FCPS About to Propose Major Boundary Changes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if these changes might include the Western part of the county - Centreville/Fairfax/Chantilly. We are severely overcrowded with long bus rides to schools that are not near us. I know many do not want to switch schools. I would welcome the opportunity to attend a school close to my home. It is a quality of life issue. So, just curious if anyone knows if this area is being looked at.

Yes.

[Anonymous]

The AAP kids from Cooper have a huge impact on Kilmer and Longfellow. Send those kids back to Cooper next year and then reassess later whether FCPS really needs to change the boundaries for Langley, McLean and Marshall. None of those schools is underenrolled like South Lakes HS was back in 2008 or overenrolled the way Fairfax HS was prior to the Fairfax/Lanier study.

[Anonymous]

Fantastic.
Do you know what they are looking at or how I can advocate for making changes?
I know many want things to stay the same but the system is not working. So, I love that they may just start over.
How do I let them know that there are people out here who support change and want to see the system re-imagined without the baggage of (my neighborhood has always gone to this school)?
Any details would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is an accuracy rate in the 90's for the vast majority of schools "unapologectically" inaccurate? Surely, you don't expect 100%?

Don't be dense. A 5-year old can project out 9 months. The School Board makes its decisions based on the out-year projections, and those fall considerably short of anything approaching reliable.

With the hi mobility rates of the county it makes it that much more difficult. I think they do a credible job. Projections are never 100% accurate, and expecting them to do so is ridiculous. The high 90%s are reliable enough. They show trends. Just accept the fact that Langley and Cooper will have to expand their borders and Cooper will have to accept is own AAP students that currently already live within its borders.

DP here. Why should Cooper and Langley boundaries be expanded again when they are already by far the largest in the county? Some schools have to be the smallest in the county. Why does Langley always get to stay out of boundary studies when that might mean sending Langley kids to other schools, or hand-pick other high-income neighborhoods when FCPS decides Langley is too small? Langley always benefits at the expense of everyone else in the county.

Cooper and Langley's boundaries can easily be expanded to include areas that are closer to Langley than the vast majority of its current area (near McLean Center and Tyson's/Rte 7). The additional footprint would be small, but in a more population dense area. If sidewalks/ and a crossing bridge over 123 were built, some would be able to walk to Langley, they are so close. The reason Langley has such a large area is because the houses are on MUCH larger lots than the rest of the county AND more people send their children to public school and there is a National Park and several county parks the middle of it. If McLean and Marshall continue to grow like they have been, then the boundaries will probable change at both ends (more going to Langley AND more going to Falls Church).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fantastic.
Do you know what they are looking at or how I can advocate for making changes?
I know many want things to stay the same but the system is not working. So, I love that they may just start over.
How do I let them know that there are people out here who support change and want to see the system re-imagined without the baggage of (my neighborhood has always gone to this school)?
Any details would be greatly appreciated.

Go to the upcoming School Board meetings, where it will be discussed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fantastic.
Do you know what they are looking at or how I can advocate for making changes?
I know many want things to stay the same but the system is not working. So, I love that they may just start over.
How do I let them know that there are people out here who support change and want to see the system re-imagined without the baggage of (my neighborhood has always gone to this school)?
Any details would be greatly appreciated.

Go to the upcoming School Board meetings, where it will be discussed.

+1

Also send email messages to your School Board members:

http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/members/bdmembers.shtml

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if these changes might include the Western part of the county - Centreville/Fairfax/Chantilly. We are severely overcrowded with long bus rides to schools that are not near us. I know many do not want to switch schools. I would welcome the opportunity to attend a school close to my home. It is a quality of life issue. So, just curious if anyone knows if this area is being looked at.

Yes.

There is a site for a new "westfield elementary" right near westfield high school. There is also supposed to be a new north west high school to relieve crowding at Westfield.

All the space, land, and seat capacity seem to be in the less-developed far western parts. It is the areas with a lot of new townhomes like that centreville to fair lakes corridor of route 29 that are the most crowded, and no space there for a new school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is an accuracy rate in the 90's for the vast majority of schools "unapologectically" inaccurate? Surely, you don't expect 100%?

Don't be dense. A 5-year old can project out 9 months. The School Board makes its decisions based on the out-year projections, and those fall considerably short of anything approaching reliable.

With the hi mobility rates of the county it makes it that much more difficult. I think they do a credible job. Projections are never 100% accurate, and expecting them to do so is ridiculous. The high 90%s are reliable enough. They show trends. Just accept the fact that Langley and Cooper will have to expand their borders and Cooper will have to accept is own AAP students that currently already live within its borders.

DP here. Why should Cooper and Langley boundaries be expanded again when they are already by far the largest in the county? Some schools have to be the smallest in the county. Why does Langley always get to stay out of boundary studies when that might mean sending Langley kids to other schools, or hand-pick other high-income neighborhoods when FCPS decides Langley is too small? Langley always benefits at the expense of everyone else in the county.

Cooper and Langley's boundaries can easily be expanded to include areas that are closer to Langley than the vast majority of its current area (near McLean Center and Tyson's/Rte 7). The additional footprint would be small, but in a more population dense area. If sidewalks/ and a crossing bridge over 123 were built, some would be able to walk to Langley, they are so close. The reason Langley has such a large area is because the houses are on MUCH larger lots than the rest of the county AND more people send their children to public school and there is a National Park and several county parks the middle of it. If McLean and Marshall continue to grow like they have been, then the boundaries will probable change at both ends (more going to Langley AND more going to Falls Church).

I think you mean more people in the Langley district send their kids to private schools, yes?

Marshall has been growing quickly but is still one of the smaller schools in the county. The enrollment at McLean has actually gone down by about 40 students since 2012, and at 2050 students it's in the bottom half of FCPS high schools in terms of enrollment. Why FCPS would rush to move kids to another school with a similar enrollment (Langley, with about 2000 kids) is beyond me, unless Facilities wants to justify the decision to expand Langley's capacity as part of its current renovation. At this point, it remains to be seen whether the various plans for Tysons will really translate into a lot more HS-age students.

As for Falls Church, I expect FCPS would consider moving kids from Stuart to Falls Church once the cohort of kids crowding schools like Bailey's and Glen Forest ES hits HS age. If it moves kids from Marshall or McLean to Falls Church, it takes that option off the table.

In comparison, it seems like the need to address some of the capacity issues in the western part of the county is immediate and more pressing, so one would hope this received more attention.

[Anonymous]

They have to make some changes by next year when the giant wave of current AAP 5th graders hits middle school.

As far as guessing their long term goals, are they prioritizing keeping people in the same region from ES through HS? Are they trying to avoid split feeders? I hope that they make changes that make sense, rather than just catering to temporary capacity issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They have to make some changes by next year when the giant wave of current AAP 5th graders hits middle school.

As far as guessing their long term goals, are they prioritizing keeping people in the same region from ES through HS? Are they trying to avoid split feeders? I hope that they make changes that make sense, rather than just catering to temporary capacity issues.

I guess you mean make changes that go into effect in 2016-17? The only 5th graders hitting middle school next year are those assigned to Poe, Holmes and Glasgow MS. Glasgow is crowded, but its AAP program isn't that huge. Both Poe and Holmes are under capacity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have to make some changes by next year when the giant wave of current AAP 5th graders hits middle school.

As far as guessing their long term goals, are they prioritizing keeping people in the same region from ES through HS? Are they trying to avoid split feeders? I hope that they make changes that make sense, rather than just catering to temporary capacity issues.

I guess you mean make changes that go into effect in 2016-17? The only 5th graders hitting middle school next year are those assigned to Poe, Holmes and Glasgow MS. Glasgow is crowded, but its AAP program isn't that huge. Both Poe and Holmes are under capacity.

Yes, sorry, that's what I meant - that they need to know what changes they are going to make during the 2015-6 year so that the current 5th graders will know where they're going in 2016

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is an accuracy rate in the 90's for the vast majority of schools "unapologectically" inaccurate? Surely, you don't expect 100%?

Don't be dense. A 5-year old can project out 9 months. The School Board makes its decisions based on the out-year projections, and those fall considerably short of anything approaching reliable.

With the hi mobility rates of the county it makes it that much more difficult. I think they do a credible job. Projections are never 100% accurate, and expecting them to do so is ridiculous. The high 90%s are reliable enough. They show trends. Just accept the fact that Langley and Cooper will have to expand their borders and Cooper will have to accept is own AAP students that currently already live within its borders.

DP here. Why should Cooper and Langley boundaries be expanded again when they are already by far the largest in the county? Some schools have to be the smallest in the county. Why does Langley always get to stay out of boundary studies when that might mean sending Langley kids to other schools, or hand-pick other high-income neighborhoods when FCPS decides Langley is too small? Langley always benefits at the expense of everyone else in the county.

Cooper and Langley's boundaries can easily be expanded to include areas that are closer to Langley than the vast majority of its current area (near McLean Center and Tyson's/Rte 7). The additional footprint would be small, but in a more population dense area. If sidewalks/ and a crossing bridge over 123 were built, some would be able to walk to Langley, they are so close. The reason Langley has such a large area is because the houses are on MUCH larger lots than the rest of the county AND more people send their children to public school and there is a National Park and several county parks the middle of it. If McLean and Marshall continue to grow like they have been, then the boundaries will probable change at both ends (more going to Langley AND more going to Falls Church).

I think you mean more people in the Langley district send their kids to private schools, yes?

Marshall has been growing quickly but is still one of the smaller schools in the county. The enrollment at McLean has actually gone down by about 40 students since 2012, and at 2050 students it's in the bottom half of FCPS high schools in terms of enrollment. Why FCPS would rush to move kids to another school with a similar enrollment (Langley, with about 2000 kids) is beyond me, unless Facilities wants to justify the decision to expand Langley's capacity as part of its current renovation. At this point, it remains to be seen whether the various plans for Tysons will really translate into a lot more HS-age students.

As for Falls Church, I expect FCPS would consider moving kids from Stuart to Falls Church once the cohort of kids crowding schools like Bailey's and Glen Forest ES hits HS age. If it moves kids from Marshall or McLean to Falls Church, it takes that option off the table.

In comparison, it seems like the need to address some of the capacity issues in the western part of the county is immediate and more pressing, so one would hope this received more attention.

Only if you're blind.....grade school and middle schools in the Tyson's area are already overcrowded because of kids moving to new development in the area and Marshall is close to capacity. If what you're thinking is that families won't move to apartments or condos, that theory has been disproved repeatedly over the past couple of years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is an accuracy rate in the 90's for the vast majority of schools "unapologectically" inaccurate? Surely, you don't expect 100%?

Don't be dense. A 5-year old can project out 9 months. The School Board makes its decisions based on the out-year projections, and those fall considerably short of anything approaching reliable.

With the hi mobility rates of the county it makes it that much more difficult. I think they do a credible job. Projections are never 100% accurate, and expecting them to do so is ridiculous. The high 90%s are reliable enough. They show trends. Just accept the fact that Langley and Cooper will have to expand their borders and Cooper will have to accept is own AAP students that currently already live within its borders.

DP here. Why should Cooper and Langley boundaries be expanded again when they are already by far the largest in the county? Some schools have to be the smallest in the county. Why does Langley always get to stay out of boundary studies when that might mean sending Langley kids to other schools, or hand-pick other high-income neighborhoods when FCPS decides Langley is too small? Langley always benefits at the expense of everyone else in the county.

Cooper and Langley's boundaries can easily be expanded to include areas that are closer to Langley than the vast majority of its current area (near McLean Center and Tyson's/Rte 7). The additional footprint would be small, but in a more population dense area. If sidewalks/ and a crossing bridge over 123 were built, some would be able to walk to Langley, they are so close. The reason Langley has such a large area is because the houses are on MUCH larger lots than the rest of the county AND more people send their children to public school and there is a National Park and several county parks the middle of it. If McLean and Marshall continue to grow like they have been, then the boundaries will probable change at both ends (more going to Langley AND more going to Falls Church).

I think you mean more people in the Langley district send their kids to private schools, yes?

Marshall has been growing quickly but is still one of the smaller schools in the county. The enrollment at McLean has actually gone down by about 40 students since 2012, and at 2050 students it's in the bottom half of FCPS high schools in terms of enrollment. Why FCPS would rush to move kids to another school with a similar enrollment (Langley, with about 2000 kids) is beyond me, unless Facilities wants to justify the decision to expand Langley's capacity as part of its current renovation. At this point, it remains to be seen whether the various plans for Tysons will really translate into a lot more HS-age students.

As for Falls Church, I expect FCPS would consider moving kids from Stuart to Falls Church once the cohort of kids crowding schools like Bailey's and Glen Forest ES hits HS age. If it moves kids from Marshall or McLean to Falls Church, it takes that option off the table.

In comparison, it seems like the need to address some of the capacity issues in the western part of the county is immediate and more pressing, so one would hope this received more attention.

Only if you're blind.....grade school and middle schools in the Tyson's area are already overcrowded because of kids moving to new development in the area and Marshall is close to capacity. If what you're thinking is that families won't move to apartments or condos, that theory has been disproved repeatedly over the past couple of years.

This is probably more of an issue in the Marshall pyramid, which includes most of Tysons. What schools are you referring to? The only schools in the McLean pyramid that had significant jumps in enrollment in recent years are Haycock and Longfellow, which had or still have a lot of out-of-boundary AAP students.

[Anonymous]

If you're redistricted out of your high school, can you place back in for AP/IB if space permits?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're redistricted out of your high school, can you place back in for AP/IB if space permits?

Usually, or if you've already started you may be grandfathered.