Mount Vernon?

[Anonymous]

Go for it. I live in a desireable area very close to our high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go for it. I live in a desireable area very close to our high school.

Yeah, me too. I have mine. Let the peasants eat cake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a crazy, crazy idea. Make Lee the sole IB school in the county. Include bussing from anywhere. Redistribute the students from Lee to neighboring schools.

One reason why I think it would work is that if you took the whole county's IB participation, it would likely only fill a single school. So why bother spreading it around. That way demand matches the usage. And the building is used.

This is actually a very sound idea.

I could be wrong, but my sense is that both Marshall and South Lakes are very invested in their IB programs. They get pupil placements from surrounding AP schools that boost their enrollments and test scores, and people in both communities would fight very hard to keep IB. Robinson has a big IB program, too, but I'd bet most (not all) parents there would favor having a full menu of AP courses over IB and a handful of AP courses, which is what they have currently. Fairfax Station and Clifton are fairly conservative areas, and areas like that tend to prefer AP over IB given a choice.

As for the other five schools, shrinking IB from five to one or two schools would make sense. I'd keep IB at Lee, since Edison has the Edison Academy, and maybe Stuart, but get rid of it at Annandale, Edison and Mount Vernon. It would attract more IB students to Lee and stem pupil placements from the other IB schools to AP schools like Woodson, Lake Braddock and West Potomac.

But this is FCPS, so none of this will ever be up for reconsideration. It would be tantamount to conceding that FCPS made a bad decision installing IB at so many schools, and FCPS never acknowledges mistakes.

I think it works better if IB is in a school that's also an academy school.

Not really. IB is very prescriptive so the diploma candidates don't have as much discretion in picking electives. Probably the only argument for doing so would be that IB is considered weaker in math/science, so adding some STEM courses to an academy helps address that concern.

I think STEM courses help and also I just think it makes the school more appealing. Not too many people are really into IB, so having an academy balances out schools with IB with schools with AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go for it. I live in a desireable area very close to our high school.

Yeah, me too. I have mine. Let the peasants eat cake.

We look forward to shipping 1000's of farms kids right into your little square. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

I think a great idea would be to allocate funding proportionally based on school performance. The better the school, the more money the school recieves including teacher salaries. That might give some of these schools like Lee and Mount Vernon an incentive to turn things around. And, if they can't? Well, then they get what they deserve. We all know money alone can't fix their problems - these schools may well be a lost cause. Let's do our best to make sure the good schools like West Springfield don't go down the drain too. Redistributing low SES neighborhoods into high SES pyramids will only hurt the schools that are still worthy of the money we spend on them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a great idea would be to allocate funding proportionally based on school performance. The better the school, the more money the school recieves including teacher salaries. That might give some of these schools like Lee and Mount Vernon an incentive to turn things around. And, if they can't? Well, then they get what they deserve. We all know money alone can't fix their problems - these schools may well be a lost cause. Let's do our best to make sure the good schools like West Springfield don't go down the drain too. Redistributing low SES neighborhoods into high SES pyramids will only hurt the schools that are still worthy of the money we spend on them.

This has got to be a joke right?
It actually works the opposite way sweetheart. The worse a school performs, the more money is poured in. You don't get to write kids off. Even if they are poorer and browner than your little snowflake.
If you had any sense or understanding of your own self interest, you would know that it isn't a good idea to " punish" under performing schools. The cost is placed back on the taxpayer in a multitude of ways.

[Anonymous]

I think we should start holding parents accountable. It's like everyone think the teacher should make the kid. Nope. That job belongs to mom AND dad. Apparently, there are many parents who don't parent! Not the schools or the taxpayers responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we should start holding parents accountable. It's like everyone think the teacher should make the kid. Nope. That job belongs to mom AND dad. Apparently, there are many parents who don't parent! Not the schools or the taxpayers responsibility.

Tough shit. You don't get to withhold your tax dollars from kids because of crappy parents. If you want an improved school, you need demographics that can support it.

[Anonymous]

I didn't suggest withholding money. I said stop setting unrealistic expectations. And. Stop gerrymandering boundaries to have better demographics. Deal with what you got. Period!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go for it. I live in a desireable area very close to our high school.

Yeah, me too. I have mine. Let the peasants eat cake.

We look forward to shipping 1000's of farms kids right into your little square. Enjoy!

What's funny (or not, depending on your point of view), is that this is exactly what happened at my kids' elementary school a few years back. Anyone--except, apparently, School Board members--who thinks it can't happen to their kids' school is kidding themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't suggest withholding money. I said stop setting unrealistic expectations. And. Stop gerrymandering boundaries to have better demographics. Deal with what you got. Period!

Amen! Keeps the filth where it belongs! In someone else's school pyramid. Mine is too good for it. I know because I live in it. My husband is wildly successful and allowed us to buy in his pyramid away from the trash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a crazy, crazy idea. Make Lee the sole IB school in the county. Include bussing from anywhere. Redistribute the students from Lee to neighboring schools.

One reason why I think it would work is that if you took the whole county's IB participation, it would likely only fill a single school. So why bother spreading it around. That way demand matches the usage. And the building is used.

This is actually a very sound idea.

I could be wrong, but my sense is that both Marshall and South Lakes are very invested in their IB programs. They get pupil placements from surrounding AP schools that boost their enrollments and test scores, and people in both communities would fight very hard to keep IB. Robinson has a big IB program, too, but I'd bet most (not all) parents there would favor having a full menu of AP courses over IB and a handful of AP courses, which is what they have currently. Fairfax Station and Clifton are fairly conservative areas, and areas like that tend to prefer AP over IB given a choice.

As for the other five schools, shrinking IB from five to one or two schools would make sense. I'd keep IB at Lee, since Edison has the Edison Academy, and maybe Stuart, but get rid of it at Annandale, Edison and Mount Vernon. It would attract more IB students to Lee and stem pupil placements from the other IB schools to AP schools like Woodson, Lake Braddock and West Potomac.

But this is FCPS, so none of this will ever be up for reconsideration. It would be tantamount to conceding that FCPS made a bad decision installing IB at so many schools, and FCPS never acknowledges mistakes.

That's a good point. I do think if it was built as a cost cutting measure, they might try this. I don't know what IB participation rates at Marshall and South Lakes looks like, but I do think you could probably get away with a single IB school (i.e. Lee) to serve South County, Lake Braddock, West Springfield, Mount Vernon, West Potomac, Edison, Annadale, Woodson. I imagine if you were to limit the school to solely IB, you could probably even absorb capacity from Robinson (many parents would likely have their kids switch to AP to avoid bussing).

Having the 3 IB schools (South Lakes, Marshall, and ONE in the eastern/northern part of the county - not the cluster of Edison/Lee/Annandale/Stuart/Mount Vernon which are all pretty close to one another) would make a lot of sense. Then turn the rest of them into AP. If you keep IB at Lee, maybe students from those areas would pupil place and improve the school as a whole.

But seriously, it makes no sense that Lee and Edison are both IB. They are on the same damn road.

I completely agree (and put up the crazy idea). I think the whole point is that if we could turn Lee into a higher performing "choice" school would be a great way to utilize an underused school that is surrounded by schools that either have space or could accommodate space if Lee is turned into a choice school. I agree, keeping South Lakes and Marshall makes sense. But I would send kids from Stuart, Robinson, Lake Braddock, South County, West Springfield, Mount Vernon, Edison, West Potomac, Annadale, Woodson, and Hayfield who want to pursue IB coursework to a single school.

I disagree. As posted up thread, the numbers are too great to fit them all in a single school.

There were 502 diploma candidates in the Class of 2013. I'm not sure if FCPS has made that information available for later years.

Obviously you could not fit all the kids taking at least IB course into one high school (duh). You could possibly fit all the IB diploma candidates into one school, although it might be difficult to identify the pre-IB diploma students who are freshmen and sophomores. A lot of kids start out at IB high schools now thinking they may do the full diploma program, and then bail on it with no consequences.

However you slice it, there is no need for eight IB high schools in FCPS when the number of actual diploma candidates would fit in one school.

IB is more than just the IB Diploma. As long as IB is treated the same way AP is, I think it is equitable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a crazy, crazy idea. Make Lee the sole IB school in the county. Include bussing from anywhere. Redistribute the students from Lee to neighboring schools.

One reason why I think it would work is that if you took the whole county's IB participation, it would likely only fill a single school. So why bother spreading it around. That way demand matches the usage. And the building is used.

This is actually a very sound idea.

I could be wrong, but my sense is that both Marshall and South Lakes are very invested in their IB programs. They get pupil placements from surrounding AP schools that boost their enrollments and test scores, and people in both communities would fight very hard to keep IB. Robinson has a big IB program, too, but I'd bet most (not all) parents there would favor having a full menu of AP courses over IB and a handful of AP courses, which is what they have currently. Fairfax Station and Clifton are fairly conservative areas, and areas like that tend to prefer AP over IB given a choice.

As for the other five schools, shrinking IB from five to one or two schools would make sense. I'd keep IB at Lee, since Edison has the Edison Academy, and maybe Stuart, but get rid of it at Annandale, Edison and Mount Vernon. It would attract more IB students to Lee and stem pupil placements from the other IB schools to AP schools like Woodson, Lake Braddock and West Potomac.

But this is FCPS, so none of this will ever be up for reconsideration. It would be tantamount to conceding that FCPS made a bad decision installing IB at so many schools, and FCPS never acknowledges mistakes.

That's a good point. I do think if it was built as a cost cutting measure, they might try this. I don't know what IB participation rates at Marshall and South Lakes looks like, but I do think you could probably get away with a single IB school (i.e. Lee) to serve South County, Lake Braddock, West Springfield, Mount Vernon, West Potomac, Edison, Annadale, Woodson. I imagine if you were to limit the school to solely IB, you could probably even absorb capacity from Robinson (many parents would likely have their kids switch to AP to avoid bussing).

Having the 3 IB schools (South Lakes, Marshall, and ONE in the eastern/northern part of the county - not the cluster of Edison/Lee/Annandale/Stuart/Mount Vernon which are all pretty close to one another) would make a lot of sense. Then turn the rest of them into AP. If you keep IB at Lee, maybe students from those areas would pupil place and improve the school as a whole.

But seriously, it makes no sense that Lee and Edison are both IB. They are on the same damn road.

I completely agree (and put up the crazy idea). I think the whole point is that if we could turn Lee into a higher performing "choice" school would be a great way to utilize an underused school that is surrounded by schools that either have space or could accommodate space if Lee is turned into a choice school. I agree, keeping South Lakes and Marshall makes sense. But I would send kids from Stuart, Robinson, Lake Braddock, South County, West Springfield, Mount Vernon, Edison, West Potomac, Annadale, Woodson, and Hayfield who want to pursue IB coursework to a single school.

I disagree. As posted up thread, the numbers are too great to fit them all in a single school.

There were 502 diploma candidates in the Class of 2013. I'm not sure if FCPS has made that information available for later years.

Obviously you could not fit all the kids taking at least IB course into one high school (duh). You could possibly fit all the IB diploma candidates into one school, although it might be difficult to identify the pre-IB diploma students who are freshmen and sophomores. A lot of kids start out at IB high schools now thinking they may do the full diploma program, and then bail on it with no consequences.

However you slice it, there is no need for eight IB high schools in FCPS when the number of actual diploma candidates would fit in one school.

IB is more than just the IB Diploma. As long as IB is treated the same way AP is, I think it is equitable.

There is no real point to IB without the diploma as it is intended to be an integrated course of studies. And treating IB the same would mean spending less per student and getting rid of the full-time IB coordinators and AP does not impose a similar requirement on schools that offer AP courses. IB is too expensive to have at so many schools for what FCPS is getting in return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a crazy, crazy idea. Make Lee the sole IB school in the county. Include bussing from anywhere. Redistribute the students from Lee to neighboring schools.

One reason why I think it would work is that if you took the whole county's IB participation, it would likely only fill a single school. So why bother spreading it around. That way demand matches the usage. And the building is used.

This is actually a very sound idea.

I could be wrong, but my sense is that both Marshall and South Lakes are very invested in their IB programs. They get pupil placements from surrounding AP schools that boost their enrollments and test scores, and people in both communities would fight very hard to keep IB. Robinson has a big IB program, too, but I'd bet most (not all) parents there would favor having a full menu of AP courses over IB and a handful of AP courses, which is what they have currently. Fairfax Station and Clifton are fairly conservative areas, and areas like that tend to prefer AP over IB given a choice.

As for the other five schools, shrinking IB from five to one or two schools would make sense. I'd keep IB at Lee, since Edison has the Edison Academy, and maybe Stuart, but get rid of it at Annandale, Edison and Mount Vernon. It would attract more IB students to Lee and stem pupil placements from the other IB schools to AP schools like Woodson, Lake Braddock and West Potomac.

But this is FCPS, so none of this will ever be up for reconsideration. It would be tantamount to conceding that FCPS made a bad decision installing IB at so many schools, and FCPS never acknowledges mistakes.

That's a good point. I do think if it was built as a cost cutting measure, they might try this. I don't know what IB participation rates at Marshall and South Lakes looks like, but I do think you could probably get away with a single IB school (i.e. Lee) to serve South County, Lake Braddock, West Springfield, Mount Vernon, West Potomac, Edison, Annadale, Woodson. I imagine if you were to limit the school to solely IB, you could probably even absorb capacity from Robinson (many parents would likely have their kids switch to AP to avoid bussing).

Having the 3 IB schools (South Lakes, Marshall, and ONE in the eastern/northern part of the county - not the cluster of Edison/Lee/Annandale/Stuart/Mount Vernon which are all pretty close to one another) would make a lot of sense. Then turn the rest of them into AP. If you keep IB at Lee, maybe students from those areas would pupil place and improve the school as a whole.

But seriously, it makes no sense that Lee and Edison are both IB. They are on the same damn road.

I completely agree (and put up the crazy idea). I think the whole point is that if we could turn Lee into a higher performing "choice" school would be a great way to utilize an underused school that is surrounded by schools that either have space or could accommodate space if Lee is turned into a choice school. I agree, keeping South Lakes and Marshall makes sense. But I would send kids from Stuart, Robinson, Lake Braddock, South County, West Springfield, Mount Vernon, Edison, West Potomac, Annadale, Woodson, and Hayfield who want to pursue IB coursework to a single school.

I disagree. As posted up thread, the numbers are too great to fit them all in a single school.

There were 502 diploma candidates in the Class of 2013. I'm not sure if FCPS has made that information available for later years.

Obviously you could not fit all the kids taking at least IB course into one high school (duh). You could possibly fit all the IB diploma candidates into one school, although it might be difficult to identify the pre-IB diploma students who are freshmen and sophomores. A lot of kids start out at IB high schools now thinking they may do the full diploma program, and then bail on it with no consequences.

However you slice it, there is no need for eight IB high schools in FCPS when the number of actual diploma candidates would fit in one school.

IB is more than just the IB Diploma. As long as IB is treated the same way AP is, I think it is equitable.

There is no real point to IB without the diploma as it is intended to be an integrated course of studies. And treating IB the same would mean spending less per student and getting rid of the full-time IB coordinators and AP does not impose a similar requirement on schools that offer AP courses. IB is too expensive to have at so many schools for what FCPS is getting in return.

There are IB certificate programs and there are IB course options that can be partnered together to make an interdisciplinary solution that AP cannot replicate. The IB coordinators are paid to cover the IB diploma candidates anyway, so there is no additional cost for their apportionment over certificate and individual courses.

There is no real point to AP, either, especially since more and more colleges are not offering college credit for 4s and 5s as exam scores.

[Anonymous]

Another option is to get rid of AP except for students taking 9 or more AP courses and the capstone course.