Fairfax County: McLean Citizens Association demands smaller class sizes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:19:51 here-and I think it was fine to bring those families to Virginia Run. I think our school was about zero percent free lunch/ESOL before and maybe around 15%? now. And we have a large, nice property that is not packed to the gills like others. So there was plenty of space and plenty of emotional energy for kids who might need a little more help.

The way it was done by Kathy, like these families were trash to take out, is just so distasteful to me.

The FARMS rate at Virginia Run is 30.8% this year. It was under 5% in 2011.

Virginia Run mom-I didn't realize it was so high. It doesn't seem to have affected the vibe of the school (although I hope our teachers are getting all the resources they should be for kids still learning English etc.) They did add a Head Start preschool program so that might contribute some to the percentages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:19:51 here-and I think it was fine to bring those families to Virginia Run. I think our school was about zero percent free lunch/ESOL before and maybe around 15%? now. And we have a large, nice property that is not packed to the gills like others. So there was plenty of space and plenty of emotional energy for kids who might need a little more help.

The way it was done by Kathy, like these families were trash to take out, is just so distasteful to me.

The FARMS rate at Virginia Run is 30.8% this year. It was under 5% in 2011.

That is a huge change in a few years. The Virginia Run people must be so laid-back. Haycock McLean types would be screaming. (Well, who are we kidding? Poor people can't afford to live near them anyway...)

[Anonymous]

Another VA Run parent here! I didn't realize there were two of us who posted here .

I am also surprised by the 30% figure. Mostly because the neighborhood almost all the free/reduced meal kids live in is soooo much smaller geographically than the rest of the school zone. I can't believe 30% of the school comes from that very small mobile home park. It is only a few streets large.

PS-Yes, we are nice laid-back types. We have a great PTA though!

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else think the FARMS rates are going up at a higher rate than they should? In our school, I can't believe the amount of FARM children. They just don't seem very poor. Does FCPS check this stuff?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else think the FARMS rates are going up at a higher rate than they should? In our school, I can't believe the amount of FARM children. They just don't seem very poor. Does FCPS check this stuff?

How are "they" supposed to "seem"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:19:51 here-and I think it was fine to bring those families to Virginia Run. I think our school was about zero percent free lunch/ESOL before and maybe around 15%? now. And we have a large, nice property that is not packed to the gills like others. So there was plenty of space and plenty of emotional energy for kids who might need a little more help.

The way it was done by Kathy, like these families were trash to take out, is just so distasteful to me.

The FARMS rate at Virginia Run is 30.8% this year. It was under 5% in 2011.

That is a huge change in a few years. The Virginia Run people must be so laid-back. Haycock McLean types would be screaming. (Well, who are we kidding? Poor people can't afford to live near them anyway...)

I think you would be surprised at the reality and not the DCUM version.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else think the FARMS rates are going up at a higher rate than they should? In our school, I can't believe the amount of FARM children. They just don't seem very poor. Does FCPS check this stuff?

Pretty sure that, with the economy, there are more kids than you think on FARMS. Hasn't food stamps gone up about 20%?

[Anonymous]

FARMS%=looking the other way on illegals coming intk the county.

We're moving to a different county. Good luck with the constant handouts your taxes provide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else think the FARMS rates are going up at a higher rate than they should? In our school, I can't believe the amount of FARM children. They just don't seem very poor. Does FCPS check this stuff?

Poplar Tree's FARM rate is 6% now - Kathy Smith's doing.

Greenbriar East is 21%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else think the FARMS rates are going up at a higher rate than they should? In our school, I can't believe the amount of FARM children. They just don't seem very poor. Does FCPS check this stuff?

NO they do not check! If they can't furnish proof of income for the past two years, they are asked for a relative or someone to state that they are below a certain income level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:19:51 here-and I think it was fine to bring those families to Virginia Run. I think our school was about zero percent free lunch/ESOL before and maybe around 15%? now. And we have a large, nice property that is not packed to the gills like others. So there was plenty of space and plenty of emotional energy for kids who might need a little more help.

The way it was done by Kathy, like these families were trash to take out, is just so distasteful to me.

The FARMS rate at Virginia Run is 30.8% this year. It was under 5% in 2011.

That is a huge change in a few years. The Virginia Run people must be so laid-back. Haycock McLean types would be screaming. (Well, who are we kidding? Poor people can't afford to live near them anyway...)

I think you would be surprised at the reality and not the DCUM version.

??? Are you saying that the Haycock/McLean people are much nicer in real life than they are on DCUM? Or are you saying that poor people can afford to live in McLean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:19:51 here-and I think it was fine to bring those families to Virginia Run. I think our school was about zero percent free lunch/ESOL before and maybe around 15%? now. And we have a large, nice property that is not packed to the gills like others. So there was plenty of space and plenty of emotional energy for kids who might need a little more help.

The way it was done by Kathy, like these families were trash to take out, is just so distasteful to me.

The FARMS rate at Virginia Run is 30.8% this year. It was under 5% in 2011.

That is a huge change in a few years. The Virginia Run people must be so laid-back. Haycock McLean types would be screaming. (Well, who are we kidding? Poor people can't afford to live near them anyway...)

I think you would be surprised at the reality and not the DCUM version.

??? Are you saying that the Haycock/McLean people are much nicer in real life than they are on DCUM? Or are you saying that poor people can afford to live in McLean?

I was saying that people are nicer in real life. However, McLean does have a free and reduced rate of 9.5%, so it is no bereft of poor people. It has a food pantry at the HS.

[Anonymous]

Where do the poor people in McLean live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do the poor people in McLean live?

Those are the kids from Timber Lane that the McLean folks want so desperately to get rid of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do the poor people in McLean live?

Those are the kids from Timber Lane that the McLean folks want so desperately to get rid of.

Sorry, but that area has been at McLean HS for over 30 years and is not going away.

If people in McLean wanted the area moved out of the school, do you really think they could not have convinced Janie Strauss, who lives in the McLean HS district, to make it happen at some point over the gazillion years Janie has been on the School Board? The part of Timber Lane that feeds into McLean is closer to both Marshall HS and Falls Church HS, two schools that at various times have had the lowest enrollments in the county, than it is to McLean. It would have been easy to justify moving the area to either school to shore up its enrollment. That never happened because there was never any concerted effort by "McLean folks" or anyone else to make it happen.

It's part of the school community, and kids at Longfellow and McLean spend more time volunteering at Timber Lane every year than at any other school in the pyramid. Without Timber Lane, McLean just becomes Langley Lite. With it, it has its own identity that most people there really like.