Is Falls Church High School bad?

[Anonymous]

I pay a mortgage too.

I would love it if every single house around me is torn down and replaced by a 800k NDI home - so that the income demographics of the neighborhood would go up but I would still have a nicer house than everyone else. Gotta stay superior somehow.

Do you know why new developments have below market units? It's so they can get their zoning application passed and overbuild for the site.

Do you know how you can snag yourself a below market unit? You have to fill out paperwork, continue to verify information incl income (which may be hard for those in the cash economy), wait around, and then try to win the lottery to get to select the unit with very little lead time. [it's not an actual lottery but it will feel like it]

Did you know that Fairfax has less than 2,000 below market units?

I used to rent in a development that had below market units. I just looked - you have to have a minimum income of 34k to be eligible to apply to wait around for a 1BR in that development to pop up.

Sure, raze the "tenement" buildings and then have people wait around for months/years until they can get below market units.. oh, the below market unit is 20 miles from where you used to live and so your kids have to go to a different school? What, you don't want it? Ok, we're taking you off the list then.

If you care about horrific slumlords, then lobby for stronger Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act provisions - it applies to landlords with 4+ rental units. Protections are decent, but could be better.

Thinking that 'below market units' will protect those who live in what you call tenement housing now is darn naive. And they are not tenements - they're called garden apartments and most around here were built for returning GIs and their families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is not going to change going forward because the high density housing that feeds into FCHS will not go away (nor should it).

Really? I live near seven corners, and I would love nothing more than to see all the tenement-style dwellings in SC razed, and have something better built in their place.

I don't think the route 50 garden apartments are as bad as seven corners/bailey's crossroads, though.

Sure, sounds great to reduce lower priced (rental) housing stock. Easy to say when you don't struggle to find the money to pay the rent.

Working class people need to live somewhere you know. Do you really think your "better built" solutions would cost them the same per month?

Because I pay a mortgage. And my husband and I are most certainly working class. Also, any newly developed multi-family dwellings have to have a certain percentage of below market rate units built in.

But no, you would rather see tenement style dwellings that are owned by horrific slumlords, stuffed with multiple families.

Because I pay a mortgage.

- my point, exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is not going to change going forward because the high density housing that feeds into FCHS will not go away (nor should it).

Really? I live near seven corners, and I would love nothing more than to see all the tenement-style dwellings in SC razed, and have something better built in their place.

I don't think the route 50 garden apartments are as bad as seven corners/bailey's crossroads, though.

I go into a lot of these apts as part of my work. The complexes just west of Graham Road on both sides of Rt. 50 are absolutely luxurious compared to Culmore. Seven Corners is a mixed bag, some are really bad and some are OK. Culmore though is uniformly awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is not going to change going forward because the high density housing that feeds into FCHS will not go away (nor should it).

Really? I live near seven corners, and I would love nothing more than to see all the tenement-style dwellings in SC razed, and have something better built in their place.

I don't think the route 50 garden apartments are as bad as seven corners/bailey's crossroads, though.

I go into a lot of these apts as part of my work. The complexes just west of Graham Road on both sides of Rt. 50 are absolutely luxurious compared to Culmore. Seven Corners is a mixed bag, some are really bad and some are OK. Culmore though is uniformly awful.

Same PP here. To tie this back into the discussion of schools: The LL's in Culmore turn a blind eye to overcrowding to a much greater extent than perhaps anywhere else in Ffx Co. This means that an equal number of units will hold a much greater number of kids. So, this affects Stuart much more than Falls Church.

The "bad neighborhoods" feeding into Stuart are the Culmore apartments, which will never ever be good, not in a million years. The "bad neighborhoods" feeding into Falls Church consist in large parts of junky SFH's, which are, little by little, being upgraded and gentrified. So I see Falls Church slowly getting better while Stuart stagnates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is not going to change going forward because the high density housing that feeds into FCHS will not go away (nor should it).

Really? I live near seven corners, and I would love nothing more than to see all the tenement-style dwellings in SC razed, and have something better built in their place.

I don't think the route 50 garden apartments are as bad as seven corners/bailey's crossroads, though.

I go into a lot of these apts as part of my work. The complexes just west of Graham Road on both sides of Rt. 50 are absolutely luxurious compared to Culmore. Seven Corners is a mixed bag, some are really bad and some are OK. Culmore though is uniformly awful.

Same PP here. To tie this back into the discussion of schools: The LL's in Culmore turn a blind eye to overcrowding to a much greater extent than perhaps anywhere else in Ffx Co. This means that an equal number of units will hold a much greater number of kids. So, this affects Stuart much more than Falls Church.

The "bad neighborhoods" feeding into Stuart are the Culmore apartments, which will never ever be good, not in a million years. The "bad neighborhoods" feeding into Falls Church consist in large parts of junky SFH's, which are, little by little, being upgraded and gentrified. So I see Falls Church slowly getting better while Stuart stagnates.

I think the short to intermediate prospects for both Falls Church and Stuart are mixed (could go either way), and the prospects for Annandale are negative.

As you say, FC has fewer awful apartments than Stuart, but the school is in crappy shape and FCPS did a demographic hatchet job on Poe, one of its two MS feeders to FC. On the plus side, the current principal is good and the SFH neighborhoods are improving.

Stuart has some terrible, seriously overcrowded apartments, but more higher-end housing than FC and FCPS has also been loading up both Stuart and Glasgow with talented administrators over the past year.

FCPS did a demographic hatchet job on Annandale by moving SFH neighborhoods out of Annandale to Lake Braddock, Woodson, Falls Church and Edison. Some of the older garden apartments off 236 aren't much better than Culmore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is not going to change going forward because the high density housing that feeds into FCHS will not go away (nor should it).

Really? I live near seven corners, and I would love nothing more than to see all the tenement-style dwellings in SC razed, and have something better built in their place.

I don't think the route 50 garden apartments are as bad as seven corners/bailey's crossroads, though.

I go into a lot of these apts as part of my work. The complexes just west of Graham Road on both sides of Rt. 50 are absolutely luxurious compared to Culmore. Seven Corners is a mixed bag, some are really bad and some are OK. Culmore though is uniformly awful.

Same PP here. To tie this back into the discussion of schools: The LL's in Culmore turn a blind eye to overcrowding to a much greater extent than perhaps anywhere else in Ffx Co. This means that an equal number of units will hold a much greater number of kids. So, this affects Stuart much more than Falls Church.

The "bad neighborhoods" feeding into Stuart are the Culmore apartments, which will never ever be good, not in a million years. The "bad neighborhoods" feeding into Falls Church consist in large parts of junky SFH's, which are, little by little, being upgraded and gentrified. So I see Falls Church slowly getting better while Stuart stagnates.

Thank you for this assessment. It sounds like you actually know the area and the trends. I believe this is the most spot on assessment in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is not going to change going forward because the high density housing that feeds into FCHS will not go away (nor should it).

Really? I live near seven corners, and I would love nothing more than to see all the tenement-style dwellings in SC razed, and have something better built in their place.

I don't think the route 50 garden apartments are as bad as seven corners/bailey's crossroads, though.

I go into a lot of these apts as part of my work. The complexes just west of Graham Road on both sides of Rt. 50 are absolutely luxurious compared to Culmore. Seven Corners is a mixed bag, some are really bad and some are OK. Culmore though is uniformly awful.

Same PP here. To tie this back into the discussion of schools: The LL's in Culmore turn a blind eye to overcrowding to a much greater extent than perhaps anywhere else in Ffx Co. This means that an equal number of units will hold a much greater number of kids. So, this affects Stuart much more than Falls Church.

The "bad neighborhoods" feeding into Stuart are the Culmore apartments, which will never ever be good, not in a million years. The "bad neighborhoods" feeding into Falls Church consist in large parts of junky SFH's, which are, little by little, being upgraded and gentrified. So I see Falls Church slowly getting better while Stuart stagnates.

I think the short to intermediate prospects for both Falls Church and Stuart are mixed (could go either way), and the prospects for Annandale are negative.

As you say, FC has fewer awful apartments than Stuart, but the school is in crappy shape and FCPS did a demographic hatchet job on Poe, one of its two MS feeders to FC. On the plus side, the current principal is good and the SFH neighborhoods are improving.

Stuart has some terrible, seriously overcrowded apartments, but more higher-end housing than FC and FCPS has also been loading up both Stuart and Glasgow with talented administrators over the past year.

FCPS did a demographic hatchet job on Annandale by moving SFH neighborhoods out of Annandale to Lake Braddock, Woodson, Falls Church and Edison. Some of the older garden apartments off 236 aren't much better than Culmore.

If you are referring to Fairmont Gardens, I agree, just as bad as Culmore. But the county-owned property, Wedgewood, does an extremely good job of making sure its tenants comply with their leases. And the Avant is a bit better than Fairmont Gardens, with less overcrowding.

The common factor in the terrible conditions at Fairmont Gardens and Culmore? Three letters -- JBG.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I pay a mortgage too.

I would love it if every single house around me is torn down and replaced by a 800k NDI home - so that the income demographics of the neighborhood would go up but I would still have a nicer house than everyone else. Gotta stay superior somehow.

Do you know why new developments have below market units? It's so they can get their zoning application passed and overbuild for the site.

Do you know how you can snag yourself a below market unit? You have to fill out paperwork, continue to verify information incl income (which may be hard for those in the cash economy), wait around, and then try to win the lottery to get to select the unit with very little lead time. [it's not an actual lottery but it will feel like it]

Did you know that Fairfax has less than 2,000 below market units?

I used to rent in a development that had below market units. I just looked - you have to have a minimum income of 34k to be eligible to apply to wait around for a 1BR in that development to pop up.

Sure, raze the "tenement" buildings and then have people wait around for months/years until they can get below market units.. oh, the below market unit is 20 miles from where you used to live and so your kids have to go to a different school? What, you don't want it? Ok, we're taking you off the list then.

If you care about horrific slumlords, then lobby for stronger Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act provisions - it applies to landlords with 4+ rental units. Protections are decent, but could be better.

Thinking that 'below market units' will protect those who live in what you call tenement housing now is darn naive. And they are not tenements - they're called garden apartments and most around here were built for returning GIs and their families.

I'd send JGB a basket if they razed Olde Salem Village in Culmore.

In fact, I will cheer on any revitalization of Fairfax County east. And to tie this all back into schools on this side - they would improve GREATLY if the BOS expanded the revitalization plans for Seven Corners, Bailey's and Falls Church.

Otherwise, I would like a discount on my property taxes. People in other parts of the county are getting a MUCH better bang for their buck, while I sit here next to sub par schools and crumbling roads.

[Anonymous]

i'm a current FCHS student and all i have to say is one thing -- all FCPS schools are great and if your child does good at falls church they will end up at a great school and receive a great education. you really can't go wrong with any FCPS school

[Anonymous]

* does good. I think I'll try for LB or Robinson.

FCHS has potential. There are some nice houses in the district, but lots of ESL/low SES bogs down achievement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:* does good. I think I'll try for LB or Robinson.

FCHS has potential. There are some nice houses in the district, but lots of ESL/low SES bogs down achievement.

I'd rather have my child at a small HS rather than a gigantic HS even if the SES was lower at the small school. As long as there is safety at the lower SES/smaller school... it would be my preference. Robinson and LB are HUGE!

[Anonymous]

After reading this thread I realize how segregated fcps are. FCPS should do a better job of integrating schools with different incomes and then hopefully more kids get a better education.
Practically speaking there would be too much protest to ever make that happen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After reading this thread I realize how segregated fcps are. FCPS should do a better job of integrating schools with different incomes and then hopefully more kids get a better education.
Practically speaking there would be too much protest to ever make that happen

The county can make a huge, immediate impact on this by enforcing housing codes in Bailey's Crossroads. No need to bus kids away from their neighborhoods to achieve balance. As other pps have noted, the housing codes in Culmore are totally not enforced. There are sometimes three families living in one bedroom apartments. That results in overcrowding of the schools, and significantly affects the SES balance of the schools, resulting in adverse results on test scores and actual learning. I guarantee you, if Fairfax County didn't allow violations of these codes to go on in such a rampant fashion, the schools in the eastern part of the county would be in way better shape. This is the truth, but this will never happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading this thread I realize how segregated fcps are. FCPS should do a better job of integrating schools with different incomes and then hopefully more kids get a better education.
Practically speaking there would be too much protest to ever make that happen

The county can make a huge, immediate impact on this by enforcing housing codes in Bailey's Crossroads. No need to bus kids away from their neighborhoods to achieve balance. As other pps have noted, the housing codes in Culmore are totally not enforced. There are sometimes three families living in one bedroom apartments. That results in overcrowding of the schools, and significantly affects the SES balance of the schools, resulting in adverse results on test scores and actual learning. I guarantee you, if Fairfax County didn't allow violations of these codes to go on in such a rampant fashion, the schools in the eastern part of the county would be in way better shape. This is the truth, but this will never happen.

+1000. Kids wouldn't have to go to school in an office building in Seven Corners if housing codes were enforced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading this thread I realize how segregated fcps are. FCPS should do a better job of integrating schools with different incomes and then hopefully more kids get a better education.
Practically speaking there would be too much protest to ever make that happen

The county can make a huge, immediate impact on this by enforcing housing codes in Bailey's Crossroads. No need to bus kids away from their neighborhoods to achieve balance. As other pps have noted, the housing codes in Culmore are totally not enforced. There are sometimes three families living in one bedroom apartments. That results in overcrowding of the schools, and significantly affects the SES balance of the schools, resulting in adverse results on test scores and actual learning. I guarantee you, if Fairfax County didn't allow violations of these codes to go on in such a rampant fashion, the schools in the eastern part of the county would be in way better shape. This is the truth, but this will never happen.

+1000. Kids wouldn't have to go to school in an office building in Seven Corners if housing codes were enforced.

With the new projections by Facilities, the growth is not anticipated to be as large as originally thought.

http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=A3R2BE6B7D31