Ok great, since you play sports in CYA a move to the new high school makes sense. Glad you're a proponent. |
It's a false argument. Just as many Floris, Oak Hill, Lees Corner, Poplar Tree, Greenbriar kids play in CYA. Nobody is arguing that their kids should go to Westfield or Chantilly to stay with those friends. I have a couple friends whose kids play Reston Hoops, they're not arguing for their kids to go to South Lakes. |
But that's the reason these parents are saying their kids should go to Oakton - to stay with their Navy friends from CYA. Why can't other parents make the same argument - moving Crossfield to Western not only keeps them with friends from CYA, but it also keeps them with friends from their middle school. It is truly the logical argument. And it's much closer to a lot of families' homes. |
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Or people could have different reasons for wanting different outcomes. You are not going to convince the RIO parents that Skyview will be great. You are not going to convince the people who want the shorter commute that Oakton is worht the longer drive. Someone is going to be disappointed by the outcome.
Email, call, write the school board and let them know how you feel. Attend meetings and voice your opinion. You are not changing anyones mind on this site. |
And herein lies the problem. The school board wants to take feelings into account instead of just making a decision based on logistics. If someone is going to be unhappy either way, might as well make decisions that make the most sense financially and logistically. |
This is true but it’s borne of their incompetence when it came to making decisions based on logistics. They hired an outside consultant earlier during the county-wide review who made a series of stupid proposals that defied logic. They were so taken aback by the negative impact that they just ended up outsourcing decisions to the loudest parents. |
What you deem as making most sense differs from others, there are different metrics that can be used. What you have in your control is letting the School Board and Reid know what you think is important and why and expressing what you think makes sense. They will make a decision based on what they hear and balance that with their own internal values. You control what you tell the powers that be and how you do so. Going back and forth on this board is not going to accomplish anything other then ramping up your blood pressure. Email your reps, attend the meetings you can attend. Do what you can do. You think the logistics make most sense because that is the answer that gives you the answer that you want. Other people have different metrics. Advocate for what is important to you but the cyclical back and forth on this site is not going to get you what you want. If you think that people are not sharing their feelings with the board because they are afraid of speaking out, you need to figure out how to help tthem get over that if it is important to you. |
Spare us the lecture. We’re all past the “trust the process” BS by now. |
100% this I do think community input should be taken into account, but community input in regards to logistical challenges that the people drawing the boundaries may not be aware of. For example, the person drawing the boundary might not take into account that even though a neighborhood may be contiguous to other areas going to a school on a map, they are effectively creating an island due to being across a highway from the rest of that school's community and it would be logistically easier to zone them to a school on the other side of that highway (and no mommas, the major road your kids cross on their bicycles to go get ice cream after school does not count). However, "we want to stay with kids our children do after school activities with" or "this high school is a highly ranked school" just doesn't matter. Your kids will still do sports with those kids, they'll still see their friends outside of school. As for ranking, a high achieving kid will be successful in any school. If the school's specific curriculum really matters, then you can pupil place your child there. But both of those things - social aspects and school reputation - should not be taken into consideration with boundaries. |
Also, for example--the new school. The community affected made it clear they wanted a traditional high school. But, Reid wants a magnet. Is she using the protests from a community that should "logically" go to the new school as an excuse to create a magnet? My fear is that the traditional school needed will be watered down with a magnet and result with "in boundary" kids being deprived of a traditional school experience. |
Do you hear anyone at Chantilly or Edison complaining about the lack of a traditional experience? So why do you think that the pathways are going to deter from the traditional experience? I don't understand. |
Yes, so repeating the same complaints over and over here is totally going to help you. Got it. |
When the pathways get more attention that setting the boundaries, there is a problem. And, we love Chantilly. But, Chantilly would be just fine with or without them. It appears that Reid is trying to make the pathways more important than the traditional school. That is NOT the case at Chantilly. If she fills up the magnet part of the school (or "pathways" ) without facilitating the traditional school demands, there is a huge problem. This would not be fair to the community that just wants a high school for their kids. |
They have posted the electives for the pathways. You can take those or not. The boundaries will determine who attends the school, it is not a magnet. This first year is opt-in because of the ridiculous process that they are going through. Once the boundaries are decided the only opt-in option will be through pupil placement like every other school in the County. People are getting stuck on the one year opt-in and are acting like that is going to stick around. There has not been a virtual meeting or twn hall meeting where anyone has said that the opt-in will stay in place after this first year. Which means it won’t be a magnet. It will have traditional boundaries. It will offer AP classes. It will have specialized programs that the kids at the school can take. How is that any different then Chantilly or Edison? Kids not interested in those pathways will have options for music and theatre and other electives like they would at other schools. |
DP. Chantilly and Edison were traditional schools with large enrollments before Academy programs were added. In Skyview’s case, it’s possible they are going to draw small boundaries and then have large numbers of kids transfer in for the pathways programs. If that happens, it will be the “hybrid”Reid wanted, but less of a community school. |