FCPS is turning the new high school purchased to fix crowding into an Aviation magnet school instead of a high school??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was really odd when one of the School Board members pointed out yesterday that FCPS hadn’t even put out a press release confirming the purchase of KAA had closed, and Reid very grudgingly said they could get out a release soon. It came across like Reid didn’t want to put out a release because she had no idea what they should say.

And, again, they gave her a raise.

Her staff was in charge of the presentation. I would assume she gave then direction and reviewed it ahead of time. To begin with the naming was really puzzling. It defies common sense.

And, then to go with all the "possibilities?"

And, nothing about the facility and how it could be utilized as a traditional school. You may not like it, but there are things that could make it workable.
She had NOTHING about what steps need to be taken for that.

And, for those attacking this school not being in the CIP. They have been promising it for years and told us there was no space (after giving the KAA site away.)

People act like it is fine to send these kids all over creation in at least four different directions. And, this is not our first rodeo with boundary changes.
And, some of us live quite close to our current high school. But, now some think we should put our kids on very long bus rides because the school has grown too big.
Our kids deserve a traditional high school just like others do. One where they can study and not have to get on the bus at least an hour before school starts and where they can participate in extra-curricular activities.

It is sad that you cannot be happy for us. It is doing you no harm.

Very odd post. You’re criticizing Reid for not coming to a work session prepared with answers to some fairly obvious questions and then attacking other people who have those same questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

You clearly don't know anything about this stuff - converting a gym into classrooms would be one of the easiest projects for them to do - put down flooring, put up thin walls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

No. But you can put in desks and a white board and make do. Put in good soundproofing room dividers and you can likely get three or four classrooms.

Won't cost a fortune. Better than trailers.

It’s eventually going to cost a good bit on top of the initial purchase price, though not $200M more.

May or may not actually be better than trailers in the short term, if they are really committed to opening in the fall of 2026.

It will be fine. I taught in a system where there were not enough facilities. It's amazing how well you can adapt when needed.

Sure. But if the short-term fixes are as make-shift as some are suggesting it could be a somewhat chaotic classroom learning environment in the short term - and then they still may need to invest quite a bit on top of the initial $150M to get things to where they need to be.

This is what everyone who has actually toured the building has told me, by the way. There are things about the building that are fantastic and not found at any other HS, but at the same time there are things that are lacking. The same architects may have designed KAA as designed Wakefield HS in APS, but KAA was not designed as a 9-12 public school.

You forget that it will only be two grades the first year, three grades the second year, then four grades. And yeah, I'm sure you know TONS of people who have toured the building

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In any event, if we’re to assume they are as nimble as you’re claiming, they should throw the entire existing CIP out and take a fresh look at where the greatest needs in the county exist.

Yes, and right now KAA facility can address the greatest need.
Agree that their queue is ridiculous. Some schools were well built and maintained and others were not.

FCPS really, really needs to work on maintenance. We'd have a lot fewer needs of renovation if schools were properly maintained.

They haven’t even tried to make the case the “greatest need” in the county is a new HS in western Fairfax. All they really have said at this point is they think they got KAA at a bargain price, but no one really knows yet how much they’ll end up spending on KAA or how it will be used. Reid’s recommendation didn’t go over well but the School Board didn’t conclusively land on a future use, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was really odd when one of the School Board members pointed out yesterday that FCPS hadn’t even put out a press release confirming the purchase of KAA had closed, and Reid very grudgingly said they could get out a release soon. It came across like Reid didn’t want to put out a release because she had no idea what they should say.

And, again, they gave her a raise.

Her staff was in charge of the presentation. I would assume she gave then direction and reviewed it ahead of time. To begin with the naming was really puzzling. It defies common sense.

And, then to go with all the "possibilities?"

And, nothing about the facility and how it could be utilized as a traditional school. You may not like it, but there are things that could make it workable.
She had NOTHING about what steps need to be taken for that.

And, for those attacking this school not being in the CIP. They have been promising it for years and told us there was no space (after giving the KAA site away.)

People act like it is fine to send these kids all over creation in at least four different directions. And, this is not our first rodeo with boundary changes.
And, some of us live quite close to our current high school. But, now some think we should put our kids on very long bus rides because the school has grown too big.
Our kids deserve a traditional high school just like others do. One where they can study and not have to get on the bus at least an hour before school starts and where they can participate in extra-curricular activities.

It is sad that you cannot be happy for us. It is doing you no harm.

Very odd post. You’re criticizing Reid for not coming to a work session prepared with answers to some fairly obvious questions and then attacking other people who have those same questions.

+1
I noticed that too! The PP's post gave me whiplash.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

You clearly don't know anything about this stuff - converting a gym into classrooms would be one of the easiest projects for them to do - put down flooring, put up thin walls.

It’s starting to sound less like a high school and more like a refugee camp, but do go on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

No. But you can put in desks and a white board and make do. Put in good soundproofing room dividers and you can likely get three or four classrooms.

Won't cost a fortune. Better than trailers.

It’s eventually going to cost a good bit on top of the initial purchase price, though not $200M more.

May or may not actually be better than trailers in the short term, if they are really committed to opening in the fall of 2026.

It will be fine. I taught in a system where there were not enough facilities. It's amazing how well you can adapt when needed.

Sure. But if the short-term fixes are as make-shift as some are suggesting it could be a somewhat chaotic classroom learning environment in the short term - and then they still may need to invest quite a bit on top of the initial $150M to get things to where they need to be.

This is what everyone who has actually toured the building has told me, by the way. There are things about the building that are fantastic and not found at any other HS, but at the same time there are things that are lacking. The same architects may have designed KAA as designed Wakefield HS in APS, but KAA was not designed as a 9-12 public school.

You forget that it will only be two grades the first year, three grades the second year, then four grades. And yeah, I'm sure you know TONS of people who have toured the building

They will work it out. Lots of space to work with. It will require planning on the part of staff. That might be a big lift for this crew, but innovative people could do it. Definitely need someone besides Reid, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

No. But you can put in desks and a white board and make do. Put in good soundproofing room dividers and you can likely get three or four classrooms.

Won't cost a fortune. Better than trailers.

It’s eventually going to cost a good bit on top of the initial purchase price, though not $200M more.

May or may not actually be better than trailers in the short term, if they are really committed to opening in the fall of 2026.

It will be fine. I taught in a system where there were not enough facilities. It's amazing how well you can adapt when needed.

Sure. But if the short-term fixes are as make-shift as some are suggesting it could be a somewhat chaotic classroom learning environment in the short term - and then they still may need to invest quite a bit on top of the initial $150M to get things to where they need to be.

This is what everyone who has actually toured the building has told me, by the way. There are things about the building that are fantastic and not found at any other HS, but at the same time there are things that are lacking. The same architects may have designed KAA as designed Wakefield HS in APS, but KAA was not designed as a 9-12 public school.

You forget that it will only be two grades the first year, three grades the second year, then four grades. And yeah, I'm sure you know TONS of people who have toured the building

I know several people who recently were given a tour of the facility and had similar reactions. I’m sorry if you do not, but there’s no reason to lash out like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

No. But you can put in desks and a white board and make do. Put in good soundproofing room dividers and you can likely get three or four classrooms.

Won't cost a fortune. Better than trailers.

It’s eventually going to cost a good bit on top of the initial purchase price, though not $200M more.

May or may not actually be better than trailers in the short term, if they are really committed to opening in the fall of 2026.

It will be fine. I taught in a system where there were not enough facilities. It's amazing how well you can adapt when needed.

Sure. But if the short-term fixes are as make-shift as some are suggesting it could be a somewhat chaotic classroom learning environment in the short term - and then they still may need to invest quite a bit on top of the initial $150M to get things to where they need to be.

This is what everyone who has actually toured the building has told me, by the way. There are things about the building that are fantastic and not found at any other HS, but at the same time there are things that are lacking. The same architects may have designed KAA as designed Wakefield HS in APS, but KAA was not designed as a 9-12 public school.

You forget that it will only be two grades the first year, three grades the second year, then four grades. And yeah, I'm sure you know TONS of people who have toured the building

They will work it out. Lots of space to work with. It will require planning on the part of staff. That might be a big lift for this crew, but innovative people could do it. Definitely need someone besides Reid, though.

Kind of doesn't help planning when the idiots are wasting time fantasizing about education of the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

No. But you can put in desks and a white board and make do. Put in good soundproofing room dividers and you can likely get three or four classrooms.

Won't cost a fortune. Better than trailers.

It’s eventually going to cost a good bit on top of the initial purchase price, though not $200M more.

May or may not actually be better than trailers in the short term, if they are really committed to opening in the fall of 2026.

It will be fine. I taught in a system where there were not enough facilities. It's amazing how well you can adapt when needed.

Sure. But if the short-term fixes are as make-shift as some are suggesting it could be a somewhat chaotic classroom learning environment in the short term - and then they still may need to invest quite a bit on top of the initial $150M to get things to where they need to be.

This is what everyone who has actually toured the building has told me, by the way. There are things about the building that are fantastic and not found at any other HS, but at the same time there are things that are lacking. The same architects may have designed KAA as designed Wakefield HS in APS, but KAA was not designed as a 9-12 public school.

You forget that it will only be two grades the first year, three grades the second year, then four grades. And yeah, I'm sure you know TONS of people who have toured the building

They will work it out. Lots of space to work with. It will require planning on the part of staff. That might be a big lift for this crew, but innovative people could do it. Definitely need someone besides Reid, though.

Kind of doesn't help planning when the idiots are wasting time fantasizing about education of the future.

And, how to name the school........I still think this is the best example of FCPS leadership. To waste an hour on this was enlightening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

You clearly don't know anything about this stuff - converting a gym into classrooms would be one of the easiest projects for them to do - put down flooring, put up thin walls.

It’s starting to sound less like a high school and more like a refugee camp, but do go on.

I will, thanks! Do you know anything about construction and renovation? Because it's obvious you don't. A gym is one large room. You can easily build partitions to turn it into several smaller rooms. Have you ever been in an office building? They build it out as one large open space, and add walls to create offices. Then when one company leaves and another ones leases the space, they rebuild the interior to meet their own needs. Sometimes that means tearing down offices and building cubicles or removing walls to create a large conference room. Other times it means, building offices where there were once cubicles or turning one large conference room into several offices. I've seen this happen many times, and nobody has ever compared these office spaces to refugee camps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

No. But you can put in desks and a white board and make do. Put in good soundproofing room dividers and you can likely get three or four classrooms.

Won't cost a fortune. Better than trailers.

It’s eventually going to cost a good bit on top of the initial purchase price, though not $200M more.

May or may not actually be better than trailers in the short term, if they are really committed to opening in the fall of 2026.

It will be fine. I taught in a system where there were not enough facilities. It's amazing how well you can adapt when needed.

Sure. But if the short-term fixes are as make-shift as some are suggesting it could be a somewhat chaotic classroom learning environment in the short term - and then they still may need to invest quite a bit on top of the initial $150M to get things to where they need to be.

This is what everyone who has actually toured the building has told me, by the way. There are things about the building that are fantastic and not found at any other HS, but at the same time there are things that are lacking. The same architects may have designed KAA as designed Wakefield HS in APS, but KAA was not designed as a 9-12 public school.

You forget that it will only be two grades the first year, three grades the second year, then four grades. And yeah, I'm sure you know TONS of people who have toured the building

They will work it out. Lots of space to work with. It will require planning on the part of staff. That might be a big lift for this crew, but innovative people could do it. Definitely need someone besides Reid, though.

Kind of doesn't help planning when the idiots are wasting time fantasizing about education of the future.

And, how to name the school........I still think this is the best example of FCPS leadership. To waste an hour on this was enlightening.

I am about to out myself to that individual here, but I asked a school board member about something related to KAA and their response was "first, we are going to rename the school. when that is complete in November, we will talk about everything else"

IN NOVEMBER!!!! They are going to spend now until November just renaming the school!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

You clearly don't know anything about this stuff - converting a gym into classrooms would be one of the easiest projects for them to do - put down flooring, put up thin walls.

It’s starting to sound less like a high school and more like a refugee camp, but do go on.

I will, thanks! Do you know anything about construction and renovation? Because it's obvious you don't. A gym is one large room. You can easily build partitions to turn it into several smaller rooms. Have you ever been in an office building? They build it out as one large open space, and add walls to create offices. Then when one company leaves and another ones leases the space, they rebuild the interior to meet their own needs. Sometimes that means tearing down offices and building cubicles or removing walls to create a large conference room. Other times it means, building offices where there were once cubicles or turning one large conference room into several offices. I've seen this happen many times, and nobody has ever compared these office spaces to refugee camps!

But, Robyn Lady also added that it would be a shame to get rid of those beautiful "small spaces" or something like that.

But, I agree. This building is as large as Centreville. It can work. Lady has spoken about how every available space at Chantilly has been redirected. That can happen here, as well. Some people just do not want it to work.
And, there are those two extra buildings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

No. But you can put in desks and a white board and make do. Put in good soundproofing room dividers and you can likely get three or four classrooms.

Won't cost a fortune. Better than trailers.

It’s eventually going to cost a good bit on top of the initial purchase price, though not $200M more.

May or may not actually be better than trailers in the short term, if they are really committed to opening in the fall of 2026.

It will be fine. I taught in a system where there were not enough facilities. It's amazing how well you can adapt when needed.

Sure. But if the short-term fixes are as make-shift as some are suggesting it could be a somewhat chaotic classroom learning environment in the short term - and then they still may need to invest quite a bit on top of the initial $150M to get things to where they need to be.

This is what everyone who has actually toured the building has told me, by the way. There are things about the building that are fantastic and not found at any other HS, but at the same time there are things that are lacking. The same architects may have designed KAA as designed Wakefield HS in APS, but KAA was not designed as a 9-12 public school.

You forget that it will only be two grades the first year, three grades the second year, then four grades. And yeah, I'm sure you know TONS of people who have toured the building

They will work it out. Lots of space to work with. It will require planning on the part of staff. That might be a big lift for this crew, but innovative people could do it. Definitely need someone besides Reid, though.

Kind of doesn't help planning when the idiots are wasting time fantasizing about education of the future.

And, how to name the school........I still think this is the best example of FCPS leadership. To waste an hour on this was enlightening.

I am about to out myself to that individual here, but I asked a school board member about something related to KAA and their response was "first, we are going to rename the school. when that is complete in November, we will talk about everything else"

IN NOVEMBER!!!! They are going to spend now until November just renaming the school!!![/quote]

This may be #2 in best example of FCPS leadership.

But, please: I live near there and don't really care what the name is--just do not name it after a person or a moral quality. Lots of geographic names to choose from. Go with that--nothing that can be contested years later. We don't need future name changes. Possibilities:
West County (but may be too close in name to Westfield)

Oak Hill (it's very near the Oak Hill post office)
Floris
Frying Pan
McLearen (does anyone know who McLearen Rd is named after?)

or, maybe:
Carson High--as long as we are sure that there is no troubling background that could lead to a future name change

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Web archive of KAA facilities description

https://web.archive.org/web/20250502091109/https://www.kaa-herndon.com/about-us/facilities

Hightlights (List of 11 items.)

Buildings and grounds on 40-acres

Fourteen learning communities designed to maximize individual and group work

Three gymnasiums suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton etc.

Large multi-purpose halls

Indoor 8 lane heated swimming pool & weight lifting/fitness facilities

State-of-the-art theater and performing arts facilities

Library and study rooms

Dual dining room and cafeteria

Ceramics and robotics laboratories

Fine arts facilities

Soccer fields and Athletics oval

That sounds like plenty of space for a high school.

They can use trailers for overflow while construction is going on.

No, it sounds like tons of amenities for a high school.

It doesn’t address the actual capacity or how much classroom space there is.

What amenities? The only thing it has that other schools don't have is a pool. It's not like they're going to keep the dining room and three gyms. They will repurpose those into classrooms.

Wrong. There are a lot of special-purpose spaces and equipment (which conveyed) that typical high schools don’t have. And “repurpose” is an interesting word for the modifications that will be required for more classroom space. You can’t just snap your fingers and turn a gym into classrooms.

You clearly don't know anything about this stuff - converting a gym into classrooms would be one of the easiest projects for them to do - put down flooring, put up thin walls.

It’s starting to sound less like a high school and more like a refugee camp, but do go on.

I will, thanks! Do you know anything about construction and renovation? Because it's obvious you don't. A gym is one large room. You can easily build partitions to turn it into several smaller rooms. Have you ever been in an office building? They build it out as one large open space, and add walls to create offices. Then when one company leaves and another ones leases the space, they rebuild the interior to meet their own needs. Sometimes that means tearing down offices and building cubicles or removing walls to create a large conference room. Other times it means, building offices where there were once cubicles or turning one large conference room into several offices. I've seen this happen many times, and nobody has ever compared these office spaces to refugee camps!

Everything you are talking about takes time and costs money. So we've very quickly gone from hearing about how KAA was a "turnkey" bargain purchase to knowing that a lot more money is going to be required to get KAA ready to open as a public high school (and it's also clear they still haven't figured out what kind of school it's going to be). And the classrooms you want to create in a gym with high ceilings and thin walls may still turn out to be sub-optimal learning spaces - they might actually do better if they were converting an office building like they did at Bailey's Upper.