sit quietly and not fight this.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps this is a dumb sounding question but when does this take effect and for whom?

We are not affected but my child is a rising Junior and I see his best friend moves high schools in all options. Are they going to make rising Juniors change schools? That seems cruel and detrimental to college prospects, with teacher recs and all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stonemill used to go Frost Wotton in 1994 the boundaries changed. MCPS was absurd then, and these boundaries make no sense now.

100% they also put that Potomac Glen neighborhood in Wayside through Churchill to alleviate overcrowding at Wootton. Promises were made that wouldn’t affect Churchills attendance zone when parents expressed concerns then. Yet here we are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To no one’s surprise, very little change to Churchill under any of the options.

I’m in the small part that is changing. It’s pretty nuts because I live in the area right by the Potomac Community Center. That part of Wayside has been Churchill since its opening. We are literally 1.7-2 miles from Churchill yet the four options have us moving to Wootton which is 15-20 minutes a day longer commute. Not to mention this brings the Wootton boundary so far south. Very disappointed mostly because of Wootton being incredibly old/asbestos, the aforementioned increased time, and the fact that our neighborhood is very much part of the community with Beverly Farms, Bells Mill, Potomac and Seven Locks ES.

A big chunk of Wayside was developed in the mid 90s and originally was meant to go to Frost and Wootton but due to overcrowding at both, they moved them to the then under crowded Churchill.

Additionally a huge section of Potomac ES would stay at Churchill and drive past much of Wayside on the way. Whereas those areas might be equidistant from each, they are far closer to North Potomac community wise and should look different.

They really needed to redo ES boundaries as some are quite wacky and massively large. Also whoever was bright enough to build both Cabin John and Hoover MS within a mile from each other made a big mistake. A MS up closer to QO/Wootton/Crown would have been so much better.

The MS to HS splits are going to be pretty messy from both under these options.

That's not going to matter. Right now Fallsgrove is walking distance to Lakewood and Wootton but get bussed 15 minutes to Richie Park and Richard Montgomery. It’s just the way ut is and always will work out that way for some neighborhoods close to certain schools but bussed to others.

Yes that’s messed up they should go to Lakewood/Wootton plenty of capacity.

Same with Horizon Hill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps this is a dumb sounding question but when does this take effect and for whom?

We are not affected but my child is a rising Junior and I see his best friend moves high schools in all options. Are they going to make rising Juniors change schools? That seems cruel and detrimental to college prospects, with teacher recs and all.

From the FAQs:

The superintendent of schools supports that the new boundaries be implemented beginning with grades 9 and 10 in the 2027-2028 school year and that rising grade 11 and 12 students remain at their current high school of attendance. The implementation would continue with grades 9 through 11 in the 2028-2029 school year followed by full implementation of grades 9 through 12 in the 2029-2030 school year.

In addition, the superintendent supports that the new boundaries be implemented beginning with grades 6 and 7 for the 2027-2028 school year, while the rising 8th grade stays at their currently assigned school followed by a full implementation of grades 6 through 8 in the 2028-2029 school year.

Ultimately, the Board of Education has the final approval for these decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why move Dufief though? It’s attended Frost and Wootton for decades (neither school is over crowded) and has such a small student population it barely makes a difference in total numbers.

Because DuFief is not geographically close to Wootton. There are many other neighborhoods and schools that are closer and DuFief is very close to QO. Why dont you care about neighborhood schools and geographic proximity like all the other parents?

Sure, neighborhood schools. That’s why three out of four of the dufief options have split articulation and bus them all over. And they make massive changes to Dufief while making more minor ones to the surrounding Travilah and Stone Mill. I’m sure it’s really about neighborhood schools and geographic proximity and not at all about the fact they think DuFief will just sit quietly and not fight this.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps this is a dumb sounding question but when does this take effect and for whom?

We are not affected but my child is a rising Junior and I see his best friend moves high schools in all options. Are they going to make rising Juniors change schools? That seems cruel and detrimental to college prospects, with teacher recs and all.

New boundaries start fall 2027. If they follow past practice, current 4th and 7th graders (rising 7th and 10th in fall 2027) will have to switch schools, while current 5th, 8th, and 9th graders (rising 8th, 11th, and 12th in fall 2027) will get to stay at their current school. Current 10th, 11th, and 12th graders will have graduated by then, and current 3rd and 6th graders will be rising 6th and 9th when the new assignments start so will be entering MS or HS with whatever their new schools assignment is. Hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps this is a dumb sounding question but when does this take effect and for whom?

We are not affected but my child is a rising Junior and I see his best friend moves high schools in all options. Are they going to make rising Juniors change schools? That seems cruel and detrimental to college prospects, with teacher recs and all.

New boundaries start fall 2027. If they follow past practice, current 4th and 7th graders (rising 7th and 10th in fall 2027) will have to switch schools, while current 5th, 8th, and 9th graders (rising 8th, 11th, and 12th in fall 2027) will get to stay at their current school. Current 10th, 11th, and 12th graders will have graduated by then, and current 3rd and 6th graders will be rising 6th and 9th when the new assignments start so will be entering MS or HS with whatever their new schools assignment is. Hope that helps.

Depending on how many changes get made, they may not have the buses or bus drivers to support any of that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Split articulation is without a doubt a terrible thing. In the present, we know it creates bullying situations. For example, at CJMS, there is a clear negative situation where Churchill-bound students bully the Wootton-bound students. Creating this for MORE high schools will only make it much worse. In addition, splitting kids apart to join a new group only to split them back off again to join another group (Option 2 does that) will significantly impact cohort cohesion. The students won't make strong bonds. After-school activities and extracurriculars will be impacted because teams will be split anyway. This is just bad

Cabin John parent. I don’t recognize this at all. I don’t doubt that is your experience but it’s definitely not common in the school. My kid has friends from all 4 feeder schools and honestly I doubt he’d know (or care) which high school they go to in a year.

However, I agree split articulation isn’t great for school community, the distance some kids are traveling to CJ makes socializing harder, the 2 sets of high school news / events / community stuff is messy and I’m sure administrators hate it. Unfortunately with CJ and Hoover so close to each other, it’s inevitable.

[Anonymous]

Option 1 is by far the best, minimal split articulation.
Simplier feeder patterns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Option 1 is by far the best, minimal split articulation.
Simplier feeder patterns.

Agree. Other options are just way too messy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why move Dufief though? It’s attended Frost and Wootton for decades (neither school is over crowded) and has such a small student population it barely makes a difference in total numbers.

Because DuFief is not geographically close to Wootton. There are many other neighborhoods and schools that are closer and DuFief is very close to QO. Why dont you care about neighborhood schools and geographic proximity like all the other parents?

Sure, neighborhood schools. That’s why three out of four of the dufief options have split articulation and bus them all over. And they make massive changes to Dufief while making more minor ones to the surrounding Travilah and Stone Mill. I’m sure it’s really about neighborhood schools and geographic proximity and not at all about the fact they think DuFief will just sit quietly and not fight this.

Dufief is already bused farther away to Wootton and Frost. Many parts of Dufief are within walking/biking distance to QO. Not sure what you mean by "bus them all over". I think we get it, you don't want you children going to school with poor people.

[Anonymous]

Like Dufief, Travilah ES is also much closer to QO than to Wootton.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why move Dufief though? It’s attended Frost and Wootton for decades (neither school is over crowded) and has such a small student population it barely makes a difference in total numbers.

Because DuFief is not geographically close to Wootton. There are many other neighborhoods and schools that are closer and DuFief is very close to QO. Why dont you care about neighborhood schools and geographic proximity like all the other parents?

[Anonymous]

So why would options 2 and 4 cut off a chunk of Lakewood Elementary and send it to Crown when the rest of Lakewood stays at Wootton? The chunk seems to be a similar distance from Crown and Wootton (but maybe a little closer to Wootton), so it doesn’t seem to be about distance. And it certainly doesn’t help with stability. And I don’t think Wootton is overcrowded so it’s not a school that needs to cut people out for no reason. I don’t get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why move Dufief though? It’s attended Frost and Wootton for decades (neither school is over crowded) and has such a small student population it barely makes a difference in total numbers.

Because DuFief is not geographically close to Wootton. There are many other neighborhoods and schools that are closer and DuFief is very close to QO. Why dont you care about neighborhood schools and geographic proximity like all the other parents?

Sure, neighborhood schools. That’s why three out of four of the dufief options have split articulation and bus them all over. And they make massive changes to Dufief while making more minor ones to the surrounding Travilah and Stone Mill. I’m sure it’s really about neighborhood schools and geographic proximity and not at all about the fact they think DuFief will just sit quietly and not fight this.

Dufief is already bused farther away to Wootton and Frost. Many parts of Dufief are within walking/biking distance to QO. Not sure what you mean by "bus them all over". I think we get it, you don't want you children going to school with poor people.

Sounds like you are stuck on option 1 and not paying attention to the rest of them and all of the split articulation that goes along with the other options. That is terrible for kid’s mental health. And no, QO is not a school with poor people in my opinion. However, I did pay a premium to buy in a certain district, based on historical zoning, and I won’t act like that doesn’t matter.