FCPS comprehensive boundary review

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know when these decisions plan to be finalized, most importantly regarding the Langley pyramid?

NO. No one knows anything and this entire thread is speculative. There are a few posters who seem to love getting everyone riled up with their hypotheticals, but they don't know anything more than the rest of us. Best to just ignore them.

Are you including the Langley posters who keep coming up with hypotheticals to move anyone but Langley kids into Herndon? They’ve been quite active here.

I'm including anyone and everyone who keeps throwing out hypotheticals of any kind - to include all of the posters who don't even have kids at Langley but feel entitled to opine about where those kids should be moved.

Tell your neighbors to pipe down then. There’s no group that spends more time trying to map out boundary changes that would move kids at other schools, but not their schools, than Langley parents.

F off. No one in the Langley pyramid wants ANY kids moved. We just want you to stop pushing to move our kids when there is no justification for it.

You’re obsessed with Langley for some reason. Get over it.

No justification 🤣🤣🤣did you forget the part where there is a highschool 3 miles away instead of 12. You just don't like the justifications. That doesn't mean they don't exist.

New Year, same drivel from the equity warriors.

Lolllllllllll.....i don't think equity means what you think it means.
Laughable how some folks try to use one word to scare away people when presented with sound and reasonable arguments.

The only type of “equity” some of these folks acknowledge as legitimate is the equity in their homes. They treat any other notion of equity or fairness as an obscenity.

I believe strongly in equality. That’s how I was raised, and I believe most people, even most democrats, believe strongly in those principles over equity. I also think that the left is hemorrhaging votes based on its insistence on equity over equality.

Attention friends! Do you need equity versus equality explained to you?!

https://interactioninstitute.org/illustrating-equality-vs-equity/

Your take isn't as great as you think it is.

I’ve seen that before, I just don’t believe that society should be picking winners and losers that way.

I spoke intentionally and with understanding of what I was saying, but you’ve never really been interested in a dialogue.

I’m fairly confident most people reject that worldview. But don’t take my word for it, just look back to November. Dems are bleeding support from almost every cross section. That’s not by accident.

In the interest of dialogue...i too used to think like you. Then people/situations kind of opened my eyes to the fact that not everybody experiences life in the same way because everybody is starting at different points.

This can easily be related to the school scenarios by comparing and contrasting different resources students are offered in different pyramids.

DP. Which is why Title 1 schools receive far more funding than other schools. And what do they have to show for it?

You sound like the type who'd remove the Title I funding just to find out. It's hard to imagine ELL students would learn more quickly if they were in larger classrooms.

Huh? I wouldn't remove Title 1 funding - I'd simply like to see it be put to good use. So far, it doesn't seem like all that extra funding has done one thing to improve those schools.

Title I, not Title 1. Perhaps you’re not an expert in these matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2022 data:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fcps-high-schools-ranked-among-best-virginia-and-nation-us-news-and-world-report

There is a reason that parents with students at the top of this list don’t want their children to be redistricted to schools at the bottom of the list. It has nothing to do with racism. Why would any parent welcome a boundary adjustment from one of the top high schools in the county/country to one of high schools on the bottom of this list?

2023

https://www.fcps.edu/news/six-fcps-high-schools-rank-among-virginias-best-us-news-world-report

The only FCPS high schools listed are the schools in the top 10 in VA:

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, #1
McLean High School, #4
Langley High School, #5
Oakton High School, #6
Marshall High School, #9
W.T. Woodson High School, #10

Why did you list 2023 instead of 2024?

#1 - TJ
#2 - Langley
#3 - McLean
#4 - Oakton
#5 - McLean
#6 - Marshall
#9 - Madison
#10 - West Springfield

FCPS didn’t do a press release for 2024. It doesn’t seem wise for them to show how much better some FCPS schools are compared to others (according to state/national rankings). With so many people upset about potential boundary adjustments, I’m sure FCPS will try to limit rankings or anything else that would show the education students receive is not the same at every high school.

+1
Well, I'll make sure to list rankings at every opportunity.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know when these decisions plan to be finalized, most importantly regarding the Langley pyramid?

NO. No one knows anything and this entire thread is speculative. There are a few posters who seem to love getting everyone riled up with their hypotheticals, but they don't know anything more than the rest of us. Best to just ignore them.

Are you including the Langley posters who keep coming up with hypotheticals to move anyone but Langley kids into Herndon? They’ve been quite active here.

I'm including anyone and everyone who keeps throwing out hypotheticals of any kind - to include all of the posters who don't even have kids at Langley but feel entitled to opine about where those kids should be moved.

Tell your neighbors to pipe down then. There’s no group that spends more time trying to map out boundary changes that would move kids at other schools, but not their schools, than Langley parents.

F off. No one in the Langley pyramid wants ANY kids moved. We just want you to stop pushing to move our kids when there is no justification for it.

You’re obsessed with Langley for some reason. Get over it.

No justification 🤣🤣🤣did you forget the part where there is a highschool 3 miles away instead of 12. You just don't like the justifications. That doesn't mean they don't exist.

New Year, same drivel from the equity warriors.

Lolllllllllll.....i don't think equity means what you think it means.
Laughable how some folks try to use one word to scare away people when presented with sound and reasonable arguments.

The only type of “equity” some of these folks acknowledge as legitimate is the equity in their homes. They treat any other notion of equity or fairness as an obscenity.

I believe strongly in equality. That’s how I was raised, and I believe most people, even most democrats, believe strongly in those principles over equity. I also think that the left is hemorrhaging votes based on its insistence on equity over equality.

Attention friends! Do you need equity versus equality explained to you?!

https://interactioninstitute.org/illustrating-equality-vs-equity/

Your take isn't as great as you think it is.

I’ve seen that before, I just don’t believe that society should be picking winners and losers that way.

I spoke intentionally and with understanding of what I was saying, but you’ve never really been interested in a dialogue.

I’m fairly confident most people reject that worldview. But don’t take my word for it, just look back to November. Dems are bleeding support from almost every cross section. That’s not by accident.

In the interest of dialogue...i too used to think like you. Then people/situations kind of opened my eyes to the fact that not everybody experiences life in the same way because everybody is starting at different points.

This can easily be related to the school scenarios by comparing and contrasting different resources students are offered in different pyramids.

DP. Which is why Title 1 schools receive far more funding than other schools. And what do they have to show for it?

You sound like the type who'd remove the Title I funding just to find out. It's hard to imagine ELL students would learn more quickly if they were in larger classrooms.

Huh? I wouldn't remove Title 1 funding - I'd simply like to see it be put to good use. So far, it doesn't seem like all that extra funding has done one thing to improve those schools.

Title I, not Title 1. Perhaps you’re not an expert in these matters.

Goodness. Pedantic much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2022 data:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fcps-high-schools-ranked-among-best-virginia-and-nation-us-news-and-world-report

There is a reason that parents with students at the top of this list don’t want their children to be redistricted to schools at the bottom of the list. It has nothing to do with racism. Why would any parent welcome a boundary adjustment from one of the top high schools in the county/country to one of high schools on the bottom of this list?

2023

https://www.fcps.edu/news/six-fcps-high-schools-rank-among-virginias-best-us-news-world-report

The only FCPS high schools listed are the schools in the top 10 in VA:

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, #1
McLean High School, #4
Langley High School, #5
Oakton High School, #6
Marshall High School, #9
W.T. Woodson High School, #10

Why did you list 2023 instead of 2024?

#1 - TJ
#2 - Langley
#3 - McLean
#4 - Oakton
#5 - McLean
#6 - Marshall
#9 - Madison
#10 - West Springfield

They are probably a Woodson parent upset that Woodson dropped of the list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In the interest of dialogue...i too used to think like you. Then people/situations kind of opened my eyes to the fact that not everybody experiences life in the same way because everybody is starting at different points.

This can easily be related to the school scenarios by comparing and contrasting different resources students are offered in different pyramids.


DP. Which is why Title 1 schools receive far more funding than other schools. And what do they have to show for it?

Neither PP here:
I taught Title I a long time ago. Here is my observation: Title I funds are not always used in the best interests of the students.
Bureaucrats skim off funds for many useless things and programs. The funds do not always get to the classroom instruction and students. I don't know about FCPS today, but I would suggest that someone do a really good audit.
For example: how much of the funds go to administrators and others who do not work with the students?

Impact aid is also supposed to follow tge student.

It doesn't.

FCPS just puts it into the community pot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2022 data:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fcps-high-schools-ranked-among-best-virginia-and-nation-us-news-and-world-report

There is a reason that parents with students at the top of this list don’t want their children to be redistricted to schools at the bottom of the list. It has nothing to do with racism. Why would any parent welcome a boundary adjustment from one of the top high schools in the county/country to one of high schools on the bottom of this list?

Lower-ranked school has space, was more recently renovated, may offer more opportunities for kids to make teams or get certain positions in plays or in bands, may be perceived as friendlier, etc. Reactions could also depend on whether families know each other from existing split feeders.

The numbers don’t support this:

Transfers out of school 2024-2025 School Year:
Herndon 309
Lewis 251
Mount Vernon 367
West Potomac 189

Current Capacity/Capacity if students stayed at zoned school:
Herndon 81%/92.4%
Lewis 87%/99.8%
Mount Vernon 75%/90%
West Potomac 92%/98%

The school board really needs to look at the schools that are over and under capacity and limit the number of transfers out of low capacity schools and into high capacity schools.

Wow, seems like a solution staring them in the face, though I’d rather them just not make unnecessary moves in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2022 data:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fcps-high-schools-ranked-among-best-virginia-and-nation-us-news-and-world-report

There is a reason that parents with students at the top of this list don’t want their children to be redistricted to schools at the bottom of the list. It has nothing to do with racism. Why would any parent welcome a boundary adjustment from one of the top high schools in the county/country to one of high schools on the bottom of this list?

2023

https://www.fcps.edu/news/six-fcps-high-schools-rank-among-virginias-best-us-news-world-report

The only FCPS high schools listed are the schools in the top 10 in VA:

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, #1
McLean High School, #4
Langley High School, #5
Oakton High School, #6
Marshall High School, #9
W.T. Woodson High School, #10

Why did you list 2023 instead of 2024?

#1 - TJ
#2 - Langley
#3 - McLean
#4 - Oakton
#5 - McLean
#6 - Marshall
#9 - Madison
#10 - West Springfield

FCPS didn’t do a press release for 2024. It doesn’t seem wise for them to show how much better some FCPS schools are compared to others (according to state/national rankings). With so many people upset about potential boundary adjustments, I’m sure FCPS will try to limit rankings or anything else that would show the education students receive is not the same at every high school.

But rankings don't show the "education students receive is not the same at every high school", it just shows that some schools are more affluent than others. School rankings tend to be measures of student body wealth (or aptitude in case of magnets) moreso than school quality, but people often conflate these things... sometimes intentionally and sometimes out of ignorance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2022 data:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fcps-high-schools-ranked-among-best-virginia-and-nation-us-news-and-world-report

There is a reason that parents with students at the top of this list don’t want their children to be redistricted to schools at the bottom of the list. It has nothing to do with racism. Why would any parent welcome a boundary adjustment from one of the top high schools in the county/country to one of high schools on the bottom of this list?

Lower-ranked school has space, was more recently renovated, may offer more opportunities for kids to make teams or get certain positions in plays or in bands, may be perceived as friendlier, etc. Reactions could also depend on whether families know each other from existing split feeders.

The numbers don’t support this:

Transfers out of school 2024-2025 School Year:
Herndon 309
Lewis 251
Mount Vernon 367
West Potomac 189

Current Capacity/Capacity if students stayed at zoned school:
Herndon 81%/92.4%
Lewis 87%/99.8%
Mount Vernon 75%/90%
West Potomac 92%/98%

The school board really needs to look at the schools that are over and under capacity and limit the number of transfers out of low capacity schools and into high capacity schools.

Wow, seems like a solution staring them in the face, though I’d rather them just not make unnecessary moves in the first place.

I am curious - how many of the Mount Vernon transfers are the military students who live on Ft. Belvoir and are allowed, by VA state law, to transfer to any school within the county? I know this board always says "get rid of IB and students will return to MVHS." I'm sure alot of the transfers are IB to AP transfers but how many are military transfers that FCPS can't do anything about, except restore the reputation of the school?

Description
In accordance with Section § 22.1-7.2 of the Code of Virginia, upon request by a parent or guardian, FCPS provides for open enrollment for students residing on a military installation in military housing located within Fairfax County.

Required Documentation
Parents must provide the enrolled school with a current resident occupancy agreement from The Villages at Belvoir. If the lease date is not current, a letter from the community management office is also required.
The school acknowledges receipt of the documentation in the Student Information System (SIS).
After documentation is in SIS, the following business day the enrolling parent may submit an online student transfer application.
Instructions for submitting application for Resident on Military Installation.

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter1/section22.1-7.2/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2022 data:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fcps-high-schools-ranked-among-best-virginia-and-nation-us-news-and-world-report

There is a reason that parents with students at the top of this list don’t want their children to be redistricted to schools at the bottom of the list. It has nothing to do with racism. Why would any parent welcome a boundary adjustment from one of the top high schools in the county/country to one of high schools on the bottom of this list?

Lower-ranked school has space, was more recently renovated, may offer more opportunities for kids to make teams or get certain positions in plays or in bands, may be perceived as friendlier, etc. Reactions could also depend on whether families know each other from existing split feeders.

The numbers don’t support this:

Transfers out of school 2024-2025 School Year:
Herndon 309
Lewis 251
Mount Vernon 367
West Potomac 189

Current Capacity/Capacity if students stayed at zoned school:
Herndon 81%/92.4%
Lewis 87%/99.8%
Mount Vernon 75%/90%
West Potomac 92%/98%

The school board really needs to look at the schools that are over and under capacity and limit the number of transfers out of low capacity schools and into high capacity schools.

Where can you find the transfer numbers?

I know most on this thread seem only focused on the McLean/Langley/Herndon possibilities - not sure why Lewis is discussed since it does not seem to impact the majority of authors on this thread.

I would like to look at the Springfield area - since there is no mention of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2022 data:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fcps-high-schools-ranked-among-best-virginia-and-nation-us-news-and-world-report

There is a reason that parents with students at the top of this list don’t want their children to be redistricted to schools at the bottom of the list. It has nothing to do with racism. Why would any parent welcome a boundary adjustment from one of the top high schools in the county/country to one of high schools on the bottom of this list?

Lower-ranked school has space, was more recently renovated, may offer more opportunities for kids to make teams or get certain positions in plays or in bands, may be perceived as friendlier, etc. Reactions could also depend on whether families know each other from existing split feeders.

The numbers don’t support this:

Transfers out of school 2024-2025 School Year:
Herndon 309
Lewis 251
Mount Vernon 367
West Potomac 189

Current Capacity/Capacity if students stayed at zoned school:
Herndon 81%/92.4%
Lewis 87%/99.8%
Mount Vernon 75%/90%
West Potomac 92%/98%

The school board really needs to look at the schools that are over and under capacity and limit the number of transfers out of low capacity schools and into high capacity schools.

Wow. This is really enlightening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2022 data:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fcps-high-schools-ranked-among-best-virginia-and-nation-us-news-and-world-report

There is a reason that parents with students at the top of this list don’t want their children to be redistricted to schools at the bottom of the list. It has nothing to do with racism. Why would any parent welcome a boundary adjustment from one of the top high schools in the county/country to one of high schools on the bottom of this list?

2023

https://www.fcps.edu/news/six-fcps-high-schools-rank-among-virginias-best-us-news-world-report

The only FCPS high schools listed are the schools in the top 10 in VA:

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, #1
McLean High School, #4
Langley High School, #5
Oakton High School, #6
Marshall High School, #9
W.T. Woodson High School, #10

Why did you list 2023 instead of 2024?

#1 - TJ
#2 - Langley
#3 - McLean
#4 - Oakton
#5 - McLean
#6 - Marshall
#9 - Madison
#10 - West Springfield

FCPS didn’t do a press release for 2024. It doesn’t seem wise for them to show how much better some FCPS schools are compared to others (according to state/national rankings). With so many people upset about potential boundary adjustments, I’m sure FCPS will try to limit rankings or anything else that would show the education students receive is not the same at every high school.

But rankings don't show the "education students receive is not the same at every high school", it just shows that some schools are more affluent than others. School rankings tend to be measures of student body wealth (or aptitude in case of magnets) moreso than school quality, but people often conflate these things... sometimes intentionally and sometimes out of ignorance.

I don’t really buy this. There may be a correlation between student body affluence and rankings, but these rankings disclose the criteria, and the criteria is legitimate and makes sense to most people (e.g. test scores, graduation rates, etc.).

Again, there may be a correlation between student body attributes and rankings, but a lot of what they measure are student outcomes that many parents value when choosing a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2022 data:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fcps-high-schools-ranked-among-best-virginia-and-nation-us-news-and-world-report

There is a reason that parents with students at the top of this list don’t want their children to be redistricted to schools at the bottom of the list. It has nothing to do with racism. Why would any parent welcome a boundary adjustment from one of the top high schools in the county/country to one of high schools on the bottom of this list?

Lower-ranked school has space, was more recently renovated, may offer more opportunities for kids to make teams or get certain positions in plays or in bands, may be perceived as friendlier, etc. Reactions could also depend on whether families know each other from existing split feeders.

The numbers don’t support this:

Transfers out of school 2024-2025 School Year:
Herndon 309
Lewis 251
Mount Vernon 367
West Potomac 189

Current Capacity/Capacity if students stayed at zoned school:
Herndon 81%/92.4%
Lewis 87%/99.8%
Mount Vernon 75%/90%
West Potomac 92%/98%

The school board really needs to look at the schools that are over and under capacity and limit the number of transfers out of low capacity schools and into high capacity schools.

While I agree that looking at transfers is a good place to start, the numbers above are somewhat misleading. You would need to have more details on the number of voluntary pupil placements. I believe some of the numbers above represent students not transferring voluntarily, but for special education purposes or perhaps disciplinary reasons.

Still agree that FCPS needs to do as much as possible to eliminate the voluntary pupil placements.

[Anonymous]

I am curious - how many of the Mount Vernon transfers are the military students who live on Ft. Belvoir and are allowed, by VA state law, to transfer to any school within the county? I know this board always says "get rid of IB and students will return to MVHS." I'm sure alot of the transfers are IB to AP transfers but how many are military transfers that FCPS can't do anything about, except restore the reputation of the school?

I am guessing that many of the transfers could be military--but doubt that it is more than half.
Military kids tend to me younger as parents begin to retire as the children reach teens. If you look at the membership numbers of the Fort Belvoir elementary schools, you will see that the number goes down with every school year. I taught in a DOD school that had six large first grade classes and three small sixth grade classes.

[Anonymous]

While I agree that looking at transfers is a good place to start, the numbers above are somewhat misleading. You would need to have more details on the number of voluntary pupil placements. I believe some of the numbers above represent students not transferring voluntarily, but for special education purposes or perhaps disciplinary reasons.

Still agree that FCPS needs to do as much as possible to eliminate the voluntary pupil placements.

The key is to compare these schools to so called "successful" schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2022 data:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fcps-high-schools-ranked-among-best-virginia-and-nation-us-news-and-world-report

There is a reason that parents with students at the top of this list don’t want their children to be redistricted to schools at the bottom of the list. It has nothing to do with racism. Why would any parent welcome a boundary adjustment from one of the top high schools in the county/country to one of high schools on the bottom of this list?

Lower-ranked school has space, was more recently renovated, may offer more opportunities for kids to make teams or get certain positions in plays or in bands, may be perceived as friendlier, etc. Reactions could also depend on whether families know each other from existing split feeders.

The numbers don’t support this:

Transfers out of school 2024-2025 School Year:
Herndon 309
Lewis 251
Mount Vernon 367
West Potomac 189

Current Capacity/Capacity if students stayed at zoned school:
Herndon 81%/92.4%
Lewis 87%/99.8%
Mount Vernon 75%/90%
West Potomac 92%/98%

The school board really needs to look at the schools that are over and under capacity and limit the number of transfers out of low capacity schools and into high capacity schools.

While I agree that looking at transfers is a good place to start, the numbers above are somewhat misleading. You would need to have more details on the number of voluntary pupil placements. I believe some of the numbers above represent students not transferring voluntarily, but for special education purposes or perhaps disciplinary reasons.

Still agree that FCPS needs to do as much as possible to eliminate the voluntary pupil placements.

I consider this the lowest hanging fruit for basically each of the 8130 categories. It’s the easiest first step in this process, and as PP points out, would almost instantly fix capacity issues.