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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield has over 2800 kids but they are proposing to kick kids out of Edison because they think Lewis needs more kids? Pathetic.

Edison is already at capacity and there are new housing developments being built literally within walking distance at the old Top Golf and the old local government building. They are going to have to do something about capacity there in the next 5 years and the Bryn Mar Park option seems like a pretty solid solution.

Uh huh. Because that POS facilities guy who went to West Springfield (Platenberg) made sure West Springfield got a much bigger expansion than Edison when they were renovated within years of one another?

Move BMP to Lewis and then both Edison and Lewis will have 1800-1850 kids while West Springfield is closer to 2800.

Okay. But…. WSHS doesn’t feel over crowded and it isn’t a growth area. Projections have it growing by 1 student. Would you pull kids out and then have WSHS be an empty building? AT this point, you can’t really

I think the commute to Lewis sucks from everywhere but that immediate community. No one wants to trudge through the mixing bowl to attend events or have their new driver driving there. It needs a different solution, and or a huge renovation to make it more appealing.

Instead the board is offering sky view on the other side of the county. I hope one of the members creates a bond to make Lewis upgraded and appealing. Maybe more the academies out of Edison and make Lewis academy only so kids and buses are in after rush hour and out before rush hour.

PS- the WSHS principal is out on medical leave. I hope he recovers fully and quickly.

According to FCPS West Springfield has been above the 105% capacity threshold that was used to justify boundary changes at lots of other schools every year since 2022-23 (four years in a row).

Claiming it doesn't feel overcrowded is just another way to say you don't want to be treated the same as other schools because you consider Lewis beneath you. If anyone should be moved to Lewis, they should come from a school that has ACTUALLY been over 105% capacity for the last four years, not one that MIGHT be over 105% at some later date. If eliminating the split feeder at Holmes remains a priority, that is most easily achieved by moving Bren Mar Park to Annandale, and not by moving it to both Key and Lee.

Further, they don't have the money to upgrade Lewis now, and if anything the money being spent on Skyview will delay a Lewis renovation. There are at least two other high schools that are older than Lewis and logically should be renovated before Lewis. However, that's not a reason not to move kids to Lewis if it has room.

It's utterly despicable that they are looking to gut Holmes and Edison as a last resort to increase the enrollment at Lewis, when Lewis borders a high school with over 2800 kids.

The money came from somewhere to buy sky view. Bonds pass all the time why go against making a bond that helps the Springfield/ Annandale area? Is the extra money only for the northern parts of Fairfax?

Do you think they should ignore the Edison slated growth? That seems like poor planning and a way to ensure yet another round of crappy changes.

I really do understand your anger but the constant diversion of naming other areas to solve a problem is something I can’t and won’t get behind. Throwing another group of kids under the bus so your kid is “safe” is gross.

The proposal of tossing Edison kids at Lewis to increase the enrollment there has been the West Springfield strategy for some time.

Edison is not at the level of crowding that has triggered boundary changes; its enrollment has declined over the course of this school year; and the "slated growth" to which you refer may or may not come to pass and, if it does, could be offset by declines in enrollment in other areas zoned to Edison.

Your hypocrisy is obvious: Ignore the years of actual overcrowding at West Springfield and focus instead on potential overcrowding elsewhere.

What are you talking about? Do you live in the area? They are building new homes at the old Top Golf which is right down Van Dorn St from Edison

It’s so stupid to pretend they have to change boundaries every time some new dwellings get built. You aren’t fooling anyone with this nonsense.

Come back when Edison - like West Springfield - has been over 105% capacity year after year.

“Your hypocrisy is obvious”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield has over 2800 kids but they are proposing to kick kids out of Edison because they think Lewis needs more kids? Pathetic.

Edison is already at capacity and there are new housing developments being built literally within walking distance at the old Top Golf and the old local government building. They are going to have to do something about capacity there in the next 5 years and the Bryn Mar Park option seems like a pretty solid solution.

Uh huh. Because that POS facilities guy who went to West Springfield (Platenberg) made sure West Springfield got a much bigger expansion than Edison when they were renovated within years of one another?

Move BMP to Lewis and then both Edison and Lewis will have 1800-1850 kids while West Springfield is closer to 2800.

Okay. But…. WSHS doesn’t feel over crowded and it isn’t a growth area. Projections have it growing by 1 student. Would you pull kids out and then have WSHS be an empty building? AT this point, you can’t really

I think the commute to Lewis sucks from everywhere but that immediate community. No one wants to trudge through the mixing bowl to attend events or have their new driver driving there. It needs a different solution, and or a huge renovation to make it more appealing.

Instead the board is offering sky view on the other side of the county. I hope one of the members creates a bond to make Lewis upgraded and appealing. Maybe more the academies out of Edison and make Lewis academy only so kids and buses are in after rush hour and out before rush hour.

PS- the WSHS principal is out on medical leave. I hope he recovers fully and quickly.

According to FCPS West Springfield has been above the 105% capacity threshold that was used to justify boundary changes at lots of other schools every year since 2022-23 (four years in a row).

Claiming it doesn't feel overcrowded is just another way to say you don't want to be treated the same as other schools because you consider Lewis beneath you. If anyone should be moved to Lewis, they should come from a school that has ACTUALLY been over 105% capacity for the last four years, not one that MIGHT be over 105% at some later date. If eliminating the split feeder at Holmes remains a priority, that is most easily achieved by moving Bren Mar Park to Annandale, and not by moving it to both Key and Lee.

Further, they don't have the money to upgrade Lewis now, and if anything the money being spent on Skyview will delay a Lewis renovation. There are at least two other high schools that are older than Lewis and logically should be renovated before Lewis. However, that's not a reason not to move kids to Lewis if it has room.

It's utterly despicable that they are looking to gut Holmes and Edison as a last resort to increase the enrollment at Lewis, when Lewis borders a high school with over 2800 kids.

The money came from somewhere to buy sky view. Bonds pass all the time why go against making a bond that helps the Springfield/ Annandale area? Is the extra money only for the northern parts of Fairfax?

Do you think they should ignore the Edison slated growth? That seems like poor planning and a way to ensure yet another round of crappy changes.

I really do understand your anger but the constant diversion of naming other areas to solve a problem is something I can’t and won’t get behind. Throwing another group of kids under the bus so your kid is “safe” is gross.

The proposal of tossing Edison kids at Lewis to increase the enrollment there has been the West Springfield strategy for some time.

Edison is not at the level of crowding that has triggered boundary changes; its enrollment has declined over the course of this school year; and the "slated growth" to which you refer may or may not come to pass and, if it does, could be offset by declines in enrollment in other areas zoned to Edison.

Your hypocrisy is obvious: Ignore the years of actual overcrowding at West Springfield and focus instead on potential overcrowding elsewhere.

What are you talking about? Do you live in the area? They are building new homes at the old Top Golf which is right down Van Dorn St from Edison

It’s so stupid to pretend they have to change boundaries every time some new dwellings get built. You aren’t fooling anyone with this nonsense.

Come back when Edison - like West Springfield - has been over 105% capacity year after year.

“Your hypocrisy is obvious”

Sustained overcrowding may support a boundary change. Some new construction by itself does not.

But keep trying to throw Edison under the bus, WS poster. We see you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield has over 2800 kids but they are proposing to kick kids out of Edison because they think Lewis needs more kids? Pathetic.

Edison is already at capacity and there are new housing developments being built literally within walking distance at the old Top Golf and the old local government building. They are going to have to do something about capacity there in the next 5 years and the Bryn Mar Park option seems like a pretty solid solution.

Uh huh. Because that POS facilities guy who went to West Springfield (Platenberg) made sure West Springfield got a much bigger expansion than Edison when they were renovated within years of one another?

Move BMP to Lewis and then both Edison and Lewis will have 1800-1850 kids while West Springfield is closer to 2800.

Okay. But…. WSHS doesn’t feel over crowded and it isn’t a growth area. Projections have it growing by 1 student. Would you pull kids out and then have WSHS be an empty building? AT this point, you can’t really

I think the commute to Lewis sucks from everywhere but that immediate community. No one wants to trudge through the mixing bowl to attend events or have their new driver driving there. It needs a different solution, and or a huge renovation to make it more appealing.

Instead the board is offering sky view on the other side of the county. I hope one of the members creates a bond to make Lewis upgraded and appealing. Maybe more the academies out of Edison and make Lewis academy only so kids and buses are in after rush hour and out before rush hour.

PS- the WSHS principal is out on medical leave. I hope he recovers fully and quickly.

According to FCPS West Springfield has been above the 105% capacity threshold that was used to justify boundary changes at lots of other schools every year since 2022-23 (four years in a row).

Claiming it doesn't feel overcrowded is just another way to say you don't want to be treated the same as other schools because you consider Lewis beneath you. If anyone should be moved to Lewis, they should come from a school that has ACTUALLY been over 105% capacity for the last four years, not one that MIGHT be over 105% at some later date. If eliminating the split feeder at Holmes remains a priority, that is most easily achieved by moving Bren Mar Park to Annandale, and not by moving it to both Key and Lee.

Further, they don't have the money to upgrade Lewis now, and if anything the money being spent on Skyview will delay a Lewis renovation. There are at least two other high schools that are older than Lewis and logically should be renovated before Lewis. However, that's not a reason not to move kids to Lewis if it has room.

It's utterly despicable that they are looking to gut Holmes and Edison as a last resort to increase the enrollment at Lewis, when Lewis borders a high school with over 2800 kids.

The money came from somewhere to buy sky view. Bonds pass all the time why go against making a bond that helps the Springfield/ Annandale area? Is the extra money only for the northern parts of Fairfax?

Do you think they should ignore the Edison slated growth? That seems like poor planning and a way to ensure yet another round of crappy changes.

I really do understand your anger but the constant diversion of naming other areas to solve a problem is something I can’t and won’t get behind. Throwing another group of kids under the bus so your kid is “safe” is gross.

The proposal of tossing Edison kids at Lewis to increase the enrollment there has been the West Springfield strategy for some time.

Edison is not at the level of crowding that has triggered boundary changes; its enrollment has declined over the course of this school year; and the "slated growth" to which you refer may or may not come to pass and, if it does, could be offset by declines in enrollment in other areas zoned to Edison.

Your hypocrisy is obvious: Ignore the years of actual overcrowding at West Springfield and focus instead on potential overcrowding elsewhere.

What are you talking about? Do you live in the area? They are building new homes at the old Top Golf which is right down Van Dorn St from Edison

It’s so stupid to pretend they have to change boundaries every time some new dwellings get built. You aren’t fooling anyone with this nonsense.

Come back when Edison - like West Springfield - has been over 105% capacity year after year.

“Your hypocrisy is obvious”

Sustained overcrowding may support a boundary change. Some new construction by itself does not.

But keep trying to throw Edison under the bus, WS poster. We see you.

No, you don’t. I have not once said your child should move anywhere. So you are quite clueless and have some misguided anger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield has over 2800 kids but they are proposing to kick kids out of Edison because they think Lewis needs more kids? Pathetic.

Edison is already at capacity and there are new housing developments being built literally within walking distance at the old Top Golf and the old local government building. They are going to have to do something about capacity there in the next 5 years and the Bryn Mar Park option seems like a pretty solid solution.

Uh huh. Because that POS facilities guy who went to West Springfield (Platenberg) made sure West Springfield got a much bigger expansion than Edison when they were renovated within years of one another?

Move BMP to Lewis and then both Edison and Lewis will have 1800-1850 kids while West Springfield is closer to 2800.

Okay. But…. WSHS doesn’t feel over crowded and it isn’t a growth area. Projections have it growing by 1 student. Would you pull kids out and then have WSHS be an empty building? AT this point, you can’t really

I think the commute to Lewis sucks from everywhere but that immediate community. No one wants to trudge through the mixing bowl to attend events or have their new driver driving there. It needs a different solution, and or a huge renovation to make it more appealing.

Instead the board is offering sky view on the other side of the county. I hope one of the members creates a bond to make Lewis upgraded and appealing. Maybe more the academies out of Edison and make Lewis academy only so kids and buses are in after rush hour and out before rush hour.

PS- the WSHS principal is out on medical leave. I hope he recovers fully and quickly.

According to FCPS West Springfield has been above the 105% capacity threshold that was used to justify boundary changes at lots of other schools every year since 2022-23 (four years in a row).

Claiming it doesn't feel overcrowded is just another way to say you don't want to be treated the same as other schools because you consider Lewis beneath you. If anyone should be moved to Lewis, they should come from a school that has ACTUALLY been over 105% capacity for the last four years, not one that MIGHT be over 105% at some later date. If eliminating the split feeder at Holmes remains a priority, that is most easily achieved by moving Bren Mar Park to Annandale, and not by moving it to both Key and Lee.

Further, they don't have the money to upgrade Lewis now, and if anything the money being spent on Skyview will delay a Lewis renovation. There are at least two other high schools that are older than Lewis and logically should be renovated before Lewis. However, that's not a reason not to move kids to Lewis if it has room.

It's utterly despicable that they are looking to gut Holmes and Edison as a last resort to increase the enrollment at Lewis, when Lewis borders a high school with over 2800 kids.

The money came from somewhere to buy sky view. Bonds pass all the time why go against making a bond that helps the Springfield/ Annandale area? Is the extra money only for the northern parts of Fairfax?

Do you think they should ignore the Edison slated growth? That seems like poor planning and a way to ensure yet another round of crappy changes.

I really do understand your anger but the constant diversion of naming other areas to solve a problem is something I can’t and won’t get behind. Throwing another group of kids under the bus so your kid is “safe” is gross.

The proposal of tossing Edison kids at Lewis to increase the enrollment there has been the West Springfield strategy for some time.

Edison is not at the level of crowding that has triggered boundary changes; its enrollment has declined over the course of this school year; and the "slated growth" to which you refer may or may not come to pass and, if it does, could be offset by declines in enrollment in other areas zoned to Edison.

Your hypocrisy is obvious: Ignore the years of actual overcrowding at West Springfield and focus instead on potential overcrowding elsewhere.

What are you talking about? Do you live in the area? They are building new homes at the old Top Golf which is right down Van Dorn St from Edison

It’s so stupid to pretend they have to change boundaries every time some new dwellings get built. You aren’t fooling anyone with this nonsense.

Come back when Edison - like West Springfield - has been over 105% capacity year after year.

“Your hypocrisy is obvious”

Sustained overcrowding may support a boundary change. Some new construction by itself does not.

But keep trying to throw Edison under the bus, WS poster. We see you.

No, you don’t. I have not once said your child should move anywhere. So you are quite clueless and have some misguided anger.

Go away.

[Anonymous]

I think the Edison potential overcrowding issue could be taken up at the 5 year review, but I will say the neighborhood where Top Golf used to be is already well under construction and has homes up on Redfin already. It’s not a “theoretical” like redeveloping the old police station. But even with the new neighborhood, Edison probably won’t be at 115%+ or anything immediately. So it could wait. But they wanted to fill up Lewis now …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the Edison potential overcrowding issue could be taken up at the 5 year review, but I will say the neighborhood where Top Golf used to be is already well under construction and has homes up on Redfin already. It’s not a “theoretical” like redeveloping the old police station. But even with the new neighborhood, Edison probably won’t be at 115%+ or anything immediately. So it could wait. But they wanted to fill up Lewis now …

So they’ll get some new kids from these homes but on the other hand the number of kids coming to Edison from Kingstowne or Wilton Woods could decline. Meanwhile they know West Springfield is next door to Lewis and has been over 105% capacity for years. Pretending that only Edison can be part of the discussion if they want to add kids to Lewis is just targeting those perceived to be less likely to organize.

[Anonymous]

So how do we get back to the Annandale decision? We are on Killebrew but our kids have all graduated from HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't live anywhere near this area, but here is an idea:

Improve Lewis where it is:

1. Eliminate IB. It is clearly not the right fit for Lewis (really not the right fit for FCPS.) It will eliminate some of the outplacement to AP.
2. Look at the programs offered. Is the leadership program costing more than it is worth? I've no idea, but someone know whether it is working or not. Is it attracting the kids? Is it improving performance? If not, then scale it way back.
3. Offer strong direct instruction to all students. Provide tutoring to those who are struggling.
4. Look at your extracurriculars. Those are important to keep kids involved. Are they adaptable to the whole community? Do they bring students together? Do they have strong teacher sponsors?


To FCPS leadership: what can you do to attract strong professionals to the school? Is the school clean? Do the administrators provide strong support?
What can you do to keep talented students there? Do they feel ignored?

You have got to find something that unifies the school. In some schools it is football teams. In others, it may be something else, but you need something that keeps the students attending and working.

Do you have a strong onboarding of freshmen? That could be a start.
Could you get local businesses involved to give free coupons for activities?

Wait, are there some students at Lewis who are NOT receiving direct instruction?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't live anywhere near this area, but here is an idea:

Improve Lewis where it is:

1. Eliminate IB. It is clearly not the right fit for Lewis (really not the right fit for FCPS.) It will eliminate some of the outplacement to AP.
2. Look at the programs offered. Is the leadership program costing more than it is worth? I've no idea, but someone know whether it is working or not. Is it attracting the kids? Is it improving performance? If not, then scale it way back.
3. Offer strong direct instruction to all students. Provide tutoring to those who are struggling.
4. Look at your extracurriculars. Those are important to keep kids involved. Are they adaptable to the whole community? Do they bring students together? Do they have strong teacher sponsors?


To FCPS leadership: what can you do to attract strong professionals to the school? Is the school clean? Do the administrators provide strong support?
What can you do to keep talented students there? Do they feel ignored?

You have got to find something that unifies the school. In some schools it is football teams. In others, it may be something else, but you need something that keeps the students attending and working.

Do you have a strong onboarding of freshmen? That could be a start.
Could you get local businesses involved to give free coupons for activities?

Lewis needs more students. This does not address the problem.

To offer classes, or even extracurricular activities, Lewis needs a minimum number of students. You need at least 9 kids to field a baseball team. You need a certain number of kids to offer a class.

FCPS doesn't offer classes when not enough students enroll. And with declining enrollment at Lewis, it's harder to offer some of the more specialized programs that other schools offer. And without those specialized programs, parents don't want to send their kids to Lewis, so the enrollment drops even more. The cycle continues.

You have to get a certain number of students in the schools to get the programs. You can't offer programs first, then hope students will join. You need a large, healthy student population in a school.

When it reaches the point where WSHS teachers are teaching 12 classes with 30 students, while Lewis teachers are teaching 3 classes with 12 students, that's a problem. WSHS parents may say it's fine, but it's not fine for some teachers to be overloaded and teachers at neighboring schools are not, all while teachers are receiving the same pay. That's a poor use of resources, when the workload among teachers could be more easily balanced.

There's the option to close Lewis, but no FCPS school system nearby is able to absorb a couple hundred kids with one fell swoop. FCPS knows that's not an option.

And IB gets a bad rep with Lewis, but really, a lot of Lewis kids are moving to another IB school: Edison. Many of the AAP students who attend Mark Twain Middle School then go on to attend the STEM program at Edison so they can stay with their friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live anywhere near this area, but here is an idea:

Improve Lewis where it is:

1. Eliminate IB. It is clearly not the right fit for Lewis (really not the right fit for FCPS.) It will eliminate some of the outplacement to AP.
2. Look at the programs offered. Is the leadership program costing more than it is worth? I've no idea, but someone know whether it is working or not. Is it attracting the kids? Is it improving performance? If not, then scale it way back.
3. Offer strong direct instruction to all students. Provide tutoring to those who are struggling.
4. Look at your extracurriculars. Those are important to keep kids involved. Are they adaptable to the whole community? Do they bring students together? Do they have strong teacher sponsors?


To FCPS leadership: what can you do to attract strong professionals to the school? Is the school clean? Do the administrators provide strong support?
What can you do to keep talented students there? Do they feel ignored?

You have got to find something that unifies the school. In some schools it is football teams. In others, it may be something else, but you need something that keeps the students attending and working.

Do you have a strong onboarding of freshmen? That could be a start.
Could you get local businesses involved to give free coupons for activities?

Lewis needs more students. This does not address the problem.

To offer classes, or even extracurricular activities, Lewis needs a minimum number of students. You need at least 9 kids to field a baseball team. You need a certain number of kids to offer a class.

FCPS doesn't offer classes when not enough students enroll. And with declining enrollment at Lewis, it's harder to offer some of the more specialized programs that other schools offer. And without those specialized programs, parents don't want to send their kids to Lewis, so the enrollment drops even more. The cycle continues.

You have to get a certain number of students in the schools to get the programs. You can't offer programs first, then hope students will join. You need a large, healthy student population in a school.

When it reaches the point where WSHS teachers are teaching 12 classes with 30 students, while Lewis teachers are teaching 3 classes with 12 students, that's a problem. WSHS parents may say it's fine, but it's not fine for some teachers to be overloaded and teachers at neighboring schools are not, all while teachers are receiving the same pay. That's a poor use of resources, when the workload among teachers could be more easily balanced.

There's the option to close Lewis, but no FCPS school system nearby is able to absorb a couple hundred kids with one fell swoop. FCPS knows that's not an option.

And IB gets a bad rep with Lewis, but really, a lot of Lewis kids are moving to another IB school: Edison. Many of the AAP students who attend Mark Twain Middle School then go on to attend the STEM program at Edison so they can stay with their friends.

Twain has AAP and Edison has an academy and a STEM program; Key doesn’t have AAP and Lewis’s special program is a “leadership” program. In addition, Edison got a nice renovation, whereas Lewis was one of the three oldest FCPS high schools that got shitty renovations in the early 00s.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out they’ve incentivized people to transfer out of Lewis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live anywhere near this area, but here is an idea:

Improve Lewis where it is:

1. Eliminate IB. It is clearly not the right fit for Lewis (really not the right fit for FCPS.) It will eliminate some of the outplacement to AP.
2. Look at the programs offered. Is the leadership program costing more than it is worth? I've no idea, but someone know whether it is working or not. Is it attracting the kids? Is it improving performance? If not, then scale it way back.
3. Offer strong direct instruction to all students. Provide tutoring to those who are struggling.
4. Look at your extracurriculars. Those are important to keep kids involved. Are they adaptable to the whole community? Do they bring students together? Do they have strong teacher sponsors?


To FCPS leadership: what can you do to attract strong professionals to the school? Is the school clean? Do the administrators provide strong support?
What can you do to keep talented students there? Do they feel ignored?

You have got to find something that unifies the school. In some schools it is football teams. In others, it may be something else, but you need something that keeps the students attending and working.

Do you have a strong onboarding of freshmen? That could be a start.
Could you get local businesses involved to give free coupons for activities?

Lewis needs more students. This does not address the problem.

To offer classes, or even extracurricular activities, Lewis needs a minimum number of students. You need at least 9 kids to field a baseball team. You need a certain number of kids to offer a class.

FCPS doesn't offer classes when not enough students enroll. And with declining enrollment at Lewis, it's harder to offer some of the more specialized programs that other schools offer. And without those specialized programs, parents don't want to send their kids to Lewis, so the enrollment drops even more. The cycle continues.

You have to get a certain number of students in the schools to get the programs. You can't offer programs first, then hope students will join. You need a large, healthy student population in a school.

When it reaches the point where WSHS teachers are teaching 12 classes with 30 students, while Lewis teachers are teaching 3 classes with 12 students, that's a problem. WSHS parents may say it's fine, but it's not fine for some teachers to be overloaded and teachers at neighboring schools are not, all while teachers are receiving the same pay. That's a poor use of resources, when the workload among teachers could be more easily balanced.

There's the option to close Lewis, but no FCPS school system nearby is able to absorb a couple hundred kids with one fell swoop. FCPS knows that's not an option.

And IB gets a bad rep with Lewis, but really, a lot of Lewis kids are moving to another IB school: Edison. Many of the AAP students who attend Mark Twain Middle School then go on to attend the STEM program at Edison so they can stay with their friends.

More students is not going to make the school better. It will only make the school look better.
First things, first. Get rid of IB. It is not working.

[Anonymous]

Why can't FCPS make an exception to offer classes under a certain number of kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live anywhere near this area, but here is an idea:

Improve Lewis where it is:

1. Eliminate IB. It is clearly not the right fit for Lewis (really not the right fit for FCPS.) It will eliminate some of the outplacement to AP.
2. Look at the programs offered. Is the leadership program costing more than it is worth? I've no idea, but someone know whether it is working or not. Is it attracting the kids? Is it improving performance? If not, then scale it way back.
3. Offer strong direct instruction to all students. Provide tutoring to those who are struggling.
4. Look at your extracurriculars. Those are important to keep kids involved. Are they adaptable to the whole community? Do they bring students together? Do they have strong teacher sponsors?


To FCPS leadership: what can you do to attract strong professionals to the school? Is the school clean? Do the administrators provide strong support?
What can you do to keep talented students there? Do they feel ignored?

You have got to find something that unifies the school. In some schools it is football teams. In others, it may be something else, but you need something that keeps the students attending and working.

Do you have a strong onboarding of freshmen? That could be a start.
Could you get local businesses involved to give free coupons for activities?

Lewis needs more students. This does not address the problem.

To offer classes, or even extracurricular activities, Lewis needs a minimum number of students. You need at least 9 kids to field a baseball team. You need a certain number of kids to offer a class.

FCPS doesn't offer classes when not enough students enroll. And with declining enrollment at Lewis, it's harder to offer some of the more specialized programs that other schools offer. And without those specialized programs, parents don't want to send their kids to Lewis, so the enrollment drops even more. The cycle continues.

You have to get a certain number of students in the schools to get the programs. You can't offer programs first, then hope students will join. You need a large, healthy student population in a school.

When it reaches the point where WSHS teachers are teaching 12 classes with 30 students, while Lewis teachers are teaching 3 classes with 12 students, that's a problem. WSHS parents may say it's fine, but it's not fine for some teachers to be overloaded and teachers at neighboring schools are not, all while teachers are receiving the same pay. That's a poor use of resources, when the workload among teachers could be more easily balanced.

There's the option to close Lewis, but no FCPS school system nearby is able to absorb a couple hundred kids with one fell swoop. FCPS knows that's not an option.

And IB gets a bad rep with Lewis, but really, a lot of Lewis kids are moving to another IB school: Edison. Many of the AAP students who attend Mark Twain Middle School then go on to attend the STEM program at Edison so they can stay with their friends.

There are 1600 kids in the school. If you can’t field a baseball team with that, adding 300 more kids won’t help.

The school is only 45% FARMs. Has a leadership academy and high level academic classes through IB. Other schools also need facilities to be addressed so it’s not an outlier.

I don’t really see a problem with Lewis.

Seems like a standard FCPS high school and was only built for 1900ish, so it’s never going to be like Westfield.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live anywhere near this area, but here is an idea:

Improve Lewis where it is:

1. Eliminate IB. It is clearly not the right fit for Lewis (really not the right fit for FCPS.) It will eliminate some of the outplacement to AP.
2. Look at the programs offered. Is the leadership program costing more than it is worth? I've no idea, but someone know whether it is working or not. Is it attracting the kids? Is it improving performance? If not, then scale it way back.
3. Offer strong direct instruction to all students. Provide tutoring to those who are struggling.
4. Look at your extracurriculars. Those are important to keep kids involved. Are they adaptable to the whole community? Do they bring students together? Do they have strong teacher sponsors?


To FCPS leadership: what can you do to attract strong professionals to the school? Is the school clean? Do the administrators provide strong support?
What can you do to keep talented students there? Do they feel ignored?

You have got to find something that unifies the school. In some schools it is football teams. In others, it may be something else, but you need something that keeps the students attending and working.

Do you have a strong onboarding of freshmen? That could be a start.
Could you get local businesses involved to give free coupons for activities?

Lewis needs more students. This does not address the problem.

To offer classes, or even extracurricular activities, Lewis needs a minimum number of students. You need at least 9 kids to field a baseball team. You need a certain number of kids to offer a class.

FCPS doesn't offer classes when not enough students enroll. And with declining enrollment at Lewis, it's harder to offer some of the more specialized programs that other schools offer. And without those specialized programs, parents don't want to send their kids to Lewis, so the enrollment drops even more. The cycle continues.

You have to get a certain number of students in the schools to get the programs. You can't offer programs first, then hope students will join. You need a large, healthy student population in a school.

When it reaches the point where WSHS teachers are teaching 12 classes with 30 students, while Lewis teachers are teaching 3 classes with 12 students, that's a problem. WSHS parents may say it's fine, but it's not fine for some teachers to be overloaded and teachers at neighboring schools are not, all while teachers are receiving the same pay. That's a poor use of resources, when the workload among teachers could be more easily balanced.

There's the option to close Lewis, but no FCPS school system nearby is able to absorb a couple hundred kids with one fell swoop. FCPS knows that's not an option.

And IB gets a bad rep with Lewis, but really, a lot of Lewis kids are moving to another IB school: Edison. Many of the AAP students who attend Mark Twain Middle School then go on to attend the STEM program at Edison so they can stay with their friends.

There are 1600 kids in the school. If you can’t field a baseball team with that, adding 300 more kids won’t help.

The school is only 45% FARMs. Has a leadership academy and high level academic classes through IB. Other schools also need facilities to be addressed so it’s not an outlier.

I don’t really see a problem with Lewis.

Seems like a standard FCPS high school and was only built for 1900ish, so it’s never going to be like Westfield.

Lewis has 1506 kids, and was 63% FARMS in 2022-23.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live anywhere near this area, but here is an idea:

Improve Lewis where it is:

1. Eliminate IB. It is clearly not the right fit for Lewis (really not the right fit for FCPS.) It will eliminate some of the outplacement to AP.
2. Look at the programs offered. Is the leadership program costing more than it is worth? I've no idea, but someone know whether it is working or not. Is it attracting the kids? Is it improving performance? If not, then scale it way back.
3. Offer strong direct instruction to all students. Provide tutoring to those who are struggling.
4. Look at your extracurriculars. Those are important to keep kids involved. Are they adaptable to the whole community? Do they bring students together? Do they have strong teacher sponsors?


To FCPS leadership: what can you do to attract strong professionals to the school? Is the school clean? Do the administrators provide strong support?
What can you do to keep talented students there? Do they feel ignored?

You have got to find something that unifies the school. In some schools it is football teams. In others, it may be something else, but you need something that keeps the students attending and working.

Do you have a strong onboarding of freshmen? That could be a start.
Could you get local businesses involved to give free coupons for activities?

Lewis needs more students. This does not address the problem.

To offer classes, or even extracurricular activities, Lewis needs a minimum number of students. You need at least 9 kids to field a baseball team. You need a certain number of kids to offer a class.

FCPS doesn't offer classes when not enough students enroll. And with declining enrollment at Lewis, it's harder to offer some of the more specialized programs that other schools offer. And without those specialized programs, parents don't want to send their kids to Lewis, so the enrollment drops even more. The cycle continues.

You have to get a certain number of students in the schools to get the programs. You can't offer programs first, then hope students will join. You need a large, healthy student population in a school.

When it reaches the point where WSHS teachers are teaching 12 classes with 30 students, while Lewis teachers are teaching 3 classes with 12 students, that's a problem. WSHS parents may say it's fine, but it's not fine for some teachers to be overloaded and teachers at neighboring schools are not, all while teachers are receiving the same pay. That's a poor use of resources, when the workload among teachers could be more easily balanced.

There's the option to close Lewis, but no FCPS school system nearby is able to absorb a couple hundred kids with one fell swoop. FCPS knows that's not an option.

And IB gets a bad rep with Lewis, but really, a lot of Lewis kids are moving to another IB school: Edison. Many of the AAP students who attend Mark Twain Middle School then go on to attend the STEM program at Edison so they can stay with their friends.

There are 1600 kids in the school. If you can’t field a baseball team with that, adding 300 more kids won’t help.

The school is only 45% FARMs. Has a leadership academy and high level academic classes through IB. Other schools also need facilities to be addressed so it’s not an outlier.

I don’t really see a problem with Lewis.

Seems like a standard FCPS high school and was only built for 1900ish, so it’s never going to be like Westfield.

Lewis has 1506 kids, and was 63% FARMS in 2022-23.

And is now 45%. Not much different than many schools. No biggie. 1500 is enough for a baseball team too.

Maybe the students are happy without baseball.