FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McDaniel:

Based on the feedback from the Lees Corner community, it is our expectation that Lees Corner remains within the Chantilly High School pyramid.

Can he and Dixit unilaterally decide that LC is not moving? Based on the feedback?

This is worse than the RIO situation.

The school board makes the final decision. And, no, this is not like RIO at all. Lees Corner has valid reasons to object that are based in reality, not emotion. They would not be in the mix but for RIO.

What I meant is the process not the rationale.

Should the school board members make a boundary decison based on the feedback and announce it without going through formal meetings/discussions?

Its absolutely crazy that mid-process, SB members are announcing that this school or that school won't be moved, when hired, independent consultants pinpointed those particular neighborhoods as those that made the most sense to move based on the factors they were given by FCPS.

How are the consultants supposed to suggest logical boundaries when the SB is tying their hands by building a moat around the wealthiest, loudest neighborhoods?

Because the consultants made some very poor recommendations that were easily pointed out.

I have yet to see a School Board comment on RIO/Crossfield/Oakton vs Skyview.

People keep saying RIO won. I am not so sure.

"Poor recommendations" according to Lees Corner families.

A lot of posters on here thought the suggestion was very logical. Wasn't moving LC on 2 out of 3 maps? Because...it made sense.

Tell us, Bull Run mommy, how moving Lees Corner makes perfect sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be incredibly racist and classist if the poor, minority-heavy Bull Run ES neighborhoods that also don't want to move high schools do not get treated the same as the Lees Corner/RIO tantrummers.

Is Bull Run ES walkable to the high school they are currently zoned to? Lees Corner and Crossfield are very different. Nobody has come out and said "we're not moving Crossfield", have they? Nope, it's still an option. Because their reason for not moving is stupid. Lees Corner's reason makes perfect sense. Also I believe that Lees Corner is not particularly wealthy or white..

Lees Corner is only 18% FARMS. That's very low for FCPS. Yes, its a very wealthy area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McDaniel:

Based on the feedback from the Lees Corner community, it is our expectation that Lees Corner remains within the Chantilly High School pyramid.

Can he and Dixit unilaterally decide that LC is not moving? Based on the feedback?

This is worse than the RIO situation.

The school board makes the final decision. And, no, this is not like RIO at all. Lees Corner has valid reasons to object that are based in reality, not emotion. They would not be in the mix but for RIO.

What I meant is the process not the rationale.

Should the school board members make a boundary decison based on the feedback and announce it without going through formal meetings/discussions?

Its absolutely crazy that mid-process, SB members are announcing that this school or that school won't be moved, when hired, independent consultants pinpointed those particular neighborhoods as those that made the most sense to move based on the factors they were given by FCPS.

How are the consultants supposed to suggest logical boundaries when the SB is tying their hands by building a moat around the wealthiest, loudest neighborhoods?

Because the consultants made some very poor recommendations that were easily pointed out.

I have yet to see a School Board comment on RIO/Crossfield/Oakton vs Skyview.

People keep saying RIO won. I am not so sure.

"Poor recommendations" according to Lees Corner families.

A lot of posters on here thought the suggestion was very logical. Wasn't moving LC on 2 out of 3 maps? Because...it made sense.

Tell us, Bull Run mommy, how moving Lees Corner makes perfect sense.

Its interesting that you assume that anyone with an alternative POV is posting from that particular school. My kids don't go to Bull Run, and I find you, the very easily identifiable Lees Corner mom, completely insufferable. You have a very specific and grating tone to your very whiny posts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was there a reason given for Lees Corner getting super special treatment? Does a SB member live there?

I wondered this too, they capitulated so fast and made the promise so quickly it certainly seemed like a personal favor. There was no logical reason to single out that one neighborhood as more important than any other area.

It is the closest one to Chantilly, that's literally why they picked it and not your neighborhood. Sorry you live further away from Chantilly, but that's just how it works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was there a reason given for Lees Corner getting super special treatment? Does a SB member live there?

I wondered this too, they capitulated so fast and made the promise so quickly it certainly seemed like a personal favor. There was no logical reason to single out that one neighborhood as more important than any other area.

It is the closest one to Chantilly, that's literally why they picked it and not your neighborhood. Sorry you live further away from Chantilly, but that's just how it works.

Didn't they pick Lees Corner to move because it was the closest neighborhood to Westfield from an overcrowded school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McDaniel:

Based on the feedback from the Lees Corner community, it is our expectation that Lees Corner remains within the Chantilly High School pyramid.

Can he and Dixit unilaterally decide that LC is not moving? Based on the feedback?

This is worse than the RIO situation.

The school board makes the final decision. And, no, this is not like RIO at all. Lees Corner has valid reasons to object that are based in reality, not emotion. They would not be in the mix but for RIO.

What I meant is the process not the rationale.

Should the school board members make a boundary decison based on the feedback and announce it without going through formal meetings/discussions?

Its absolutely crazy that mid-process, SB members are announcing that this school or that school won't be moved, when hired, independent consultants pinpointed those particular neighborhoods as those that made the most sense to move based on the factors they were given by FCPS.

How are the consultants supposed to suggest logical boundaries when the SB is tying their hands by building a moat around the wealthiest, loudest neighborhoods?

Because the consultants made some very poor recommendations that were easily pointed out.

I have yet to see a School Board comment on RIO/Crossfield/Oakton vs Skyview.

People keep saying RIO won. I am not so sure.

"Poor recommendations" according to Lees Corner families.

A lot of posters on here thought the suggestion was very logical. Wasn't moving LC on 2 out of 3 maps? Because...it made sense.

Tell us, Bull Run mommy, how moving Lees Corner makes perfect sense.

Its interesting that you assume that anyone with an alternative POV is posting from that particular school. My kids don't go to Bull Run, and I find you, the very easily identifiable Lees Corner mom, completely insufferable. You have a very specific and grating tone to your very whiny posts.

Jokes on you! I'm actually a Crossfield parent and I am not the person or persons you were arguing with earlier. I think you think that everyone is whiny and annoying - takes one to know one, perhaps?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of Bull Run, Cub Run, and slice into Western Chantilly and you get Westfield to 2,300 right away. New construction gets it to 2,500 in a few years and then you can consider the building fairly full.
Westfield probably comes out of this looking good. Becomes more of a community school with a contiguous boundary and pickups a couple nice neighborhoods.

The only nice area it picks up in your scenario is that small part of Cub Run, which is very few students. Bull Run has a very high FARMs rate--pulling them out of CVHS will make CVHS much wealthier school. I think FCPS needs to be careful with Westfield's numbers on that. Its not fair to have Westfield increase to 50% FARMS or more and Chantilly next door at 12%.

You think all the schools that Westfield is sending to Skyview are low FARMS? Seriously?

Chantilly is over 18% now and is losing a low FARMS school to Skyview. So, if anything , FARMS percentage may rise.

All the schools will be just fine. None will be struggling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The original opt in, opt out plan was designed because of the lack of sports and electives into the second year. The admin team has said at many of the meetings that if they have close to 1,000 kids in the initial classes that they will have sports in the second year, with the exception of varsity football for safety purposes. That could change the opt out option in the second year but we don't know.

And with opt out, you are more likely to be in the minority staying at your base school. More families are not going to read the emails and end up at Skyview then read their email and chose to opt out. If transportation is provided to Skyview and not the old school, fewer kids are going to opt out of Skyview. It won't be like this year were there were more reasons to stay at the base school. There are going to fully running clubs, there is a list 30 clubs at the moment, sports, full freshman academics, and transportation.

We have no way of knowing now how many families will opt out of Skyview if they have an option. It depends largely on how the boundaries are drawn, how many students within the boundary have older siblings at other schools, and how Skyview functions in its first year. The new staff seems dedicated, but the roll-out has been chaotic; FCPS has not met its enrollment targets; and FCPS may be faced with a difficult decision to cut back on what Skyview offers or, conversely, spend far more per student at Skyview than at other schools and face criticism for that decision.

450 ninth graders opted in this year before they opened enrollment up to kids outside of the 5 schools. Do you really think that there is going to be a large number of people opting out next year? They have 800 kids enrolled at Skyview and have been upfront that they cannot offer as many electives the first year because they won't have the student numbers for some electives. That said, they mainly need electives that are available to freshman and sophomores so they don't need a full slate of electives. There will be more options in the second year because they will have 400-500 more kids.

I think it is safe to say that there are a good number of parents who don't pay attention to the school emails and will not be opting out simply because they don't read their emails. There have been parents asking about opt-in options from the 5 original schools targeted since March 1 because they never looked at the emails.

With a brand new school, a year under it's belt, an enthusiastic staff, and sports I suspect you will find more people wanting to attend Skyview. And there will be people who send their kids because it means they have transportation even if they would slightly prefer the old school. Does it really matter that your kids are at the same school if you end up having to drive one to school for 2-3 years because they are being pupil placed and transportation for your neighborhood no longer exists?

The kids opting out will be in the minority. They want to be at school with their friends and it will be more convenient for most families. And it is shiny and new.

Shiny and new doesn’t matter to people as much as whether a school can offer what a family wants, compared to the available alternatives. The verdict is still out on what the Skyview experience will look like in a year. Limited electives might not matter much at a middle school, but that will be a bigger concern at a high school.

I agree there will be plenty of families in boundary for Skyview who’ll ignore school communications so their kids will end up there by default. Others will pay more attention.

And the likelihood is that the kid will decide it is more important to go to school with their friends from ES and MS then take an obscure elective some point in time down the line. Especially if the kid is coming from a HS that offers said elective and it is popular. Skyview listened to the FMES families that were asking about Japanese and are offering Japanese at the school. There are enough 9th graders to have a Japanese 3 class. If there is an elective that is popular at Chantilly, that is not one of the Academy electives, let the Admin team know that you are interested. If enough people are and enough kids put it on their class list when they should be taking it, they will try and make it work. I know people from FMES that got phone calls from the Admin team at Skyview to talk to them about Japanese and what other classes parents wanted to make sure were there.

This is great news about Japanese.

Why are we catering to a school that we don't even now is going to be zoned to Skyview?? That's so bizarre.

Possibly because many Fox Mill kids opted in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The original opt in, opt out plan was designed because of the lack of sports and electives into the second year. The admin team has said at many of the meetings that if they have close to 1,000 kids in the initial classes that they will have sports in the second year, with the exception of varsity football for safety purposes. That could change the opt out option in the second year but we don't know.

And with opt out, you are more likely to be in the minority staying at your base school. More families are not going to read the emails and end up at Skyview then read their email and chose to opt out. If transportation is provided to Skyview and not the old school, fewer kids are going to opt out of Skyview. It won't be like this year were there were more reasons to stay at the base school. There are going to fully running clubs, there is a list 30 clubs at the moment, sports, full freshman academics, and transportation.

We have no way of knowing now how many families will opt out of Skyview if they have an option. It depends largely on how the boundaries are drawn, how many students within the boundary have older siblings at other schools, and how Skyview functions in its first year. The new staff seems dedicated, but the roll-out has been chaotic; FCPS has not met its enrollment targets; and FCPS may be faced with a difficult decision to cut back on what Skyview offers or, conversely, spend far more per student at Skyview than at other schools and face criticism for that decision.

450 ninth graders opted in this year before they opened enrollment up to kids outside of the 5 schools. Do you really think that there is going to be a large number of people opting out next year? They have 800 kids enrolled at Skyview and have been upfront that they cannot offer as many electives the first year because they won't have the student numbers for some electives. That said, they mainly need electives that are available to freshman and sophomores so they don't need a full slate of electives. There will be more options in the second year because they will have 400-500 more kids.

I think it is safe to say that there are a good number of parents who don't pay attention to the school emails and will not be opting out simply because they don't read their emails. There have been parents asking about opt-in options from the 5 original schools targeted since March 1 because they never looked at the emails.

With a brand new school, a year under it's belt, an enthusiastic staff, and sports I suspect you will find more people wanting to attend Skyview. And there will be people who send their kids because it means they have transportation even if they would slightly prefer the old school. Does it really matter that your kids are at the same school if you end up having to drive one to school for 2-3 years because they are being pupil placed and transportation for your neighborhood no longer exists?

The kids opting out will be in the minority. They want to be at school with their friends and it will be more convenient for most families. And it is shiny and new.

Shiny and new doesn’t matter to people as much as whether a school can offer what a family wants, compared to the available alternatives. The verdict is still out on what the Skyview experience will look like in a year. Limited electives might not matter much at a middle school, but that will be a bigger concern at a high school.

I agree there will be plenty of families in boundary for Skyview who’ll ignore school communications so their kids will end up there by default. Others will pay more attention.

And the likelihood is that the kid will decide it is more important to go to school with their friends from ES and MS then take an obscure elective some point in time down the line. Especially if the kid is coming from a HS that offers said elective and it is popular. Skyview listened to the FMES families that were asking about Japanese and are offering Japanese at the school. There are enough 9th graders to have a Japanese 3 class. If there is an elective that is popular at Chantilly, that is not one of the Academy electives, let the Admin team know that you are interested. If enough people are and enough kids put it on their class list when they should be taking it, they will try and make it work. I know people from FMES that got phone calls from the Admin team at Skyview to talk to them about Japanese and what other classes parents wanted to make sure were there.

This is great news about Japanese.

Why are we catering to a school that we don't even now is going to be zoned to Skyview?? That's so bizarre.

Westfield and SLHS offer Japanese and a bunch of the kids from Fox Mills JI program opted in to the school. Is it surprising that people who said they were in and expressed an interest in a particular language and who have enough kids to take that class would have that class offered? How many other schools were actively trying to not go to Skyview?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The original opt in, opt out plan was designed because of the lack of sports and electives into the second year. The admin team has said at many of the meetings that if they have close to 1,000 kids in the initial classes that they will have sports in the second year, with the exception of varsity football for safety purposes. That could change the opt out option in the second year but we don't know.

And with opt out, you are more likely to be in the minority staying at your base school. More families are not going to read the emails and end up at Skyview then read their email and chose to opt out. If transportation is provided to Skyview and not the old school, fewer kids are going to opt out of Skyview. It won't be like this year were there were more reasons to stay at the base school. There are going to fully running clubs, there is a list 30 clubs at the moment, sports, full freshman academics, and transportation.

We have no way of knowing now how many families will opt out of Skyview if they have an option. It depends largely on how the boundaries are drawn, how many students within the boundary have older siblings at other schools, and how Skyview functions in its first year. The new staff seems dedicated, but the roll-out has been chaotic; FCPS has not met its enrollment targets; and FCPS may be faced with a difficult decision to cut back on what Skyview offers or, conversely, spend far more per student at Skyview than at other schools and face criticism for that decision.

450 ninth graders opted in this year before they opened enrollment up to kids outside of the 5 schools. Do you really think that there is going to be a large number of people opting out next year? They have 800 kids enrolled at Skyview and have been upfront that they cannot offer as many electives the first year because they won't have the student numbers for some electives. That said, they mainly need electives that are available to freshman and sophomores so they don't need a full slate of electives. There will be more options in the second year because they will have 400-500 more kids.

I think it is safe to say that there are a good number of parents who don't pay attention to the school emails and will not be opting out simply because they don't read their emails. There have been parents asking about opt-in options from the 5 original schools targeted since March 1 because they never looked at the emails.

With a brand new school, a year under it's belt, an enthusiastic staff, and sports I suspect you will find more people wanting to attend Skyview. And there will be people who send their kids because it means they have transportation even if they would slightly prefer the old school. Does it really matter that your kids are at the same school if you end up having to drive one to school for 2-3 years because they are being pupil placed and transportation for your neighborhood no longer exists?

The kids opting out will be in the minority. They want to be at school with their friends and it will be more convenient for most families. And it is shiny and new.

Shiny and new doesn’t matter to people as much as whether a school can offer what a family wants, compared to the available alternatives. The verdict is still out on what the Skyview experience will look like in a year. Limited electives might not matter much at a middle school, but that will be a bigger concern at a high school.

I agree there will be plenty of families in boundary for Skyview who’ll ignore school communications so their kids will end up there by default. Others will pay more attention.

And the likelihood is that the kid will decide it is more important to go to school with their friends from ES and MS then take an obscure elective some point in time down the line. Especially if the kid is coming from a HS that offers said elective and it is popular. Skyview listened to the FMES families that were asking about Japanese and are offering Japanese at the school. There are enough 9th graders to have a Japanese 3 class. If there is an elective that is popular at Chantilly, that is not one of the Academy electives, let the Admin team know that you are interested. If enough people are and enough kids put it on their class list when they should be taking it, they will try and make it work. I know people from FMES that got phone calls from the Admin team at Skyview to talk to them about Japanese and what other classes parents wanted to make sure were there.

This is great news about Japanese.

Why are we catering to a school that we don't even now is going to be zoned to Skyview?? That's so bizarre.

Westfield and SLHS offer Japanese and a bunch of the kids from Fox Mills JI program opted in to the school. Is it surprising that people who said they were in and expressed an interest in a particular language and who have enough kids to take that class would have that class offered? How many other schools were actively trying to not go to Skyview?

DP. No. There will no doubt be a bunch of other languages offered at other schools that aren't offered at Skyview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was there a reason given for Lees Corner getting super special treatment? Does a SB member live there?

I wondered this too, they capitulated so fast and made the promise so quickly it certainly seemed like a personal favor. There was no logical reason to single out that one neighborhood as more important than any other area.

It is the closest one to Chantilly, that's literally why they picked it and not your neighborhood. Sorry you live further away from Chantilly, but that's just how it works.

Didn't they pick Lees Corner to move because it was the closest neighborhood to Westfield from an overcrowded school?

No, it’s Brookfield and Poplar Tree are closer. There’s no logical reason they proposed Lees Corner to move

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was there a reason given for Lees Corner getting super special treatment? Does a SB member live there?

I wondered this too, they capitulated so fast and made the promise so quickly it certainly seemed like a personal favor. There was no logical reason to single out that one neighborhood as more important than any other area.

It is the closest one to Chantilly, that's literally why they picked it and not your neighborhood. Sorry you live further away from Chantilly, but that's just how it works.

Didn't they pick Lees Corner to move because it was the closest neighborhood to Westfield from an overcrowded school?

No, it’s Brookfield and Poplar Tree are closer. There’s no logical reason they proposed Lees Corner to move

Per google maps, Lees Corner ES is 4.3 miles and Brookfield ES is 4.2 miles. That's pretty much identical. They are equally close. Poplar tree es is farther: 5.3 miles. Why do you keep repeating that Poplar Tree is closer? I'm baffled.

Pretty obvious they just picked one of the two identically closest ESes. No other elementary school is closer to Westfield that doesn't already go there (besides that sliver of Cub Run which will for sure be moved.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The original opt in, opt out plan was designed because of the lack of sports and electives into the second year. The admin team has said at many of the meetings that if they have close to 1,000 kids in the initial classes that they will have sports in the second year, with the exception of varsity football for safety purposes. That could change the opt out option in the second year but we don't know.

And with opt out, you are more likely to be in the minority staying at your base school. More families are not going to read the emails and end up at Skyview then read their email and chose to opt out. If transportation is provided to Skyview and not the old school, fewer kids are going to opt out of Skyview. It won't be like this year were there were more reasons to stay at the base school. There are going to fully running clubs, there is a list 30 clubs at the moment, sports, full freshman academics, and transportation.

We have no way of knowing now how many families will opt out of Skyview if they have an option. It depends largely on how the boundaries are drawn, how many students within the boundary have older siblings at other schools, and how Skyview functions in its first year. The new staff seems dedicated, but the roll-out has been chaotic; FCPS has not met its enrollment targets; and FCPS may be faced with a difficult decision to cut back on what Skyview offers or, conversely, spend far more per student at Skyview than at other schools and face criticism for that decision.

450 ninth graders opted in this year before they opened enrollment up to kids outside of the 5 schools. Do you really think that there is going to be a large number of people opting out next year? They have 800 kids enrolled at Skyview and have been upfront that they cannot offer as many electives the first year because they won't have the student numbers for some electives. That said, they mainly need electives that are available to freshman and sophomores so they don't need a full slate of electives. There will be more options in the second year because they will have 400-500 more kids.

I think it is safe to say that there are a good number of parents who don't pay attention to the school emails and will not be opting out simply because they don't read their emails. There have been parents asking about opt-in options from the 5 original schools targeted since March 1 because they never looked at the emails.

With a brand new school, a year under it's belt, an enthusiastic staff, and sports I suspect you will find more people wanting to attend Skyview. And there will be people who send their kids because it means they have transportation even if they would slightly prefer the old school. Does it really matter that your kids are at the same school if you end up having to drive one to school for 2-3 years because they are being pupil placed and transportation for your neighborhood no longer exists?

The kids opting out will be in the minority. They want to be at school with their friends and it will be more convenient for most families. And it is shiny and new.

Shiny and new doesn’t matter to people as much as whether a school can offer what a family wants, compared to the available alternatives. The verdict is still out on what the Skyview experience will look like in a year. Limited electives might not matter much at a middle school, but that will be a bigger concern at a high school.

I agree there will be plenty of families in boundary for Skyview who’ll ignore school communications so their kids will end up there by default. Others will pay more attention.

And the likelihood is that the kid will decide it is more important to go to school with their friends from ES and MS then take an obscure elective some point in time down the line. Especially if the kid is coming from a HS that offers said elective and it is popular. Skyview listened to the FMES families that were asking about Japanese and are offering Japanese at the school. There are enough 9th graders to have a Japanese 3 class. If there is an elective that is popular at Chantilly, that is not one of the Academy electives, let the Admin team know that you are interested. If enough people are and enough kids put it on their class list when they should be taking it, they will try and make it work. I know people from FMES that got phone calls from the Admin team at Skyview to talk to them about Japanese and what other classes parents wanted to make sure were there.

This is great news about Japanese.

Why are we catering to a school that we don't even now is going to be zoned to Skyview?? That's so bizarre.

Westfield and SLHS offer Japanese and a bunch of the kids from Fox Mills JI program opted in to the school. Is it surprising that people who said they were in and expressed an interest in a particular language and who have enough kids to take that class would have that class offered? How many other schools were actively trying to not go to Skyview?

DP. No. There will no doubt be a bunch of other languages offered at other schools that aren't offered at Skyview.

Yes, that's how all the languages work. Every school doesn't have every language. Language transfers are the most common way kids switch to better sports teams FWIW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The original opt in, opt out plan was designed because of the lack of sports and electives into the second year. The admin team has said at many of the meetings that if they have close to 1,000 kids in the initial classes that they will have sports in the second year, with the exception of varsity football for safety purposes. That could change the opt out option in the second year but we don't know.

And with opt out, you are more likely to be in the minority staying at your base school. More families are not going to read the emails and end up at Skyview then read their email and chose to opt out. If transportation is provided to Skyview and not the old school, fewer kids are going to opt out of Skyview. It won't be like this year were there were more reasons to stay at the base school. There are going to fully running clubs, there is a list 30 clubs at the moment, sports, full freshman academics, and transportation.

We have no way of knowing now how many families will opt out of Skyview if they have an option. It depends largely on how the boundaries are drawn, how many students within the boundary have older siblings at other schools, and how Skyview functions in its first year. The new staff seems dedicated, but the roll-out has been chaotic; FCPS has not met its enrollment targets; and FCPS may be faced with a difficult decision to cut back on what Skyview offers or, conversely, spend far more per student at Skyview than at other schools and face criticism for that decision.

450 ninth graders opted in this year before they opened enrollment up to kids outside of the 5 schools. Do you really think that there is going to be a large number of people opting out next year? They have 800 kids enrolled at Skyview and have been upfront that they cannot offer as many electives the first year because they won't have the student numbers for some electives. That said, they mainly need electives that are available to freshman and sophomores so they don't need a full slate of electives. There will be more options in the second year because they will have 400-500 more kids.

I think it is safe to say that there are a good number of parents who don't pay attention to the school emails and will not be opting out simply because they don't read their emails. There have been parents asking about opt-in options from the 5 original schools targeted since March 1 because they never looked at the emails.

With a brand new school, a year under it's belt, an enthusiastic staff, and sports I suspect you will find more people wanting to attend Skyview. And there will be people who send their kids because it means they have transportation even if they would slightly prefer the old school. Does it really matter that your kids are at the same school if you end up having to drive one to school for 2-3 years because they are being pupil placed and transportation for your neighborhood no longer exists?

The kids opting out will be in the minority. They want to be at school with their friends and it will be more convenient for most families. And it is shiny and new.

Shiny and new doesn’t matter to people as much as whether a school can offer what a family wants, compared to the available alternatives. The verdict is still out on what the Skyview experience will look like in a year. Limited electives might not matter much at a middle school, but that will be a bigger concern at a high school.

I agree there will be plenty of families in boundary for Skyview who’ll ignore school communications so their kids will end up there by default. Others will pay more attention.

And the likelihood is that the kid will decide it is more important to go to school with their friends from ES and MS then take an obscure elective some point in time down the line. Especially if the kid is coming from a HS that offers said elective and it is popular. Skyview listened to the FMES families that were asking about Japanese and are offering Japanese at the school. There are enough 9th graders to have a Japanese 3 class. If there is an elective that is popular at Chantilly, that is not one of the Academy electives, let the Admin team know that you are interested. If enough people are and enough kids put it on their class list when they should be taking it, they will try and make it work. I know people from FMES that got phone calls from the Admin team at Skyview to talk to them about Japanese and what other classes parents wanted to make sure were there.

This is great news about Japanese.

Why are we catering to a school that we don't even now is going to be zoned to Skyview?? That's so bizarre.

Westfield and SLHS offer Japanese and a bunch of the kids from Fox Mills JI program opted in to the school. Is it surprising that people who said they were in and expressed an interest in a particular language and who have enough kids to take that class would have that class offered? How many other schools were actively trying to not go to Skyview?

DP. No. There will no doubt be a bunch of other languages offered at other schools that aren't offered at Skyview.

Yes, that's how all the languages work. Every school doesn't have every language. Language transfers are the most common way kids switch to better sports teams FWIW.

Not any more, language transfers stopped this year.

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Anonymous wrote:Was there a reason given for Lees Corner getting super special treatment? Does a SB member live there?

I wondered this too, they capitulated so fast and made the promise so quickly it certainly seemed like a personal favor. There was no logical reason to single out that one neighborhood as more important than any other area.

It is the closest one to Chantilly, that's literally why they picked it and not your neighborhood. Sorry you live further away from Chantilly, but that's just how it works.

Didn't they pick Lees Corner to move because it was the closest neighborhood to Westfield from an overcrowded school?

No, it’s Brookfield and Poplar Tree are closer. There’s no logical reason they proposed Lees Corner to move

Per google maps, Lees Corner ES is 4.3 miles and Brookfield ES is 4.2 miles. That's pretty much identical. They are equally close. Poplar tree es is farther: 5.3 miles. Why do you keep repeating that Poplar Tree is closer? I'm baffled.

Pretty obvious they just picked one of the two identically closest ESes. No other elementary school is closer to Westfield that doesn't already go there (besides that sliver of Cub Run which will for sure be moved.)

DP, and don't live in either area. Lees Corner would be isolated from the rest of Westfield as the only school north of 50 and east of the airport. Brookfield and Poplar Tree are both right up against the existing Westfield neighborhoods. So is Bull Run. The fact that you can't look at the map and acknowledge that all 3 of those zones are better fits for Westfield than Lees Corner shows your bias along with a healthy dose of cognitive dissonance.