Lewis Academy - community input?
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Anonymous
and, core classes needed for graduation should provide practical knowledge. Lewis should then be viewed as a unique feature of FCPS, and those students should not be compared academically with other schools. It would be an opt-in program designed to serve those who want that type of education. Those who don’t could go elsewhere and the current stigma of Lewis as an underperforming school would be eliminated. Lewis would have an entirely different focus. |
Anonymous
Hahahaha, CRT has religious overtones is a new one, but thanks for the laugh. That would make the self-described “Christian Conservatives” heads explode though! |
Anonymous
What you are describing already exists through the Nontraditional Career Readiness Academy (NCRA) alternative program jointly with the academies at Edison HS, Falls Church HS, and the unique Spring Village location. Nontraditional students complete CTE courses and other basic coursework for an alternative pathway to graduation. Lewis is an ideal location for such a program given that it has so much available capacity. But as you stated, the critical factor is that students in the alternative programs should not count against the base school's scores. The NCRA students are technically enrolled in a separate school (Interagency Alternative Schools) while attending Edison and hence do not count against Edison's test scores. That is why Edison can publish decent test scores while helping nontraditional students. Lewis has greatly suffered due to not being given that benefit. |
Anonymous
A full VoTech school or two would be awesome and greatly needed. Don't make it an academy but a flat out VoTech school that students can apply to attend. Put the core classes for graduation at the school with the VoTech classes, I bet it would take off and full up fast. |
Anonymous
You're ignorant but that's to be expected. It's often discussed. https://www.firstthings.com/article/2021/02/evangelicals-and-race-theory?fbclid=IwAR2EYdQNc2b4tqduO6T1NFTb0EpCN7MOKfBs9hOTQzYRdHapnBsHXFKz5Ng "All-embracing and transformative views often have a religious quality. Critical race theory is no exception. It has a creedal language and liturgy, with orthodox words (“white privilege,” “systemic racism”) and prescribed actions (raising the fist, taking the knee). To deviate from the forms is to deviate from the faith. Certain words are heretical (“non-racist,” “all lives matter”). The slogan “silence is violence” is a potent rhetorical weapon. To fail to participate in the liturgy is to reject the antiracism the liturgy purports to represent—something only a racist would do." |
Anonymous
I think a full VoTech high school would be much in demand, and far better than the scattered academy approach. My DS would have loved to take some Academy classes, but it would have required space in his school schedule that he just didn’t have, and the bus ride back and forth to the base school would have been a pain. I think there are many students who would greatly benefit from a VoTech focused education, but they are forced into the traditional FCPS “college or bust” mindset and made to feel like the only goal that matters is college. Meanwhile, employers are begging for workers who have trade skills and HS graduates can make good money rather than go into debt for college programs that they really don’t want or aren’t suited for. It’s time that FCPS pays attention to who it’s students are and what they need to be successful and make a living. College (and often its associated debt) is not for everyone. |
Anonymous
The school systems I went through (we moved in the middle of high school) had schools that were 100% devoted to VoTech students. That model worked great because the kids attending them choose to go there and were with other kids who were interested in the same path as they were. That was their cohort. There was no schedule disruption because they had to bus to a specific location for a class. There was no possibility of not being able to take a class because a class for graduation would be impacted. FCPS needs something along those lines. VoTech is a valuable opportunity for kids. It needs to be mainstreamed and it's own thing. Most people in the US are not going to graduate from college, it is fine to say that outloud and have a specific program, or programs, for those kids. It is not all that different then TJ, a much needed program for kids who are very interested in STEM and advanced academically. Or an arts magnate program. We have schools that are under capacity, let's use that space to build out programs that reflect a real need for the students and society in general. |
Anonymous
| For FCPS to be as progressive and inclusive as it claims to be, they need to consider the needs of all students, not just the high SES college-bound students with vocal parents who argue about AP vs IB, what school has the highest ranking, or SAT scores. Many, many families don’t care about such things, but about how kids will be able to support themselves when they reach adulthood. Not all students come from families that value or are willing to pay for college. Many are on their own when they turn 18. What about those students? |
Anonymous
This is exactly why turning Lewis into a completely opt-in VoTech High School is the way to go. The students who currently attend Lewis and who want a college-prep curriculum could be absorbed by West Springfield, Edison, Hayfield, or South County depending on where they live. They would get access to more robust academic offerings, and students from other high schools could apply to attend Lewis for its VoTech magnet focus. |
Anonymous
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A full-time vocational tech CTE academy, or an international government and world language academy, are both good uses of space that address two needs in FCPS and benefit the community that Lewis serves (highly diverse, multiple major languages in the local demographics).
Much better than the current plan of an ambiguous curriculum based on John Lewis's graphic novels and GMU's Conflict Resolution undergrad program. Keys-Gamarra should be ashamed for using this to prop herself up while having no actual plan for the proposal. Maybe she had good intentions to improve the school, but a complete lack of forethought is inexcusable. |
Anonymous
| Just think how in-demand (and expensive!) good plumbers, painters, electricians, auto mechanics, home builders, etc. are in the DC metro area. Imagine that high school students can get practical training in these trades while earning their HS diploma. Employers would be lining up to hire them after graduation. |
Anonymous
I really don’t want to politicize the idea of turning Lewis into a Vo-Tech High School. I think it’s an idea that people of all political affiliations could get behind. |
Anonymous
I agree 100% |
Anonymous
The ignorant one is he who thinks anything about CRT is often discussed. |
Anonymous
There is zero chance of a new school offering that unless all schools offer it. The last thing that will happen is expensive special perks for a single school because no board member is going to want to explain why these kids get to do a semester abroad while their constituents' kids don't |