Kent Garden Rezoning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to get rid of the immersion program. It’s ridiculous to bring out-of-bounds students to a school that doesn’t even have enough room for its in-bound students.

Others disagree. Most immersion kids live in-bounds and there are more French speakers within the Kent Gardens district than in any other part of the county. They can also address the overcrowding by changing the base boundaries as the surrounding elementary schools are under-enrolled.

Then make the immersion only for in boundary students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to get rid of the immersion program. It’s ridiculous to bring out-of-bounds students to a school that doesn’t even have enough room for its in-bound students.

Others disagree. Most immersion kids live in-bounds and there are more French speakers within the Kent Gardens district than in any other part of the county. They can also address the overcrowding by changing the base boundaries as the surrounding elementary schools are under-enrolled.

So you advocate for moving out approximately 200 base school students to allow comfortable infuson of about 200 out of boundary for a program? KG program capacity is 848 and that could mean 53% of the students are immersion and 23% of the students are out of boundary.

KG should only receive extra funding for French immersion instructional materials not staff since the purpose of immersion extra funding is to account for attrition.
Since FCPS considers the program out of boundary infusion more important than base school another option is to remove local level iv aap to create a center at Chesterbrook. 2021-22 stats:

Chesterbrook- ESL 29, aap iv 109
KG - ESL 167, aap iv 112. What % of ESL is first language French and enrolled in immersion?

Transfer data:
Mclean pyramid 33
Marshall-Shrevewood 10+Westgate 16 + min 4=min 30
Langley -15 Springhill plus 4=minimum 19.
Madison -minimum 6
nearby minimums total 88

There are students from 16 other pyramids and 37 schools at minimum 1 /school transferring in- from Westfield to West Potomac. At a site accessed by barely 2 lane no yellow line roads with houses and sidewalks. Maybe some of the 17 non immersion transfers are staff who live in boundary for those schools. No easy answer to the mess FCPS made and perpetuated at that site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to get rid of the immersion program. It’s ridiculous to bring out-of-bounds students to a school that doesn’t even have enough room for its in-bound students.

Others disagree. Most immersion kids live in-bounds and there are more French speakers within the Kent Gardens district than in any other part of the county. They can also address the overcrowding by changing the base boundaries as the surrounding elementary schools are under-enrolled.

So you advocate for moving out approximately 200 base school students to allow comfortable infuson of about 200 out of boundary for a program? KG program capacity is 848 and that could mean 53% of the students are immersion and 23% of the students are out of boundary.

KG should only receive extra funding for French immersion instructional materials not staff since the purpose of immersion extra funding is to account for attrition.
Since FCPS considers the program out of boundary infusion more important than base school another option is to remove local level iv aap to create a center at Chesterbrook. 2021-22 stats:

Chesterbrook- ESL 29, aap iv 109
KG - ESL 167, aap iv 112. What % of ESL is first language French and enrolled in immersion?

Transfer data:
Mclean pyramid 33
Marshall-Shrevewood 10+Westgate 16 + min 4=min 30
Langley -15 Springhill plus 4=minimum 19.
Madison -minimum 6
nearby minimums total 88

There are students from 16 other pyramids and 37 schools at minimum 1 /school transferring in- from Westfield to West Potomac. At a site accessed by barely 2 lane no yellow line roads with houses and sidewalks. Maybe some of the 17 non immersion transfers are staff who live in boundary for those schools. No easy answer to the mess FCPS made and perpetuated at that site.

I can’t follow your numbers but KG is surrounded by ES in the same pyramid with capacity. Moving some kids to other elementary schools where most of the kids also go to Longfellow and McLean seems relatively benign.

It actually is a relatively easy answer, although opening up KG’s boundaries and programs to discussion obviously invites a debate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to get rid of the immersion program. It’s ridiculous to bring out-of-bounds students to a school that doesn’t even have enough room for its in-bound students.

Others disagree. Most immersion kids live in-bounds and there are more French speakers within the Kent Gardens district than in any other part of the county. They can also address the overcrowding by changing the base boundaries as the surrounding elementary schools are under-enrolled.

So you advocate for moving out approximately 200 base school students to allow comfortable infuson of about 200 out of boundary for a program? KG program capacity is 848 and that could mean 53% of the students are immersion and 23% of the students are out of boundary.

KG should only receive extra funding for French immersion instructional materials not staff since the purpose of immersion extra funding is to account for attrition.
Since FCPS considers the program out of boundary infusion more important than base school another option is to remove local level iv aap to create a center at Chesterbrook. 2021-22 stats:

Chesterbrook- ESL 29, aap iv 109
KG - ESL 167, aap iv 112. What % of ESL is first language French and enrolled in immersion?

Transfer data:
Mclean pyramid 33
Marshall-Shrevewood 10+Westgate 16 + min 4=min 30
Langley -15 Springhill plus 4=minimum 19.
Madison -minimum 6
nearby minimums total 88

There are students from 16 other pyramids and 37 schools at minimum 1 /school transferring in- from Westfield to West Potomac. At a site accessed by barely 2 lane no yellow line roads with houses and sidewalks. Maybe some of the 17 non immersion transfers are staff who live in boundary for those schools. No easy answer to the mess FCPS made and perpetuated at that site.

I can’t follow your numbers but KG is surrounded by ES in the same pyramid with capacity. Moving some kids to other elementary schools where most of the kids also go to Longfellow and McLean seems relatively benign.

It actually is a relatively easy answer, although opening up KG’s boundaries and programs to discussion obviously invites a debate.

There is nothing benign about a base school boundary change when a school has a capacity of 848 and about 198 out of boundary students. It means the site could end up with over 50% of the students in immersion. And the other schools with one kid listed as transferring in stretch from the far SW and SE points in this county. If anything the massive immersion program should not get extra staff since there is no reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to get rid of the immersion program. It’s ridiculous to bring out-of-bounds students to a school that doesn’t even have enough room for its in-bound students.

Others disagree. Most immersion kids live in-bounds and there are more French speakers within the Kent Gardens district than in any other part of the county. They can also address the overcrowding by changing the base boundaries as the surrounding elementary schools are under-enrolled.

So you advocate for moving out approximately 200 base school students to allow comfortable infuson of about 200 out of boundary for a program? KG program capacity is 848 and that could mean 53% of the students are immersion and 23% of the students are out of boundary.

KG should only receive extra funding for French immersion instructional materials not staff since the purpose of immersion extra funding is to account for attrition.
Since FCPS considers the program out of boundary infusion more important than base school another option is to remove local level iv aap to create a center at Chesterbrook. 2021-22 stats:

Chesterbrook- ESL 29, aap iv 109
KG - ESL 167, aap iv 112. What % of ESL is first language French and enrolled in immersion?

Transfer data:
Mclean pyramid 33
Marshall-Shrevewood 10+Westgate 16 + min 4=min 30
Langley -15 Springhill plus 4=minimum 19.
Madison -minimum 6
nearby minimums total 88

There are students from 16 other pyramids and 37 schools at minimum 1 /school transferring in- from Westfield to West Potomac. At a site accessed by barely 2 lane no yellow line roads with houses and sidewalks. Maybe some of the 17 non immersion transfers are staff who live in boundary for those schools. No easy answer to the mess FCPS made and perpetuated at that site.

I can’t follow your numbers but KG is surrounded by ES in the same pyramid with capacity. Moving some kids to other elementary schools where most of the kids also go to Longfellow and McLean seems relatively benign.

It actually is a relatively easy answer, although opening up KG’s boundaries and programs to discussion obviously invites a debate.

There is nothing benign about a base school boundary change when a school has a capacity of 848 and about 198 out of boundary students. It means the site could end up with over 50% of the students in immersion. And the other schools with one kid listed as transferring in stretch from the far SW and SE points in this county. If anything the massive immersion program should not get extra staff since there is no reason.

You seem more interested in killing immersion programs than addressing the overcrowding at this school.

[Anonymous]

The Immersion Program was brought to KG because KG, at that time, was underenrolled (wow, can you imagine!). I think we're caught in the whiplash of Janie Strauss' retirement, that Facilities guy leaving at/around the same time as Janie, a revolving door of Facilities people and the fact that Elaine Tholen came in and did absolutely nothing.

This one's on FCPS. They should have realized years ago where the population growth and aging homeowners/real estate implications were going. But they didn't and here we are - and frankly, we're in the same situation at McLean HS. We have a wildly popular FI program that people want to attend, and we have a neighborhood with teardown after teardown happening, which means more families and kids that will attend KG. I think there are 4 houses under construction in a one block radius of the school. People have become smart and bought IN boundary so the possibility of them not being able to attend is low.

There really is no choice, French or not, but to do a boundary change. And FCPS, while their process is maddeningly slow and really doesn't care for true community input or a forum to speak, is going to do it their way. The BEST we can hope for is this boundary change to be in effect school year after next. But with all the grandfathering, we're really looking at probably 5+ years to really see an impact.

The real head scratcher for me? I bought my house in 2004 (in the KG boundary), well before my kids were even born or would attend KG, LMS or McLean. It's insane for me to think that, given FCPS' 40 YEAR RENOVATION CYCLE (don't even get me started - at 40 years, just tear the buildings down), neither of my kids will see their ES or HS renovated. Kent Gardens? 2045 (this is based on FCPS saying KG received a renovation in 2005). McLean? 2035? Never (based on the modulars/trailers)? My child, who is now at KG, might see THEIR CHILD enter a renovated school building.

[Anonymous]

I have no dog in this fight. A simple small fix would be to kick out all the non McLean French immersion students. Create another FI school, maybe at a high farms school to bring that school up.

We used to live by Lee, now Lewis High School. I always thought they should create other magnet type schools, maybe for music or arts. Do one for French.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It should be rezoned. There are kids zoned for KGES that live on the same block as Haycock. It's crazy.


Nobody should be crying about getting rezoned to franklin sherman, chesterbrook, haycock. It will be easier and better for everyone if the zoning is recalibrated. All of these schools are in the pyramid and are all equally as good if not better than KG. Part of the zoning for KG should go to Churchill, which is Langley district. Boo hoo it will raise their property values.

While they are at it, they should fix the dumb Churchill/Spring Hill zoning.

We are a Churchill family. We used to get a lot of Kent gardens kids for AAP but not since Cooper also became an AAP center. If I were a KG parent, I would not want to send my kid to Churchill to be one of few kids who don’t go to Cooper/Langley and go to Longfellow/McLean instead. I’m sure keeping all the AAP kids did not help KG overcrowding.

I do think there could be some boundary fixing between Spring Hil, Churchill, Franklin Sherman and Kent Gardens.

They could clean up the boundaries by moving the part of Sherman that feeds to Langley to Churchill and then moving a bit of Sherman (the areas east of Kirby) to Chesterbrook. Then Sherman could pick up a decent chunk of Kent Gardens. Done.

That’s a good idea!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to get rid of the immersion program. It’s ridiculous to bring out-of-bounds students to a school that doesn’t even have enough room for its in-bound students.

Others disagree. Most immersion kids live in-bounds and there are more French speakers within the Kent Gardens district than in any other part of the county. They can also address the overcrowding by changing the base boundaries as the surrounding elementary schools are under-enrolled.

So you advocate for moving out approximately 200 base school students to allow comfortable infuson of about 200 out of boundary for a program? KG program capacity is 848 and that could mean 53% of the students are immersion and 23% of the students are out of boundary.

KG should only receive extra funding for French immersion instructional materials not staff since the purpose of immersion extra funding is to account for attrition.
Since FCPS considers the program out of boundary infusion more important than base school another option is to remove local level iv aap to create a center at Chesterbrook. 2021-22 stats:

Chesterbrook- ESL 29, aap iv 109
KG - ESL 167, aap iv 112. What % of ESL is first language French and enrolled in immersion?

Transfer data:
Mclean pyramid 33
Marshall-Shrevewood 10+Westgate 16 + min 4=min 30
Langley -15 Springhill plus 4=minimum 19.
Madison -minimum 6
nearby minimums total 88

There are students from 16 other pyramids and 37 schools at minimum 1 /school transferring in- from Westfield to West Potomac. At a site accessed by barely 2 lane no yellow line roads with houses and sidewalks. Maybe some of the 17 non immersion transfers are staff who live in boundary for those schools. No easy answer to the mess FCPS made and perpetuated at that site.

I can’t follow your numbers but KG is surrounded by ES in the same pyramid with capacity. Moving some kids to other elementary schools where most of the kids also go to Longfellow and McLean seems relatively benign.

It actually is a relatively easy answer, although opening up KG’s boundaries and programs to discussion obviously invites a debate.

There is nothing benign about a base school boundary change when a school has a capacity of 848 and about 198 out of boundary students. It means the site could end up with over 50% of the students in immersion. And the other schools with one kid listed as transferring in stretch from the far SW and SE points in this county. If anything the massive immersion program should not get extra staff since there is no reason.

You seem more interested in killing immersion programs than addressing the overcrowding at this school.

That's BS. Explain to me exactly why with about 450+ students the immersion program needs extra staff. With that many it's clearly not a class size attrition issue. Care to furnish the immersion per class count count per grade level? Break it down by base school and pyramid? FCPS has done that wih AAP when the program was consuming the base school capacity. So unless that info is divulged it appears FCPS is not following precedent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to get rid of the immersion program. It’s ridiculous to bring out-of-bounds students to a school that doesn’t even have enough room for its in-bound students.

Others disagree. Most immersion kids live in-bounds and there are more French speakers within the Kent Gardens district than in any other part of the county. They can also address the overcrowding by changing the base boundaries as the surrounding elementary schools are under-enrolled.

So you advocate for moving out approximately 200 base school students to allow comfortable infuson of about 200 out of boundary for a program? KG program capacity is 848 and that could mean 53% of the students are immersion and 23% of the students are out of boundary.

KG should only receive extra funding for French immersion instructional materials not staff since the purpose of immersion extra funding is to account for attrition.
Since FCPS considers the program out of boundary infusion more important than base school another option is to remove local level iv aap to create a center at Chesterbrook. 2021-22 stats:

Chesterbrook- ESL 29, aap iv 109
KG - ESL 167, aap iv 112. What % of ESL is first language French and enrolled in immersion?

Transfer data:
Mclean pyramid 33
Marshall-Shrevewood 10+Westgate 16 + min 4=min 30
Langley -15 Springhill plus 4=minimum 19.
Madison -minimum 6
nearby minimums total 88

There are students from 16 other pyramids and 37 schools at minimum 1 /school transferring in- from Westfield to West Potomac. At a site accessed by barely 2 lane no yellow line roads with houses and sidewalks. Maybe some of the 17 non immersion transfers are staff who live in boundary for those schools. No easy answer to the mess FCPS made and perpetuated at that site.

I can’t follow your numbers but KG is surrounded by ES in the same pyramid with capacity. Moving some kids to other elementary schools where most of the kids also go to Longfellow and McLean seems relatively benign.

It actually is a relatively easy answer, although opening up KG’s boundaries and programs to discussion obviously invites a debate.

There is nothing benign about a base school boundary change when a school has a capacity of 848 and about 198 out of boundary students. It means the site could end up with over 50% of the students in immersion. And the other schools with one kid listed as transferring in stretch from the far SW and SE points in this county. If anything the massive immersion program should not get extra staff since there is no reason.

You seem more interested in killing immersion programs than addressing the overcrowding at this school.

That's BS. Explain to me exactly why with about 450+ students the immersion program needs extra staff. With that many it's clearly not a class size attrition issue. Care to furnish the immersion per class count count per grade level? Break it down by base school and pyramid? FCPS has done that wih AAP when the program was consuming the base school capacity. So unless that info is divulged it appears FCPS is not following precedent.

I think you proved PP’s point. Lots of hostility there. LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to get rid of the immersion program. It’s ridiculous to bring out-of-bounds students to a school that doesn’t even have enough room for its in-bound students.

Others disagree. Most immersion kids live in-bounds and there are more French speakers within the Kent Gardens district than in any other part of the county. They can also address the overcrowding by changing the base boundaries as the surrounding elementary schools are under-enrolled.

So you advocate for moving out approximately 200 base school students to allow comfortable infuson of about 200 out of boundary for a program? KG program capacity is 848 and that could mean 53% of the students are immersion and 23% of the students are out of boundary.

KG should only receive extra funding for French immersion instructional materials not staff since the purpose of immersion extra funding is to account for attrition.
Since FCPS considers the program out of boundary infusion more important than base school another option is to remove local level iv aap to create a center at Chesterbrook. 2021-22 stats:

Chesterbrook- ESL 29, aap iv 109
KG - ESL 167, aap iv 112. What % of ESL is first language French and enrolled in immersion?

Transfer data:
Mclean pyramid 33
Marshall-Shrevewood 10+Westgate 16 + min 4=min 30
Langley -15 Springhill plus 4=minimum 19.
Madison -minimum 6
nearby minimums total 88

There are students from 16 other pyramids and 37 schools at minimum 1 /school transferring in- from Westfield to West Potomac. At a site accessed by barely 2 lane no yellow line roads with houses and sidewalks. Maybe some of the 17 non immersion transfers are staff who live in boundary for those schools. No easy answer to the mess FCPS made and perpetuated at that site.

I can’t follow your numbers but KG is surrounded by ES in the same pyramid with capacity. Moving some kids to other elementary schools where most of the kids also go to Longfellow and McLean seems relatively benign.

It actually is a relatively easy answer, although opening up KG’s boundaries and programs to discussion obviously invites a debate.

There is nothing benign about a base school boundary change when a school has a capacity of 848 and about 198 out of boundary students. It means the site could end up with over 50% of the students in immersion. And the other schools with one kid listed as transferring in stretch from the far SW and SE points in this county. If anything the massive immersion program should not get extra staff since there is no reason.

You seem more interested in killing immersion programs than addressing the overcrowding at this school.

That's BS. Explain to me exactly why with about 450+ students the immersion program needs extra staff. With that many it's clearly not a class size attrition issue. Care to furnish the immersion per class count count per grade level? Break it down by base school and pyramid? FCPS has done that wih AAP when the program was consuming the base school capacity. So unless that info is divulged it appears FCPS is not following precedent.

DS is in Japanese Immersion. I know that they have an aide who helps in the first and second grade Japanese classes. The younger grades have someone there to help while they are still grasping the basics of the language and to help with the math section since it is being taught in a different language. I also know that the first and second grade classes have 30 students in them most years so the aide really helps in the Japanese half of the day when the kids need the most support. I don’t know if Kent Garden’s French program has similar sized classes in first and second grade or has an aide to help with the French portion of the class but that is why the JI program has extra staff.