FCPS High School Poverty and Enrollment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A school like Lewis could capitalize on the success of their soccer team. Remember--to stay on a team you have to be in school and keep your grades up. Does the new grading system encourage studying? (Doubtful)

Perhaps, the school could help academics by having soccer clubs and intramural activities with it. Develop some school spirit around soccer. Play to the strengths of the kids. Capitalize on that while addressing academic weaknesses. Self-esteem does wonders on the learning environment.

Spend more time on this type of thing and less on social justice and equity. Drop the grievance culture and move forward.

Social justice is not grievance culture--it's empowering to fight for your civil rights. Soccer is fine too. They can and do coexist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pick the ones that are on the same side of I95 as Lewis. Easy.

Wonderful idea. So WSHS should rightfully own Crestwood and Lynbrook catchments, as they are on the west side of 95, correct?

I'm sure WSHS would gladly accept those two communities into their school with open arms.

[Anonymous]

No one wants to acknowledge how many kids from the border have been dumped into the Lewis pyramid in the recent past and the impact that has had. Expect these numbers to get worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one wants to acknowledge how many kids from the border have been dumped into the Lewis pyramid in the recent past and the impact that has had. Expect these numbers to get worse.

That is not the fault of the school system. Changing boundaries is not going to solve or help the problem.

It has not been that long since those were good, middle class neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one wants to acknowledge how many kids from the border have been dumped into the Lewis pyramid in the recent past and the impact that has had. Expect these numbers to get worse.

That is not the fault of the school system. Changing boundaries is not going to solve or help the problem.

It has not been that long since those were good, middle class neighborhoods.

Perhaps voting different at the federal level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one wants to acknowledge how many kids from the border have been dumped into the Lewis pyramid in the recent past and the impact that has had. Expect these numbers to get worse.

That is not the fault of the school system. Changing boundaries is not going to solve or help the problem.

It has not been that long since those were good, middle class neighborhoods.

Perhaps voting different at the federal level.

That's the fault of the county supervisors and making Fairfax a 'sanctuary' city. Our school board, and board of supervisors, just voted a significant pay raises for themselves. Most of them are 'caviar communists.' The current situation is by intentional design.

"The upper class: keeps all of the money, pays none of the taxes. The middle class: pays all of the taxes, does all of the work. The poor are there...just to scare the shit out of the middle class." - George Carlin

[Anonymous]

The Lewis soccer teams, both boys and girls, are terrible. It's also weird (and slightly racist) to assume the population of kids there would find that to be a draw.

The fact is that the boundaries were drawn as they were with the intention to funnel poor kids to Lewis. That was by design. FCPS and the school board both know that adding programs, AP, and whatever other nonsense they throw at the wall will neither entice middle-UMC students there nor will those programs help poor students in any way. The UMC households in the Lewis pyramid will continue to avoid that school like the plague.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Lewis soccer teams, both boys and girls, are terrible. It's also weird (and slightly racist) to assume the population of kids there would find that to be a draw.

The fact is that the boundaries were drawn as they were with the intention to funnel poor kids to Lewis. That was by design. FCPS and the school board both know that adding programs, AP, and whatever other nonsense they throw at the wall will neither entice middle-UMC students there nor will those programs help poor students in any way. The UMC households in the Lewis pyramid will continue to avoid that school like the plague.

Someone posted earlier that their soccer team was successful. And, anyone who calls it "racist" to acknowledge that South American and Central Americans are drawn to soccer is clueless.

Just like Texans are drawn to American football. Look at the popularity of soccer in the countries south of the border. Do you ever watch to see who is playing on the soccer fields in the evenings after youth sports?

Wake up and smell the coffee. You have to meet the students where they are. These are poor kids--many of them working or helping with younger siblings. Some may even be unaccompanied minors.
I think that it is a shame that the border is such a mess, but the kids are here and we must educate them--for their sakes and for ours.

You are not going to educate them by pouring in wealthier students.

[Anonymous]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/06/20/lewis-renamed-school-with-renewed-soccer-program-will-vie-virginia-state-title-this-week/

lewis soccer from 2021

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Lewis soccer teams, both boys and girls, are terrible. It's also weird (and slightly racist) to assume the population of kids there would find that to be a draw.

The fact is that the boundaries were drawn as they were with the intention to funnel poor kids to Lewis. That was by design. FCPS and the school board both know that adding programs, AP, and whatever other nonsense they throw at the wall will neither entice middle-UMC students there nor will those programs help poor students in any way. The UMC households in the Lewis pyramid will continue to avoid that school like the plague.

Someone posted earlier that their soccer team was successful. And, anyone who calls it "racist" to acknowledge that South American and Central Americans are drawn to soccer is clueless.

Just like Texans are drawn to American football. Look at the popularity of soccer in the countries south of the border. Do you ever watch to see who is playing on the soccer fields in the evenings after youth sports?

Wake up and smell the coffee. You have to meet the students where they are. These are poor kids--many of them working or helping with younger siblings. Some may even be unaccompanied minors.
I think that it is a shame that the border is such a mess, but the kids are here and we must educate them--for their sakes and for ours.

You are not going to educate them by pouring in wealthier students.

Fairfax County had its own study that students start to suffer when a school is above 30% F/R lunch and basically above 40% a school faces a herculean task. There is a positive impact exposing poorer students, including recent immigrants, to children and families with strong education backgrounds. It does not help to isolate them in particular schools. Some cold-hearted people on this site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Lewis soccer teams, both boys and girls, are terrible. It's also weird (and slightly racist) to assume the population of kids there would find that to be a draw.

The fact is that the boundaries were drawn as they were with the intention to funnel poor kids to Lewis. That was by design. FCPS and the school board both know that adding programs, AP, and whatever other nonsense they throw at the wall will neither entice middle-UMC students there nor will those programs help poor students in any way. The UMC households in the Lewis pyramid will continue to avoid that school like the plague.

Someone posted earlier that their soccer team was successful. And, anyone who calls it "racist" to acknowledge that South American and Central Americans are drawn to soccer is clueless.

Just like Texans are drawn to American football. Look at the popularity of soccer in the countries south of the border. Do you ever watch to see who is playing on the soccer fields in the evenings after youth sports?

Wake up and smell the coffee. You have to meet the students where they are. These are poor kids--many of them working or helping with younger siblings. Some may even be unaccompanied minors.
I think that it is a shame that the border is such a mess, but the kids are here and we must educate them--for their sakes and for ours.

You are not going to educate them by pouring in wealthier students.

Fairfax County had its own study that students start to suffer when a school is above 30% F/R lunch and basically above 40% a school faces a herculean task. There is a positive impact exposing poorer students, including recent immigrants, to children and families with strong education backgrounds. It does not help to isolate them in particular schools. Some cold-hearted people on this site.

Sorry, MC kids aren’t some enrichment prop for poor kids.

[Anonymous]

Half of the Lewis is Hispanic and yet the soccer team is still limping along. Last year the girls won a single game (one) the entire season. The boys barely scraped by. Must not be too much of a draw for the students. But sure keep assuming.

I agree dumping in wealthy students would only mask the problem. That was the main point. The kids there have problems too big for a school system to solve. And frankly, it isn't the tax payers problem to solve either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Lewis soccer teams, both boys and girls, are terrible. It's also weird (and slightly racist) to assume the population of kids there would find that to be a draw.

The fact is that the boundaries were drawn as they were with the intention to funnel poor kids to Lewis. That was by design. FCPS and the school board both know that adding programs, AP, and whatever other nonsense they throw at the wall will neither entice middle-UMC students there nor will those programs help poor students in any way. The UMC households in the Lewis pyramid will continue to avoid that school like the plague.

Someone posted earlier that their soccer team was successful. And, anyone who calls it "racist" to acknowledge that South American and Central Americans are drawn to soccer is clueless.

Just like Texans are drawn to American football. Look at the popularity of soccer in the countries south of the border. Do you ever watch to see who is playing on the soccer fields in the evenings after youth sports?

Wake up and smell the coffee. You have to meet the students where they are. These are poor kids--many of them working or helping with younger siblings. Some may even be unaccompanied minors.
I think that it is a shame that the border is such a mess, but the kids are here and we must educate them--for their sakes and for ours.

You are not going to educate them by pouring in wealthier students.

Fairfax County had its own study that students start to suffer when a school is above 30% F/R lunch and basically above 40% a school faces a herculean task. There is a positive impact exposing poorer students, including recent immigrants, to children and families with strong education backgrounds. It does not help to isolate them in particular schools. Some cold-hearted people on this site.

This "cold hearted" person spent years teaching kids that were way below the poverty level. Here is a little secret--they do not learn by "osmosis." They learn by good, solid instruction. It take very hard work and effort, but it can be done. Will they be prepared for college? Some will, most likely will not unless things change in the household.

Do you really think sending in wealthy kdis will change that? 30% of FCPS is on free lunch. And, going up. How do you plan to adjust that across the county without sending kids far away from their communities?

It is very difficult to get parents in to the schools and include them if they do not live near the school.

Do you really think that people will not find other options for their kids?

Back in the day, the protocol was to determine the baseline for a child and work from there to bring him up to level--while, at the same time presenting enriching activities to challenge him. It can be done.

Shifting kids only covers up the problem. It is not "cold hearted" to acknowledge that. What is "cold hearted?" To expect someone else's children to fix the problem.

[Anonymous]

In the broader context of things, Lewis doesn't seem to be doing that poorly given the demographics:

According to US News and World Report 2022
93% graduation rate
Reading proficiency is 79%, Math proficiency is 71%

According to FCPS and State of VA DOE:
For VA SOL, Reading is at 89%, Math is at 86%
41% of students took at least one IB exam and of those over 70% passed.
1/3 of the students are receiving English learning services as high school students and there is a 63% FaRMs rate.


I give kudos to the educators, the families that support their kids, and the students for these achievements. Comparing their achievement to FCPS UMC population of highly education native speakers of English is not really fair. The biggest issue is that nearly 1/4 of the students are chronically absent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the broader context of things, Lewis doesn't seem to be doing that poorly given the demographics:

According to US News and World Report 2022
93% graduation rate
Reading proficiency is 79%, Math proficiency is 71%

According to FCPS and State of VA DOE:
For VA SOL, Reading is at 89%, Math is at 86%
41% of students took at least one IB exam and of those over 70% passed.
1/3 of the students are receiving English learning services as high school students and there is a 63% FaRMs rate.


I give kudos to the educators, the families that support their kids, and the students for these achievements. Comparing their achievement to FCPS UMC population of highly education native speakers of English is not really fair. The biggest issue is that nearly 1/4 of the students are chronically absent.

And, that will not be helped by shifting boundaries. It would only get worse.