Risky to buy in a pyramid with split feeder schools? (Crossfield elementary)

[Anonymous]

It’s unlikely that crossfield will end up at a bad school. SL and Oakton are both great. But the western part of the boundary is kind of in the middle of things and could easily be shifted.

And a lot of people are trying to predict boundary moves by identifying small chunks and shifting them., but we don’t really know the strategy yet. They may start from scratch on this and who knows if that western part of the boundary even goes to Crossfield after the boundary work is done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s unlikely that crossfield will end up at a bad school. SL and Oakton are both great. But the western part of the boundary is kind of in the middle of things and could easily be shifted.

And a lot of people are trying to predict boundary moves by identifying small chunks and shifting them., but we don’t really know the strategy yet. They may start from scratch on this and who knows if that western part of the boundary even goes to Crossfield after the boundary work is done.

That is true, but so is the observation that the general area near Crossfield has frequently been the subject of boundary changes. If the mythical western HS had been built, there might have been more stable boundaries and feeder patterns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bigger issue is that FCPS is getting ready to embark on what it terms a "holistic" review of school boundaries at every level (elementary, middle, and high schools).

There are certain parts of western Fairfax (Oak Hill/Floris/Crossfield/Navy) that have tended to see a lot of boundaries changes in the past (one area in particular bounced from Oakton to Westfield to South Lakes), so these areas might be particularly likely to be affected again.

They are claiming that their goals include eliminating split feeders and attendance islands, but it's too early to tell how it will shake out. If you really want Oakton as opposed to South Lakes and Chantilly (and Chantilly is great) you probably should be looking closer to Oakton HS itself.

Is there really a remote chance that houses in Franklin farm could be rezoned to South Lakes high?

No. There are several neighborhoods between Franklin Farm and Fox Mill that would go first.

I think someone needs to learn the definition of “remote”.

The SB is doing a Great Reset of boundaries. No one is safe, especially if they redraw all the lines.

I would not buy in Fairfax County if I were looking to buy a house in the DMV, and I am not a Republican or just saying that for political purposes as a prior poster insinuated.

The SB is making a mess of a lot of things, beyond what I even thought possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP please don't let these crazy people scare you off. They are well aware it's an election year and want to scare people into voting for Republicans. It is unlikely that the homes in this area are going to be rezoned - for one thing, Oakton is newly renovated and below capacity while Chantilly and South Lakes are both above capacity.

In regards to Crossfield being a split feeder -- the VAST majority of Crossfield goes to Carson and Oakton. There is one neighborhood behind the school that is zoned to South Lakes and there is literally one street of less than 10 houses in Franklin Farm that is zoned to Chantilly. All the other kids will stay together until high school.

It's a nice community and the school will be beautiful once the renovation is completed. The only negative thing I have to say about the school is that the PTO is terrible. Nobody knows what they do and what they spend money on. It's certainly not on community building or family events, they're like a black hole.

South Lakes is below capacity, and Crossfield is closer to South Lakes than Oakton.

It’s bizarre you warn people away from Republicans when you have your facts wrong and it’s Democrats who are pushing changes to redraw all the school boundaries.

South Lakes is at 96% capacity and projected to be 93% in 2028. That’s less than 200 seats. Crossfield takes up 300+ seats, so they wouldn’t all fit. Crossfield is more likely to become a fully Oakton Feeder than a South Lakes one.

Oakton is projected to be at 95% capacity, higher than South Lakes, and Crossfield is a long distance from Oakton. A lot of boundaries could change - part of South Lakes could move to Herndon and Crossfield could move entirely to South Lakes.

Yes, but more Crossfield students already attend Oakton than South Lakes, it’s not a 50/50 split. It’s more like Oakton having to absorb 40 more seats, versus South Lakes absorbing 300. South Lakes does not have to capacity to take on that many students, while Oakton does.

Relieving Chantilly capacity is more likely to go from Westfield to Herndon than through South Lakes. Just picking up all of Coates ES would add more than 600 kids at Herndon, which only has 350 seats free and is PROJECTED to have 750 seats free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s unlikely that crossfield will end up at a bad school. SL and Oakton are both great. But the western part of the boundary is kind of in the middle of things and could easily be shifted.

And a lot of people are trying to predict boundary moves by identifying small chunks and shifting them., but we don’t really know the strategy yet. They may start from scratch on this and who knows if that western part of the boundary even goes to Crossfield after the boundary work is done.

That is true, but so is the observation that the general area near Crossfield has frequently been the subject of boundary changes. If the mythical western HS had been built, there might have been more stable boundaries and feeder patterns.

I think at this time, it wouldn’t be smart to buy a home on the edge boundaries with the expectation that they won’t change. If you want a certain school, it’s best to buy as close as possible to that school. Or buy on the edge of a boundary if you are OK with going to schools that also border that edge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP please don't let these crazy people scare you off. They are well aware it's an election year and want to scare people into voting for Republicans. It is unlikely that the homes in this area are going to be rezoned - for one thing, Oakton is newly renovated and below capacity while Chantilly and South Lakes are both above capacity.

In regards to Crossfield being a split feeder -- the VAST majority of Crossfield goes to Carson and Oakton. There is one neighborhood behind the school that is zoned to South Lakes and there is literally one street of less than 10 houses in Franklin Farm that is zoned to Chantilly. All the other kids will stay together until high school.

It's a nice community and the school will be beautiful once the renovation is completed. The only negative thing I have to say about the school is that the PTO is terrible. Nobody knows what they do and what they spend money on. It's certainly not on community building or family events, they're like a black hole.

South Lakes is below capacity, and Crossfield is closer to South Lakes than Oakton.

It’s bizarre you warn people away from Republicans when you have your facts wrong and it’s Democrats who are pushing changes to redraw all the school boundaries.

South Lakes is at 96% capacity and projected to be 93% in 2028. That’s less than 200 seats. Crossfield takes up 300+ seats, so they wouldn’t all fit. Crossfield is more likely to become a fully Oakton Feeder than a South Lakes one.

Oakton is projected to be at 95% capacity, higher than South Lakes, and Crossfield is a long distance from Oakton. A lot of boundaries could change - part of South Lakes could move to Herndon and Crossfield could move entirely to South Lakes.

Yes, but more Crossfield students already attend Oakton than South Lakes, it’s not a 50/50 split. It’s more like Oakton having to absorb 40 more seats, versus South Lakes absorbing 300. South Lakes does not have to capacity to take on that many students, while Oakton does.

Relieving Chantilly capacity is more likely to go from Westfield to Herndon than through South Lakes. Just picking up all of Coates ES would add more than 600 kids at Herndon, which only has 350 seats free and is PROJECTED to have 750 seats free.

You can come up with a number of scenarios that would either leave Crossfield's boundaries intact or move the remaining part of Crossfield to Oakton, but the fact is that boundaries will be in play, Crossfield is at the far end of Oakton's western boundary, and the updated policy prioritizes limiting transportation times. OP can factor that into her decision or choose to ignore it.

[Anonymous]

Historically, when boundaries are changed, does the county "grandfather" any students so they can finish school at the school where they've gone for 3-6 years?

For example, if Larlo is a rising 12th grader when boundaries are changed, would he be permitted to stay at his former high school to finish high school? Or if Larla is a rising 6th grader when boundaries are changed, would she be permitted to stay at her former school to finish elementary school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Historically, when boundaries are changed, does the county "grandfather" any students so they can finish school at the school where they've gone for 3-6 years?

For example, if Larlo is a rising 12th grader when boundaries are changed, would he be permitted to stay at his former high school to finish high school? Or if Larla is a rising 6th grader when boundaries are changed, would she be permitted to stay at her former school to finish elementary school?

The practice has varied.

For high school changes, for decades, the practice has been phase in boundary changes starting with rising 9th graders, unless a new high school was opening, in which case only rising seniors were grandfathered.

For changes at the elementary and middle school level, it was more common that only rising 6th and 8th graders were grandfathered. However, that wasn't the case with the most recent ES boundary changes, which involved Glen Forest ES in the Justice HS pyramid and then Kent Gardens ES in the McLean HS pyramid. In those cases, rising 2nd to 5th graders at Glen Forest (a K-5 school) and 2nd to 6th graders at Kent Gardens (a K-6 school) were grandfathered.

However, if FCPS moves forward with the "Great Reset" (the county-wide boundary changes), that goes out the window, because the bus fleet won't be able to accommodate so many multiple routes in the same neighborhoods. The new policy calls for "attrition and limited phasing," so they could end doing something like only grandfathering rising seniors at a HS but making them responsible for their own transportation. No one knows for sure, only that the more boundaries that are changed, the less grandfathering with transportation still provided will be feasible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Historically, when boundaries are changed, does the county "grandfather" any students so they can finish school at the school where they've gone for 3-6 years?

For example, if Larlo is a rising 12th grader when boundaries are changed, would he be permitted to stay at his former high school to finish high school? Or if Larla is a rising 6th grader when boundaries are changed, would she be permitted to stay at her former school to finish elementary school?

Typically yes, they can finish the school year. In previous boundary changes they've allowed some grandfathering in of say, juniors who want to finish their senior year at the high school they were zoned at. But some school board members this year have said they don't support grandfathering in of kids because they need to "toughen up." So I don't think you can safely assume anything other than they wouldn't have the boundary changes go into effect during an active school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP please don't let these crazy people scare you off. They are well aware it's an election year and want to scare people into voting for Republicans. It is unlikely that the homes in this area are going to be rezoned - for one thing, Oakton is newly renovated and below capacity while Chantilly and South Lakes are both above capacity.

In regards to Crossfield being a split feeder -- the VAST majority of Crossfield goes to Carson and Oakton. There is one neighborhood behind the school that is zoned to South Lakes and there is literally one street of less than 10 houses in Franklin Farm that is zoned to Chantilly. All the other kids will stay together until high school.

It's a nice community and the school will be beautiful once the renovation is completed. The only negative thing I have to say about the school is that the PTO is terrible. Nobody knows what they do and what they spend money on. It's certainly not on community building or family events, they're like a black hole.

South Lakes is below capacity, and Crossfield is closer to South Lakes than Oakton.

It’s bizarre you warn people away from Republicans when you have your facts wrong and it’s Democrats who are pushing changes to redraw all the school boundaries.

South Lakes is at 96% capacity and projected to be 93% in 2028. That’s less than 200 seats. Crossfield takes up 300+ seats, so they wouldn’t all fit. Crossfield is more likely to become a fully Oakton Feeder than a South Lakes one.

Oakton is projected to be at 95% capacity, higher than South Lakes, and Crossfield is a long distance from Oakton. A lot of boundaries could change - part of South Lakes could move to Herndon and Crossfield could move entirely to South Lakes.

Yes, but more Crossfield students already attend Oakton than South Lakes, it’s not a 50/50 split. It’s more like Oakton having to absorb 40 more seats, versus South Lakes absorbing 300. South Lakes does not have to capacity to take on that many students, while Oakton does.

Relieving Chantilly capacity is more likely to go from Westfield to Herndon than through South Lakes. Just picking up all of Coates ES would add more than 600 kids at Herndon, which only has 350 seats free and is PROJECTED to have 750 seats free.

You can come up with a number of scenarios that would either leave Crossfield's boundaries intact or move the remaining part of Crossfield to Oakton, but the fact is that boundaries will be in play, Crossfield is at the far end of Oakton's western boundary, and the updated policy prioritizes limiting transportation times. OP can factor that into her decision or choose to ignore it.

True, but keep in mind Oakton has very unique boundaries because it doesn’t have a nearby assigned middle school. It needs a western gate to reach the middle schools it feeds to, and there’s no obvious alternative nearby. Oakton pyramid is the greatest hurdle in eliminating split feeders. Which I agree with you on, makes that region more volatile for potential boundary adjustments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bigger issue is that FCPS is getting ready to embark on what it terms a "holistic" review of school boundaries at every level (elementary, middle, and high schools).

There are certain parts of western Fairfax (Oak Hill/Floris/Crossfield/Navy) that have tended to see a lot of boundaries changes in the past (one area in particular bounced from Oakton to Westfield to South Lakes), so these areas might be particularly likely to be affected again.

They are claiming that their goals include eliminating split feeders and attendance islands, but it's too early to tell how it will shake out. If you really want Oakton as opposed to South Lakes and Chantilly (and Chantilly is great) you probably should be looking closer to Oakton HS itself.

Is there really a remote chance that houses in Franklin farm could be rezoned to South Lakes high?

If you look at the boundary maps you will see that some already are. Although others will think I'm completely delusional or lying, I will say that my DC attends SLHS and is doing well. It's an IB school and some people prefer AP. That's a valid reason to not want to attend the school. All the fearmongering about FARMs and other nonsense is exactly that, nonsense.

Bull. I bet your kid is in the IB program, so is relatively sheltered from the actual problem kids. For kids not in the IB problem, the population is rough.

My kid will attend SLHS and we know plenty of kids at the school. Most of the kids in Honors classes or above seem to have a very good experiene at the school. We had a friend whose kid was in a non-Honors class and asked to move to honors because the pace was too slow and it was clear that most of the kids could care less about school. The Honors classes were rough for the kid academically and they will be taking non-honors next year but most likely they will be classes that others who are not interested in college will take. The kid didn't feel threatened or anything along those lines, they could simply tell that the kids in the class had no interest in being there and that the class was going to be slow.

Most of the kids from MC and UMC ES are going to end up on the honors track in HS so it is not going to be an issue for them. It is problematic that there is a school within the school but that is what it is. I have friens whose kids are at Herndon HS and have had no issues there. the honors/AP cohort is its own little school. I am sure that you can say the same thing about Annandale, Lewis, Mount Vernon and other schools with a high FARMs rate.

This is my concern as the parent of an average/below average child. If I had a high achieving, advanced child, I would have no issues at all, but I have an average child who is a hard worker and wants to learn and I don't want them stuck in a class with kids don't care.

[Anonymous]

Crossfield parent here - I would be totally fine with my child ending up at South Lakes or Chantilly - both are so much closer than Oakton. I would not want my child at Herndon or Westfield, both of which would take just as long to get to as Oakton given the amount of traffic on the roads to get there in the morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bigger issue is that FCPS is getting ready to embark on what it terms a "holistic" review of school boundaries at every level (elementary, middle, and high schools).

There are certain parts of western Fairfax (Oak Hill/Floris/Crossfield/Navy) that have tended to see a lot of boundaries changes in the past (one area in particular bounced from Oakton to Westfield to South Lakes), so these areas might be particularly likely to be affected again.

They are claiming that their goals include eliminating split feeders and attendance islands, but it's too early to tell how it will shake out. If you really want Oakton as opposed to South Lakes and Chantilly (and Chantilly is great) you probably should be looking closer to Oakton HS itself.

Is there really a remote chance that houses in Franklin farm could be rezoned to South Lakes high?

No. There are several neighborhoods between Franklin Farm and Fox Mill that would go first.

I think someone needs to learn the definition of “remote”.

The SB is doing a Great Reset of boundaries. No one is safe, especially if they redraw all the lines.

I would not buy in Fairfax County if I were looking to buy a house in the DMV, and I am not a Republican or just saying that for political purposes as a prior poster insinuated.

The SB is making a mess of a lot of things, beyond what I even thought possible.

What a stupid thing to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The bigger issue is that FCPS is getting ready to embark on what it terms a "holistic" review of school boundaries at every level (elementary, middle, and high schools).

There are certain parts of western Fairfax (Oak Hill/Floris/Crossfield/Navy) that have tended to see a lot of boundaries changes in the past (one area in particular bounced from Oakton to Westfield to South Lakes), so these areas might be particularly likely to be affected again.

They are claiming that their goals include eliminating split feeders and attendance islands, but it's too early to tell how it will shake out. If you really want Oakton as opposed to South Lakes and Chantilly (and Chantilly is great) you probably should be looking closer to Oakton HS itself.

Is there really a remote chance that houses in Franklin farm could be rezoned to South Lakes high?

No. There are several neighborhoods between Franklin Farm and Fox Mill that would go first.

I think someone needs to learn the definition of “remote”.

The SB is doing a Great Reset of boundaries. No one is safe, especially if they redraw all the lines.

I would not buy in Fairfax County if I were looking to buy a house in the DMV, and I am not a Republican or just saying that for political purposes as a prior poster insinuated.

The SB is making a mess of a lot of things, beyond what I even thought possible.

What a stupid thing to say.

Zing!

[Anonymous]

Crossfield will go to South Lakes, for sure. They will move some current South Lakes to Herndon. I'd also be nervous buying anything in that odd Navy ES area. Those kids are going to get shifted.