Boundary Review Meetings
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Anonymous
What is the actual % of students who will be affected by redistricting? And maybe more to the point, how many will be affected negatively? 1%? This is a non-issue for almost everyone. |
Anonymous
Exactly. Families who live on the boundaries of schools are the ones affected and that is a relatively small percentage of kids and parents. And it is not one or two kids but a group of kids that will be moving together, which will make the transition easier for the kids. They will move with friends and classmates, just like they would do going into MS or HS. I have learned that people are far more attached to schools then I ever have been and will be. I have good memories, for the most part, of school but I never had a desire for my kid to attend the same schools I did because they were so amazing. I want school to be a positive experience for my kid, but it shouldn't be his identity. But so many people seem to be invested in their schools in ways that I don't understand. That said, most people are not going to be affected by the moves. The only reason this might touch them is the amount of time the School Board has spent on it. The expenditure on the new school maybe but I think it is an easy case to make why it was needed. |
Anonymous
They are now talking about giving current 7th graders and up an option whether to attend the new Western HS. Will similar consideration be given to other students affected by boundary changes elsewhere in the county? FCPS seems to be sending mixed signals about how disruptive it is to be assigned to a new or different school. Half the time we are told it’s no big deal and kids should be resilient. And then they appear to be bending over backwards to give kids in at least some areas extended periods of time not to attend a new school. Some consistency here might be nice. |
Anonymous
Sounds like you had a tough time making friends in grade school. I truly feel sorry for you. Others of us realize just how incredible and formative those years and friends were for us, and stability was the key factor for us. You can’t do math if you think this only impacts 1% of the students. That number is a gross underestimate. |
Anonymous
I cannot speak to the numbers, but if it is your child, that doesn't matter. Easy to be fine with other kids switching. |
Anonymous
I live on one of these boundaries and my kids will be affected. Their friends will not follow them because their friends live well within the school boundaries and will stay at the same school. My kids friends aren't the kids that may live on the same street, but they live a few minutes away. Maybe you can't understand someone's attachment to a school, but that doesn't mean it's not important. My kids are very much attached to their school and there is a HUGE community pride in it. Even their favorite colors tend to be the school colors. I don't think that's unheard of. Where I grew up, it was par for the course to show pride in your HS and everyone always talked about which one they went to. I do think that in NOVA there is a more transient community that may not build those type of bonds with people moving around all the time, but people and schools that create them shouldn't be ignored. Our schools would change and all the school changes are good schools to good schools. There isn't much of a different in academics. But my kids are constantly worrying about the change because they've made their home at their school and that is where their community/people/friends are at. I hate that they have to think about this on top of all the other pressures at school. The school boundary adjustment process just seems like an abomination in how FCPS is gong about it. Never in my professional career have I seen a process like this and I would be fired if I ever failed this badly at it. |
Anonymous
This. Reid reminds me of someone in a corn maze. She takes a step in one direction and hits a wall--so, what does she do? She pivots and goes in a different direction. Problem is, there may be a wall there, as well. Did Reid and staff ever have a serious plan on this? Did they ever "worse case" anything? |
Anonymous
Nope, I had friends. I still talk with them on Facebook. We moved in between my Sophomore and Junior year, it was fine. I was unhappy to leave my friends at my original HS but made friends at my new HS. I attended the dances and played sports and joined clubs. I enjoyed myself, did well in school and went to college. I had high school classmates at my wedding. I suspect that there are plenty of military families that can point to moving regularly and their kids adapting and finding friends. I know at my kids ES the teacher would send an email out to the parents when a new student was joining the class and asking us to talk to our children about ways they can welcome the new student. Kids moved in and out and it was ok. My kid is at a school that might be moved, we are all fine with the move. He'll be at a new school with kids he knows, and he'll make friends with new kids. Just like he did when he moved from ES to MS and just like he will do in HS. He will join clubs and activities and try out for teams, regardless of the name of the school. I am pretty sure one of the boundary meetings put out that the number of kids moved will be about 1% but I could be misremembering that. 1% of 180,000, using rough numbers, is probably low, 1,800 kids, obviously low. Whatever the number is, there will be some pain but it is not going to be the mass trauma that parents think unless they have built up the importance of attending this specific school and only this school. Otherwise, kids will adapt to a new school with new friends just fine. I get concerns moving to a school that is struggling, like Lewis or Herndon or Mt Vernon. I fully understand the concerns there. There are different class offerings and club opportunities and sports opportunities. The environment is obviously different. I don't have a solution. But when you have schools that are over crowded and schools that are under enrolled it is not a surprise that kids would be moved. And the class offerings will increase as more kids move to the schools who need and want those classes. But I understand why people are unhappy with that type of a move. |
Anonymous
DP. Sounds like you need to do a better job of teaching your kids how to adapt to potential change. One of my kids might be moved and we aren’t thrilled about it, but we are trying to look at the bright side and not treating it like it’s the end of the world. There are much bigger challenges in life. Parents tend to feed their kids’ anxiety. |
Anonymous
Not so much in high school. Military family here. MANY families I know have stayed put while spouse is deployed if kids are in high school. This is very common. Many also choose to retire when kids are in high school rather than move their families. They are reaching retirement age when kids are in high school. I was talking to a friend recently--a grandmother who was raised in a military family. Fifty years later she still resents the move she had to make in high school. And, yes, there are many who also liked the lifestyle. |
Anonymous
DP. I feel really bad for your kids, whose parents are too lazy to try to give them a great childhood. I envision you frequently saying to your sobbing child who is going to lose friends: “suck it up, buttercup.” Your kids must feel so alone in this world. |
Anonymous
Fyi, The military families are the most against moving their high school studdnts out of anyone in our high school. They are the ones fighting the hardest for stability for teenagers. That being said, they do not seem as bothered by the idea of rezoning elementary school kids to a different middle school or high school. They understand how fluid elementary friend groups are when the kids transition to middle school, and how easily little kids make friends. But the mere whisper of a rumor to rezone teenagers has set them into a fighting frenzy. Military families want stability for their teenagers. The only person I have heard who has tried to argue that moving high school kids is good for military kids because it teaches them adaptability and "resiliance" is the Springfield school board rep. Your argument is not popular with military families who are firmly and publicly against rezoning teenagers. |
Anonymous
The new school is a different issue. They are using opt in because they know the school will start with fewer athletic and arts options since those are programs that require all 4 classes and time to grow. This is the same model that they used when they opened South County and Westfield. It allows the families who are happy to move, regardless of sports options and the like, to move and get the school started while waiting to mandate the move until there are more normal club, sports, and arts options for everyone. Kids who will move to a new high school for 9th grade would be changing schools any way and moving to schools with fully developed programs, there is no need to give them a choice between schools. I believe that they said they will allow Juniors and Seniors to stay at the HS while requiring Freshmen and Sophomores to move. |
Anonymous
The final maps just require "public notice" before they vote. |
Anonymous
My kids aren't sobbing because they aren't little wimps who fall apart at every challenge like yours. We let them express their feelings, but we teach them that how we respond to tough things makes us who we are. I would rather they not be moved but I am not going to convey the message to them that it's the worst thing that could ever happen. It's so funny how parents raise these overdramatic children who melt down at everything and just have no idea how why their kids are like that, not seeing how their own behavior has played a role. Don't be surprised when your kids have anxiety disorders later on. Learning to deal with life's disappointments when the stakes are lower is critical for later success. |