FCPS High School Poverty and Enrollment

[Anonymous]

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.

Never taught high school, huh.

or elementary school +1

[Anonymous]

It blows my mind how Langley just had to snap its fingers when its enrollment was declining and they not only got kids from McLean reassigned to Langley, but also to cherry-pick the neighborhoods they wanted. But Lewis circles the drain with hundreds fewer students than Langley had and FCPS just twiddles its thumbs. It's like they want the remaining Lewis families with kids who aren't ESOL/FARMS to leave the school.

FCPS talks a good game about equity but they sure don't practice it.

[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.

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.

This suggestion might not be legal. Don't know for sure. You can't segregate by race. Can you segregate because of language differences? Maybe as long as the students eventually had an option to go to a regular school once their English has improved.

[Anonymous]

Here are the FCPS high schools in the order of number of Hispanic students last year:

Justice
Falls Church
Herndon
Annandale
West Potomac
Mount Vernon
Lewis
Edison
Westfield
South Lakes
Fairfax
Centreville
Lake Braddock
Chantilly
Hayfield
Marshall
West Springfield
Robinson
McLean
South County
Oakton
Woodson
Madison
Langley
TJ

Is PP also proposing to turn the six other FCPS high schools that have more Hispanic kids than Lewis into "ESOL magnet schools" or does this idea only get floated when a possible alternative is a boundary change with a school like West Springfield?

[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.

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.

This suggestion might not be legal. Don't know for sure. You can't segregate by race. Can you segregate because of language differences? Maybe as long as the students eventually had an option to go to a regular school once their English has improved.

I think the proposal might be a good idea, but i agree with this post. Might not be legal.

[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

I think they will make adjustments and save just like they do for college now.

[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.

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.

I also think this is an excellent idea. I moved to the US at 12 years old/6th grade. Only stayed in SOL for 1.5 years but the move was a culture shock. I think a program like this is something many foreigners kids could really benefit from.

There's probably some downsides to not being part of larger US-born community, but foreigners tend to stick together for life anyway, whether they move here as kids or adults. So the pro may be worth more than the cons.

[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.

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.

This suggestion might not be legal. Don't know for sure. You can't segregate by race. Can you segregate because of language differences? Maybe as long as the students eventually had an option to go to a regular school once their English has improved.

A magnet is, by definition, optional and application based. FCPS needs an alternative school for non English speaking teens that is not a discipline problem school like Bryant.

I am unsure how sonething like this would be illegal.

[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.

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.

This suggestion might not be legal. Don't know for sure. You can't segregate by race. Can you segregate because of language differences? Maybe as long as the students eventually had an option to go to a regular school once their English has improved.

A magnet is, by definition, optional and application based. FCPS needs an alternative school for non English speaking teens that is not a discipline problem school like Bryant.

I am unsure how sonething like this would be illegal.

1. I don't see people applying to a magnet like this. Herndon is a long way from Lewis.

[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.

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.

This suggestion might not be legal. Don't know for sure. You can't segregate by race. Can you segregate because of language differences? Maybe as long as the students eventually had an option to go to a regular school once their English has improved.

A magnet is, by definition, optional and application based. FCPS needs an alternative school for non English speaking teens that is not a discipline problem school like Bryant.

I am unsure how sonething like this would be illegal.

It did say to rezone all the non-ESOL students out which implies the ESOL students (in the Lewis zone) stay. To be legal, you might have to rezone all the students out and then have ESOL students apply. Bit of a technicality, but maybe necessary to be legal.

[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: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.

This suggestion might not be legal. Don't know for sure. You can't segregate by race. Can you segregate because of language differences? Maybe as long as the students eventually had an option to go to a regular school once their English has improved.

A magnet is, by definition, optional and application based. FCPS needs an alternative school for non English speaking teens that is not a discipline problem school like Bryant.

I am unsure how sonething like this would be illegal.

It did say to rezone all the non-ESOL students out which implies the ESOL students (in the Lewis zone) stay. To be legal, you might have to rezone all the students out and then have ESOL students apply. Bit of a technicality, but maybe necessary to be legal.

Good point.

Give the local kids priority placement.

Offer AP for the kids who can handle the curriculum but just need language support.

[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

I think they will make adjustments and save just like they do for college now.

With multiple kids, it's hard to 'adjust' and find the 40k+ a year they'd need to put both kids in catholic. That much money just sitting around is more a facet of the upper middle class than the middle class

[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.

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.

This suggestion might not be legal. Don't know for sure. You can't segregate by race. Can you segregate because of language differences? Maybe as long as the students eventually had an option to go to a regular school once their English has improved.

it isn't remotely legal

"School districts generally may not segregate students on the basis of national origin or EL status. Although certain EL programs may be designed to require that EL students receive separate instruction for a limited portion of the day or period of time, school districts and states are expected to carry out their chosen program in the least segregative manner consistent with achieving the program’s stated educational goals."

https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/dcl-factsheet-el-students-201501.pdf

[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.

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.

This suggestion might not be legal. Don't know for sure. You can't segregate by race. Can you segregate because of language differences? Maybe as long as the students eventually had an option to go to a regular school once their English has improved.

I think the proposal might be a good idea, but i agree with this post. Might not be legal.

Definitely not legal.

[Anonymous]

You're also assuming all of our ESOL kids speak Spanish - there are 37 different languages spoken at the West Springfield elementary school that my kids attend.