FCPS comprehensive boundary review

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield is almost 50% white. I don't think that makes it a shining example of diversity.

Fairfax High School is more diverse, and it's got a score of a 6 on Great Schools. (Though Great Schools doesn't give good ratings to Fairfax's Hispanic population, and the first review there is a very angry Spanish review.)

Edison with its STEM feeder program is a 5 on Great Schools.

Lewis, with more than 50% Hispanic, is a 4 on Great Schools. Just one point behind Edison, despite not having a feeder program and having 1/3 of the student population in ELL.

No one is talking about how horrible the teaching programs are at the schools with lower test results. They're only talking about the students. But here's the thing: sitting next to a student with a lower test score will not make your child score lower. The teachers are not teaching a different curriculum, and any student that needs assistance will get it after school or during advisory.

Maybe, just maybe, the schools aren't that far apart in their ability to teach students as folks here seem to think they are.

If your kid is surrounded by enough students who can’t follow a lesson, he or she will learn less and score lower. The teacher may be teaching the same subject, but a watered-down version of it, and the students who might benefit the most from additional help may never seek it out.

No one will be fooled by your “every school is equally good” rhetoric. The fact that FCPS leadership answers primarily to those perpetrating this nonsense is a clear sign of the race to the bottom under Michelle Reid and Karl Frisch.

Or maybe it's painful to think that you've spent $100,000 more on housing to buy into a "better school district" when it has no bearing on your child's academic success. When a child at a "poor kid's school" can end up being as successful as a kid at a "rich kid's school."

My kid's testing at the top 10% of Fairfax County (all of Fairfax County), and we go to a "poor kid's school." And we saved a whole heck of a lot of money on mortgage and taxes. And no, my kid's not the smartest kid at our poor little school.

I’m going to refrain from dunking on you with your top 10% comment because that might represent a real achievement for your family.

We couldn’t disagree more about school quality and academic success, but that’s why it’s so great that you got to chose your pyramid and we got to chose ours.

No. You chose where to buy a home. Boundaries change. Period.

Boundaries should not change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield is almost 50% white. I don't think that makes it a shining example of diversity.

Fairfax High School is more diverse, and it's got a score of a 6 on Great Schools. (Though Great Schools doesn't give good ratings to Fairfax's Hispanic population, and the first review there is a very angry Spanish review.)

Edison with its STEM feeder program is a 5 on Great Schools.

Lewis, with more than 50% Hispanic, is a 4 on Great Schools. Just one point behind Edison, despite not having a feeder program and having 1/3 of the student population in ELL.

No one is talking about how horrible the teaching programs are at the schools with lower test results. They're only talking about the students. But here's the thing: sitting next to a student with a lower test score will not make your child score lower. The teachers are not teaching a different curriculum, and any student that needs assistance will get it after school or during advisory.

Maybe, just maybe, the schools aren't that far apart in their ability to teach students as folks here seem to think they are.

If your kid is surrounded by enough students who can’t follow a lesson, he or she will learn less and score lower. The teacher may be teaching the same subject, but a watered-down version of it, and the students who might benefit the most from additional help may never seek it out.

No one will be fooled by your “every school is equally good” rhetoric. The fact that FCPS leadership answers primarily to those perpetrating this nonsense is a clear sign of the race to the bottom under Michelle Reid and Karl Frisch.

Or maybe it's painful to think that you've spent $100,000 more on housing to buy into a "better school district" when it has no bearing on your child's academic success. When a child at a "poor kid's school" can end up being as successful as a kid at a "rich kid's school."

My kid's testing at the top 10% of Fairfax County (all of Fairfax County), and we go to a "poor kid's school." And we saved a whole heck of a lot of money on mortgage and taxes. And no, my kid's not the smartest kid at our poor little school.

Thanks for your anecdote, which indicates there’s no compelling reason to adjust boundaries when a kid like yours can succeed anywhere.

Precisely, kids will succeed anywhere. Glad we can all agree on that. The most important reason for boundary changes is that we stop wasting money, soon be measured in half-billions each, on capacity additions when that money could go towards teachers and kids.

Boundary changes are already wasting money.

Rezoning kids to Lewis from WSHS will raise transportation costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield is almost 50% white. I don't think that makes it a shining example of diversity.

Fairfax High School is more diverse, and it's got a score of a 6 on Great Schools. (Though Great Schools doesn't give good ratings to Fairfax's Hispanic population, and the first review there is a very angry Spanish review.)

Edison with its STEM feeder program is a 5 on Great Schools.

Lewis, with more than 50% Hispanic, is a 4 on Great Schools. Just one point behind Edison, despite not having a feeder program and having 1/3 of the student population in ELL.

No one is talking about how horrible the teaching programs are at the schools with lower test results. They're only talking about the students. But here's the thing: sitting next to a student with a lower test score will not make your child score lower. The teachers are not teaching a different curriculum, and any student that needs assistance will get it after school or during advisory.

Maybe, just maybe, the schools aren't that far apart in their ability to teach students as folks here seem to think they are.

If your kid is surrounded by enough students who can’t follow a lesson, he or she will learn less and score lower. The teacher may be teaching the same subject, but a watered-down version of it, and the students who might benefit the most from additional help may never seek it out.

No one will be fooled by your “every school is equally good” rhetoric. The fact that FCPS leadership answers primarily to those perpetrating this nonsense is a clear sign of the race to the bottom under Michelle Reid and Karl Frisch.

Or maybe it's painful to think that you've spent $100,000 more on housing to buy into a "better school district" when it has no bearing on your child's academic success. When a child at a "poor kid's school" can end up being as successful as a kid at a "rich kid's school."

My kid's testing at the top 10% of Fairfax County (all of Fairfax County), and we go to a "poor kid's school." And we saved a whole heck of a lot of money on mortgage and taxes. And no, my kid's not the smartest kid at our poor little school.

Thanks for your anecdote, which indicates there’s no compelling reason to adjust boundaries when a kid like yours can succeed anywhere.

Precisely, kids will succeed anywhere. Glad we can all agree on that. The most important reason for boundary changes is that we stop wasting money, soon be measured in half-billions each, on capacity additions when that money could go towards teachers and kids.

Said like someone like Robyn Lady or Mateo Dunne whose own schools (Herndon, West Potomac) have been renovated and/or expanded and is now more than happy to screw over others. And your numbers regarding additions are ridiculous. They could expand two crowded high schools for the cost of Karl Frisch’s ridiculous Dunn Loring project.

Sorry, but this “heads I win, tails you lose” bullshit isn’t going to fly.

It is not screwing over your kids to leave boundaries intact, when you knew the school that you picked when you bought your house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield is almost 50% white. I don't think that makes it a shining example of diversity.

Fairfax High School is more diverse, and it's got a score of a 6 on Great Schools. (Though Great Schools doesn't give good ratings to Fairfax's Hispanic population, and the first review there is a very angry Spanish review.)

Edison with its STEM feeder program is a 5 on Great Schools.

Lewis, with more than 50% Hispanic, is a 4 on Great Schools. Just one point behind Edison, despite not having a feeder program and having 1/3 of the student population in ELL.

No one is talking about how horrible the teaching programs are at the schools with lower test results. They're only talking about the students. But here's the thing: sitting next to a student with a lower test score will not make your child score lower. The teachers are not teaching a different curriculum, and any student that needs assistance will get it after school or during advisory.

Maybe, just maybe, the schools aren't that far apart in their ability to teach students as folks here seem to think they are.

If your kid is surrounded by enough students who can’t follow a lesson, he or she will learn less and score lower. The teacher may be teaching the same subject, but a watered-down version of it, and the students who might benefit the most from additional help may never seek it out.

No one will be fooled by your “every school is equally good” rhetoric. The fact that FCPS leadership answers primarily to those perpetrating this nonsense is a clear sign of the race to the bottom under Michelle Reid and Karl Frisch.

Or maybe it's painful to think that you've spent $100,000 more on housing to buy into a "better school district" when it has no bearing on your child's academic success. When a child at a "poor kid's school" can end up being as successful as a kid at a "rich kid's school."

My kid's testing at the top 10% of Fairfax County (all of Fairfax County), and we go to a "poor kid's school." And we saved a whole heck of a lot of money on mortgage and taxes. And no, my kid's not the smartest kid at our poor little school.

Thanks for your anecdote, which indicates there’s no compelling reason to adjust boundaries when a kid like yours can succeed anywhere.

Precisely, kids will succeed anywhere. Glad we can all agree on that. The most important reason for boundary changes is that we stop wasting money, soon be measured in half-billions each, on capacity additions when that money could go towards teachers and kids.

Said like someone like Robyn Lady or Mateo Dunne whose own schools (Herndon, West Potomac) have been renovated and/or expanded and is now more than happy to screw over others. And your numbers regarding additions are ridiculous. They could expand two crowded high schools for the cost of Karl Frisch’s ridiculous Dunn Loring project.

Sorry, but this “heads I win, tails you lose” bullshit isn’t going to fly.

It is not screwing over your kids to leave boundaries intact, when you knew the school that you picked when you bought your house.

You are responding to a post that was responding to a poster who wants to change boundaries rather than spend any more money on facilities.

Apparently it’s OK for that poster if we waste money on transportation costs but unacceptable if we make sensible investments that would keep kids in their current pyramids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield is almost 50% white. I don't think that makes it a shining example of diversity.

Fairfax High School is more diverse, and it's got a score of a 6 on Great Schools. (Though Great Schools doesn't give good ratings to Fairfax's Hispanic population, and the first review there is a very angry Spanish review.)

Edison with its STEM feeder program is a 5 on Great Schools.

Lewis, with more than 50% Hispanic, is a 4 on Great Schools. Just one point behind Edison, despite not having a feeder program and having 1/3 of the student population in ELL.

No one is talking about how horrible the teaching programs are at the schools with lower test results. They're only talking about the students. But here's the thing: sitting next to a student with a lower test score will not make your child score lower. The teachers are not teaching a different curriculum, and any student that needs assistance will get it after school or during advisory.

Maybe, just maybe, the schools aren't that far apart in their ability to teach students as folks here seem to think they are.

If your kid is surrounded by enough students who can’t follow a lesson, he or she will learn less and score lower. The teacher may be teaching the same subject, but a watered-down version of it, and the students who might benefit the most from additional help may never seek it out.

No one will be fooled by your “every school is equally good” rhetoric. The fact that FCPS leadership answers primarily to those perpetrating this nonsense is a clear sign of the race to the bottom under Michelle Reid and Karl Frisch.

Or maybe it's painful to think that you've spent $100,000 more on housing to buy into a "better school district" when it has no bearing on your child's academic success. When a child at a "poor kid's school" can end up being as successful as a kid at a "rich kid's school."

My kid's testing at the top 10% of Fairfax County (all of Fairfax County), and we go to a "poor kid's school." And we saved a whole heck of a lot of money on mortgage and taxes. And no, my kid's not the smartest kid at our poor little school.

Ehh, all you seem to want, then, is a boost in your housing equity to reward you for being so damn clever. Let others enjoy the schools they picked rather than cram boundary changes down their throats just because you want some further validation.

No. Your kid doesn’t actually compare. They are easier on kids the low performing schools. So your kid compared to a higher ranking school would be in the top 20% not 10%

So the county gives one state-wide standardized test to the lower-performing schools and another to the higher-performing schools?

Oh yeah, no, they don't. Everyone takes the same SOL. Everyone takes the same English and Math and Science standardized tests that have been required by the Virginia Department of Education, regardless of school. If a kid performs higher than 90% of Fairfax County, then that kid performs higher than 90% of the county on the SAME TEST.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield is almost 50% white. I don't think that makes it a shining example of diversity.

Fairfax High School is more diverse, and it's got a score of a 6 on Great Schools. (Though Great Schools doesn't give good ratings to Fairfax's Hispanic population, and the first review there is a very angry Spanish review.)

Edison with its STEM feeder program is a 5 on Great Schools.

Lewis, with more than 50% Hispanic, is a 4 on Great Schools. Just one point behind Edison, despite not having a feeder program and having 1/3 of the student population in ELL.

No one is talking about how horrible the teaching programs are at the schools with lower test results. They're only talking about the students. But here's the thing: sitting next to a student with a lower test score will not make your child score lower. The teachers are not teaching a different curriculum, and any student that needs assistance will get it after school or during advisory.

Maybe, just maybe, the schools aren't that far apart in their ability to teach students as folks here seem to think they are.

If your kid is surrounded by enough students who can’t follow a lesson, he or she will learn less and score lower. The teacher may be teaching the same subject, but a watered-down version of it, and the students who might benefit the most from additional help may never seek it out.

No one will be fooled by your “every school is equally good” rhetoric. The fact that FCPS leadership answers primarily to those perpetrating this nonsense is a clear sign of the race to the bottom under Michelle Reid and Karl Frisch.

Or maybe it's painful to think that you've spent $100,000 more on housing to buy into a "better school district" when it has no bearing on your child's academic success. When a child at a "poor kid's school" can end up being as successful as a kid at a "rich kid's school."

My kid's testing at the top 10% of Fairfax County (all of Fairfax County), and we go to a "poor kid's school." And we saved a whole heck of a lot of money on mortgage and taxes. And no, my kid's not the smartest kid at our poor little school.

Thanks for your anecdote, which indicates there’s no compelling reason to adjust boundaries when a kid like yours can succeed anywhere.

Precisely, kids will succeed anywhere. Glad we can all agree on that. The most important reason for boundary changes is that we stop wasting money, soon be measured in half-billions each, on capacity additions when that money could go towards teachers and kids.

Said like someone like Robyn Lady or Mateo Dunne whose own schools (Herndon, West Potomac) have been renovated and/or expanded and is now more than happy to screw over others. And your numbers regarding additions are ridiculous. They could expand two crowded high schools for the cost of Karl Frisch’s ridiculous Dunn Loring project.

Sorry, but this “heads I win, tails you lose” bullshit isn’t going to fly.

It is not screwing over your kids to leave boundaries intact, when you knew the school that you picked when you bought your house.

You are responding to a post that was responding to a poster who wants to change boundaries rather than spend any more money on facilities.

Apparently it’s OK for that poster if we waste money on transportation costs but unacceptable if we make sensible investments that would keep kids in their current pyramids.

What's cheaper, adding yet another building expansion to buildings that may have already gotten a recent building expansion, or hiring new bus drivers?

[Anonymous]

Apologies if this was already discussed in this thread - but Reid said at the last meeting that she wanted to move 6th grade to middle school to help with capacity and other issues. Did she say that at any other meeting? I don’t understand how that would help with capacity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield is almost 50% white. I don't think that makes it a shining example of diversity.

Fairfax High School is more diverse, and it's got a score of a 6 on Great Schools. (Though Great Schools doesn't give good ratings to Fairfax's Hispanic population, and the first review there is a very angry Spanish review.)

Edison with its STEM feeder program is a 5 on Great Schools.

Lewis, with more than 50% Hispanic, is a 4 on Great Schools. Just one point behind Edison, despite not having a feeder program and having 1/3 of the student population in ELL.

No one is talking about how horrible the teaching programs are at the schools with lower test results. They're only talking about the students. But here's the thing: sitting next to a student with a lower test score will not make your child score lower. The teachers are not teaching a different curriculum, and any student that needs assistance will get it after school or during advisory.

Maybe, just maybe, the schools aren't that far apart in their ability to teach students as folks here seem to think they are.

If your kid is surrounded by enough students who can’t follow a lesson, he or she will learn less and score lower. The teacher may be teaching the same subject, but a watered-down version of it, and the students who might benefit the most from additional help may never seek it out.

No one will be fooled by your “every school is equally good” rhetoric. The fact that FCPS leadership answers primarily to those perpetrating this nonsense is a clear sign of the race to the bottom under Michelle Reid and Karl Frisch.

Or maybe it's painful to think that you've spent $100,000 more on housing to buy into a "better school district" when it has no bearing on your child's academic success. When a child at a "poor kid's school" can end up being as successful as a kid at a "rich kid's school."

My kid's testing at the top 10% of Fairfax County (all of Fairfax County), and we go to a "poor kid's school." And we saved a whole heck of a lot of money on mortgage and taxes. And no, my kid's not the smartest kid at our poor little school.

Thanks for your anecdote, which indicates there’s no compelling reason to adjust boundaries when a kid like yours can succeed anywhere.

Precisely, kids will succeed anywhere. Glad we can all agree on that. The most important reason for boundary changes is that we stop wasting money, soon be measured in half-billions each, on capacity additions when that money could go towards teachers and kids.

Said like someone like Robyn Lady or Mateo Dunne whose own schools (Herndon, West Potomac) have been renovated and/or expanded and is now more than happy to screw over others. And your numbers regarding additions are ridiculous. They could expand two crowded high schools for the cost of Karl Frisch’s ridiculous Dunn Loring project.

Sorry, but this “heads I win, tails you lose” bullshit isn’t going to fly.

It is not screwing over your kids to leave boundaries intact, when you knew the school that you picked when you bought your house.

You are responding to a post that was responding to a poster who wants to change boundaries rather than spend any more money on facilities.

Apparently it’s OK for that poster if we waste money on transportation costs but unacceptable if we make sensible investments that would keep kids in their current pyramids.

What's cheaper, adding yet another building expansion to buildings that may have already gotten a recent building expansion, or hiring new bus drivers?

Buses and bus drivers cost money. Building additions keeps kids in their community schools and preserves the tax base.

In the 80s when FCPS was still an admired system FCPS built additions and new schools where they were needed, and shuttered schools if necessary. Now it’s just a game of shuffling kids around to push an equity agenda and ignoring some of the schools with the greatest facilities needs. They can’t be bothered to get off their asses to update a renovation queue that hasn’t been updated for over 15 years, but they are happy to do their boundary change song-and-dance in every region. Hint: it doesn’t become any less of a charade when you’re doing it for the fifth or sixth time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apologies if this was already discussed in this thread - but Reid said at the last meeting that she wanted to move 6th grade to middle school to help with capacity and other issues. Did she say that at any other meeting? I don’t understand how that would help with capacity?

It will make the capacity issues worse in most areas. She is utterly clueless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield is almost 50% white. I don't think that makes it a shining example of diversity.

Fairfax High School is more diverse, and it's got a score of a 6 on Great Schools. (Though Great Schools doesn't give good ratings to Fairfax's Hispanic population, and the first review there is a very angry Spanish review.)

Edison with its STEM feeder program is a 5 on Great Schools.

Lewis, with more than 50% Hispanic, is a 4 on Great Schools. Just one point behind Edison, despite not having a feeder program and having 1/3 of the student population in ELL.

No one is talking about how horrible the teaching programs are at the schools with lower test results. They're only talking about the students. But here's the thing: sitting next to a student with a lower test score will not make your child score lower. The teachers are not teaching a different curriculum, and any student that needs assistance will get it after school or during advisory.

Maybe, just maybe, the schools aren't that far apart in their ability to teach students as folks here seem to think they are.

If your kid is surrounded by enough students who can’t follow a lesson, he or she will learn less and score lower. The teacher may be teaching the same subject, but a watered-down version of it, and the students who might benefit the most from additional help may never seek it out.

No one will be fooled by your “every school is equally good” rhetoric. The fact that FCPS leadership answers primarily to those perpetrating this nonsense is a clear sign of the race to the bottom under Michelle Reid and Karl Frisch.

Or maybe it's painful to think that you've spent $100,000 more on housing to buy into a "better school district" when it has no bearing on your child's academic success. When a child at a "poor kid's school" can end up being as successful as a kid at a "rich kid's school."

My kid's testing at the top 10% of Fairfax County (all of Fairfax County), and we go to a "poor kid's school." And we saved a whole heck of a lot of money on mortgage and taxes. And no, my kid's not the smartest kid at our poor little school.

Ehh, all you seem to want, then, is a boost in your housing equity to reward you for being so damn clever. Let others enjoy the schools they picked rather than cram boundary changes down their throats just because you want some further validation.

No. Your kid doesn’t actually compare. They are easier on kids the low performing schools. So your kid compared to a higher ranking school would be in the top 20% not 10%

So the county gives one state-wide standardized test to the lower-performing schools and another to the higher-performing schools?

Oh yeah, no, they don't. Everyone takes the same SOL. Everyone takes the same English and Math and Science standardized tests that have been required by the Virginia Department of Education, regardless of school. If a kid performs higher than 90% of Fairfax County, then that kid performs higher than 90% of the county on the SAME TEST.

It’s just fascinating that the brag is being above 90% on a standardized test.

That’s good, but not brag-worthy good. It isn’t Mensa-level good.

[Anonymous]

Everyone should be paying more attention to how these costs have ballooned. It is not going to be sustainable for the taxpayer to maintain cutting-edge, spacious facilities and teacher salaries. This is where boundaries come into play.

Where do you want the Centreville kids to go? All the schools in that area are full. You can do a domino thing if you like, but that would make for very long bus rides. You might consider looking at a map.

[Anonymous]

You ever see the videos of people protesting segregation in the 1960s?

I really hate to say it, but there's a level on this forum that's dipping into that part of history.

It's the people saying, "We're good at OUR school. Keep them in THEIR school."

There will be nothing in heaven or on earth that will convince anyone to allow for a boundary change. No logic, nothing, because nothing will convince them that their kids will get a decent education unless they are with kids of a similar class and of a "good" race.

Yes, there's racism, as the negative focus tends to be on schools that are primarily Hispanic and ELL. It's a bit of classism, with rich people not wanting to interact with poor people. And it's ugly all over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apologies if this was already discussed in this thread - but Reid said at the last meeting that she wanted to move 6th grade to middle school to help with capacity and other issues. Did she say that at any other meeting? I don’t understand how that would help with capacity?

It would help with capacity in elementary schools that can't provide pre-K programs. If they want to eventually do universal pre-K, a Dem priority, they'd first need to have space in all of the ES's for those programs. She didn't seem to be thinking about the problem of the middle schools, which don't have space for 6th graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You ever see the videos of people protesting segregation in the 1960s?

I really hate to say it, but there's a level on this forum that's dipping into that part of history.

It's the people saying, "We're good at OUR school. Keep them in THEIR school."

There will be nothing in heaven or on earth that will convince anyone to allow for a boundary change. No logic, nothing, because nothing will convince them that their kids will get a decent education unless they are with kids of a similar class and of a "good" race.

Yes, there's racism, as the negative focus tends to be on schools that are primarily Hispanic and ELL. It's a bit of classism, with rich people not wanting to interact with poor people. And it's ugly all over.

Wanting to stay in the school your neighborhood has been assigned for decades is hardly the same as promoting segregation. Pulling the racism card won't work here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You ever see the videos of people protesting segregation in the 1960s?

I really hate to say it, but there's a level on this forum that's dipping into that part of history.

It's the people saying, "We're good at OUR school. Keep them in THEIR school."

There will be nothing in heaven or on earth that will convince anyone to allow for a boundary change. No logic, nothing, because nothing will convince them that their kids will get a decent education unless they are with kids of a similar class and of a "good" race.

Yes, there's racism, as the negative focus tends to be on schools that are primarily Hispanic and ELL. It's a bit of classism, with rich people not wanting to interact with poor people. And it's ugly all over.

+1