Western High School Boundary Map options (A/B/C/D)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone without a dog in the fight for Oakton, the hate for Herndon residents advocating to stay there is pretty over the top.

Change is scary, I get it. I find the people freaking out about moving to a new school over the top, regardless of what school they want to stay at. People are far more invested in HSs then I would have ever thought. I know people fighting to stay at Oakton and SLHS and Westfield. The HS is very important to them.

I am sure they think I am crazy because I am excited about moving to a new school with nothing established. I get that it will have its bumps and issues but I like the idea of an opportunity to lead from day one. I expect that they are going to bring in excellent teachers and make sure that as many classes and clubs are offered so that the school is attractive to kids as they move into it.

I also moved between my sophomore and junior year of high school and know that things were fine. It initially sucked, moving from friends and activities, but I made new friends, did new activities, and ended up in a better school. It was fine. But you could not have told my 16 year old self that and I know my parents were anxious about it.

But the lengths that some groups are going to is kind of crazy. The Great Falls community is regularly mocked because of their approach. It has worked for them to date, so they are find with that. I suspect Oakton will get the results that they want now. In a few years they will be more up at arms when they are moved from Crossfield and Navy to SLHS, which will probably have space while the new school will be full. The likelihood that they would move schools out of the new school, who had just been moved there out, to make room from Crossfield and Navy is slim. The Great Falls family have to know that they will be moved to Herndon if Langley is ever overcrowded or if kids are moved from McLean to Langley to relive McLean.

[Anonymous]

When Western High School undoubtedly performs well, more families will push here as well. Overcrowding is not going to be specific to Langley and Oakton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone without a dog in the fight for Oakton, the hate for Herndon residents advocating to stay there is pretty over the top.

Because demanding to be zoned to a specific school when there are closer schools is pretty eyeroll worthy.

Why? Great Falls has done this for decades and they always get their way. They’ve paved the path for families who want to stay at Oakton.

Well that's part of the problem. I really dislike people who expect to be catered to and in turn also dislike the people who cater to them. It's really amazing to see a school board who discusses equity so often fold like a cheap suit as soon as these rich people get organized. They must really need the campaign contributions.

[Anonymous]

Who is being catered to? FCPS released four drafts to solicit public opinion and per the last meeting will likely release more. People have provided their opinions. If FCPS went with Option B and “Rooted in Oakton” was rather “Franklin Farms Leave Oakton for Western” and they didn’t get their way, would you feel the same way? Would the argument then be “they aren’t even in an overcrowded HS and now they are trying to fill up a school that can help alleviate other pyramids.”

[Anonymous]

We need to stop calling "Crossfield families" "Oakton families. The vast majority of Oakton families aren't affected by this and don't care what happens with Crossfield. They will either leave now for the new school or be forced out at the next review. I'd prefer the leave now option just to avoid more future drama, but whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who is being catered to? FCPS released four drafts to solicit public opinion and per the last meeting will likely release more. People have provided their opinions. If FCPS went with Option B and “Rooted in Oakton” was rather “Franklin Farms Leave Oakton for Western” and they didn’t get their way, would you feel the same way? Would the argument then be “they aren’t even in an overcrowded HS and now they are trying to fill up a school that can help alleviate other pyramids.”

Why are you ignoring geography? If people were advocating to leave Oakton for Western, people would probably say "well that makes sense they want to go to school closer to home". No one would say they don't have a "right" to be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need to stop calling "Crossfield families" "Oakton families. The vast majority of Oakton families aren't affected by this and don't care what happens with Crossfield. They will either leave now for the new school or be forced out at the next review. I'd prefer the leave now option just to avoid more future drama, but whatever.

Funny enough I've talked to multiple people zoned for Navy who are jealous and wish they were being considered for the new school. They're people just outside the proposed boundaries in all the draft maps. They like the idea of a new building and a shorter commute. Crossfield people seem to have a strange attachment to Oakton that people who live closer to Oakton don't even have. I think they are scared of South Lakes because they know it's their closest high school, so they are clinging tighter to Oakton.

[Anonymous]

I’m not ignoring geography. A group of people of course would still care as evidenced by many posters in this thread. Great point on Crossfield not being synonymous with Oakton families. At the end of the day people are free to advocate for whatever option they want and should respect the final decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone without a dog in the fight for Oakton, the hate for Herndon residents advocating to stay there is pretty over the top.

Because demanding to be zoned to a specific school when there are closer schools is pretty eyeroll worthy.

Depends on where you live, not everyone is a Franklin farm person. It's a shorter drive to oakton for me than western.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who is being catered to? FCPS released four drafts to solicit public opinion and per the last meeting will likely release more. People have provided their opinions. If FCPS went with Option B and “Rooted in Oakton” was rather “Franklin Farms Leave Oakton for Western” and they didn’t get their way, would you feel the same way? Would the argument then be “they aren’t even in an overcrowded HS and now they are trying to fill up a school that can help alleviate other pyramids.”

Well IMO, logistics and distance should take precedence when considering a boundary change. I am sick and tired of all these stupid carveouts and exceptions that have happened over the years. Anyone demanding to stay at school A for the sole reason that they perceive school A to be better than school B, when school B is much closer and makes much more sense to attend than school A is creating a problem and it needs to stop. Unfortunately this board and previous boards don't have the cajones to stand up to the demands so the problem just snowballs over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need to stop calling "Crossfield families" "Oakton families. The vast majority of Oakton families aren't affected by this and don't care what happens with Crossfield. They will either leave now for the new school or be forced out at the next review. I'd prefer the leave now option just to avoid more future drama, but whatever.

Funny enough I've talked to multiple people zoned for Navy who are jealous and wish they were being considered for the new school. They're people just outside the proposed boundaries in all the draft maps. They like the idea of a new building and a shorter commute. Crossfield people seem to have a strange attachment to Oakton that people who live closer to Oakton don't even have. I think they are scared of South Lakes because they know it's their closest high school, so they are clinging tighter to Oakton.

I'm in this boat. Our neighborhood used to be zoned to Chantilly. My oldest is in elementary school--I'd rather they go to either the new school or Chantilly than Oakton. With traffic, Oakton is just so far away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone without a dog in the fight for Oakton, the hate for Herndon residents advocating to stay there is pretty over the top.

Because demanding to be zoned to a specific school when there are closer schools is pretty eyeroll worthy.

Depends on where you live, not everyone is a Franklin farm person. It's a shorter drive to oakton for me than western.

There is no place in the Crossfield boundary that is closer to Oakton HS than the new Western HS, not even close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone without a dog in the fight for Oakton, the hate for Herndon residents advocating to stay there is pretty over the top.

Because demanding to be zoned to a specific school when there are closer schools is pretty eyeroll worthy.

Depends on where you live, not everyone is a Franklin farm person. It's a shorter drive to oakton for me than western.

dp. Yeah, this is part of the problem. Parts of Crossfield are closer to Oakton, parts are closer to South Lakes, and some are less than five minutes away from Chantilly.

I think this is why the conversation always turns to Franklin Farm. It's much easier to use Franklin Farm as a stand in for the average family even though irl the commute is not the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need to stop calling "Crossfield families" "Oakton families. The vast majority of Oakton families aren't affected by this and don't care what happens with Crossfield. They will either leave now for the new school or be forced out at the next review. I'd prefer the leave now option just to avoid more future drama, but whatever.

They are calling themselves the Oakton Families. I did not hear one Oakton parent say that they were Crossfield or Navy only Oakton. They are branding themselves with that name as a part of their campaign.

Do the Oakton families not affected by the boundary change care enough to tell those families to stop it? No idea, but they have branded themselves as "Oakton Families."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think they should shift elementary schools in 2026 (thinking specifically about Coates) and then middle and high schools in 2027 (because they will have to shift Carson and Hughes or Franklin boundaries to align with Western - it's not fair to have Fox Mill or Crossfield be the only kids in Carson that don't end up at Western). Fox Mill families complain all the time about how counselors at Carson give them the wrong information for South Lakes, and I don't know, maybe that happens for Oakton too.

This.

They should fix the split feeder problem at Carson given that new Western HS is right next to Carson.