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: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.

DP.

I’d take our empty platitudes over your active harm to students’ mental health from unneeded boundary changes every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

DP.

I’d take our empty platitudes over your active harm to students’ mental health from unneeded boundary changes every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

So... kids will be mentally harmed if they attend an elementary school, then go to a middle school with those same students, then attend a high school with the same cohort of elementary school students?

The "mental health" rhetoric fall flat when you realize the school board is talking about moving cohorts of students beginning in elementary school. Kids will attend the same schools as their neighbors, with the definititon of neighbor being someone who lives in your immediate vicinity, not necessarily someone who lives four miles away. And the hyperbole in your argument also falls flat because boundary changes aren't happening at that frequency anywhere so....

[Anonymous]

There is a page up for the Rolling Valley/Keene Mill issues and meeting on Weds. May 20. https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/maps/boundary-adjustments-information/rolling-valley-elementary-school-feeders-and-keene

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

DP.

I’d take our empty platitudes over your active harm to students’ mental health from unneeded boundary changes every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

So... kids will be mentally harmed if they attend an elementary school, then go to a middle school with those same students, then attend a high school with the same cohort of elementary school students?

The "mental health" rhetoric fall flat when you realize the school board is talking about moving cohorts of students beginning in elementary school. Kids will attend the same schools as their neighbors, with the definititon of neighbor being someone who lives in your immediate vicinity, not necessarily someone who lives four miles away. And the hyperbole in your argument also falls flat because boundary changes aren't happening at that frequency anywhere so....

This logic only applies if you're talking about moving an entire elementary school to a different MS and HS. So in theory it would apply to moving Bren Mar Park, but you'd be remiss not to acknowledge that this is a school that's already been punted from one HS (Annandale) to another (Edison) in the past. Otherwise a lot of the proposals they have floated and recently revived would create new attendance islands and new split feeders - even though Policy 8130 specifically disfavors them. It's one thing for them to stand down when people say they'd prefer to keep existing attendance islands and split feeders, but it would be odd to create brand-new ones.

[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?

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.

The problem with split feeders is that kids break up friendships and community. You are advocating that in an AAP class at Keene mill, kids would be matriculating to 3 schools: Lewis, Braddock and WSHS. To any kid in those classes, it would be a three way split feeder.

A bad example for your point is using Orange Hunt. Everyone currently in the immersion program at OHES was told that the kids matriculate from OHES to WIMS then to WSHS. That said, yes, this may be changing this year, it is hard to know. Also, transportation to this program is not provided which keeps many of the kids in the area as parents don’t usually trek from that far to get their kid to school everyday.Transportation is given for Keene Mill AAP students.

Of course, no one addressed all the points about diversity of Keene Mill etc. I am NOT the person saying Daventry should be moved and in all the Region 4 meetings I attended, I heard Sangster parents and Hunt Vally parents talking about Daventry, but not Keene mill ones.

The neighborhoods someone keeps bringing up are smaller than Daventry and again, many KMES kids walk to WSHS. And almost all walk to Irving.

Every single neighborhood brought up: Daventry, and the KMES ones are attending the closest high school to their house.

Lewis shouldn’t have more kids anyway. They are making progress there in no small part because they have smaller class sizes which ESL and low income kids do better with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a page up for the Rolling Valley/Keene Mill issues and meeting on Weds. May 20. https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/maps/boundary-adjustments-information/rolling-valley-elementary-school-feeders-and-keene

Oh look, the first meeting about WSHS actually held at the high school….

[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?

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.

The problem with split feeders is that kids break up friendships and community. You are advocating that in an AAP class at Keene mill, kids would be matriculating to 3 schools: Lewis, Braddock and WSHS. To any kid in those classes, it would be a three way split feeder.

A bad example for your point is using Orange Hunt. Everyone currently in the immersion program at OHES was told that the kids matriculate from OHES to WIMS then to WSHS. That said, yes, this may be changing this year, it is hard to know. Also, transportation to this program is not provided which keeps many of the kids in the area as parents don’t usually trek from that far to get their kid to school everyday.Transportation is given for Keene Mill AAP students.

Of course, no one addressed all the points about diversity of Keene Mill etc. I am NOT the person saying Daventry should be moved and in all the Region 4 meetings I attended, I heard Sangster parents and Hunt Vally parents talking about Daventry, but not Keene mill ones.

The neighborhoods someone keeps bringing up are smaller than Daventry and again, many KMES kids walk to WSHS. And almost all walk to Irving.

Every single neighborhood brought up: Daventry, and the KMES ones are attending the closest high school to their house.

Lewis shouldn’t have more kids anyway. They are making progress there in no small part because they have smaller class sizes which ESL and low income kids do better with.

Keene Mill is not a split feeder.

Every elementary school in the WSHS pyramid sends students to Lake Braddock for AAP. Keene Mill is not unique or special in that regard.

Being an AAP center that pulls in out of bound kids who return to their zoned neighborhood middle school does not mean that Keene Mill is a split feeder.

There are zero houses zoned for Keene Mill that split off to a different pyramid for middle school.

The only split feeder in the WSHS pyramid is Rolling Valley, which actually has neighborhoods zoned to Lewis.

Keene Mill is not a split feeder no matter how much some want to use the AAP center as a reason why some other neighborhood like Daventry should get rezoned

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

DP.

I’d take our empty platitudes over your active harm to students’ mental health from unneeded boundary changes every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

So... kids will be mentally harmed if they attend an elementary school, then go to a middle school with those same students, then attend a high school with the same cohort of elementary school students?

The "mental health" rhetoric fall flat when you realize the school board is talking about moving cohorts of students beginning in elementary school. Kids will attend the same schools as their neighbors, with the definititon of neighbor being someone who lives in your immediate vicinity, not necessarily someone who lives four miles away. And the hyperbole in your argument also falls flat because boundary changes aren't happening at that frequency anywhere so....

You pretending no harm to mental health doesn’t mean that there is no harm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

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.

The problem with split feeders is that kids break up friendships and community. You are advocating that in an AAP class at Keene mill, kids would be matriculating to 3 schools: Lewis, Braddock and WSHS. To any kid in those classes, it would be a three way split feeder.

A bad example for your point is using Orange Hunt. Everyone currently in the immersion program at OHES was told that the kids matriculate from OHES to WIMS then to WSHS. That said, yes, this may be changing this year, it is hard to know. Also, transportation to this program is not provided which keeps many of the kids in the area as parents don’t usually trek from that far to get their kid to school everyday.Transportation is given for Keene Mill AAP students.

Of course, no one addressed all the points about diversity of Keene Mill etc. I am NOT the person saying Daventry should be moved and in all the Region 4 meetings I attended, I heard Sangster parents and Hunt Vally parents talking about Daventry, but not Keene mill ones.

The neighborhoods someone keeps bringing up are smaller than Daventry and again, many KMES kids walk to WSHS. And almost all walk to Irving.

Every single neighborhood brought up: Daventry, and the KMES ones are attending the closest high school to their house.

Lewis shouldn’t have more kids anyway. They are making progress there in no small part because they have smaller class sizes which ESL and low income kids do better with.

Keene Mill is not a split feeder.

Every elementary school in the WSHS pyramid sends students to Lake Braddock for AAP. Keene Mill is not unique or special in that regard.

Being an AAP center that pulls in out of bound kids who return to their zoned neighborhood middle school does not mean that Keene Mill is a split feeder.

There are zero houses zoned for Keene Mill that split off to a different pyramid for middle school.

The only split feeder in the WSHS pyramid is Rolling Valley, which actually has neighborhoods zoned to Lewis.

Keene Mill is not a split feeder no matter how much some want to use the AAP center as a reason why some other neighborhood like Daventry should get rezoned

It is a split feeder to all the AAP kids who have to say goodbye to friends. Why is that so different to you? Because you are an adult with a silly argument to make? If the argument to get ride of split feeders is because they are bad FOR THE KIDS and the Keene Mill kids already have to deal with being a center school split among 2 high schools, making it become a SPLIT FEEDER (in your definition) would be more detrimental to it than just taking a regular elementary school and having it be a split feeder.

Adding in more movement to that school where students there already contend with being a center school and having a glut of kids from 1 other feeder already in grades 3-6 is EVEN WORSE than having a regular elementary school become one. Because, you have to think about what the KIDS experience there friendships, not how adults want lines to be drawn. THis is the entire argument as to why split feeders should be eliminated. But you think compounding already complex issues is fine because…..


Meanwhile, you would take away a good chunk of the diversity at WSHS by taking kids from KMES(most diverse school in WSHS pyramid) out of WSHS AND kill a walk zone or create a split feeder at Irving…. Neither of which are positives.

AGAIN I AM NOT saying DAVENTRY should move. I never have, I never will, but the argument to move KMES is not compelling and ill thought out.

[Anonymous]

I know that plenty of kids from the Gambrill Road and Daventry areas attended Lee High School for years with no issues. It is not like you are sending them across the county.

That being said, there is absolutely no appetite to move anyone from West Springfield into Lewis. That will not happen (probably should, but won't). And in the end if the Bren Mar people put up enough of a fight they will likely either stay at Edison or go to Annandale.

Leaves Lewis in a pickle. People say that a 1500 student high school is normal. And that is the case in many places. But Lewis is also poor. It is also high ESL. So in comparison to other FCPS high schools, it is not the same and something should be done. Next year it will only hit 1420 - 1430 students and will likely fall under 1400 the year after (unless students are moved in or something is done to keep the current boundary students at the school).

FCPS should have done something 10-14 years ago (including not moving Daventry).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know that plenty of kids from the Gambrill Road and Daventry areas attended Lee High School for years with no issues. It is not like you are sending them across the county.

That being said, there is absolutely no appetite to move anyone from West Springfield into Lewis. That will not happen (probably should, but won't). And in the end if the Bren Mar people put up enough of a fight they will likely either stay at Edison or go to Annandale.

Leaves Lewis in a pickle. People say that a 1500 student high school is normal. And that is the case in many places. But Lewis is also poor. It is also high ESL. So in comparison to other FCPS high schools, it is not the same and something should be done. Next year it will only hit 1420 - 1430 students and will likely fall under 1400 the year after (unless students are moved in or something is done to keep the current boundary students at the school).

FCPS should have done something 10-14 years ago (including not moving Daventry).

I think Lewis succeeds in no small part because it is small. ESL and title one kids often have reduced class sizes and it helps their academics overall. I don’t see how importing kids to that area will help unless it is for a magnet program and the kids stay at their home schools but bus in for a few classes. Perhaps having an early childhood program with an academy for ece/daycare certification would work well at that school. Or having a dental assistant program like at west Potomac with the NOVA medical campus down the street, or a forestry academy with FCPA and lake Accotink would help. They should rethink that kind of programming before adding in kids. It is easy to access in the middle of the day, but not in a great place to draw parents and families back to it for after school programming.

They are adding in extra programming with Skyview, but not Lewis. The school board is really leading the pack when it comes to turning its back on Lewis. They are asking parents to be fine with switching their kids around in the more urban/southern parts of the county, but then giving families in the Sky in the northern part.

[Anonymous]

What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know that plenty of kids from the Gambrill Road and Daventry areas attended Lee High School for years with no issues. It is not like you are sending them across the county.

That being said, there is absolutely no appetite to move anyone from West Springfield into Lewis. That will not happen (probably should, but won't). And in the end if the Bren Mar people put up enough of a fight they will likely either stay at Edison or go to Annandale.

Leaves Lewis in a pickle. People say that a 1500 student high school is normal. And that is the case in many places. But Lewis is also poor. It is also high ESL. So in comparison to other FCPS high schools, it is not the same and something should be done. Next year it will only hit 1420 - 1430 students and will likely fall under 1400 the year after (unless students are moved in or something is done to keep the current boundary students at the school).

FCPS should have done something 10-14 years ago (including not moving Daventry).

I think Lewis succeeds in no small part because it is small. ESL and title one kids often have reduced class sizes and it helps their academics overall. I don’t see how importing kids to that area will help unless it is for a magnet program and the kids stay at their home schools but bus in for a few classes. Perhaps having an early childhood program with an academy for ece/daycare certification would work well at that school. Or having a dental assistant program like at west Potomac with the NOVA medical campus down the street, or a forestry academy with FCPA and lake Accotink would help. They should rethink that kind of programming before adding in kids. It is easy to access in the middle of the day, but not in a great place to draw parents and families back to it for after school programming.

They are adding in extra programming with Skyview, but not Lewis. The school board is really leading the pack when it comes to turning its back on Lewis. They are asking parents to be fine with switching their kids around in the more urban/southern parts of the county, but then giving families in the Sky in the northern part.

Correct. Skyview is the only school Reid cares about. She doesn't pay any attention to Lewis. Nothing about it excites her, and it doesn't get her juices flowing in the slightest. It's stuck in the 21st Century, with its warts and all, and Reid believes in 22nd Century learning and imagining the possibilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about the homeowners and non-ESL students that live in the Lewis boundaries? They should be forced to move to other schools and see their home values suffer? Doesn't seem right to me.

Wtf are you babbling about? How would their home values suffer going to a better performing school with more kids? Seems like it would be a win for them.

But, to be fair, I don’t think they should have to move if they don’t want to. 1,500 students is only a critical shortfall if you are trying to make a blatant equity play. It’s the people in Lewis pyramid trying to bolster their own house value at the expense of their neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know that plenty of kids from the Gambrill Road and Daventry areas attended Lee High School for years with no issues. It is not like you are sending them across the county.

That being said, there is absolutely no appetite to move anyone from West Springfield into Lewis. That will not happen (probably should, but won't). And in the end if the Bren Mar people put up enough of a fight they will likely either stay at Edison or go to Annandale.

Leaves Lewis in a pickle. People say that a 1500 student high school is normal. And that is the case in many places. But Lewis is also poor. It is also high ESL. So in comparison to other FCPS high schools, it is not the same and something should be done. Next year it will only hit 1420 - 1430 students and will likely fall under 1400 the year after (unless students are moved in or something is done to keep the current boundary students at the school).

FCPS should have done something 10-14 years ago (including not moving Daventry).

they will have to keep rezoning because people will keep figuring out ways to leave and others wont move in.