Future Western High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would they build a high school in Herndon when Herndon is not overcrowded. It has a lot fewer students than Centreville, Chantilly, and Westfield.

It’s all about where they can find a site. They can build a new high school in Herndon and relieve overcrowding at schools like Chantilly and Centreville. It just will require more boundaries to change to make that happen. And the opposition will be fierce. We’ve already seen Great Falls push Elaine Tholen around like a puppet on a string.

So, now, I see. People want it to get Great Falls kids at Herndon. No matter that it is a terrible spot to relieve Chantilly and Centreville. The traffic would almost all be coming from one direction and it would be a nightmare for students, parents, and commuters.
So, SB will probably choose it.

Boundaries would be rejiggered such that overcrowding elsewhere (eg possibly McLean) would be addressed through the domino effect caused by the western high school’s existence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would they build a high school in Herndon when Herndon is not overcrowded. It has a lot fewer students than Centreville, Chantilly, and Westfield.

It’s all about where they can find a site. They can build a new high school in Herndon and relieve overcrowding at schools like Chantilly and Centreville. It just will require more boundaries to change to make that happen. And the opposition will be fierce. We’ve already seen Great Falls push Elaine Tholen around like a puppet on a string.

So, now, I see. People want it to get Great Falls kids at Herndon. No matter that it is a terrible spot to relieve Chantilly and Centreville. The traffic would almost all be coming from one direction and it would be a nightmare for students, parents, and commuters.
So, SB will probably choose it.

It’s only a choice if there are other options. What other sites are available?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would they build a high school in Herndon when Herndon is not overcrowded. It has a lot fewer students than Centreville, Chantilly, and Westfield.

It’s all about where they can find a site. They can build a new high school in Herndon and relieve overcrowding at schools like Chantilly and Centreville. It just will require more boundaries to change to make that happen. And the opposition will be fierce. We’ve already seen Great Falls push Elaine Tholen around like a puppet on a string.

So, now, I see. People want it to get Great Falls kids at Herndon. No matter that it is a terrible spot to relieve Chantilly and Centreville. The traffic would almost all be coming from one direction and it would be a nightmare for students, parents, and commuters.
So, SB will probably choose it.

It’s only a choice if there are other options. What other sites are available?

They can find one. That is a terrible location for traffic. And, it makes no sense to help the overcrowded schools. McLean can send kids to Langley. Haven't they already done that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would they build a high school in Herndon when Herndon is not overcrowded. It has a lot fewer students than Centreville, Chantilly, and Westfield.

It’s all about where they can find a site. They can build a new high school in Herndon and relieve overcrowding at schools like Chantilly and Centreville. It just will require more boundaries to change to make that happen. And the opposition will be fierce. We’ve already seen Great Falls push Elaine Tholen around like a puppet on a string.

So, now, I see. People want it to get Great Falls kids at Herndon. No matter that it is a terrible spot to relieve Chantilly and Centreville. The traffic would almost all be coming from one direction and it would be a nightmare for students, parents, and commuters.
So, SB will probably choose it.

It’s only a choice if there are other options. What other sites are available?

They can find one. That is a terrible location for traffic. And, it makes no sense to help the overcrowded schools. McLean can send kids to Langley. Haven't they already done that?

+1

I know the Saudi academy bought some land near Carson but isn’t there still some empty land adjacent to Carson? Can we add that land to Carson and conver it to a secondary school? That would be really ideal in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I hear discussion about a new HS in Fairfax, I think of Loudoun. I think they are now up to 17 compared to 23 in FX for less than half the number of kids?? I understand the availability of land, but still...

They need to add more than one and more than just Western area. Tyson’s is also getting overcrowded (Madison, McLean, Marshall).
They could also have a magnet arts/performing arts HS.

+1000000. Not all kids want or need to go to TJ. Its ridiculous that a district this size doesn't have an equivalent arts magnet.

FCPS - you are not what you think you are.......

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would they build a high school in Herndon when Herndon is not overcrowded. It has a lot fewer students than Centreville, Chantilly, and Westfield.

It’s all about where they can find a site. They can build a new high school in Herndon and relieve overcrowding at schools like Chantilly and Centreville. It just will require more boundaries to change to make that happen. And the opposition will be fierce. We’ve already seen Great Falls push Elaine Tholen around like a puppet on a string.

So, now, I see. People want it to get Great Falls kids at Herndon. No matter that it is a terrible spot to relieve Chantilly and Centreville. The traffic would almost all be coming from one direction and it would be a nightmare for students, parents, and commuters.
So, SB will probably choose it.

The get Great Falls to Herndon allow more relief in the Tysons area where there is likely to be growth in the next 20 years. McLean, Marshall, and Madison are full up already and Langley can handle some, but not all of the expected growth. Falls Church and also handle some more from the other side of Tysons. They are projecting 100,000 residents in Tysons. Even if the number of children is lower because of the kind of housing, it will still be a factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would they build a high school in Herndon when Herndon is not overcrowded. It has a lot fewer students than Centreville, Chantilly, and Westfield.

It’s all about where they can find a site. They can build a new high school in Herndon and relieve overcrowding at schools like Chantilly and Centreville. It just will require more boundaries to change to make that happen. And the opposition will be fierce. We’ve already seen Great Falls push Elaine Tholen around like a puppet on a string.

So, now, I see. People want it to get Great Falls kids at Herndon. No matter that it is a terrible spot to relieve Chantilly and Centreville. The traffic would almost all be coming from one direction and it would be a nightmare for students, parents, and commuters.
So, SB will probably choose it.

It’s only a choice if there are other options. What other sites are available?

They can find one. That is a terrible location for traffic. And, it makes no sense to help the overcrowded schools. McLean can send kids to Langley. Haven't they already done that?

+1

I know the Saudi academy bought some land near Carson but isn’t there still some empty land adjacent to Carson? Can we add that land to Carson and conver it to a secondary school? That would be really ideal in my opinion.

Nope. It’s gone

[Anonymous]

I know the Saudi academy bought some land near Carson but isn’t there still some empty land adjacent to Carson? Can we add that land to Carson and conver it to a secondary school? That would be really ideal in my opinion.

Nope. It’s gone

Yep. Board of Supervisors did it under cover. It was going to be in Burke? and the community protested. Put the BOS in a bind, so they gave Saudis the adjacent Carson property without informing the Carson area community. Huge Saudi school is there now.

The excuse given was that there was not enough property for a high school--but there was tons more than is presently at Chantilly and the adjacent Carson fields could have been used for sports practices (that's a big problem at Chantilly. There are very limited fields for practices. There is also limited parking.) And, it is easily accessed by Centreville Road and 28. Traffic would still be an issue, but it would not have had anything like that mess that would be at Hutchison site. Only accessible artery is Centreville Rd/Elden St. DTR would not likely be used because the population that needs relief is not in that direction.

Only people on here pushing that site must not have ever been that way in the morning commute. Oh, yes, and Elden St narrows to two lanes when going toward center of Herndon--and no way to widen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I know the Saudi academy bought some land near Carson but isn’t there still some empty land adjacent to Carson? Can we add that land to Carson and conver it to a secondary school? That would be really ideal in my opinion.

Nope. It’s gone

Yep. Board of Supervisors did it under cover. It was going to be in Burke? and the community protested. Put the BOS in a bind, so they gave Saudis the adjacent Carson property without informing the Carson area community. Huge Saudi school is there now.

The excuse given was that there was not enough property for a high school--but there was tons more than is presently at Chantilly and the adjacent Carson fields could have been used for sports practices (that's a big problem at Chantilly. There are very limited fields for practices. There is also limited parking.) And, it is easily accessed by Centreville Road and 28. Traffic would still be an issue, but it would not have had anything like that mess that would be at Hutchison site. Only accessible artery is Centreville Rd/Elden St. DTR would not likely be used because the population that needs relief is not in that direction.

Only people on here pushing that site must not have ever been that way in the morning commute. Oh, yes, and Elden St narrows to two lanes when going toward center of Herndon--and no way to widen.

I brought up the Hutchison site because more than one school administrator had mentioned it. There is a lot of growth in that area connected to Metro even that far away. More condo/townhouse development is happening along Centreville Road near the clock tower. Some commercial properties are being converted to residential. Some are in unexpected places (eg, the office buildings behind Haley Smith park). There is even talk of adding more density along Alabama. Not sure if that means imminent domain or not.

I travel that route frequently around Hutchison. My kids have friends who live in the adjacent neighborhood. Roads would eventually need to be adjusted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I know the Saudi academy bought some land near Carson but isn’t there still some empty land adjacent to Carson? Can we add that land to Carson and conver it to a secondary school? That would be really ideal in my opinion.

Nope. It’s gone

Yep. Board of Supervisors did it under cover. It was going to be in Burke? and the community protested. Put the BOS in a bind, so they gave Saudis the adjacent Carson property without informing the Carson area community. Huge Saudi school is there now.

The excuse given was that there was not enough property for a high school--but there was tons more than is presently at Chantilly and the adjacent Carson fields could have been used for sports practices (that's a big problem at Chantilly. There are very limited fields for practices. There is also limited parking.) And, it is easily accessed by Centreville Road and 28. Traffic would still be an issue, but it would not have had anything like that mess that would be at Hutchison site. Only accessible artery is Centreville Rd/Elden St. DTR would not likely be used because the population that needs relief is not in that direction.

Only people on here pushing that site must not have ever been that way in the morning commute. Oh, yes, and Elden St narrows to two lanes when going toward center of Herndon--and no way to widen.

I brought up the Hutchison site because more than one school administrator had mentioned it. There is a lot of growth in that area connected to Metro even that far away. More condo/townhouse development is happening along Centreville Road near the clock tower. Some commercial properties are being converted to residential. Some are in unexpected places (eg, the office buildings behind Haley Smith park). There is even talk of adding more density along Alabama. Not sure if that means imminent domain or not.

I travel that route frequently around Hutchison. My kids have friends who live in the adjacent neighborhood. Roads would eventually need to be adjusted.

A very tiny portion of the areas you listed are Westfield kids. None of those areas pull from Chantilly or Centreville. Not sure how the roads could be adjusted.. Tough site to get to. So, they will probably choose it. I do not think the roads could be adjusted. The DTR and the Metro would be pretty tough to adjust to enable more arteries there. Elden St by Kohl's is already several lanes wide and is backed up. That's really the only option unless you take out housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I know the Saudi academy bought some land near Carson but isn’t there still some empty land adjacent to Carson? Can we add that land to Carson and conver it to a secondary school? That would be really ideal in my opinion.

Nope. It’s gone

Yep. Board of Supervisors did it under cover. It was going to be in Burke? and the community protested. Put the BOS in a bind, so they gave Saudis the adjacent Carson property without informing the Carson area community. Huge Saudi school is there now.

The excuse given was that there was not enough property for a high school--but there was tons more than is presently at Chantilly and the adjacent Carson fields could have been used for sports practices (that's a big problem at Chantilly. There are very limited fields for practices. There is also limited parking.) And, it is easily accessed by Centreville Road and 28. Traffic would still be an issue, but it would not have had anything like that mess that would be at Hutchison site. Only accessible artery is Centreville Rd/Elden St. DTR would not likely be used because the population that needs relief is not in that direction.

Only people on here pushing that site must not have ever been that way in the morning commute. Oh, yes, and Elden St narrows to two lanes when going toward center of Herndon--and no way to widen.

I brought up the Hutchison site because more than one school administrator had mentioned it. There is a lot of growth in that area connected to Metro even that far away. More condo/townhouse development is happening along Centreville Road near the clock tower. Some commercial properties are being converted to residential. Some are in unexpected places (eg, the office buildings behind Haley Smith park). There is even talk of adding more density along Alabama. Not sure if that means imminent domain or not.

I travel that route frequently around Hutchison. My kids have friends who live in the adjacent neighborhood. Roads would eventually need to be adjusted.

A very tiny portion of the areas you listed are Westfield kids. None of those areas pull from Chantilly or Centreville. Not sure how the roads could be adjusted.. Tough site to get to. So, they will probably choose it. I do not think the roads could be adjusted. The DTR and the Metro would be pretty tough to adjust to enable more arteries there. Elden St by Kohl's is already several lanes wide and is backed up. That's really the only option unless you take out housing.

That HS isn't just about Chantilly or Centreville. And recall everything has a domino effect. You have to factor in Tysons Corner growth as well.

[Anonymous]

That HS isn't just about Chantilly or Centreville. And recall everything has a domino effect. You have to factor in Tysons Corner growth as well.

Why is it referred to as the Western High School?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I know the Saudi academy bought some land near Carson but isn’t there still some empty land adjacent to Carson? Can we add that land to Carson and conver it to a secondary school? That would be really ideal in my opinion.

Nope. It’s gone

Yep. Board of Supervisors did it under cover. It was going to be in Burke? and the community protested. Put the BOS in a bind, so they gave Saudis the adjacent Carson property without informing the Carson area community. Huge Saudi school is there now.

The excuse given was that there was not enough property for a high school--but there was tons more than is presently at Chantilly and the adjacent Carson fields could have been used for sports practices (that's a big problem at Chantilly. There are very limited fields for practices. There is also limited parking.) And, it is easily accessed by Centreville Road and 28. Traffic would still be an issue, but it would not have had anything like that mess that would be at Hutchison site. Only accessible artery is Centreville Rd/Elden St. DTR would not likely be used because the population that needs relief is not in that direction.

Only people on here pushing that site must not have ever been that way in the morning commute. Oh, yes, and Elden St narrows to two lanes when going toward center of Herndon--and no way to widen.

I brought up the Hutchison site because more than one school administrator had mentioned it. There is a lot of growth in that area connected to Metro even that far away. More condo/townhouse development is happening along Centreville Road near the clock tower. Some commercial properties are being converted to residential. Some are in unexpected places (eg, the office buildings behind Haley Smith park). There is even talk of adding more density along Alabama. Not sure if that means imminent domain or not.

I travel that route frequently around Hutchison. My kids have friends who live in the adjacent neighborhood. Roads would eventually need to be adjusted.

A very tiny portion of the areas you listed are Westfield kids. None of those areas pull from Chantilly or Centreville. Not sure how the roads could be adjusted.. Tough site to get to. So, they will probably choose it. I do not think the roads could be adjusted. The DTR and the Metro would be pretty tough to adjust to enable more arteries there. Elden St by Kohl's is already several lanes wide and is backed up. That's really the only option unless you take out housing.

That HS isn't just about Chantilly or Centreville. And recall everything has a domino effect. You have to factor in Tysons Corner growth as well.

Also I mentioned upthread there is all the development along Centreville Road between Hutchison ES and Rachel Carson MS. The previous post were just more examples of development, and nearer Herndon it will likely mean more families than say Tysons.

[Anonymous]

That HS isn't just about Chantilly or Centreville. And recall everything has a domino effect. You have to factor in Tysons Corner growth as well.

Suggest you check the enrollments of:
Herndon
Langley
McLean
Marshall
Falls Church

Then compare the enrollments of:
Chantilly
Centreville
Westfield

If you don't have the time, the difference from the top five listed compared to the bottom three is several hundred at minimum each. In a couple of the cases, the difference is seven hundred. Each.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I did some more research on this.

According to Facility Planning Advisory Council 2016-2016 Annual Report:

 FCPS specifically designate the site where Hutchison Elementary School is located as the site for the new western high school in the next CIP, and include the western high school in the 2019 school bond referendum.
 Beginning with the 2019-2023 CIP, the actual capital requirements for additional capacity and renovations be quantified to demonstrate that the annual bond debt limit of $155 million/year imposed by the Board of Supervisors is inadequate to meet FCPS’ needs, and to illustrate the need to increase that current limitation on capital spending.

https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/Annual%20Report%20-%20July%2010%2C%202017.pdf

So it looks like the board planned all this long time ago but delayed for two years.

If it gets built as planned, my guess is that Carson will become a feeder middle school. Currently Carson kids go to three high schools: Westfield, Oakton, and South Lakes. Westfield is not at capacity so it would be able to take some Chantilly and Centerville kids. In addition, I expect Hutchison and potentially other Herdnon elementary school kids will attend this new school.

I can see some opposition from Carson families, especially from people in Carson/Oakton district.

But the real hot potato would be whether this would induce further boundary changes for Herndon/Langley/McLean. If only Hutchison kids get to attend the new high school, I don’t think Herndon High would have enough capacity to take any kids from Langley. But moving kids from Langley to Herndon has been a dream scenario for One Fairfax crowd / liberals so this is going to be real ugly.