Mount Vernon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The County has been throwing money at the Rt. 1 corridor for years to attract development, but the school situation has gotten worse, not better.

Improvements in schools can be a lagging indicator. Someone mentioned Marshall earlier. The School Board did not lift a finger when Marshall was in the bottom half of FCPS and had a perilously low enrollment to redistrict anyone there. In fact, they even let parents talk them into rejecting a staff recommendation years ago to move part of Langley to Marshall and let the neighborhoods in question move to McLean instead. But the school improved anyway, because it was near Tysons and several Metro stations, and a considerable amount of expensive new housing was built within the school's boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Why is it that none of the elementary schools that feed into West Springfield are Title 1, whereas all but one (the AAP center) of the elementary schools that feed into Lee High School are Title 1? If that's not discriminatory, I don't know what is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are absolutely failing schools when compared with the rest of FCPS. The difference in test scores is astonishing and should not be tolerated by county taxpayers. Parents who live in those areas are bailing out because the schools are awful.

If FCPS really wanted to help Lee, they'd either get rid of IB there (eliminating the pupil placement option to West Springfield) or they'd keep IB at Lee and eliminate it at Robinson and Edison, so that Lee got more pupil placements for IB. The school has seen huge net out-placements for years.

[Anonymous]

There is a 404 point gap in average SAT scores between Langley (1830) and Mt. Vernon (1426). Less than the gap between Woodlawn and Wakefield in APS, and a lot less between Wilson or any of a number of DCPS HSs. And by the way-- Wilson (DC's highest non-magnet) only out scores Mt. Vernon (FCPS's lowest) by 49 points.

http://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/DCPS%20SY%202014-2015%20SAT%20Scores.xlsx

http://thebullelephant.com/sat-scores-in-northern-virginia-schools-2014/



FCPS does have inequality in public education, which should be address. But suggesting Mt. Vernon is failing, or that FCPS has a bigger problem than other area schools is just wrong.

The fact is you will pay a lot less for a house in the Mt. Vernon District. Poorer kids have fewer advantages and are going to have lower SAT scores. If you bus Mt. Vernon kids to Langley, they will still have lower SAT scores than kids whose parents can afford to buy a house in the McLean area.
http://thebullelephant.com/sat-scores-in-northern-virginia-schools-2014/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that none of the elementary schools that feed into West Springfield are Title 1, whereas all but one (the AAP center) of the elementary schools that feed into Lee High School are Title 1? If that's not discriminatory, I don't know what is.

The AAP center you are referring to would be Title 1 if the AAP center (which is mainly fed by two other pyramids) wasn't located there. The good news is that the base school kids there benefit from the higher standards and general academic-success-focus that the AAP center creates. The bad news is that the base school kids who are largely FARMS and/or ESOL are not getting the extra benefits of being designated Title 1. Good news -- the principal is amazing in that she is able to manage the needs of BOTH ends and the test scores in the base school are great (despite the FARMS And ESOL challenges). Also good news -- I heard some staff talking at the end of last year and they said every single kid that came from this base school (the one with the AAP center) who was graduating from Lee was going on to college! So, again, something great is going on with these kids who start at that elem. school.

Totally agree that there are too many IB programs in that area (with Edison down the street). These kids at Lee deserve and need to have access to AP where they can take just one or two classes and show that they can handle college level classes (without all the mumbo-jumbo and two-year commitment course that IB requires).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The County has been throwing money at the Rt. 1 corridor for years to attract development, but the school situation has gotten worse, not better.

Improvements in schools can be a lagging indicator. Someone mentioned Marshall earlier. The School Board did not lift a finger when Marshall was in the bottom half of FCPS and had a perilously low enrollment to redistrict anyone there. In fact, they even let parents talk them into rejecting a staff recommendation years ago to move part of Langley to Marshall and let the neighborhoods in question move to McLean instead. But the school improved anyway, because it was near Tysons and several Metro stations, and a considerable amount of expensive new housing was built within the school's boundaries.

Should parents be content to wait a decade or more after real estate development begins for school quality to improve? As parents, our kids only get one chance at an education. We don't have the time to wait. We're tired of waiting for things to get better and being told that we "might"
get redistricted to a better school at some distant point in the future - or that a new Town Center project will improve the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that none of the elementary schools that feed into West Springfield are Title 1, whereas all but one (the AAP center) of the elementary schools that feed into Lee High School are Title 1? If that's not discriminatory, I don't know what is.

Both the Lee and West Springfield boundaries are relatively compact, and on their face they don't look obviously gerrymandered to create an affluent school and a poor school. But Lee is near the older part of Springfield, with lots of garden apartments and small homes built in the 1950s, whereas most of the housing in the West Springfield district was built later and commands a higher price. You could swap some of the WS and Lee feeders to promote greater SES balance, but you'd have checker-board attendance areas and students with longer trips to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that none of the elementary schools that feed into West Springfield are Title 1, whereas all but one (the AAP center) of the elementary schools that feed into Lee High School are Title 1? If that's not discriminatory, I don't know what is.

The AAP center you are referring to would be Title 1 if the AAP center (which is mainly fed by two other pyramids) wasn't located there. The good news is that the base school kids there benefit from the higher standards and general academic-success-focus that the AAP center creates. The bad news is that the base school kids who are largely FARMS and/or ESOL are not getting the extra benefits of being designated Title 1. Good news -- the principal is amazing in that she is able to manage the needs of BOTH ends and the test scores in the base school are great (despite the FARMS And ESOL challenges). Also good news -- I heard some staff talking at the end of last year and they said every single kid that came from this base school (the one with the AAP center) who was graduating from Lee was going on to college! So, again, something great is going on with these kids who start at that elem. school.

Totally agree that there are too many IB programs in that area (with Edison down the street). These kids at Lee deserve and need to have access to AP where they can take just one or two classes and show that they can handle college level classes (without all the mumbo-jumbo and two-year commitment course that IB requires).

Springfield Estates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that none of the elementary schools that feed into West Springfield are Title 1, whereas all but one (the AAP center) of the elementary schools that feed into Lee High School are Title 1? If that's not discriminatory, I don't know what is.

Both the Lee and West Springfield boundaries are relatively compact, and on their face they don't look obviously gerrymandered to create an affluent school and a poor school. But Lee is near the older part of Springfield, with lots of garden apartments and small homes built in the 1950s, whereas most of the housing in the West Springfield district was built later and commands a higher price. You could swap some of the WS and Lee feeders to promote greater SES balance, but you'd have checker-board attendance areas and students with longer trips to school.

Saratoga is closer to West Springfield. A boundary change would make sense for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The County has been throwing money at the Rt. 1 corridor for years to attract development, but the school situation has gotten worse, not better.

Improvements in schools can be a lagging indicator. Someone mentioned Marshall earlier. The School Board did not lift a finger when Marshall was in the bottom half of FCPS and had a perilously low enrollment to redistrict anyone there. In fact, they even let parents talk them into rejecting a staff recommendation years ago to move part of Langley to Marshall and let the neighborhoods in question move to McLean instead. But the school improved anyway, because it was near Tysons and several Metro stations, and a considerable amount of expensive new housing was built within the school's boundaries.

Should parents be content to wait a decade or more after real estate development begins for school quality to improve? As parents, our kids only get one chance at an education. We don't have the time to wait. We're tired of waiting for things to get better and being told that we "might"
get redistricted to a better school at some distant point in the future - or that a new Town Center project will improve the schools.

You can also move. Lots of people do in FCPS for schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that none of the elementary schools that feed into West Springfield are Title 1, whereas all but one (the AAP center) of the elementary schools that feed into Lee High School are Title 1? If that's not discriminatory, I don't know what is.

Both the Lee and West Springfield boundaries are relatively compact, and on their face they don't look obviously gerrymandered to create an affluent school and a poor school. But Lee is near the older part of Springfield, with lots of garden apartments and small homes built in the 1950s, whereas most of the housing in the West Springfield district was built later and commands a higher price. You could swap some of the WS and Lee feeders to promote greater SES balance, but you'd have checker-board attendance areas and students with longer trips to school.

Totally disagree. Just look at the Saratoga area. It has been totally gerrymandered. It is part of the Lee HS pyramid, the Mount Vernon supervisor/school board district, and in a different Congressional district that those directly across Pohick Creek. Both West Springfield and South County are closer than Lee HS, not to mention that kids in that neighborhood have to cross two parkways and an interstate to reach the MS and HS they're zoned for. What's happened in Saratoga is the middle class and affluent families that live there use private school or pupil place to other schools and, as a result, even Saratoga ES has suffered. Perfect example of a neighborhood that is relatively middle class and affluent, but for which the the politicians have gerrymandered into districts that don't benefit them - what happens? The middle class flees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The County has been throwing money at the Rt. 1 corridor for years to attract development, but the school situation has gotten worse, not better.

Improvements in schools can be a lagging indicator. Someone mentioned Marshall earlier. The School Board did not lift a finger when Marshall was in the bottom half of FCPS and had a perilously low enrollment to redistrict anyone there. In fact, they even let parents talk them into rejecting a staff recommendation years ago to move part of Langley to Marshall and let the neighborhoods in question move to McLean instead. But the school improved anyway, because it was near Tysons and several Metro stations, and a considerable amount of expensive new housing was built within the school's boundaries.

Should parents be content to wait a decade or more after real estate development begins for school quality to improve? As parents, our kids only get one chance at an education. We don't have the time to wait. We're tired of waiting for things to get better and being told that we "might"
get redistricted to a better school at some distant point in the future - or that a new Town Center project will improve the schools.

You can also move. Lots of people do in FCPS for schools.

True, or we could vote to remove representatives who maintain the status quo.

[Anonymous]

There are wealthy areas that are zoned for Mount Vernon HS, those neighborhoods mainly feed into Washington Mill ES. However, tons of those families send their children to private or parochial schools in Alexandria and beyond versus the local publics.

The local middle school is pretty far away with all of the students being bussed, no walkers. In fact, Whitman on a map is more north than Sandburg (the MS for West Potomac).

For families looking to opt out of MVHS, I believe they have Hayfield (?) as an option as West Potomac is overcrowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that none of the elementary schools that feed into West Springfield are Title 1, whereas all but one (the AAP center) of the elementary schools that feed into Lee High School are Title 1? If that's not discriminatory, I don't know what is.

Both the Lee and West Springfield boundaries are relatively compact, and on their face they don't look obviously gerrymandered to create an affluent school and a poor school. But Lee is near the older part of Springfield, with lots of garden apartments and small homes built in the 1950s, whereas most of the housing in the West Springfield district was built later and commands a higher price. You could swap some of the WS and Lee feeders to promote greater SES balance, but you'd have checker-board attendance areas and students with longer trips to school.

Totally disagree. Just look at the Saratoga area. It has been totally gerrymandered. It is part of the Lee HS pyramid, the Mount Vernon supervisor/school board district, and in a different Congressional district that those directly across Pohick Creek. Both West Springfield and South County are closer than Lee HS, not to mention that kids in that neighborhood have to cross two parkways and an interstate to reach the MS and HS they're zoned for. What's happened in Saratoga is the middle class and affluent families that live there use private school or pupil place to other schools and, as a result, even Saratoga ES has suffered. Perfect example of a neighborhood that is relatively middle class and affluent, but for which the the politicians have gerrymandered into districts that don't benefit them - what happens? The middle class flees.

I don't think you can argue with the fact that the West Springfield and Lee districts are relatively compact. Look at the Lake Braddock or Oakton boundaries if you want to see some odd-looking boundaries.

But I thought you were complaining that FCPS was concentrating poverty in Lee. Instead, you appear to be complaining that the most affluent area zoned for Lee ought to go to another school - West Springfield or South County - instead. So who do you propose to send to under-enrolled Lee in their place?

[Anonymous]

There are multiple people on this thread.