FCPS High School Poverty and Enrollment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

Pretty sure that Gibson did not run for re-election after this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

Pretty sure that Gibson did not run for re-election after this.

He’d served several terms. Might as well leave having done something positive to balance enrollments and reduce the disparities within FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

Pretty sure that Gibson did not run for re-election after this.

He’d served several terms. Might as well leave having done something positive to balance enrollments and reduce the disparities within FCPS.

at the expense of Westfield and the families who very much wanted AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

What is stopping Lewis from thriving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

That’s hardly what PP said, nor is it an accurate representation of reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

What is stopping Lewis from thriving.

Look at the assessments

https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/lewis-high#fndtn-desktopTabs-assessments

50% of the school is farms, and fcps's own study has 40% as a tipping point past which a school can't really succeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

That’s hardly what PP said, nor is it an accurate representation of reality.

A school PTA was allowed to help draw boundaries and made sure no poor neighborhoods were included

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

What is stopping Lewis from thriving.

The students there and their upbringing. Nothing matters more than that. If parents don’t care, neither will their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

What is stopping Lewis from thriving.

Look at the assessments

https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/lewis-high#fndtn-desktopTabs-assessments

50% of the school is farms, and fcps's own study has 40% as a tipping point past which a school can't really succeed.

But why is this? Why does FARMs mean no success?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I also think there are more problems than just the demographics at Lewis.

I have been wondering this. I live nowhere near that area, but I do know that something is wrong when all other races are leaving the school. Black, White, and Asian are leaving in numbers, while Hispanic population is going up.

Herndon has 51% Hispanic, but it still manages well. It also has about 50% free lunch.

Get rid of IB at Lewis ASAP.

It doesn't help that Key Middle school is a disaster by all accounts. The behavior issues there and disruptions to learning mean that any family that can flees before high school. They seem to really need new leadership. I have many friends who have tried Key and been so dismayed that they've found other alternatives for high school - moving, private school, getting into the STEM program at Edison, etc.

Key has been a disaster since the early 2000's. I interviewed/observed there cops were called three times just in the morning. I told them no thank you on the job.
I just looked at the demographic history of Key. (I don't live near there) It is very interesting that numbers are dropping with all races. Percentages remain pretty stable, but it does appear people are leaving.

That is a big red flag.

Why doesn't Gatehouse do something? SB? crickets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I also think there are more problems than just the demographics at Lewis.

I have been wondering this. I live nowhere near that area, but I do know that something is wrong when all other races are leaving the school. Black, White, and Asian are leaving in numbers, while Hispanic population is going up.

Herndon has 51% Hispanic, but it still manages well. It also has about 50% free lunch.

Get rid of IB at Lewis ASAP.

It doesn't help that Key Middle school is a disaster by all accounts. The behavior issues there and disruptions to learning mean that any family that can flees before high school. They seem to really need new leadership. I have many friends who have tried Key and been so dismayed that they've found other alternatives for high school - moving, private school, getting into the STEM program at Edison, etc.

Key has been a disaster since the early 2000's. I interviewed/observed there cops were called three times just in the morning. I told them no thank you on the job.
I just looked at the demographic history of Key. (I don't live near there) It is very interesting that numbers are dropping with all races. Percentages remain pretty stable, but it does appear people are leaving.

That is a big red flag.

Why doesn't Gatehouse do something? SB? crickets

Because Gatehouse....well does anyone know what people do their all day?! They don't care and if parents are really honest the SB doesn't care either. It's been an issue for years and has nothing to do with republican or Democrats. FCPS has been a mess for many years now....and it's at a tipping point where students, teachers, and parents are really feeling and seeing it fall apart.