Boundary Review Meetings

[Anonymous]

I am not the PP. but for the people asking what other Sangster parents think - I don’t think they care one way or another. Im sorry parents from other schools are more concerned about it than ours are.

When we say community we are talking about the neighborhood, Not the school community. Other Sangster parents have their own communities too, south run has its own pool etc. that are separate from the school itself. It’s possible to be a part of two communities in a venn diagram of Sangster elem and orange hunt estates.

We have also never advocated for other people to be kicked out of WS so that we can stay or pitted neighborhoods against each other. From comments in here, it feels like that’s what other people thing we are doing. Almost every single person has simply asked for more data, to slow the process down in order to get that data and to look at the location of these houses in proximity to both high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are Timber Lane families feeling about being moved to Shrevewood?

The Hollywood Rd move from Timber Lane to Shrevewood has been in every scenario. Initially they were going to go onto Kilmer/Marshall, which didn’t get nearly as much opposition as the Jackson/FCHS move. Scenario 4 has them continuing onto Longfellow/McLean, which adds another split feeder to Marshall. With the Wolf Trap/Westbriar splits likely undone, I think Freedom Hill might be the only school in the pyramid that doesn’t split.

The stuff they’ve done to try and put Graham Road within its attendance area is a mess. The people who’d be at “new” Graham Road are happy but it’s not great for Timber Lane (new attendance island) or Shrevewood (new split feeder). They are “fixing” one problem by creating two new ones.

[Anonymous]

What are the main takeaways from the McLean Madison meeting tonight? I heard several hundred people attended between in person and online!

[Anonymous]

Everyone across the board is happy with scenario 4 except a small contingent of folks from NE Vienna, Wolf Trap Elementary, and Lemon Rd elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the other Sangster families offended, puzzled or amused by the whole the Sangster kids who go to Lake Braddock aren't our community argument?

There is definitely talk in surrounding communities about that angle, not about the kids at Irving but the families without kids at Irving.

One LB parent spoke up 2 meetings ago about that argument, and she did seem a bit offended and a little befuddled.

Why would you consider kids who went to school with your kid for 6+ years to be part of your community? One kid spoke at the Irving meeting about how he desperately didn't want to lose all of the new friends he's met (in one quarter of school) this year at Irving and pleaded to stay there instead of being sent to LBSS, where his former Sangster classmates of seven years went.

You are talking about and mocking a child. What you failed to mention is that he said he has a sibling at WSHS, so of course that school would feel more like his community than LB.

Sangster is located within the WSHS boundary. It is inside the neighborhood of Orange Hunt Estates. Those of us who live there understand that we are assigned to Sangster as the elementary school because we are walkers. We would have to be bused to Orange Hunt Elementary. The Sangster/Orange Hunt boundary is at the point 1 mile from the school. So that is why we identify as living in West Springfield and see Irving/West Springfield as our child’s school. The first iteration of the boundary scenarios did not “fix” our split feeder because Sangster is located within the WSHS boundary. And we don’t want our split feeder fixed.

There are better solutions to overcrowding at WSHS. Shifting children living on West Springfield/Lewis boundary to Lewis, which has room. Moving German immersion (Did you know Orange Hunt is over capacity too thanks to transfers in for German immersion???) to White Oaks and Lake Braddock pyramid, which have room.

But really let’s wait and see. West Springfield is full of government civilians. Let’s see what happens with Trump and his downsizing of the government workforce. Families are going to have to leave for other employment opportunities.

I am sorry, but the Sangster split feeder to Lake Braddock is the lowest hanging fruit and the only logical solution for WSHS if a neighborhood must be rezoned.

You suggesting that a split feeder should be created in other neighborhoods so you can avoid, of all schools, Lake Braddock, where 80% of your kids classmates go and which Sangster is very connected to is stunning. Especially when you consider that any WSHS neighborhood rezoned to Lewis, what you are asking for, is asking for a different neighborhood to literally get rezoned out of their community, which is not the case with Sangster to Lake Braddock.

Lake Braddock is part of the Sangster community. WSHS less so.

Sangster will lose all support from the other WSHS communities if pushing out one of the other schools to Lewis so you don't have to go to Lake Braddock is your game plan now.

Unbelievable.

I, and others who are not Sangster families have been working to keep all of WSHS intact. If this is what the Sangster split feeder is now pushing for, that support for you staying at WSHS is over from me and likely many others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not the PP. but for the people asking what other Sangster parents think - I don’t think they care one way or another. Im sorry parents from other schools are more concerned about it than ours are.

When we say community we are talking about the neighborhood, Not the school community. Other Sangster parents have their own communities too, south run has its own pool etc. that are separate from the school itself. It’s possible to be a part of two communities in a venn diagram of Sangster elem and orange hunt estates.

We have also never advocated for other people to be kicked out of WS so that we can stay or pitted neighborhoods against each other. From comments in here, it feels like that’s what other people thing we are doing. Almost every single person has simply asked for more data, to slow the process down in order to get that data and to look at the location of these houses in proximity to both high schools.

The Sangster post right before you literally said they are pushing for a different WSHS neighborhood to get rezoned to Lake Braddock, so 20% of Sangster doesn't have to go to Lake Braddock with the other 80% of Sangster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not the PP. but for the people asking what other Sangster parents think - I don’t think they care one way or another. Im sorry parents from other schools are more concerned about it than ours are.

When we say community we are talking about the neighborhood, Not the school community. Other Sangster parents have their own communities too, south run has its own pool etc. that are separate from the school itself. It’s possible to be a part of two communities in a venn diagram of Sangster elem and orange hunt estates.

We have also never advocated for other people to be kicked out of WS so that we can stay or pitted neighborhoods against each other. From comments in here, it feels like that’s what other people thing we are doing. Almost every single person has simply asked for more data, to slow the process down in order to get that data and to look at the location of these houses in proximity to both high schools.

The Sangster post right before you literally said they are pushing for a different WSHS neighborhood to get rezoned to Lewis so 20% of Sangster doesn't have to go to Lake Braddock with the other 80% of Sangster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the other Sangster families offended, puzzled or amused by the whole the Sangster kids who go to Lake Braddock aren't our community argument?

There is definitely talk in surrounding communities about that angle, not about the kids at Irving but the families without kids at Irving.

One LB parent spoke up 2 meetings ago about that argument, and she did seem a bit offended and a little befuddled.

Why would you consider kids who went to school with your kid for 6+ years to be part of your community? One kid spoke at the Irving meeting about how he desperately didn't want to lose all of the new friends he's met (in one quarter of school) this year at Irving and pleaded to stay there instead of being sent to LBSS, where his former Sangster classmates of seven years went.

You are talking about and mocking a child. What you failed to mention is that he said he has a sibling at WSHS, so of course that school would feel more like his community than LB.

Sangster is located within the WSHS boundary. It is inside the neighborhood of Orange Hunt Estates. Those of us who live there understand that we are assigned to Sangster as the elementary school because we are walkers. We would have to be bused to Orange Hunt Elementary. The Sangster/Orange Hunt boundary is at the point 1 mile from the school. So that is why we identify as living in West Springfield and see Irving/West Springfield as our child’s school. The first iteration of the boundary scenarios did not “fix” our split feeder because Sangster is located within the WSHS boundary. And we don’t want our split feeder fixed.

There are better solutions to overcrowding at WSHS. Shifting children living on West Springfield/Lewis boundary to Lewis, which has room. Moving German immersion (Did you know Orange Hunt is over capacity too thanks to transfers in for German immersion???) to White Oaks and Lake Braddock pyramid, which have room.

But really let’s wait and see. West Springfield is full of government civilians. Let’s see what happens with Trump and his downsizing of the government workforce. Families are going to have to leave for other employment opportunities.

The Orange Hunt community will be pi$$ed if Sangster parents get their German immersion program moved out of their school just so the Sangster island can avoid Lake Braddock.

The vast majority of German immersion students actually live in bounds for Orange Hunt. A large number of them have German heritage or were stationed in Germany with bilingual kids, and bought their houses zoned for Orange Hunt so they didn't have to risk the lottery.

Ask those Orange Hunt families if they want to give up their German immersion program so Sangster doesn't have to go to Lake Braddock. You are going to get a resounding no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the main takeaways from the McLean Madison meeting tonight? I heard several hundred people attended between in person and online!

It was fairly calm.

Ratio of Madison comments to McLean comments felt like 3:1.

Lots of Westbriar parents zoned to Madison objecting to getting moved to Marshall under Scenario 4. Sounds like they’ll get their wish.

Lots of Wolftrap parents zoned to Marshall favoring getting moved to Madison under Scenario 4. Sounds like they’ll get their wish.

Lots of Timber Lane parents north of 29 expressing appreciation that Scenario 4 keeps them at Longfellow/McLean. Sounds like they’ll get their wish.

A few Fairhill ES parents advocating to get moved from Falls Church to Madison or Oakton. Reid was non-committal because the parents couldn’t say how many kids were involved.

A fair number of Lemon Road parents zoned for McLean and Marshall spoke in favor of retaining the split feeder, which Scenario 4 does. They are a bit unsettled because there are some Lemon Road parents in Pimmit Hills lobbying to get moved from Marshall to McLean by eliminating the split feeder, which in turn has prompted some other parents at Lemon Road to argue that, if the split feeder is to be eliminated, FCPS should move the McLean families at Lemon Road to Marshall, rather than vice versa. The parents speaking tonight want to keep the current split feeder.

No comments at all that I can recall from anyone in the Spring Hill island, so it seems fair to assume they’re happy to move from McLean to Langley.

The most interesting part of the meeting may have been when Meren, who was there, seemed to chastise Reid about Reid’s answer to a question about whether current 8th graders would have a choice between their current high school and the high school to which they may be rezoned.

Lots of comments about whether split feeders are bad or ok, and it came across as rather contrived and dependent on how it impacted the schools that people want their kids to attend. Reid said they are looking at split feeders on a case-by-case basis now, depending on the feedback provided, and backing away from a one-size-fits-all approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the main takeaways from the McLean Madison meeting tonight? I heard several hundred people attended between in person and online!

It was fairly calm.

Ratio of Madison comments to McLean comments felt like 3:1.

Lots of Westbriar parents zoned to Madison objecting to getting moved to Marshall under Scenario 4. Sounds like they’ll get their wish.

Lots of Wolftrap parents zoned to Marshall favoring getting moved to Madison under Scenario 4. Sounds like they’ll get their wish.

Lots of Timber Lane parents north of 29 expressing appreciation that Scenario 4 keeps them at Longfellow/McLean. Sounds like they’ll get their wish.

A few Fairhill ES parents advocating to get moved from Falls Church to Madison or Oakton. Reid was non-committal because the parents couldn’t say how many kids were involved.

A fair number of Lemon Road parents zoned for McLean and Marshall spoke in favor of retaining the split feeder, which Scenario 4 does. They are a bit unsettled because there are some Lemon Road parents in Pimmit Hills lobbying to get moved from Marshall to McLean by eliminating the split feeder, which in turn has prompted some other parents at Lemon Road to argue that, if the split feeder is to be eliminated, FCPS should move the McLean families at Lemon Road to Marshall, rather than vice versa. The parents speaking tonight want to keep the current split feeder.

No comments at all that I can recall from anyone in the Spring Hill island, so it seems fair to assume they’re happy to move from McLean to Langley.

The most interesting part of the meeting may have been when Meren, who was there, seemed to chastise Reid about Reid’s answer to a question about whether current 8th graders would have a choice between their current high school and the high school to which they may be rezoned.

Lots of comments about whether split feeders are bad or ok, and it came across as rather contrived and dependent on how it impacted the schools that people want their kids to attend. Reid said they are looking at split feeders on a case-by-case basis now, depending on the feedback provided, and backing away from a one-size-fits-all approach.

Can you please elaborate on thd 8th grade grandfathering question?

We already know that grandfathered kids won't get bus service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the main takeaways from the McLean Madison meeting tonight? I heard several hundred people attended between in person and online!

It was fairly calm.

Ratio of Madison comments to McLean comments felt like 3:1.

Lots of Westbriar parents zoned to Madison objecting to getting moved to Marshall under Scenario 4. Sounds like they’ll get their wish.

Lots of Wolftrap parents zoned to Marshall favoring getting moved to Madison under Scenario 4. Sounds like they’ll get their wish.

Lots of Timber Lane parents north of 29 expressing appreciation that Scenario 4 keeps them at Longfellow/McLean. Sounds like they’ll get their wish.

A few Fairhill ES parents advocating to get moved from Falls Church to Madison or Oakton. Reid was non-committal because the parents couldn’t say how many kids were involved.

A fair number of Lemon Road parents zoned for McLean and Marshall spoke in favor of retaining the split feeder, which Scenario 4 does. They are a bit unsettled because there are some Lemon Road parents in Pimmit Hills lobbying to get moved from Marshall to McLean by eliminating the split feeder, which in turn has prompted some other parents at Lemon Road to argue that, if the split feeder is to be eliminated, FCPS should move the McLean families at Lemon Road to Marshall, rather than vice versa. The parents speaking tonight want to keep the current split feeder.

No comments at all that I can recall from anyone in the Spring Hill island, so it seems fair to assume they’re happy to move from McLean to Langley.

The most interesting part of the meeting may have been when Meren, who was there, seemed to chastise Reid about Reid’s answer to a question about whether current 8th graders would have a choice between their current high school and the high school to which they may be rezoned.

Lots of comments about whether split feeders are bad or ok, and it came across as rather contrived and dependent on how it impacted the schools that people want their kids to attend. Reid said they are looking at split feeders on a case-by-case basis now, depending on the feedback provided, and backing away from a one-size-fits-all approach.

Can you please elaborate on thd 8th grade grandfathering question?

We already know that grandfathered kids won't get bus service.

The parent of an 8th grader at Kilmer zoned for Marshall wanted to know if his kid would have an option to attend Marshall (and play sports) if they are rezoned to Madison.

Reid seemed to suggest there might be an option, although the kids might not be allowed to play sports under the VHSL rules on transfers. And then Meren jumped in to say that no one should assume such an option would exist because the board hasn’t really had a chance to address that yet.

It was then noted that kids could continue to pupil place, but that student transfers are for specific reasons, as opposed to just giving all current 8th graders an option to choose between two high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Lorton Station the school that hosted the Hagel Circle kids for a year or two?

If so, that is where they should go, not Halley or Gunston.

Yup, it’s also the only school where the Hagel Circle kids can walk too.

Then Hagel Circle should go to Lorton Circle, especially if it is a poor neighborhood.

Walkability is critical for parent involvement in education when the families don't have reliable transportation.

Before she moves the Hagel Circle to a different school, someone familiar with the background of Hagel Circle getting shuffled around should make Dr. Reid aware of what happened.

In a district always blathering about "equity" Hagel Circle and Coates being ignored are the true equity issues that need to be addressed, not whether your kid has the "heartbreaking" option of WSHS or LBSS, or not whether you are being "so disrupted" by being forced to move to the beautiful brand new high school instead of staying at Oakton.

Excuse me but if there is a septic system issue, then why would they not fix it. There are already students attending the school so if there is an issue the way your portraying it out to be, then no one should go there. It definitely can be repaired.

Second, Lorton Station being walkable is not a reason why it should be chosen. There is a 35-45 min from Hagel Circle to Lorton Station. Hagel circle is entirely fenced in. Check it with google maps or any other software.

Most if not all of Lorton parents drive. Why would walking to school be so critically important.

You know the real reason is because it is a predominantly minority community and like at the meeting on Oct. 22nd, it’s because of the demographics and socio-economic status. Several parents that day mentioned they were afraid the school ratings would go down. Those are bigoted views and you have no right to push Fairfax county residents away from county resources.

I was present at the meeting and witnessed what was said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone across the board is happy with scenario 4 except a small contingent of folks from NE Vienna, Wolf Trap Elementary, and Lemon Rd elementary.

Wrong - Wolftrap elementary families by far favor scenario 4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone across the board is happy with scenario 4 except a small contingent of folks from NE Vienna, Wolf Trap Elementary, and Lemon Rd elementary.

Wrong - Wolftrap elementary families by far favor scenario 4

That was certainly my impression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Attending tonight’s meeting, the Superintendent opened by addressing Hagel Circle and it looks like they’ll be making corrections to the maps to send the kids to their community school of Lorton Station vs Halley (current school) or Gunston (proposed school)

Keep in mind, Lorton Station already has over 700 students. An additional 146 students would lead to overcrowding. Lorton Station is not their community school. Gunston was built at the time Hagel Circle was. That was the original elementary school for Hagel.

Better solution is keeping Gunston or having them go to Halley which both schools could easily handle that amount of students. Keep in mind, there is a reason why Hagel Circle was zoned for Halley, it was a capacity issue.

Gunston is one of the oldest elementary schools in the county. It was built in the 1950s. It was one of the only schools in Lorton! That’s not relevant to today, especially when Lorton has undergone substantial development since the. Gunston doesn’t have the capacity because they’re on a septic system that already has issues. Lorton Station has capacity for 890 students, with approximately 700 current students there is plenty of room for Hagel Circle students to attend the elementary school within walking distance of their home. Lorton Station is also an AAP center - get rid of centers and there is even more space.

Excuse me but if there is a septic system issue, then why would they not fix it. There are already students attending the school so if there is an issue the way your portraying it out to be, then no one should go there. It definitely can be repaired.

Second, Lorton Station being walkable is not a reason why it should be chosen. There is a 35-45 min from Hagel Circle to Lorton Station. Hagel circle is entirely fenced in. Check it with google maps or any other software.

Most if not all of Lorton parents drive. Why would walking to school be so critically important. Especially to you since your Gunston parents, that walk doesn’t affect you. There are many schools which students cannot walk to, that’s why there are school buses.

You know the real reason is because it is a predominantly minority community and like at the meeting on Oct. 22nd, it’s because of the demographics and socio-economic status. Several parents that day mentioned they were afraid the school ratings would go down. Those are bigoted views and you have no right to push Fairfax county residents away from county resources.

I was present at the meeting and witnessed what was said and it was truly shocking. The interesting part is that some were subtle about their views and some were blatant. A parent online had to remind you guys that these were other parents kiddos and what the school was prepared to do to welcome them.

What a shame it was. I hope there was a video recording so everyone could see for themselves!