What is the deal with South Lakes/Herndon HS

[Anonymous]

FCPS needs to come up with much better, more transparent projections to justify any shifts between Langley and McLean. Right now, it is claiming that Langley may be down to 1728 students in 2018, and that McLean may be up to 2553 students in 2019, without a change. Has Great Falls really become that undesirable, and have central McLean and West Falls Church really become that hot, to warrant those projections?

That's exactly the kind of rationale they used at South Lakes. And, now look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

FCPS needs to come up with much better, more transparent projections to justify any shifts between Langley and McLean. Right now, it is claiming that Langley may be down to 1728 students in 2018, and that McLean may be up to 2553 students in 2019, without a change. Has Great Falls really become that undesirable, and have central McLean and West Falls Church really become that hot, to warrant those projections?

That's exactly the kind of rationale they used at South Lakes. And, now look.

One irony, given some of the posts on this thread, is that at the time of the 2008 South Lakes redistricting, it was South Lakes parents living in Reston who fought to have other, high-income neighborohoods (from Madison/Oakton/Westfield) redistricted to South Lakes, while Herndon and Langley parents successfully lobbied to keep those schools out of the boundary study. They were no different than parents in any other part of the county affected by potential boundary studies and redistrictings in terms of advocating for what they thought was in their best interests. Stu Gibson was the primary mover on the School Board behind the redistricting, and Janie Strauss kept Herndon and Langley out of it.

As it turned out, the redistricting to South Lakes did improve the school's test scores and bring down the percentage of FARMS students, which is exactly what the Reston parents and Gibson wanted. But it did so at the price of overcrowding a school designed for 2100 students FCPS Staff had projected in 2008 that South Lakes would have 2056 kids in 2012 and it ended up with 2325 instead (and has even more this year). And now FCPS plans to build an addition to South Lakes that was not contemplated at the time to increase the capacity to 2750.

[Anonymous]

I honestly believe that the "rough" reputation that continues to get throw around on this board about these two high schools is at least 15 years old. It is beyond ridiculous at this point.

And the National Merit lists - I just looked at one. The list is MOSTLY TJ students. That is my guess - the kids who would have gone to the other schools and won mostly pick TJ. They should break down what those kids base schools would have been. Our MS right down the road sends a huge number of kids to TJ every year and they don't get credited back to Chantilly, where they would have gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly believe that the "rough" reputation that continues to get throw around on this board about these two high schools is at least 15 years old. It is beyond ridiculous at this point.

And the National Merit lists - I just looked at one. The list is MOSTLY TJ students. That is my guess - the kids who would have gone to the other schools and won mostly pick TJ. They should break down what those kids base schools would have been. Our MS right down the road sends a huge number of kids to TJ every year and they don't get credited back to Chantilly, where they would have gone.

If you really want to take on why some people call South Lakes and Herndon "rough," you can't just pin it on thinking at least 15 years ago. South Lakes was viewed in the mid-2000s as a troubled school with a declining enrollment. That's what prompted Reston parents whose kids were zoned for South Lakes to urge the School Board less than a decade ago to shore up the school with students from upper-income areas. If some people call Herndon rough, it's mostly because of the low-income, largely Hispanic apartment complexes that feed into Herndon today, not because of what Herndon was like 15-20 years ago.

I always find it most useful when people explain what they like or don't like about a particular school, or at least share factual information. Usually that tends to make people feel more comfortable about their options than attacking them for asking a question. Conversely, I don't find it particularly helpful when people either label entire schools "bad" or argue that the schools are basically the same, when they know that's not quite the case.

[Anonymous]

If you want to look into the future, look to the OP's original comment. They are renting in Reston to be near her husband's job. Guess what folks, Reston/Herndon/Tysons are where many, many high paying jobs exist . . . and it's growing. IMHO Herndon, South Lakes, Marshall, even Langley and McLean will improve as hard working, educated families continue to move west.

[Anonymous]

If you really want to take on why some people call South Lakes and Herndon "rough," you can't just pin it on thinking at least 15 years ago. South Lakes was viewed in the mid-2000s as a troubled school with a declining enrollment. That's what prompted Reston parents whose kids were zoned for South Lakes to urge the School Board less than a decade ago to shore up the school with students from upper-income areas. If some people call Herndon rough, it's mostly because of the low-income, largely Hispanic apartment complexes that feed into Herndon today, not because of what Herndon was like 15-20 years ago.

Yes. And the South Lakes PTA-holding hands with Stu Gibson--would not take the kids who were closest because they weren't "right fit".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want to look into the future, look to the OP's original comment. They are renting in Reston to be near her husband's job. Guess what folks, Reston/Herndon/Tysons are where many, many high paying jobs exist . . . and it's growing. IMHO Herndon, South Lakes, Marshall, even Langley and McLean will improve as hard working, educated families continue to move west.

I'm not sure what you mean by "improve." The Tysons-Dulles corridor has been a jobs magnet for a long time.

[Anonymous]

I believe all of the high schools east of Reston are at or above capacity. Madison where I think most of those families used to be headed for is over capacity and surrounded by other schools at capacity as well. With Tysons growing, things will only get worse. Fairfax County needs a new high school in the western part of the county to handle the increased enrollment.

[Anonymous]

I went to Langley in the late 80s and early 90s, and each class was about 300 (or a bit more) so these #s are blowing my minds. My graduation year ('91) I think we had approximately 1200 in the entire school.

We are currently zoned for Herndon but I am following this thread with interest b/c my DD wouldn't be hitting the high school years until right around the time the new FCPS HS is projected to be built.

I am extremely curious as to where it will be and where it will pull from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Langley in the late 80s and early 90s, and each class was about 300 (or a bit more) so these #s are blowing my minds. My graduation year ('91) I think we had approximately 1200 in the entire school.

We are currently zoned for Herndon but I am following this thread with interest b/c my DD wouldn't be hitting the high school years until right around the time the new FCPS HS is projected to be built.

I am extremely curious as to where it will be and where it will pull from.

The oldest enrollment data FCPS makes available on-line goes back to 1995 and shows Langley having 1483 students that year. It probably was lower before then. The highest enrollment at Langley since 1995 was in 2008, around the time of the South Lakes redistricting, when the enrollment was just under 2100 students. That's why some people thought at the time Langley neighborhoods in western Fairfax should have been part of the South Lakes redistricting, but it was excluded from the scope of the study.

Since then, it has tapered off by about 100 students. As long as FCPS thinks the Langley enrollment will keep going down, it's not likely to move areas already at Langley to other schools, no matter how far away they are. But whether they should move more neighborhoods to Langley is a different question.

As to the new HS, FCPS has not identified the location, but only suggested it would relieve overcrowding at a bunch of different schools. I'd expect there to be a lot of movement at that time - not just of students to the new school, but also among existing schools.

[Anonymous]

A while back FCPS said it would be in South West Fairfax which I find troubling. The overcrowding is the North west part of FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:South Lakes was the reason we bought in Sterling instead of Herndon or Reston. We just heard too many bad things about it.

Yes, that area is not going to "gentrify" for a while. People have been moving to Loudoun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:South Lakes was the reason we bought in Sterling instead of Herndon or Reston. We just heard too many bad things about it.

Yes, that area is not going to "gentrify" for a while. People have been moving to Loudoun.

That area doesn't need to "gentrify." Reston has a lot more to offer than Sterling except for vinyl McMansions.

[Anonymous]

We live in the South Lakes pyramid with kids in elementary school, and the parents I know who have kids at South Lakes have nothing but positive things to say about it. I have no qualms whatsoever about having my kids attend there in a few years.

Some of the positives I've heard: many parents think the IB program is an excellent way to prepare the kids for the rigors of college; South Lakes has great support for the arts (good music, drama, dance programs, among others); the teaching staff is excellent; there's a variety of sports; the diversity of the school provides a great atmosphere; etc.

The only negatives that I've heard recently relate to the current principal. The principal that left South Lakes in 2012 was very well loved and I've heard mixed things about the current principal. However, I could say the same thing about a lot of schools in Fairfax County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:South Lakes was the reason we bought in Sterling instead of Herndon or Reston. We just heard too many bad things about it.

Yes, that area is not going to "gentrify" for a while. People have been moving to Loudoun.

That area doesn't need to "gentrify." Reston has a lot more to offer than Sterling except for vinyl McMansions.

OP here. Loudon is just too far out for us, and I'm sure we're not alone in that thinking. I'll take a shorter commute over more square footage any day. Sooner or later, won't some of the older, cheaper housing in Reston/Herndon be torn down and replaced? I think there's enough upward pressure on prices to make that happen, especially with the Silver Line on its way. That's what I mean when I talk about gentrifying.