King Abdullah Academy Closing: FCPS Buy for HS?

[Anonymous]

You are leaving off that keeping Carson at SLHS means moving it to Langston Hughes for MS to end the split feeder. Not only does Fox Mill get sacrificed to IB it moves to a weaker MS. That is BS. Oak Hill is at Westfield right now, they can stay there or move to Fox Mill and go to the new HS. Crossfield is as close to SLHS as Fox Mill and not at Carson, move them to SLHS.

You don't have your high school attendance straight.

Oak Hill is not at Westfield--except for a very tiny portion. It is at Chantilly. THRU has picked part of the Oak Hill neighborhood to make the 30 minute slog to Oakton. This splits a neighborhood and that is a thirty minute drive.
Chantilly overcrowding has been cited repeatedly by the School Board although it is slated to lose membership.  

And, while Crossfield may be close to South Lakes, its membership comes mostly from Franklin Farm which goes to Oakton--thirty minutes away. It currently is at Carson and is closer to Carson than most of Fox Mill.

[Anonymous]

Crossfield will definitely be zoned to go to the new HS - that is without question.

[Anonymous]

Can someone help me understand why they’re moving the Wegman’s Chantilly area from Cub Run elementary to Lees Corner elementary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone help me understand why they’re moving the Wegman’s Chantilly area from Cub Run elementary to Lees Corner elementary?

I was wondering the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Madison is in Vienna.

And serves some areas well to the west of South Lakes. It was expanded based on the assumption it would continue to serve these areas.

So, keep Fox Mill at South Lakes. No need to reduce population at South Lakes. Take the kids who go --or should go--to Chantilly (but are going to Oakton) and the Westfield kids between 50 and the toll road.

Coates
McNair
Floris
Oak Hill
Crossfield

Floris is at SLHS to. If you are screwing over Fox Mill, you can screw over Floris as well. Or better yet, move both to the new school like the rest of Carson.

Losing the kids from SLHS to the new school would still leave SLHS at 90+% capacity, it is not going to under populate the school. Fox Mill got screwed when it was moved from Oakton to SLHS 20 or so years ago.

The KAA property sits in the Floris district so of course Floris would go to any new school.

Floris feeds to Westfield, as do Coates and McNair to the north. So they couldn't go to Westfield any longer without creating a new attendance island, which is frowned upon. So you either move them to the new school or you move Coates to Herndon and McNair to the new school, but there would be reluctance to move Coates to HHS given the demographics.

The main justification for this school is relieving overcrowding at Chantilly, so that pulls in Oak Hill, and Crossfield is the group complaining the most about traveling from the Sully District to Oakton.

No one knows yet what capacity is feasible at the new school. We only know the current private school enrollment is around 1000. So Coates, McNair, Floris, Oak Hill, and Crossfield may be all the new school can accommodate. Fox Mill may indeed need to stay at South Lakes. No one there can claim they are traveling as far to South Lakes as Crossfield kids are traveling to Oakton. And some other high schools only have four or five feeders.

You are leaving off that keeping Carson at SLHS means moving it to Langston Hughes for MS to end the split feeder. Not only does Fox Mill get sacrificed to IB it moves to a weaker MS. That is BS. Oak Hill is at Westfield right now, they can stay there or move to Fox Mill and go to the new HS. Crossfield is as close to SLHS as Fox Mill and not at Carson, move them to SLHS.

Tired of Fox Mill being sacrificed because it is a smaller school with fewer parents to piss off.

Well, again, we don't know yet capacity is feasible at the new school.

Carson is already a split feeder, and may need to remain one. It's not like they weren't proposing to leave Thoreau as a three-way split feeder. And most of Oak Hill feeds to Chantilly, not Westfield.

Fox Mill has been at South Lakes for over 15 years. You're used to IB. The new school will likely be AP and that's what most at Crossfield are used to, so it would be sketchy to move the Oakton piece of Crossfield into an IB school.

Also, if you move Floris, Crossfield AND Fox Mill out of South Lakes you're basically undoing all of the 2008 South Lakes boundary change, except for the small piece moved from Madison. It starts to look like FCPS is playing with Legos when it comes to SLHS.

I'm sorry you dislike South Lakes so much, but it's going to blow the project up if you're suggesting there can only be a new high school at the KAA site if we build an addition to accommodate six feeders that include Fox Mill. That's not how this is being sold; it's being described as an existing building that FCPS can readily convert to a high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You are leaving off that keeping Carson at SLHS means moving it to Langston Hughes for MS to end the split feeder. Not only does Fox Mill get sacrificed to IB it moves to a weaker MS. That is BS. Oak Hill is at Westfield right now, they can stay there or move to Fox Mill and go to the new HS. Crossfield is as close to SLHS as Fox Mill and not at Carson, move them to SLHS.

You don't have your high school attendance straight.

Oak Hill is not at Westfield--except for a very tiny portion. It is at Chantilly. THRU has picked part of the Oak Hill neighborhood to make the 30 minute slog to Oakton. This splits a neighborhood and that is a thirty minute drive.
Chantilly overcrowding has been cited repeatedly by the School Board although it is slated to lose membership.  

And, while Crossfield may be close to South Lakes, its membership comes mostly from Franklin Farm which goes to Oakton--thirty minutes away. It currently is at Carson and is closer to Carson than most of Fox Mill.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Madison is in Vienna.

And serves some areas well to the west of South Lakes. It was expanded based on the assumption it would continue to serve these areas.

So, keep Fox Mill at South Lakes. No need to reduce population at South Lakes. Take the kids who go --or should go--to Chantilly (but are going to Oakton) and the Westfield kids between 50 and the toll road.

Coates
McNair
Floris
Oak Hill
Crossfield

Floris is at SLHS to. If you are screwing over Fox Mill, you can screw over Floris as well. Or better yet, move both to the new school like the rest of Carson.

Losing the kids from SLHS to the new school would still leave SLHS at 90+% capacity, it is not going to under populate the school. Fox Mill got screwed when it was moved from Oakton to SLHS 20 or so years ago.

The KAA property sits in the Floris district so of course Floris would go to any new school.

Floris feeds to Westfield, as do Coates and McNair to the north. So they couldn't go to Westfield any longer without creating a new attendance island, which is frowned upon. So you either move them to the new school or you move Coates to Herndon and McNair to the new school, but there would be reluctance to move Coates to HHS given the demographics.

The main justification for this school is relieving overcrowding at Chantilly, so that pulls in Oak Hill, and Crossfield is the group complaining the most about traveling from the Sully District to Oakton.

No one knows yet what capacity is feasible at the new school. We only know the current private school enrollment is around 1000. So Coates, McNair, Floris, Oak Hill, and Crossfield may be all the new school can accommodate. Fox Mill may indeed need to stay at South Lakes. No one there can claim they are traveling as far to South Lakes as Crossfield kids are traveling to Oakton. And some other high schools only have four or five feeders.

You are leaving off that keeping Carson at SLHS means moving it to Langston Hughes for MS to end the split feeder. Not only does Fox Mill get sacrificed to IB it moves to a weaker MS. That is BS. Oak Hill is at Westfield right now, they can stay there or move to Fox Mill and go to the new HS. Crossfield is as close to SLHS as Fox Mill and not at Carson, move them to SLHS.

Tired of Fox Mill being sacrificed because it is a smaller school with fewer parents to piss off.

Well, again, we don't know yet capacity is feasible at the new school.

Carson is already a split feeder, and may need to remain one. It's not like they weren't proposing to leave Thoreau as a three-way split feeder. And most of Oak Hill feeds to Chantilly, not Westfield.

Fox Mill has been at South Lakes for over 15 years. You're used to IB. The new school will likely be AP and that's what most at Crossfield are used to, so it would be sketchy to move the Oakton piece of Crossfield into an IB school.

Also, if you move Floris, Crossfield AND Fox Mill out of South Lakes you're basically undoing all of the 2008 South Lakes boundary change, except for the small piece moved from Madison. It starts to look like FCPS is playing with Legos when it comes to SLHS.

I'm sorry you dislike South Lakes so much, but it's going to blow the project up if you're suggesting there can only be a new high school at the KAA site if we build an addition to accommodate six feeders that include Fox Mill. That's not how this is being sold; it's being described as an existing building that FCPS can readily convert to a high school.

DP. To the Fox Mill parent. Have you protested about IB? I would not want it either, but it is up to the parents at the school to make their voice known.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone help me understand why they’re moving the Wegman’s Chantilly area from Cub Run elementary to Lees Corner elementary?

I am not in anyway defending their logic, but the area from Cub Run that feeds to Franklin was reassigned to Lees Corner so that Cub Run was no longer a split feeder at the middle school level. However, they kept that area assigned to Westfield, which made Lees Corner a split feeder at the high school level, and gave them an excuse to pull additional Lees Corner neighborhoods to Westfield.

[Anonymous]

What is IB? My child just started school I’m
Not familiar with what that is? Can someone explain? And why don’t parents what IB but want Ap?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a kaa parent but i understand the point that they are making.

to be honest, i think you are missing the point. and i hope one day you experience your kids finding a community that they truly felt they belonged to, and then have it stripped away. because it must not be pleasant at all. i read all the comments and dont think anyone was asking for any red carpet. they were just trying to get people like you to not sound so entitled or over excited about this sale that is clearly breaking apart a community and leaving countless of children and families sad over this loss. you may only understand if your child ever goes through something like this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The majority of theKAA school population are Americans, many generations of Americans, Virginians, to be exact. You are very out of touch with your very own neighbors clearly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're comparing apples to oranges regarding buying a new house and helping people find a new home. KAA familie are tax payers too with kids who went to this school because fcps was not serving all the needs that their community wanted. on top of that many of the kaa families are legacy families. so you are talking about many decades of alumni sending their children here. this is about community, and benefit to fc as well by encouraging this community to stay intact. the mission of both kaa and fcps are very well aligned, and if you think this is so black and white like buying and selling you are wrong. the mission is the same, to educate the children in the best possible way that matches their needs and their family needs. if this were your kid you would say the same. i find your messages cold, hard and oblivious to community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealthy Saudis used to special treatment and hand-holding, LOL. I am honestly shocked that you expect FCPS to reach out to EVERY private school in its boundary that closes to personally counsel students on their options. All the info is on their website.

FCPS isn’t paying $150M to acquire every such school, and then likely needing to engage in several months of due diligence thereafter before closing a deal. Perfect opportunity to be decent human beings, something that apparently doesn’t align with your value system.

Are you a parent with a child in that school? It should be KAA's responsibility to help place all of its students. The administration are the ones who decided to close the school in the middle of the school year, FCPS just bought something no one else wanted.

You're being a ridiculously argumentative tool about something minor that ought to be a simple courtesy given the ongoing discussions that FCPS will be having with KAA.

All it need entail is making sure KAA staff is aware of resources and contacts within FCPS for affected families to speak with if interested.

I think you're the one being unreasonable. All of this information is available to the families very easily.

If you're familiar with FCPS, which is why some basic courtesies shown to others who may be less familiar with FCPS might go a long way.

You're the sort of person who makes waiters want to spit in your food in the kitchen before it's served.

Only the trashiest of people ever even consider spitting in someone's food, no matter how rude they are. I've worked in restaurants. That just isn't a thing a normal person even thinks about.

Only a trashy person would fight so hard against the idea that one party to a significant RE transaction would extend some basic, and very low-cost, courtesies to a counter-party. That's not how normal people behave, but perhaps you have some weird bias against Muslims and want to lay claim to their former school and pretend they were never there.

You are seriously arguing that FCPS is responsible for doing something extra for the KAA families because FCPS bought the building? The KAA administration had a responsibility to help the families find a new school before the end of the year. That could have been helping them find a good fit with another private school or helping them understand their public school options. But that was the KAA administration's responsibility, not the organization that buys the building.

I am not responsible for helping the family whose house I buy find a new home. That is their individual responsibility. Same in this case. KAA families need to have worked with the adminstration to find a new school or the Saudi government who stopped sponsoring the school.

Do diplomats pay taxes? Just curious.

Why should neighbors care about a group of people who very clearly wanted to self segregate in their own school? The local public school wasn’t good enough for your kids, but now that your school is closing you want neighbors and FCPS employees to roll out the red carpet for you? Where does this mentality come from?

It’s called Google. Look at what school your home is zoned to attend. Then look up the school website.
There you will find links to contact personnel at that school with any questions you may have. That is all any resident of this county is entitled to. Nothing more. The rest of us pay taxes too and that’s all we get. Seriously no one else cares that your school closed.

Um, one of my kids is facing exactly that if the county moves forward with their proposed boundary changes. So I think I understand it pretty damn well. But nice attempt at lecturing. This happens to kids all over the world all the time for various reasons. And it sucks. But I am not so entitled as to expect others to dedicate time or resources beyond what everyone else in the county gets when transitioning to a new school.

My kids would not attend this new high school and I am not someone who expressed excitement over it being sold. But maybe you need to understand the history of this land to see why others might be excited. It sounds like the land was supposed to be used for a public high school in the first place. So in some people’s eyes this is righting a perceived wrong.

It would have been a great location for a high school 15 years ago before they so much time and money expanding other schools serving western Fairfax.

Obviously if they’d really had a clear plan to build there the land would never have been transferred to the Saudis.

FCPS ought to present a compelling business case for opening a new school there now given the fact that on average it’s going to leave schools serving western Fairfax almost 20% under capacity.

Western Fairfax county is where a lot of the growth will be in the next 10-20 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know through friends of friends that there have always been families who moved from other STATES to attend KAA.

Imagine what good that does for the county to bring in more business and growth and talent.

Also this friend of a friend said that with proof and certainty that alumni and parents actually put together funding and a plan to buy the building so they can keep the school running but FCPS had an inside approach and bought it before the parents could in their effort to sustain the school. So that's worth considering in this entire discussion. The parents did not want the school to shut down for a building custom-built for their community. I mean read the thread here, everyone here is saying fcps willl need to renvoate. That will take time and money. there wont be a school ready for years. Meanwhile, students who actually were attending very happily at this place and could have continued this fall (and still CAN continue this fall) with ZERO need to renovate. And they are now displaced and without a school. Some people said they felt it was an inside deal. I'm sorry to say, but this was not a fair or transparent deal. It is leaving many families broken and tons of kids crying. And the alumni were prepared to step in and buy the land to keep it in their community and that was known to all parties, buyers and sellers. FCPS doesnt need a property with the types of cultural designs in this school. And these parents were even considering with a purchase to help turn it into. a wider community center too with access to gyms, pools, etc. But now a beautiful and international community in the area can no longer benefit from it, and neither can the area benefit from the international ib program. The school is not just for Saudis or islmaic population by the way. many of the staff are neither and several students are of different backgrounds. some of the alumni and parents who were up to purchase the building have even suggested growing the school in to a general ib international school and making it more available for any student to apply to. that is all worth considering. your vision of an fcps ina. bulding that will need a TON of renovating wont come to frution for years. meanwhile a well meaning community is plug and play and ready to just continue using this as is for the fall while bringing cultural diversity to this area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a kaa parent but i understand the point that they are making.

to be honest, i think you are missing the point. and i hope one day you experience your kids finding a community that they truly felt they belonged to, and then have it stripped away. because it must not be pleasant at all. i read all the comments and dont think anyone was asking for any red carpet. they were just trying to get people like you to not sound so entitled or over excited about this sale that is clearly breaking apart a community and leaving countless of children and families sad over this loss. you may only understand if your child ever goes through something like this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The majority of theKAA school population are Americans, many generations of Americans, Virginians, to be exact. You are very out of touch with your very own neighbors clearly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're comparing apples to oranges regarding buying a new house and helping people find a new home. KAA familie are tax payers too with kids who went to this school because fcps was not serving all the needs that their community wanted. on top of that many of the kaa families are legacy families. so you are talking about many decades of alumni sending their children here. this is about community, and benefit to fc as well by encouraging this community to stay intact. the mission of both kaa and fcps are very well aligned, and if you think this is so black and white like buying and selling you are wrong. the mission is the same, to educate the children in the best possible way that matches their needs and their family needs. if this were your kid you would say the same. i find your messages cold, hard and oblivious to community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealthy Saudis used to special treatment and hand-holding, LOL. I am honestly shocked that you expect FCPS to reach out to EVERY private school in its boundary that closes to personally counsel students on their options. All the info is on their website.

FCPS isn’t paying $150M to acquire every such school, and then likely needing to engage in several months of due diligence thereafter before closing a deal. Perfect opportunity to be decent human beings, something that apparently doesn’t align with your value system.

Are you a parent with a child in that school? It should be KAA's responsibility to help place all of its students. The administration are the ones who decided to close the school in the middle of the school year, FCPS just bought something no one else wanted.

You're being a ridiculously argumentative tool about something minor that ought to be a simple courtesy given the ongoing discussions that FCPS will be having with KAA.

All it need entail is making sure KAA staff is aware of resources and contacts within FCPS for affected families to speak with if interested.

I think you're the one being unreasonable. All of this information is available to the families very easily.

If you're familiar with FCPS, which is why some basic courtesies shown to others who may be less familiar with FCPS might go a long way.

You're the sort of person who makes waiters want to spit in your food in the kitchen before it's served.

Only the trashiest of people ever even consider spitting in someone's food, no matter how rude they are. I've worked in restaurants. That just isn't a thing a normal person even thinks about.

Only a trashy person would fight so hard against the idea that one party to a significant RE transaction would extend some basic, and very low-cost, courtesies to a counter-party. That's not how normal people behave, but perhaps you have some weird bias against Muslims and want to lay claim to their former school and pretend they were never there.

You are seriously arguing that FCPS is responsible for doing something extra for the KAA families because FCPS bought the building? The KAA administration had a responsibility to help the families find a new school before the end of the year. That could have been helping them find a good fit with another private school or helping them understand their public school options. But that was the KAA administration's responsibility, not the organization that buys the building.

I am not responsible for helping the family whose house I buy find a new home. That is their individual responsibility. Same in this case. KAA families need to have worked with the adminstration to find a new school or the Saudi government who stopped sponsoring the school.

Do diplomats pay taxes? Just curious.

Why should neighbors care about a group of people who very clearly wanted to self segregate in their own school? The local public school wasn’t good enough for your kids, but now that your school is closing you want neighbors and FCPS employees to roll out the red carpet for you? Where does this mentality come from?

It’s called Google. Look at what school your home is zoned to attend. Then look up the school website.
There you will find links to contact personnel at that school with any questions you may have. That is all any resident of this county is entitled to. Nothing more. The rest of us pay taxes too and that’s all we get. Seriously no one else cares that your school closed.

Um, one of my kids is facing exactly that if the county moves forward with their proposed boundary changes. So I think I understand it pretty damn well. But nice attempt at lecturing. This happens to kids all over the world all the time for various reasons. And it sucks. But I am not so entitled as to expect others to dedicate time or resources beyond what everyone else in the county gets when transitioning to a new school.

My kids would not attend this new high school and I am not someone who expressed excitement over it being sold. But maybe you need to understand the history of this land to see why others might be excited. It sounds like the land was supposed to be used for a public high school in the first place. So in some people’s eyes this is righting a perceived wrong.

Look, there is clearly a bitter parent or group of parents that have come on this thread and try to derail. We're sorry that you are losing your school and the community built around it, but spreading lies and arguing about what FCPS should and should not do for students is not the way. Please go troll somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crossfield will definitely be zoned to go to the new HS - that is without question.

God I hope so. There is a tiny contingent of Crossfield that actually lives in Oakton and those mamas are tigers, I hope they don't ruin this for everyone else that lives MUCH closer to the new site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Madison is in Vienna.

And serves some areas well to the west of South Lakes. It was expanded based on the assumption it would continue to serve these areas.

So, keep Fox Mill at South Lakes. No need to reduce population at South Lakes. Take the kids who go --or should go--to Chantilly (but are going to Oakton) and the Westfield kids between 50 and the toll road.

Coates
McNair
Floris
Oak Hill
Crossfield

Floris is at SLHS to. If you are screwing over Fox Mill, you can screw over Floris as well. Or better yet, move both to the new school like the rest of Carson.

Losing the kids from SLHS to the new school would still leave SLHS at 90+% capacity, it is not going to under populate the school. Fox Mill got screwed when it was moved from Oakton to SLHS 20 or so years ago.

The KAA property sits in the Floris district so of course Floris would go to any new school.

Floris feeds to Westfield, as do Coates and McNair to the north. So they couldn't go to Westfield any longer without creating a new attendance island, which is frowned upon. So you either move them to the new school or you move Coates to Herndon and McNair to the new school, but there would be reluctance to move Coates to HHS given the demographics.

The main justification for this school is relieving overcrowding at Chantilly, so that pulls in Oak Hill, and Crossfield is the group complaining the most about traveling from the Sully District to Oakton.

No one knows yet what capacity is feasible at the new school. We only know the current private school enrollment is around 1000. So Coates, McNair, Floris, Oak Hill, and Crossfield may be all the new school can accommodate. Fox Mill may indeed need to stay at South Lakes. No one there can claim they are traveling as far to South Lakes as Crossfield kids are traveling to Oakton. And some other high schools only have four or five feeders.

You are leaving off that keeping Carson at SLHS means moving it to Langston Hughes for MS to end the split feeder. Not only does Fox Mill get sacrificed to IB it moves to a weaker MS. That is BS. Oak Hill is at Westfield right now, they can stay there or move to Fox Mill and go to the new HS. Crossfield is as close to SLHS as Fox Mill and not at Carson, move them to SLHS.

Tired of Fox Mill being sacrificed because it is a smaller school with fewer parents to piss off.

Well, again, we don't know yet capacity is feasible at the new school.

Carson is already a split feeder, and may need to remain one. It's not like they weren't proposing to leave Thoreau as a three-way split feeder. And most of Oak Hill feeds to Chantilly, not Westfield.

Fox Mill has been at South Lakes for over 15 years. You're used to IB. The new school will likely be AP and that's what most at Crossfield are used to, so it would be sketchy to move the Oakton piece of Crossfield into an IB school.

Also, if you move Floris, Crossfield AND Fox Mill out of South Lakes you're basically undoing all of the 2008 South Lakes boundary change, except for the small piece moved from Madison. It starts to look like FCPS is playing with Legos when it comes to SLHS.

I'm sorry you dislike South Lakes so much, but it's going to blow the project up if you're suggesting there can only be a new high school at the KAA site if we build an addition to accommodate six feeders that include Fox Mill. That's not how this is being sold; it's being described as an existing building that FCPS can readily convert to a high school.

DP. To the Fox Mill parent. Have you protested about IB? I would not want it either, but it is up to the parents at the school to make their voice known.

Plenty of people complained about IB when the schools were forced to move to SLHS, no one listened. About 200 kids principal place out each year for AP, nobody cares. Only 50 kids complete the IB Diploma, nobody cares. More kids principal place out of IB schools then complete the diploma across the entire county, by a lot, and nobody cares. The parents who strongly want AP at SLHS are probably the ones most interested in moving to the new school. Otherwise, we will simply keep pupil placing to Oakton and Langley, for AP and a language, or even Herndon because we don't like IB. FCPS could care less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a kaa parent but i understand the point that they are making.

to be honest, i think you are missing the point. and i hope one day you experience your kids finding a community that they truly felt they belonged to, and then have it stripped away. because it must not be pleasant at all. i read all the comments and dont think anyone was asking for any red carpet. they were just trying to get people like you to not sound so entitled or over excited about this sale that is clearly breaking apart a community and leaving countless of children and families sad over this loss. you may only understand if your child ever goes through something like this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The majority of theKAA school population are Americans, many generations of Americans, Virginians, to be exact. You are very out of touch with your very own neighbors clearly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're comparing apples to oranges regarding buying a new house and helping people find a new home. KAA familie are tax payers too with kids who went to this school because fcps was not serving all the needs that their community wanted. on top of that many of the kaa families are legacy families. so you are talking about many decades of alumni sending their children here. this is about community, and benefit to fc as well by encouraging this community to stay intact. the mission of both kaa and fcps are very well aligned, and if you think this is so black and white like buying and selling you are wrong. the mission is the same, to educate the children in the best possible way that matches their needs and their family needs. if this were your kid you would say the same. i find your messages cold, hard and oblivious to community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wealthy Saudis used to special treatment and hand-holding, LOL. I am honestly shocked that you expect FCPS to reach out to EVERY private school in its boundary that closes to personally counsel students on their options. All the info is on their website.

FCPS isn’t paying $150M to acquire every such school, and then likely needing to engage in several months of due diligence thereafter before closing a deal. Perfect opportunity to be decent human beings, something that apparently doesn’t align with your value system.

Are you a parent with a child in that school? It should be KAA's responsibility to help place all of its students. The administration are the ones who decided to close the school in the middle of the school year, FCPS just bought something no one else wanted.

You're being a ridiculously argumentative tool about something minor that ought to be a simple courtesy given the ongoing discussions that FCPS will be having with KAA.

All it need entail is making sure KAA staff is aware of resources and contacts within FCPS for affected families to speak with if interested.

I think you're the one being unreasonable. All of this information is available to the families very easily.

If you're familiar with FCPS, which is why some basic courtesies shown to others who may be less familiar with FCPS might go a long way.

You're the sort of person who makes waiters want to spit in your food in the kitchen before it's served.

Only the trashiest of people ever even consider spitting in someone's food, no matter how rude they are. I've worked in restaurants. That just isn't a thing a normal person even thinks about.

Only a trashy person would fight so hard against the idea that one party to a significant RE transaction would extend some basic, and very low-cost, courtesies to a counter-party. That's not how normal people behave, but perhaps you have some weird bias against Muslims and want to lay claim to their former school and pretend they were never there.

You are seriously arguing that FCPS is responsible for doing something extra for the KAA families because FCPS bought the building? The KAA administration had a responsibility to help the families find a new school before the end of the year. That could have been helping them find a good fit with another private school or helping them understand their public school options. But that was the KAA administration's responsibility, not the organization that buys the building.

I am not responsible for helping the family whose house I buy find a new home. That is their individual responsibility. Same in this case. KAA families need to have worked with the adminstration to find a new school or the Saudi government who stopped sponsoring the school.

Do diplomats pay taxes? Just curious.

Why should neighbors care about a group of people who very clearly wanted to self segregate in their own school? The local public school wasn’t good enough for your kids, but now that your school is closing you want neighbors and FCPS employees to roll out the red carpet for you? Where does this mentality come from?

It’s called Google. Look at what school your home is zoned to attend. Then look up the school website.
There you will find links to contact personnel at that school with any questions you may have. That is all any resident of this county is entitled to. Nothing more. The rest of us pay taxes too and that’s all we get. Seriously no one else cares that your school closed.

Um, one of my kids is facing exactly that if the county moves forward with their proposed boundary changes. So I think I understand it pretty damn well. But nice attempt at lecturing. This happens to kids all over the world all the time for various reasons. And it sucks. But I am not so entitled as to expect others to dedicate time or resources beyond what everyone else in the county gets when transitioning to a new school.

My kids would not attend this new high school and I am not someone who expressed excitement over it being sold. But maybe you need to understand the history of this land to see why others might be excited. It sounds like the land was supposed to be used for a public high school in the first place. So in some people’s eyes this is righting a perceived wrong.

It would have been a great location for a high school 15 years ago before they so much time and money expanding other schools serving western Fairfax.

Obviously if they’d really had a clear plan to build there the land would never have been transferred to the Saudis.

FCPS ought to present a compelling business case for opening a new school there now given the fact that on average it’s going to leave schools serving western Fairfax almost 20% under capacity.

Western Fairfax county is where a lot of the growth will be in the next 10-20 years.

Perhaps but if you are adding capacity based on where you anticipate growth, which is not how FCPS has operated in the past, adding more capacity in western Fairfax should not be your top priority.

They project many of the schools in the area will lose students over the coming years, and those projections predate most of the administration’s efforts to shrink the federal government and clamp down on those in the country illegally.

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Anonymous wrote:Madison is in Vienna.

And serves some areas well to the west of South Lakes. It was expanded based on the assumption it would continue to serve these areas.

So, keep Fox Mill at South Lakes. No need to reduce population at South Lakes. Take the kids who go --or should go--to Chantilly (but are going to Oakton) and the Westfield kids between 50 and the toll road.

Coates
McNair
Floris
Oak Hill
Crossfield

Floris is at SLHS to. If you are screwing over Fox Mill, you can screw over Floris as well. Or better yet, move both to the new school like the rest of Carson.

Losing the kids from SLHS to the new school would still leave SLHS at 90+% capacity, it is not going to under populate the school. Fox Mill got screwed when it was moved from Oakton to SLHS 20 or so years ago.

The KAA property sits in the Floris district so of course Floris would go to any new school.

Floris feeds to Westfield, as do Coates and McNair to the north. So they couldn't go to Westfield any longer without creating a new attendance island, which is frowned upon. So you either move them to the new school or you move Coates to Herndon and McNair to the new school, but there would be reluctance to move Coates to HHS given the demographics.

The main justification for this school is relieving overcrowding at Chantilly, so that pulls in Oak Hill, and Crossfield is the group complaining the most about traveling from the Sully District to Oakton.

No one knows yet what capacity is feasible at the new school. We only know the current private school enrollment is around 1000. So Coates, McNair, Floris, Oak Hill, and Crossfield may be all the new school can accommodate. Fox Mill may indeed need to stay at South Lakes. No one there can claim they are traveling as far to South Lakes as Crossfield kids are traveling to Oakton. And some other high schools only have four or five feeders.

You are leaving off that keeping Carson at SLHS means moving it to Langston Hughes for MS to end the split feeder. Not only does Fox Mill get sacrificed to IB it moves to a weaker MS. That is BS. Oak Hill is at Westfield right now, they can stay there or move to Fox Mill and go to the new HS. Crossfield is as close to SLHS as Fox Mill and not at Carson, move them to SLHS.

Tired of Fox Mill being sacrificed because it is a smaller school with fewer parents to piss off.

Well, again, we don't know yet capacity is feasible at the new school.

Carson is already a split feeder, and may need to remain one. It's not like they weren't proposing to leave Thoreau as a three-way split feeder. And most of Oak Hill feeds to Chantilly, not Westfield.

Fox Mill has been at South Lakes for over 15 years. You're used to IB. The new school will likely be AP and that's what most at Crossfield are used to, so it would be sketchy to move the Oakton piece of Crossfield into an IB school.

Also, if you move Floris, Crossfield AND Fox Mill out of South Lakes you're basically undoing all of the 2008 South Lakes boundary change, except for the small piece moved from Madison. It starts to look like FCPS is playing with Legos when it comes to SLHS.

I'm sorry you dislike South Lakes so much, but it's going to blow the project up if you're suggesting there can only be a new high school at the KAA site if we build an addition to accommodate six feeders that include Fox Mill. That's not how this is being sold; it's being described as an existing building that FCPS can readily convert to a high school.

DP. To the Fox Mill parent. Have you protested about IB? I would not want it either, but it is up to the parents at the school to make their voice known.

Plenty of people complained about IB when the schools were forced to move to SLHS, no one listened. About 200 kids principal place out each year for AP, nobody cares. Only 50 kids complete the IB Diploma, nobody cares. More kids principal place out of IB schools then complete the diploma across the entire county, by a lot, and nobody cares. The parents who strongly want AP at SLHS are probably the ones most interested in moving to the new school. Otherwise, we will simply keep pupil placing to Oakton and Langley, for AP and a language, or even Herndon because we don't like IB. FCPS could care less.

Because there is a separate process to get approval from the IBO to operate an IB diploma school it will always be easier for FCPS to open a new school as an AP school. They can always convert later to IB if they really wanted to expand IB but that didn’t happen at either Westfield or South County, the two high schools opened after FCPS started introducing IB at some other schools.