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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the PP’s briefly touched on one of the most important points - the area zoned for Lewis is not generally an area that attracts families. Especially families of school-aged (let alone HS-aged) kids. People buy a starter home and then move and sell when their kid hits K or 1st. Or they live in one of the various apartment buildings and don’t have kids. Much of the area is industrial or commercial. Just moving in a few more SPA’s isn’t going to do anything in the long term because people will place out to Edison for their programs or one of the AP schools for AP classes.

And even moving schools in runs into problems because Franconia ES (zoned for Edison) has Edison’s walkers in its attendance area. Bren Mar Park (also Edison) would likely have to drive past Edison on its way to Lewis and should probably be up at Annandale with the rest of the K-5 schools. North Springfield (Annandale) is also a K-5 situation and sits pretty close to Annandale HS. In West Springfield, West Springfield and Keene Mill elementaries have Irving’s walkers. West Springfield HS boundaries are so compact that just about anyone leaving there is going to have a longer commute wherever they go. Lewis is in a really bad location unfortunately.

The Daventry community is in a really great location for Lewis -- they just go right up Keene Mill Road. There are communities zoned for WSHS that work well for Lewis. Yes, those communities are closer to Irving Middle School, but there are also Lewis communities closer to Irving Middle School that are zoned for Key.

Lewis already gets an exemption from the VHSL to play other Division 6 schools -- because it is so small, it qualifies for Division 5, but every other school in the region is Division 6. When Lewis gets so small that sports aren't sustainable, the drama and arts programs aren't sustainable, the classroom sizes drop to below threshold -- that's a problem for more than just Lewis.

At that point, the school may need to close, which means that all the surrounding high schools will have to absorb the the student population. And all the surrounding high schools are over capacity already. Which means expensive renovations, overcrowded classrooms, trailers, and so on to ensure those high schools can absorb the student populations.

Or, the school board needs to take action in advance to prevent reaching that point, which means moving school populations into Lewis.

People complain that they don't want to move into Lewis. But would WSHS and Edison rather the Lewis population move into their schools? How would they feel about that?

Daventry is definitely close and convenient to Lewis. But closer even than Daventry are the townhouses adjacent to Saint Bernadette, and the Keene Mill Elementary neighborhoods along Harwood and Glenister. Those KM areas are the closest WSHS neighborhoods to Lewis, closer than Daventry is to Lewis, and much closer than Saratoga and Rolling Valley.

It's not going to happen, but if FCPS were to do an impartial rezoning strictly based on geography, Tiverton, Harwood and Glenister neighborhoods should be at Lewis, before Daventry.

That would destroy a middle and high school walk zone. Many kids from KMES walk to WSHS. They are walkers to both. Can’t even throw them under the bus because they walk.

Not those streets mentioned above. They are well outside the walk zone to WSHS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving students is not the answer.

Make the school better. There is nothing wrong with a 1500 population high

I went to a suburban high school. There were 276 people in my graduating class.

Sure, a very large school is able to offer more variety of classes, but just because some different classes are offered does not mean that every kid who is interested will be able to take it

But, once more, what is IB doing for Lewis? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage. In my view, it is a huge disadvantage. It is far less flexible than AP and it is more difficult to get college credit for them. It also enables a mass exodus of transfers to AP high schools.

Going down a division isn't bad -- until you realize that all the schools in the vicinity are a higher division. Which means if Lewis wants to play schools of a similar size and the same division, the students will have to travel beyond FCPS boundaries, traveling more than an hour or so. That's more money spent for transportation, and also the massive amounts of time Lewis students will spent on a bus being carted around. In the meantime, there are schools minutes away, like Edison and Hayfield and WSHS, but Lewis would be in a different division.

Also pointing out that the nearby schools are overcrowded. WSHS is overcrowded to the point where kids can't make sports teams unless they've been playing since they were five years old.

IB is not the magic fairy godmother that people think it is. You don't wave it away and think that suddenly students will unfurl into existence like a sparkling ball gown. It doesn't work that way. Not with an IB school right next door to Lewis.

Move Daventry to Lewis and Bren Mar Park to Lewis. Edison and WSHS both get some relief and Lewis gets 500+ new students. Done.

I would probably move those Keene Mill neighborhoods above to Lewis before Daventry, since they are the closest to Lewis with the easiest commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the PP’s briefly touched on one of the most important points - the area zoned for Lewis is not generally an area that attracts families. Especially families of school-aged (let alone HS-aged) kids. People buy a starter home and then move and sell when their kid hits K or 1st. Or they live in one of the various apartment buildings and don’t have kids. Much of the area is industrial or commercial. Just moving in a few more SPA’s isn’t going to do anything in the long term because people will place out to Edison for their programs or one of the AP schools for AP classes.

And even moving schools in runs into problems because Franconia ES (zoned for Edison) has Edison’s walkers in its attendance area. Bren Mar Park (also Edison) would likely have to drive past Edison on its way to Lewis and should probably be up at Annandale with the rest of the K-5 schools. North Springfield (Annandale) is also a K-5 situation and sits pretty close to Annandale HS. In West Springfield, West Springfield and Keene Mill elementaries have Irving’s walkers. West Springfield HS boundaries are so compact that just about anyone leaving there is going to have a longer commute wherever they go. Lewis is in a really bad location unfortunately.

The Daventry community is in a really great location for Lewis -- they just go right up Keene Mill Road. There are communities zoned for WSHS that work well for Lewis. Yes, those communities are closer to Irving Middle School, but there are also Lewis communities closer to Irving Middle School that are zoned for Key.

Lewis already gets an exemption from the VHSL to play other Division 6 schools -- because it is so small, it qualifies for Division 5, but every other school in the region is Division 6. When Lewis gets so small that sports aren't sustainable, the drama and arts programs aren't sustainable, the classroom sizes drop to below threshold -- that's a problem for more than just Lewis.

At that point, the school may need to close, which means that all the surrounding high schools will have to absorb the the student population. And all the surrounding high schools are over capacity already. Which means expensive renovations, overcrowded classrooms, trailers, and so on to ensure those high schools can absorb the student populations.

Or, the school board needs to take action in advance to prevent reaching that point, which means moving school populations into Lewis.

People complain that they don't want to move into Lewis. But would WSHS and Edison rather the Lewis population move into their schools? How would they feel about that?

Daventry is definitely close and convenient to Lewis. But closer even than Daventry are the townhouses adjacent to Saint Bernadette, and the Keene Mill Elementary neighborhoods along Harwood and Glenister. Those KM areas are the closest WSHS neighborhoods to Lewis, closer than Daventry is to Lewis, and much closer than Saratoga and Rolling Valley.

It's not going to happen, but if FCPS were to do an impartial rezoning strictly based on geography, Tiverton, Harwood and Glenister neighborhoods should be at Lewis, before Daventry.

That would destroy a middle and high school walk zone. Many kids from KMES walk to WSHS. They are walkers to both. Can’t even throw them under the bus because they walk.

Not those streets mentioned above. They are well outside the walk zone to WSHS.

.1 mile away from the walk zone isn’t that far. Or maybe you aren’t familiar with the streets.

Most of those kids walk to Irving and are just outside the high school walk zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving students is not the answer.

Make the school better. There is nothing wrong with a 1500 population high

I went to a suburban high school. There were 276 people in my graduating class.

Sure, a very large school is able to offer more variety of classes, but just because some different classes are offered does not mean that every kid who is interested will be able to take it

But, once more, what is IB doing for Lewis? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage. In my view, it is a huge disadvantage. It is far less flexible than AP and it is more difficult to get college credit for them. It also enables a mass exodus of transfers to AP high schools.

Going down a division isn't bad -- until you realize that all the schools in the vicinity are a higher division. Which means if Lewis wants to play schools of a similar size and the same division, the students will have to travel beyond FCPS boundaries, traveling more than an hour or so. That's more money spent for transportation, and also the massive amounts of time Lewis students will spent on a bus being carted around. In the meantime, there are schools minutes away, like Edison and Hayfield and WSHS, but Lewis would be in a different division.

Also pointing out that the nearby schools are overcrowded. WSHS is overcrowded to the point where kids can't make sports teams unless they've been playing since they were five years old.

IB is not the magic fairy godmother that people think it is. You don't wave it away and think that suddenly students will unfurl into existence like a sparkling ball gown. It doesn't work that way. Not with an IB school right next door to Lewis.

Move Daventry to Lewis and Bren Mar Park to Lewis. Edison and WSHS both get some relief and Lewis gets 500+ new students. Done.

I would probably move those Keene Mill neighborhoods above to Lewis before Daventry, since they are the closest to Lewis with the easiest commute.

Right….. make a triple split feeder out of Keene mill or split feeder of Irving? Makes no sense. How about fix
Lewis?

[Anonymous]

So BMP has to drive past Edison to get there or go on the interstate? Literally makes no sense. BMP should go to AHS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving students is not the answer.

Make the school better. There is nothing wrong with a 1500 population high

I went to a suburban high school. There were 276 people in my graduating class.

Sure, a very large school is able to offer more variety of classes, but just because some different classes are offered does not mean that every kid who is interested will be able to take it

But, once more, what is IB doing for Lewis? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage. In my view, it is a huge disadvantage. It is far less flexible than AP and it is more difficult to get college credit for them. It also enables a mass exodus of transfers to AP high schools.

Going down a division isn't bad -- until you realize that all the schools in the vicinity are a higher division. Which means if Lewis wants to play schools of a similar size and the same division, the students will have to travel beyond FCPS boundaries, traveling more than an hour or so. That's more money spent for transportation, and also the massive amounts of time Lewis students will spent on a bus being carted around. In the meantime, there are schools minutes away, like Edison and Hayfield and WSHS, but Lewis would be in a different division.

Also pointing out that the nearby schools are overcrowded. WSHS is overcrowded to the point where kids can't make sports teams unless they've been playing since they were five years old.

IB is not the magic fairy godmother that people think it is. You don't wave it away and think that suddenly students will unfurl into existence like a sparkling ball gown. It doesn't work that way. Not with an IB school right next door to Lewis.

Move Daventry to Lewis and Bren Mar Park to Lewis. Edison and WSHS both get some relief and Lewis gets 500+ new students. Done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know how many times this needs to be said, but eliminating IB at Lewis won't solve the transfer-out problem. Why? Because students aren't transferring out because of a lack of AP courses.

Large numbers of Lewis students are transferring into Edison, which is an IB program. They are transferring because of the STEM program.

If you create an AP program at Lewis, students will still transfer into Edison because it is an IB school and parents will say they want an IB education.

Parents are transferring students out of Lewis because they don't believe their child will get a good education there. Lewis doesn't have the variety of programming a school like WSHS has because Lewis doesn't have the population numbers. It needs more kids to have the same level of programs.

It's also heavily Hispanic, heavily non-native English speakers. That's why soccer is huge at Lewis, but sports like baseball and football are not as supported, because soccer is the sport the student population plays the most.

Switching from IB to AP isn't the type of program that gets families to buy into the school. A school population, with numbers large enough to support more specialized academics like astrology and advanced physics and advanced music theory classes -- that helps bring in more students, which in turn helps the school continue to grow and thrive.

So do nothing??? Close it? Can't win, don't try?

Not as concerned about the baseball team as about having adequate course offerings. What should be done:

1. Switch to AP. In fact, make all county high schools AP again. IB is not worth all of the issues it creates.
2. Even out language programs across county high schools. The differences across pyramids are almost criminal at this point.
3. Put AAP in Key at the middle school level - keeps kids in the Lewis pyramid.
4. Move Saratoga AAP kids to Springfield Estates - keeps kids in the Lewis pyramid (otherwise they go from Lorton Station to LB and never return)
5. After all of these things have been done and a few years go by, revisit the boundaries again if numbers are still less than 1700 or so. They may have taken too many neighborhoods out of Lee/Lewis in 2005 and 2015. It has been well under capacity (Design Capacity is over 2100) for some time.

The terrible thing about all of this is that FCPS has created much of this mess.

IB and AP - two distinct programs and not equal.

AAP in some middle school pyramids, not in other pyramids.

Language programs grossly different across high schools.

Academies for some and not for others (and some clearly more popular than others - e.g., Edison STEM).

How can they possibly change boundaries when they have made high school pyramids so different?

Everything they have done encourages people to flee schools like Lewis.

The least they could do are the things mentioned above - at least those that only impact Lewis internally - don't want to drop IB across the county in favor of AP, at least do it at Lewis. Put in AAP at Key. Move Saratoga to Springfield Estates for AAP. Improve the language offerings even if it means small classes.

If they don't do this, then people on the east and south side of West Springfield boundaries and those on the west side of Edison (plus Bren Mar) should be prepared for boundary changes. Allowing Lewis to fester like this is a real problem for the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know how many times this needs to be said, but eliminating IB at Lewis won't solve the transfer-out problem. Why? Because students aren't transferring out because of a lack of AP courses.

Large numbers of Lewis students are transferring into Edison, which is an IB program. They are transferring because of the STEM program.

If you create an AP program at Lewis, students will still transfer into Edison because it is an IB school and parents will say they want an IB education.

Parents are transferring students out of Lewis because they don't believe their child will get a good education there. Lewis doesn't have the variety of programming a school like WSHS has because Lewis doesn't have the population numbers. It needs more kids to have the same level of programs.

It's also heavily Hispanic, heavily non-native English speakers. That's why soccer is huge at Lewis, but sports like baseball and football are not as supported, because soccer is the sport the student population plays the most.

Switching from IB to AP isn't the type of program that gets families to buy into the school. A school population, with numbers large enough to support more specialized academics like astrology and advanced physics and advanced music theory classes -- that helps bring in more students, which in turn helps the school continue to grow and thrive.

So do nothing??? Close it? Can't win, don't try?

Not as concerned about the baseball team as about having adequate course offerings. What should be done:

1. Switch to AP. In fact, make all county high schools AP again. IB is not worth all of the issues it creates.
2. Even out language programs across county high schools. The differences across pyramids are almost criminal at this point.
3. Put AAP in Key at the middle school level - keeps kids in the Lewis pyramid.
4. Move Saratoga AAP kids to Springfield Estates - keeps kids in the Lewis pyramid (otherwise they go from Lorton Station to LB and never return)
5. After all of these things have been done and a few years go by, revisit the boundaries again if numbers are still less than 1700 or so. They may have taken too many neighborhoods out of Lee/Lewis in 2005 and 2015. It has been well under capacity (Design Capacity is over 2100) for some time.

The terrible thing about all of this is that FCPS has created much of this mess.

IB and AP - two distinct programs and not equal.

AAP in some middle school pyramids, not in other pyramids.

Language programs grossly different across high schools.

Academies for some and not for others (and some clearly more popular than others - e.g., Edison STEM).

How can they possibly change boundaries when they have made high school pyramids so different?

Everything they have done encourages people to flee schools like Lewis.

The least they could do are the things mentioned above - at least those that only impact Lewis internally - don't want to drop IB across the county in favor of AP, at least do it at Lewis. Put in AAP at Key. Move Saratoga to Springfield Estates for AAP. Improve the language offerings even if it means small classes.

If they don't do this, then people on the east and south side of West Springfield boundaries and those on the west side of Edison (plus Bren Mar) should be prepared for boundary changes. Allowing Lewis to fester like this is a real problem for the county.

I agree with a lot of this, however Bren Mar was already changed just 15 years ago. At least let them go back to AHS and stop targeting them as an easy boundary change. Let some of the other schools in on the changes instead of flip flopping BMP every several years.

[Anonymous]

Moving Bren Mar to Lewis makes Holmes too small - it already has fewer than 300 per grade. If Bren Mar is moved, it would be reduced by another 40-50 per grade. And Bren Mar doesn’t have a 6th grade so it would be cruel to send Bren Mar to Holmes and then to Lewis when moving them to Annandale would be much closer for them, would not require traveling on a highway and would eliminate the split feeder at Holmes.

Bren Mar was part of the solution 14 years ago - it shouldn’t have to be the solution again. For once, do something for Bren Mar instead of just using it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving students is not the answer.

Make the school better. There is nothing wrong with a 1500 population high

I went to a suburban high school. There were 276 people in my graduating class.

Sure, a very large school is able to offer more variety of classes, but just because some different classes are offered does not mean that every kid who is interested will be able to take it

But, once more, what is IB doing for Lewis? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage. In my view, it is a huge disadvantage. It is far less flexible than AP and it is more difficult to get college credit for them. It also enables a mass exodus of transfers to AP high schools.

Going down a division isn't bad -- until you realize that all the schools in the vicinity are a higher division. Which means if Lewis wants to play schools of a similar size and the same division, the students will have to travel beyond FCPS boundaries, traveling more than an hour or so. That's more money spent for transportation, and also the massive amounts of time Lewis students will spent on a bus being carted around. In the meantime, there are schools minutes away, like Edison and Hayfield and WSHS, but Lewis would be in a different division.

Also pointing out that the nearby schools are overcrowded. WSHS is overcrowded to the point where kids can't make sports teams unless they've been playing since they were five years old.

IB is not the magic fairy godmother that people think it is. You don't wave it away and think that suddenly students will unfurl into existence like a sparkling ball gown. It doesn't work that way. Not with an IB school right next door to Lewis.

Move Daventry to Lewis and Bren Mar Park to Lewis. Edison and WSHS both get some relief and Lewis gets 500+ new students. Done.

I would probably move those Keene Mill neighborhoods above to Lewis before Daventry, since they are the closest to Lewis with the easiest commute.

Right….. make a triple split feeder out of Keene mill or split feeder of Irving? Makes no sense. How about fix
Lewis?

Moving Daventry to Lewis would create a solit feeder at West Springfield Elementary, the smallest school in the WSHS pyramid and a school around 60% the size of Keene Mill.

Look, I don't think that anyone should get rezoned, but if they are moving someone, those 2 Keene Mill neighborhoods make the most sense, since they are the closest neighborhoods to Lewis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Moving Bren Mar to Lewis makes Holmes too small - it already has fewer than 300 per grade. If Bren Mar is moved, it would be reduced by another 40-50 per grade. And Bren Mar doesn’t have a 6th grade so it would be cruel to send Bren Mar to Holmes and then to Lewis when moving them to Annandale would be much closer for them, would not require traveling on a highway and would eliminate the split feeder at Holmes.

Bren Mar was part of the solution 14 years ago - it shouldn’t have to be the solution again. For once, do something for Bren Mar instead of just using it.

Holmes will pick up some kids when every MS gets AAP. Also, Ricardy Anderson wants to move part of Belvedere from Glasgow to Holmes.

Even so, I don't think they should keep treating BMP like the low-hanging fruit to be reassigned at whim. If they want to stay at Holmes and move back to Annandale (which BMP attended from the mid-80s through 2011), that should be considered, but not moving them to Key/Lewis. It ought to be someone else's turn if they want to move people into Lewis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving students is not the answer.

Make the school better. There is nothing wrong with a 1500 population high

I went to a suburban high school. There were 276 people in my graduating class.

Sure, a very large school is able to offer more variety of classes, but just because some different classes are offered does not mean that every kid who is interested will be able to take it

But, once more, what is IB doing for Lewis? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage. In my view, it is a huge disadvantage. It is far less flexible than AP and it is more difficult to get college credit for them. It also enables a mass exodus of transfers to AP high schools.

Going down a division isn't bad -- until you realize that all the schools in the vicinity are a higher division. Which means if Lewis wants to play schools of a similar size and the same division, the students will have to travel beyond FCPS boundaries, traveling more than an hour or so. That's more money spent for transportation, and also the massive amounts of time Lewis students will spent on a bus being carted around. In the meantime, there are schools minutes away, like Edison and Hayfield and WSHS, but Lewis would be in a different division.

Also pointing out that the nearby schools are overcrowded. WSHS is overcrowded to the point where kids can't make sports teams unless they've been playing since they were five years old.

IB is not the magic fairy godmother that people think it is. You don't wave it away and think that suddenly students will unfurl into existence like a sparkling ball gown. It doesn't work that way. Not with an IB school right next door to Lewis.

Move Daventry to Lewis and Bren Mar Park to Lewis. Edison and WSHS both get some relief and Lewis gets 500+ new students. Done.

I would probably move those Keene Mill neighborhoods above to Lewis before Daventry, since they are the closest to Lewis with the easiest commute.

Right….. make a triple split feeder out of Keene mill or split feeder of Irving? Makes no sense. How about fix
Lewis?

Moving Daventry to Lewis would create a solit feeder at West Springfield Elementary, the smallest school in the WSHS pyramid and a school around 60% the size of Keene Mill.

Look, I don't think that anyone should get rezoned, but if they are moving someone, those 2 Keene Mill neighborhoods make the most sense, since they are the closest neighborhoods to Lewis.

Nah-you are playing the “point the finger at someone else” game instead of saying no one should be moved. If you are comparing Daventry to the KMES neighborhoods.

Taking the KMES neighborhoods will do the following:

-make KMES a triple split feeder: Braddock, Irving and key.
-destroy a walk zone therefore putting kids on a bus that aren’t one on.
-take a lot of the diversity out of Irving because KMES is the most diverse school in the pyramid
-takes those kids to the 3rd furthest away high school (both WSHS and Braddock are closer)

Taking Daventry:
-keeps kids on a bus on a bus
-takes kids further away from WSHS to Lewis (which is the 2nd close high school)
-add a higher SES and more white kids to Lewis (which seems to be a goal)

This game was played over and over again during the boundary review.

Start advocating for NO ONE TO LEAVE and to FIX LEWIS rather than this misguided game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving students is not the answer.

Make the school better. There is nothing wrong with a 1500 population high

I went to a suburban high school. There were 276 people in my graduating class.

Sure, a very large school is able to offer more variety of classes, but just because some different classes are offered does not mean that every kid who is interested will be able to take it

But, once more, what is IB doing for Lewis? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage. In my view, it is a huge disadvantage. It is far less flexible than AP and it is more difficult to get college credit for them. It also enables a mass exodus of transfers to AP high schools.

Going down a division isn't bad -- until you realize that all the schools in the vicinity are a higher division. Which means if Lewis wants to play schools of a similar size and the same division, the students will have to travel beyond FCPS boundaries, traveling more than an hour or so. That's more money spent for transportation, and also the massive amounts of time Lewis students will spent on a bus being carted around. In the meantime, there are schools minutes away, like Edison and Hayfield and WSHS, but Lewis would be in a different division.

Also pointing out that the nearby schools are overcrowded. WSHS is overcrowded to the point where kids can't make sports teams unless they've been playing since they were five years old.

IB is not the magic fairy godmother that people think it is. You don't wave it away and think that suddenly students will unfurl into existence like a sparkling ball gown. It doesn't work that way. Not with an IB school right next door to Lewis.

Move Daventry to Lewis and Bren Mar Park to Lewis. Edison and WSHS both get some relief and Lewis gets 500+ new students. Done.

I would probably move those Keene Mill neighborhoods above to Lewis before Daventry, since they are the closest to Lewis with the easiest commute.

Right….. make a triple split feeder out of Keene mill or split feeder of Irving? Makes no sense. How about fix
Lewis?

Moving Daventry to Lewis would create a solit feeder at West Springfield Elementary, the smallest school in the WSHS pyramid and a school around 60% the size of Keene Mill.

Look, I don't think that anyone should get rezoned, but if they are moving someone, those 2 Keene Mill neighborhoods make the most sense, since they are the closest neighborhoods to Lewis.

Nah-you are playing the “point the finger at someone else” game instead of saying no one should be moved. If you are comparing Daventry to the KMES neighborhoods.

Taking the KMES neighborhoods will do the following:

-make KMES a triple split feeder: Braddock, Irving and key.
-destroy a walk zone therefore putting kids on a bus that aren’t one on.
-take a lot of the diversity out of Irving because KMES is the most diverse school in the pyramid
-takes those kids to the 3rd furthest away high school (both WSHS and Braddock are closer)

Taking Daventry:
-keeps kids on a bus on a bus
-takes kids further away from WSHS to Lewis (which is the 2nd close high school)
-add a higher SES and more white kids to Lewis (which seems to be a goal)

This game was played over and over again during the boundary review.

Start advocating for NO ONE TO LEAVE and to FIX LEWIS rather than this misguided game.

Fixing Lewis means getting more students into the school.

Calling out to "fix Lewis" and "add more programs" are empty platitudes that don't address the problem, which is that Lewis needs more students. More students equals the ability to provide more academic offerings, stronger arts programs, and so on.

The school board needs to move students. Which leads to the second problem, which is that parents in this area believe that they've paid $$$ for a house, which gives them an inherent right to a certain school district. Techincally, it's not a right for any of us. We signed no legal agreements saying we belong to XYZ school districts, but it's still ingrained into people's beliefs. How do you overcome that?

I'd love to see more highlighting of the positives of Lewis. It's such a small school, and yet, it's able to do so much with far less than other schools. It has the same GreatSchools rating as Edison, despite not having a STEM feeder program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving students is not the answer.

Make the school better. There is nothing wrong with a 1500 population high

I went to a suburban high school. There were 276 people in my graduating class.

Sure, a very large school is able to offer more variety of classes, but just because some different classes are offered does not mean that every kid who is interested will be able to take it

But, once more, what is IB doing for Lewis? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage. In my view, it is a huge disadvantage. It is far less flexible than AP and it is more difficult to get college credit for them. It also enables a mass exodus of transfers to AP high schools.

Going down a division isn't bad -- until you realize that all the schools in the vicinity are a higher division. Which means if Lewis wants to play schools of a similar size and the same division, the students will have to travel beyond FCPS boundaries, traveling more than an hour or so. That's more money spent for transportation, and also the massive amounts of time Lewis students will spent on a bus being carted around. In the meantime, there are schools minutes away, like Edison and Hayfield and WSHS, but Lewis would be in a different division.

Also pointing out that the nearby schools are overcrowded. WSHS is overcrowded to the point where kids can't make sports teams unless they've been playing since they were five years old.

IB is not the magic fairy godmother that people think it is. You don't wave it away and think that suddenly students will unfurl into existence like a sparkling ball gown. It doesn't work that way. Not with an IB school right next door to Lewis.

Move Daventry to Lewis and Bren Mar Park to Lewis. Edison and WSHS both get some relief and Lewis gets 500+ new students. Done.

I would probably move those Keene Mill neighborhoods above to Lewis before Daventry, since they are the closest to Lewis with the easiest commute.

Right….. make a triple split feeder out of Keene mill or split feeder of Irving? Makes no sense. How about fix
Lewis?

Just rebutting the person who keeps saying that Daventry should be moved. There are several Keene Mill neighborhoods closer to Lewis than Daventry or any other WSHS neighborhood.

Besides, Keene Mill is not a split feeder at this point. AAP kids zoned for a different pyramid attending Keene Mill for AAP do not make Keene Mill a split feeder. Those kids are choosing to attend a special program in a different pyramid. Having those AAP kids return to Lake Braddock for middle school does not mean that Keene Mill would become a "triple" split feeder if those neighborhoods closest to Lewis were rezoned to Lewis. Keene Mill with its special program accepting out of bounds AAP kids is no more of a split feeder than Orange Hunt accepting out of bound students for language immersion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving students is not the answer.

Make the school better. There is nothing wrong with a 1500 population high

I went to a suburban high school. There were 276 people in my graduating class.

Sure, a very large school is able to offer more variety of classes, but just because some different classes are offered does not mean that every kid who is interested will be able to take it

But, once more, what is IB doing for Lewis? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage. In my view, it is a huge disadvantage. It is far less flexible than AP and it is more difficult to get college credit for them. It also enables a mass exodus of transfers to AP high schools.

Going down a division isn't bad -- until you realize that all the schools in the vicinity are a higher division. Which means if Lewis wants to play schools of a similar size and the same division, the students will have to travel beyond FCPS boundaries, traveling more than an hour or so. That's more money spent for transportation, and also the massive amounts of time Lewis students will spent on a bus being carted around. In the meantime, there are schools minutes away, like Edison and Hayfield and WSHS, but Lewis would be in a different division.

Also pointing out that the nearby schools are overcrowded. WSHS is overcrowded to the point where kids can't make sports teams unless they've been playing since they were five years old.

IB is not the magic fairy godmother that people think it is. You don't wave it away and think that suddenly students will unfurl into existence like a sparkling ball gown. It doesn't work that way. Not with an IB school right next door to Lewis.

Move Daventry to Lewis and Bren Mar Park to Lewis. Edison and WSHS both get some relief and Lewis gets 500+ new students. Done.

I would probably move those Keene Mill neighborhoods above to Lewis before Daventry, since they are the closest to Lewis with the easiest commute.

Right….. make a triple split feeder out of Keene mill or split feeder of Irving? Makes no sense. How about fix
Lewis?

Moving Daventry to Lewis would create a solit feeder at West Springfield Elementary, the smallest school in the WSHS pyramid and a school around 60% the size of Keene Mill.

Look, I don't think that anyone should get rezoned, but if they are moving someone, those 2 Keene Mill neighborhoods make the most sense, since they are the closest neighborhoods to Lewis.

Nah-you are playing the “point the finger at someone else” game instead of saying no one should be moved. If you are comparing Daventry to the KMES neighborhoods.

Taking the KMES neighborhoods will do the following:

-make KMES a triple split feeder: Braddock, Irving and key.
-destroy a walk zone therefore putting kids on a bus that aren’t one on.
-take a lot of the diversity out of Irving because KMES is the most diverse school in the pyramid
-takes those kids to the 3rd furthest away high school (both WSHS and Braddock are closer)

Taking Daventry:
-keeps kids on a bus on a bus
-takes kids further away from WSHS to Lewis (which is the 2nd close high school)
-add a higher SES and more white kids to Lewis (which seems to be a goal)

This game was played over and over again during the boundary review.

Start advocating for NO ONE TO LEAVE and to FIX LEWIS rather than this misguided game.

Keene Mill is NOT currently a split feeder.

It would NOT become a triple split feeder.

Those kids who attend Lake Braddock from Keene Mill elementary are either AAP kids choosing to attend school out of pyramid to go to Keene Mill for AAP, or Keene Mill/Irving zoned kids who choose to go out of pyramid to Lake Braddock for AAP. That is not a split feeder. It is a single feeder school with a special program that accepts out of bounds students.

Every single elementary school zoned for Irving has AAP students that choose split off to Lake Braddock for AAP, including the elementary school that Daventry is zoned for, West Springfield Elementary.

By your logic, using AAP as a reason to call your school a "triple" split feeder sending Daventry to Lewis would make tiny West Springfield Elementary a "triple" split feeder since they also have AAP students that attend Lake Braddock. Every WSHS elementary school sends AAP students to Lake Braddock, so rezoning any of them would create a " triple" split feeder by your logic.

Heck, Orange Hunt would become a "quadruple" or "quintuple" split feeder if one of their neighborhoods was rezoned to a different high school.

The only actual split feeder zoned for WSHS is Rolling Valley, sending kids to both Lewis and WSHS. Rolling Valley also has a special ed program that accepts kids from several pyramids, so by your logic Rolling Valley is currently a "triple" or maybe "quadruple" split feeder based on its housing a special program.

An elementary school sending kids to Lake Braddock for AAP, or accepting out of bounds kids for AAP does not make a school a split feeder. It simply makes the school a school with a special program that accepts out if bounds kids.

Keene Mill is not currently a split feeder, and would not become a triple split feeder if the nearest WSHS neighborhoods to Lewis were rezoned to Lewis.

If Keene Mill people stopped trying to offer up other farther away neighborhoods such as Daventry to Lewis, then there would be no more need to point out the obvious, that Keene Mill has the closest WSHS neighborhoods to Lewis of any of the WSHS elementary schools, including being a shorter drive to Lewis than the Daventry neighborhoods.

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Anonymous wrote:Moving students is not the answer.

Make the school better. There is nothing wrong with a 1500 population high

I went to a suburban high school. There were 276 people in my graduating class.

Sure, a very large school is able to offer more variety of classes, but just because some different classes are offered does not mean that every kid who is interested will be able to take it

But, once more, what is IB doing for Lewis? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage. In my view, it is a huge disadvantage. It is far less flexible than AP and it is more difficult to get college credit for them. It also enables a mass exodus of transfers to AP high schools.

Going down a division isn't bad -- until you realize that all the schools in the vicinity are a higher division. Which means if Lewis wants to play schools of a similar size and the same division, the students will have to travel beyond FCPS boundaries, traveling more than an hour or so. That's more money spent for transportation, and also the massive amounts of time Lewis students will spent on a bus being carted around. In the meantime, there are schools minutes away, like Edison and Hayfield and WSHS, but Lewis would be in a different division.

Also pointing out that the nearby schools are overcrowded. WSHS is overcrowded to the point where kids can't make sports teams unless they've been playing since they were five years old.

IB is not the magic fairy godmother that people think it is. You don't wave it away and think that suddenly students will unfurl into existence like a sparkling ball gown. It doesn't work that way. Not with an IB school right next door to Lewis.

Move Daventry to Lewis and Bren Mar Park to Lewis. Edison and WSHS both get some relief and Lewis gets 500+ new students. Done.

I would probably move those Keene Mill neighborhoods above to Lewis before Daventry, since they are the closest to Lewis with the easiest commute.

Right….. make a triple split feeder out of Keene mill or split feeder of Irving? Makes no sense. How about fix
Lewis?

Moving Daventry to Lewis would create a solit feeder at West Springfield Elementary, the smallest school in the WSHS pyramid and a school around 60% the size of Keene Mill.

Look, I don't think that anyone should get rezoned, but if they are moving someone, those 2 Keene Mill neighborhoods make the most sense, since they are the closest neighborhoods to Lewis.

Nah-you are playing the “point the finger at someone else” game instead of saying no one should be moved. If you are comparing Daventry to the KMES neighborhoods.

Taking the KMES neighborhoods will do the following:

-make KMES a triple split feeder: Braddock, Irving and key.
-destroy a walk zone therefore putting kids on a bus that aren’t one on.
-take a lot of the diversity out of Irving because KMES is the most diverse school in the pyramid
-takes those kids to the 3rd furthest away high school (both WSHS and Braddock are closer)

Taking Daventry:
-keeps kids on a bus on a bus
-takes kids further away from WSHS to Lewis (which is the 2nd close high school)
-add a higher SES and more white kids to Lewis (which seems to be a goal)

This game was played over and over again during the boundary review.

Start advocating for NO ONE TO LEAVE and to FIX LEWIS rather than this misguided game.

Fixing Lewis means getting more students into the school.

Calling out to "fix Lewis" and "add more programs" are empty platitudes that don't address the problem, which is that Lewis needs more students. More students equals the ability to provide more academic offerings, stronger arts programs, and so on.

The school board needs to move students. Which leads to the second problem, which is that parents in this area believe that they've paid $$$ for a house, which gives them an inherent right to a certain school district. Techincally, it's not a right for any of us. We signed no legal agreements saying we belong to XYZ school districts, but it's still ingrained into people's beliefs. How do you overcome that?

I'd love to see more highlighting of the positives of Lewis. It's such a small school, and yet, it's able to do so much with far less than other schools. It has the same GreatSchools rating as Edison, despite not having a STEM feeder program.

NP here. I too would love to hear more positives. I know several families with kids currently there who are desperate to move their incoming freshmen out.