FCPS High School Poverty and Enrollment

[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:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

What is stopping Lewis from thriving.

Look at the assessments

https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/lewis-high#fndtn-desktopTabs-assessments

50% of the school is farms, and fcps's own study has 40% as a tipping point past which a school can't really succeed.

But why is this? Why does FARMs mean no success?

It does not mean that. But, when you have hundreds of new students in a year who do not speak English and, perhaps, have not been in school at all, there is a problem. This problem will not be solved by adding more affluent neighborhoods to the boundary.

I wish the county had a program for ESL kids with limited education. They should not be thrust into a gen ed classroom.

The problem isn't ESL kids, the problem is the limited education/the low performing students, which is not just an issue with ESL. I was an ESL kid who came to the this country and quickly a) went on to gen ed then GT classes and b) thought the science and math were far too easy. Public schools (not just FCPS) keep passing students along who have very limited grasp of the material. The number of FARMS students is just going to get higher. Not just because of immigrants. Neither side seems willing to save public schools. I think public schools will end up being for the poor while middle and upper classes will run to privates.

Middle class can't afford private. Their choice will be an even worse commute and LCPS or living with public

all privates are not Landon or Potomac. And, as long as Lewis has IB, pupil placement is relatively easy.

[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:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

What is stopping Lewis from thriving.

Look at the assessments

https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/lewis-high#fndtn-desktopTabs-assessments

50% of the school is farms, and fcps's own study has 40% as a tipping point past which a school can't really succeed.

But why is this? Why does FARMs mean no success?

It does not mean that. But, when you have hundreds of new students in a year who do not speak English and, perhaps, have not been in school at all, there is a problem. This problem will not be solved by adding more affluent neighborhoods to the boundary.

It does mean that. The resources that the school has go to meeting more basic needs and to remedial instruction.

Here is a study that FCPS commissioned laying it out.

https://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/9DG4KP71B0DB/$file/fcps_tipping-point.pdf

The gist is that "almost all schools with poverty levels of 45 percent or higher were unable to reach expected pass rate levels in reading or math. Follow‐up statistical analyses found statistical evidence that two tipping points exist in FCPS. The reading data provided the most consistent findings as it indicated two tipping points occurring at 20 and 40‐45 percent school‐level poverty. Thus, FCPS schools with greater than 20 percent poverty are much less likely to meet performance expectations than those with less than 20 percent poverty. And, once poverty levels at a school reach 40 percent or more, FCPS schools are unlikely to meet expectations for school performance."

By their own numbers, Lewis, MVHs, Annandale, West Potomac, Falls Church and Justice are all at or past the 40% tipping point and Herndon and Edison are close. Most of those schools have lower FARMs rate schools bordering them, but that would mean unpopular redistricting

Also, the poverty rate of the county is above 20%. Moving students around won't fix this problem. It's mathematically impossible.

You want homogenous school district. Well, we don't have one.

The county poverty rate is below 40% and some schools have rates well below 10% including schools that border high poverty schools.

Only MS under 10% is Cooper. Only HS under 10% is Langley.

This should be the target of every fcps, farms/poverty under 10%

[Anonymous]

If they would enforce immigration status most of these high farms and esol schools would get much better, that's the solution

[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:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

What is stopping Lewis from thriving.

Look at the assessments

https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/lewis-high#fndtn-desktopTabs-assessments

50% of the school is farms, and fcps's own study has 40% as a tipping point past which a school can't really succeed.

But why is this? Why does FARMs mean no success?

It does not mean that. But, when you have hundreds of new students in a year who do not speak English and, perhaps, have not been in school at all, there is a problem. This problem will not be solved by adding more affluent neighborhoods to the boundary.

I wish the county had a program for ESL kids with limited education. They should not be thrust into a gen ed classroom.

The problem isn't ESL kids, the problem is the limited education/the low performing students, which is not just an issue with ESL. I was an ESL kid who came to the this country and quickly a) went on to gen ed then GT classes and b) thought the science and math were far too easy. Public schools (not just FCPS) keep passing students along who have very limited grasp of the material. The number of FARMS students is just going to get higher. Not just because of immigrants. Neither side seems willing to save public schools. I think public schools will end up being for the poor while middle and upper classes will run to privates.

Middle class can't afford private. Their choice will be an even worse commute and LCPS or living with public

all privates are not Landon or Potomac. And, as long as Lewis has IB, pupil placement is relatively easy.

Unless you are Catholic, the cheapest privates are still 20k a year.

[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:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

What is stopping Lewis from thriving.

Look at the assessments

https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/lewis-high#fndtn-desktopTabs-assessments

50% of the school is farms, and fcps's own study has 40% as a tipping point past which a school can't really succeed.

But why is this? Why does FARMs mean no success?

It does not mean that. But, when you have hundreds of new students in a year who do not speak English and, perhaps, have not been in school at all, there is a problem. This problem will not be solved by adding more affluent neighborhoods to the boundary.

It does mean that. The resources that the school has go to meeting more basic needs and to remedial instruction.

Here is a study that FCPS commissioned laying it out.

https://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/9DG4KP71B0DB/$file/fcps_tipping-point.pdf

The gist is that "almost all schools with poverty levels of 45 percent or higher were unable to reach expected pass rate levels in reading or math. Follow‐up statistical analyses found statistical evidence that two tipping points exist in FCPS. The reading data provided the most consistent findings as it indicated two tipping points occurring at 20 and 40‐45 percent school‐level poverty. Thus, FCPS schools with greater than 20 percent poverty are much less likely to meet performance expectations than those with less than 20 percent poverty. And, once poverty levels at a school reach 40 percent or more, FCPS schools are unlikely to meet expectations for school performance."

By their own numbers, Lewis, MVHs, Annandale, West Potomac, Falls Church and Justice are all at or past the 40% tipping point and Herndon and Edison are close. Most of those schools have lower FARMs rate schools bordering them, but that would mean unpopular redistricting

Also, the poverty rate of the county is above 20%. Moving students around won't fix this problem. It's mathematically impossible.

You want homogenous school district. Well, we don't have one.

The county poverty rate is below 40% and some schools have rates well below 10% including schools that border high poverty schools.

Only MS under 10% is Cooper. Only HS under 10% is Langley.

This should be the target of every fcps, farms/poverty under 10%

How do you plan to do this when FCPS is 30% FARMS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

What is stopping Lewis from thriving.

The students there and their upbringing. Nothing matters more than that. If parents don’t care, neither will their kids.

You are so wrong and show very little understanding of immigrant families.

These parents care very deeply abut thir kids just as you do.

Lewis is not some gang ridden cesspool full of MS13 violent gang members.

It is a school full of working class and poor immigrant families. If you drive around that area and look at the houses, you see modest homes full of intact, generational families, that are well kept. The parents work hard, and are often entrepreneurs. But they are 1st generation with limited English proficiency and often low education levels themselves.

They are starting from a different point than the college educated, 2 high degrees, upper middle class, white collar fed families.

They want their kids to have a better life and better education than they did. That is the American Dream that we immigrants deeply believe in.

And these immigrant Lewis parents are succeeding at this. Their kids are attaining a better eduction than their parents. Maybe not at the speed you would like. Maybe not at an equal level to your affluent child of a 2 parent GS 14 Fed home with masters degrees and all the enrichment that comes with a 6 figure income. But they are achieving more academically than their parents, many of whom have little more than some sort of upper elementary of high school education.

In my opinion, the issue with Lewis in part is those parents like the one rezone Lewis/WSHS poster and the leadership of FCPS is that it is trying to use a yardstick at Lewis that many of these kids cannot meet because of their starting point. The goal should be making sure that we graduate literate students who can compute at an adult level, with skills to go to college of some sort for those who are interested and fo those who are not, that they gain the necessary skills to transition to a trade or a job so their lives improve beyond those of their parents. FCPS will not focus on preparing workers and trades at Lewis, because they don't want to be perceived at some kind ot "ist".

Improving your family's circumstances is generational, not instant. Perhaps the current Lewis immigrant kids are not Harvard bound, but their kids might be in the next generation.

[Anonymous]

Close to 200 students (196) pupil place out of Lewis. If they stayed, enrollment would be close to 1900.

Seems to me cracking down on PP would be easier for SB than redistricting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It’s a nice sentiment, but is there any proof that dropping 20% MC/UMC students into a school of low income students actually results in higher scores for the lower income students?

No. Just covers it up for the school total.

It does not help the students. It will result in more private schools. Some will move.

Disagree. Having a functioning group of students in the classroom makes a world of difference. Role models, students able to answer questions rather than just sitting there, learning about the benefits of higher education/SES, learning how to be polite/codeswitch. It drastically improves the rhythm of teaching being able to separate the trouble makers by at least three kids paying attention. The trouble makers are no longer the leaders of the classroom experience. The middle group of students who want to learn are better able to focus and be successful. The bottom 20% are much slower to change, but at least they get to see peers become successful and they can internalize that effort equals success. However, they can be very resistant resistant to intervention due to generational poverty/drugs/family issues/etc. This is where the budling relationships piece comes into play. But again that is a slow process, since these kids have a lot of trust issues and are often the most sensitive kids in the room.

But you are ignoring effects in the other direction. You are putting average/above average students into a situation where there are a group of trouble makers and some kids dont know how to be successful students. You are lowering their opportunity to just be average students in a nominal learning environment and are now looking to them to have to deal with these issues too. A lot of parents arent going to want that.

And a lot of parents are definitely NOT going to willingly put their kids into a situation where 20% are "very resistant" and have issues relating to "generational poverty/drugs/family issues/etc."

Sorry but these "role models" deserve just as much consideration as the kids at Lewis, and I think that is a disconnect in this conversation. They are not resources to be used for equity.

I wish the "role model" reasoning would go away, and I say that as a supporter of making sensible changes across the county one way or another. It's not so much that UMC kids are used as pawns to be role models, but rather that UMC kids bring critical mass to course offerings that otherwise don't exist.

And that is the actual equal opportunity problem: when parents are forced to seek alternative placements just to have the same course opportunity that all other high schools have. Because not all parents have the luxury of time and availability for driving their kids to other school sites.

I dont think the goal should be to bring MV Calc, AP Physics C, and baseball to Lewis.

The goal should to bring graduation rates and SOL numbers to a reasonable level in the demos that need it. And that will only happen when parents are held responsible. This will happen through various academic measures like holding kids back and remedial support and also disciplinarian actions like suspension and expulsion. This idea that MC/UMC kids/families will "adopt" and show the ropes to poor kids if you force them to occupy the same space is almost something out of a sitcom.

If you think you can win this battle without the parents of the kids you are interested in helping, you are sadly mistaken. It doesnt work that way and never will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

What is stopping Lewis from thriving.

Look at the assessments

https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/lewis-high#fndtn-desktopTabs-assessments

50% of the school is farms, and fcps's own study has 40% as a tipping point past which a school can't really succeed.

But why is this? Why does FARMs mean no success?

It does not mean that. But, when you have hundreds of new students in a year who do not speak English and, perhaps, have not been in school at all, there is a problem. This problem will not be solved by adding more affluent neighborhoods to the boundary.

Exactly! Meet the kids where they are and quit trying to pound them into the FCPS UVA or bust hole. Broaden trades and business/office programs at Lewis. Ditch IB for AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Close to 200 students (196) pupil place out of Lewis. If they stayed, enrollment would be close to 1900.

Seems to me cracking down on PP would be easier for SB than redistricting.

The two largest destinations for transfer were TJ and Bryant. Which group are you cracking down on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

This statement is so awful on so many levels.

What kind of adult refers to an entire group of kids like this??

Could it be that the Lewis poster is the one who "doesn't want" these kids?

No, as a member of the Lewis community myself, parents here are not referring to kids as "poors." I think we're far more likely than the average FCPS parent to be empathetic to these kids in our community because we live here. Anyone calling kids "the poors" is either a troll or beyond elitist.

We aren't asking to remove kids in poverty from our community. But we are asking for FCPS to ensure every opportunity is available for our kids that are not in poverty and that is where we see room for improvement. Our wants are the same as any other HS community: we want growth in opportunities for high-level academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

This statement is so awful on so many levels.

What kind of adult refers to an entire group of kids like this??

Could it be that the Lewis poster is the one who "doesn't want" these kids?

No, as a member of the Lewis community myself, parents here are not referring to kids as "poors." I think we're far more likely than the average FCPS parent to be empathetic to these kids in our community because we live here. Anyone calling kids "the poors" is either a troll or beyond elitist.

We aren't asking to remove kids in poverty from our community. But we are asking for FCPS to ensure every opportunity is available for our kids that are not in poverty and that is where we see room for improvement. Our wants are the same as any other HS community: we want growth in opportunities for high-level academics.

I think the person using "poors" is a troll.

I totally understand where you are coming from. But, I do think IB is part of the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

This statement is so awful on so many levels.

What kind of adult refers to an entire group of kids like this??

Could it be that the Lewis poster is the one who "doesn't want" these kids?

No, as a member of the Lewis community myself, parents here are not referring to kids as "poors." I think we're far more likely than the average FCPS parent to be empathetic to these kids in our community because we live here. Anyone calling kids "the poors" is either a troll or beyond elitist.

We aren't asking to remove kids in poverty from our community. But we are asking for FCPS to ensure every opportunity is available for our kids that are not in poverty and that is where we see room for improvement. Our wants are the same as any other HS community: we want growth in opportunities for high-level academics.

You want a catalog that mirrors McLean or Chantilly even though there is zero chance that the classes will be filled? Should Lewis offer linear algebra or multivariable calculus even if only a couple of kids will take them?

[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:Maybe electing more men to the School Board this fall will make a difference. The last time the School Board had any guts was when Stuart Gibson pushed through the boundary change in 2008 that moved kids to South Lakes.

Stu Gibson has so much guts he let the SL PTSA run the show and make the decisions. And, it was composed of IB moms.

They didn’t take the heat from the people insisting they had a God-given right to stay at their then-current schools. He did.

In comparison, current SB members are spineless ninnies.

They did not say that. If you had watched the public hearings and citizen participation--as I did--you would have seen the majority of parents begging for South Lakes to switch to AP. Many of those parents still feel that way.

Other parents were upset that this was their third switch in a very short period of time. Some parents ended up with kids who went to three different high schools--without moving.

And, if you really followed it, you would have seen the SLPTA postings on their website that outlined their plans. They took it down when the link was posted on FairfaxUnderground. But, they spelled out exactly what they wanted and did not want. They wanted NO poor neighborhoods. They made that perfectly clear. This was not about numbers, it was all about demographics. The SL PTA was a perfect example of "limousine liberals." They wanted to be at South Lakes so they could claim they were tolerant. They wanted to keep IB so they could be progressive and they wanted wealthier kids so their kids could remain isolated from the poor kids.

Of course it was also about numbers. South Lakes was at about 1400 kids at the time. Westfield had about 2900 back then.

So maybe Lewis has to lose a couple more hundred before some of these lazy SB members do something (though most of the schools had lower enrollments in 2008 so 1400 them is about like 1600-1700 now).

SL was saved from a potential "death spiral" where it would have lost its middle and upper middle class support in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a robust and popular school today thanks to the parents who pushed for the boundary change to bring in more wealthy residential areas. However, the promised AP courses were never adopted, and that's on the school board. Regarding Lewis, I don't think the school board will do anything unless the Lewis PTA or parent groups make it an issue.

Saving one school from a death spiral doesn't make the kids you don't want at the school disappear. They end up concentrated and no schools want them and no parents want their neighborhoods zoned for those schools. But hooray for keeping poors out of South Lakes and allowing it to thrive.

What is stopping Lewis from thriving.

Look at the assessments

https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/lewis-high#fndtn-desktopTabs-assessments

50% of the school is farms, and fcps's own study has 40% as a tipping point past which a school can't really succeed.

But why is this? Why does FARMs mean no success?

It does not mean that. But, when you have hundreds of new students in a year who do not speak English and, perhaps, have not been in school at all, there is a problem. This problem will not be solved by adding more affluent neighborhoods to the boundary.

High-ESOL schools are not all-ESOL schools, and ESOL students can also progress to a level where they can benefit from additional challenges. Balancing enrollments so that schools can support both their ESOL and non-ESOL populations does not mean covering up the issues that the ESOL kids face.

How can you possibly 'balance" when there are schools with 100 new ESOL students in a year.

Go through the profiles and add up the numbers. I cannot find it for the whole division--perhaps someone else can.

However, in high schools alone, there are more 1000 new ESOL students this year. You will never be able to "balance" this. Are you going to take these kids and parcel them out school by school?

Lewis could be turned into an ESOL magnet school with language immersion classes, a civic class focused on the citizenship test, practical classes like personal finance and classes on geography, cultural competency (major US holidays, different regions of the US, driving safety such as using crosswalks and proper direction for biking, etc)

Have the usual arts, music programs. Give math classes in the native language, with bilingual or multi lingual teachers and aides.

Include a vibrant trades program along eith business classes and basic employment law classes (OSHA, work permits for younger kids/age limits for teen employment, etc) so these immigrants are not taken advantage of in the work force.

Provide county wide transportation.

Provide evening language, cultural and citizenship classes for the parents, perhaps with math and language enrichment for younger siblings and academic tutoring/clubs for high school students at the same time.

Offer sports and activities that the kids are interested in.

Rezone non ESOL Lewis kids to neighboring schools with space (Hayfield, LB, Edison and South County) with transportation, but allow them to place into farther out schools with space if they provide their own transportation.

This would be far better use of resources than a social justice politics magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It’s a nice sentiment, but is there any proof that dropping 20% MC/UMC students into a school of low income students actually results in higher scores for the lower income students?

No. Just covers it up for the school total.

It does not help the students. It will result in more private schools. Some will move.

Disagree. Having a functioning group of students in the classroom makes a world of difference. Role models, students able to answer questions rather than just sitting there, learning about the benefits of higher education/SES, learning how to be polite/codeswitch. It drastically improves the rhythm of teaching being able to separate the trouble makers by at least three kids paying attention. The trouble makers are no longer the leaders of the classroom experience. The middle group of students who want to learn are better able to focus and be successful. The bottom 20% are much slower to change, but at least they get to see peers become successful and they can internalize that effort equals success. However, they can be very resistant resistant to intervention due to generational poverty/drugs/family issues/etc. This is where the budling relationships piece comes into play. But again that is a slow process, since these kids have a lot of trust issues and are often the most sensitive kids in the room.

Never taught high school, huh.