School Boundaries and "One Fairfax"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:they've held off on addressing boundaries for years, so they need to get to work now and make up for lost time.

That's correct. Staff has provided excellent information to this board which ignores the information. The fact is some sites are severely underutilized and others are over capacity. Program placement for AAP and immersion distorts the base schools. Then there are politics and where FCPS has decided to build capacity enhancements further distorts the attendance areas.

One Fairfax has been ignored by FCSB for basics like capacity utilization . That passed bond referendum should have removed all capacity enhancements until after the consultant.

Why does this say 7 HS pyramids have IB? https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/BEZRHD667FAE/$file/Next%20Steps%20Response%20Chart%2018-19.pdf

on page 161
268. Provide cost per year for Primary and Middle Year IB programs for IB pyramid schools

RESPONSE: There are currently seven high school pyramids with International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programs and six of these also have IB Middle Years Programs (IBMYP)


VA dept of ed shows 8?

2017-18 total IB seniors 567 and % of seniors in IB at each school:
Annandale High 46 9%
Edison High 47 10%
Lee 42 10%
Marshall High 114 22%
Mount Vernon High 18 4%
Robinson Secondary 151 21%
South Lakes High 73 12%
Stuart High 76 17%

[Anonymous]

It’s a joke they are letting over 114 kids transfer into Madison this year, if that school is supposedly so overcrowded that it needs an addition. Or planning an addition at West Potomac when there is space at Mount Vernon. Can’t quite figure out whether it’s hypocrisy, incompetence, or both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they've held off on addressing boundaries for years, so they need to get to work now and make up for lost time.

That's correct. Staff has provided excellent information to this board which ignores the information. The fact is some sites are severely underutilized and others are over capacity. Program placement for AAP and immersion distorts the base schools. Then there are politics and where FCPS has decided to build capacity enhancements further distorts the attendance areas.

One Fairfax has been ignored by FCSB for basics like capacity utilization . That passed bond referendum should have removed all capacity enhancements until after the consultant.

Why does this say 7 HS pyramids have IB? https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/BEZRHD667FAE/$file/Next%20Steps%20Response%20Chart%2018-19.pdf

on page 161
268. Provide cost per year for Primary and Middle Year IB programs for IB pyramid schools

RESPONSE: There are currently seven high school pyramids with International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programs and six of these also have IB Middle Years Programs (IBMYP)


VA dept of ed shows 8?

2017-18 total IB seniors 567 and % of seniors in IB at each school:
Annandale High 46 9%
Edison High 47 10%
Lee 42 10%
Marshall High 114 22%
Mount Vernon High 18 4%
Robinson Secondary 151 21%
South Lakes High 73 12%
Stuart High 76 17%

Why is IB participation so low?

[Anonymous]

Because IB is prescriptive, inflexible, and ill-suited to lower-income schools.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Ecstatic that the mean-spirited Voices of Fairfax group got the slap down they deserved. Let’s see what stupid video they can make about the 12-0 sweep of the School Board tonight by the Democrats.

+1

Exactly. When I was voting for school board today, it was looking at the list on my iPhone making sure I got every Democrat and thinking Screw You Great Falls Bigots. And I have no vested interest in the Great Falls Herndon mess. But it pisses me off that they are being Trumpian tactics to FCPS education. I really don’t want my kids education pulled down into lies and rumors and chaos and distorted videos. And I don’t want FCPS to become a Trump rally. If they have a point, they can attend a school board meeting and make it like rational adults.

Live with the backlash you created. And do better. We don’t need those tactics here.

And it’s voters like you who just totally screwed my child. We saved for over a decade to afford our school district. We can’t afford private. But hey I’m also a conservative so I guess my family deserves nothing but the worst right?

Nope. You deserve what everyone else has in PUBLIC schools. A school that reflects the whole community. Not just your neighborhood. If your kid needs 1% FARMs in public school, sell your house and pay for private.

My community isn’t Herndon.

You may not like it. But if it’s Fairfax County PS, your community is Fairfax County. And your kid doesn’t get better than a kid in Herndon. If you don’t like it, leave. People are tired of you insisting you are more special than everyone else.

When you’ve brought in extreme poverty and are making the PP pay for it, tell me why that pp’s kid should get the same. Now tell me again without being a damn Communist because you just described exactly that.

Umm.. No. My kid should get better if I am paying thousands of dollars in taxes as compared to the parents of the kid in Herndon, who are probably here illegally and not contribute a dime to the tax base. Also, my community is not Fairfax, my community is where I choose to live. Stop looking for excuses to receive handouts.

Did you read my post? I agree with you, PP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they've held off on addressing boundaries for years, so they need to get to work now and make up for lost time.

That's correct. Staff has provided excellent information to this board which ignores the information. The fact is some sites are severely underutilized and others are over capacity. Program placement for AAP and immersion distorts the base schools. Then there are politics and where FCPS has decided to build capacity enhancements further distorts the attendance areas.

One Fairfax has been ignored by FCSB for basics like capacity utilization . That passed bond referendum should have removed all capacity enhancements until after the consultant.

Why does this say 7 HS pyramids have IB? https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/BEZRHD667FAE/$file/Next%20Steps%20Response%20Chart%2018-19.pdf

on page 161
268. Provide cost per year for Primary and Middle Year IB programs for IB pyramid schools

RESPONSE: There are currently seven high school pyramids with International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programs and six of these also have IB Middle Years Programs (IBMYP)


VA dept of ed shows 8?

2017-18 total IB seniors 567 and % of seniors in IB at each school:
Annandale High 46 9%
Edison High 47 10%
Lee 42 10%
Marshall High 114 22%
Mount Vernon High 18 4%
Robinson Secondary 151 21%
South Lakes High 73 12%
Stuart High 76 17%

Why is IB participation so low?

My DC graduated from one of the above listed schools in the class of 2018. He earned the IB Diploma. I know for his school, that is the number of Diploma Candidates, and NOT the number of students who took at least one IB course. So the total number of students who took one IB course is higher than the numbers listed above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they've held off on addressing boundaries for years, so they need to get to work now and make up for lost time.

That's correct. Staff has provided excellent information to this board which ignores the information. The fact is some sites are severely underutilized and others are over capacity. Program placement for AAP and immersion distorts the base schools. Then there are politics and where FCPS has decided to build capacity enhancements further distorts the attendance areas.

One Fairfax has been ignored by FCSB for basics like capacity utilization . That passed bond referendum should have removed all capacity enhancements until after the consultant.

Why does this say 7 HS pyramids have IB? https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/BEZRHD667FAE/$file/Next%20Steps%20Response%20Chart%2018-19.pdf

on page 161
268. Provide cost per year for Primary and Middle Year IB programs for IB pyramid schools

RESPONSE: There are currently seven high school pyramids with International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programs and six of these also have IB Middle Years Programs (IBMYP)


VA dept of ed shows 8?

2017-18 total IB seniors 567 and % of seniors in IB at each school:
Annandale High 46 9%
Edison High 47 10%
Lee 42 10%
Marshall High 114 22%
Mount Vernon High 18 4%
Robinson Secondary 151 21%
South Lakes High 73 12%
Stuart High 76 17%

Why is IB participation so low?

My DC graduated from one of the above listed schools in the class of 2018. He earned the IB Diploma. I know for his school, that is the number of Diploma Candidates, and NOT the number of students who took at least one IB course. So the total number of students who took one IB course is higher than the numbers listed above.

Giant waste of money when 78-96% of the seniors at IB schools aren’t aiming for the IB diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a joke they are letting over 114 kids transfer into Madison this year, if that school is supposedly so overcrowded that it needs an addition. Or planning an addition at West Potomac when there is space at Mount Vernon. Can’t quite figure out whether it’s hypocrisy, incompetence, or both.

You speak like you know a lot... or at least have a lot of opinions.


Yet, you didn't mention how many kids transferred OUT of Madison. Interesting that you missed that data. Hmmm..... Maybe, just maybe, there were a similar number of kids who transferred out, such that it was nearly a wash with the kids coming in. If Madison blocked all kids transferring in from Marshall for AP, then Marshall wouldn't take the kids from Madison who want IB.

Madison would still need an addition if it just kept its own pyramid kids and refused any transfers in. In fact, Madison really needs a complete renovation. It is a mess inside -- like a house from the 1950s that has had 5 different owners adding on a wing here and a room there -- it's very very choppy and confusing in its design. But, in the absence of a complete gut and renovation, we'll take 14 classrooms.... in a very mixed up design.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a joke they are letting over 114 kids transfer into Madison this year, if that school is supposedly so overcrowded that it needs an addition. Or planning an addition at West Potomac when there is space at Mount Vernon. Can’t quite figure out whether it’s hypocrisy, incompetence, or both.

You speak like you know a lot... or at least have a lot of opinions.


Yet, you didn't mention how many kids transferred OUT of Madison. Interesting that you missed that data. Hmmm..... Maybe, just maybe, there were a similar number of kids who transferred out, such that it was nearly a wash with the kids coming in. If Madison blocked all kids transferring in from Marshall for AP, then Marshall wouldn't take the kids from Madison who want IB.

Madison would still need an addition if it just kept its own pyramid kids and refused any transfers in. In fact, Madison really needs a complete renovation. It is a mess inside -- like a house from the 1950s that has had 5 different owners adding on a wing here and a room there -- it's very very choppy and confusing in its design. But, in the absence of a complete gut and renovation, we'll take 14 classrooms.... in a very mixed up design.

Madison has over twice as many kids transferring in than transferring out, and the number of new transfers was higher this year than in prior years.

Guess it will make the school look over capacity when the next CIP comes out and justify the addition there, even though other schools need one more than Madison. Someone really ought to look at who benefits from these contracts.

[Anonymous]

Madison addition looks sensible until you review attendance areas and site locations across the county. Oakton is getting an addition and most of it's attendance area is far west. Oakton is near the Madison site.

2 miles with the Western HS not built and no planning money. Piecemeal additions including Madison, Oakton, Justice, West Potomac add up to what? 100 million?

Magisterial district members get their projects but skew the county. At least Madison is a useful site surrounded by other FCPS attendance areas.

West Potomac and Justice are simply NO justice under One Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Madison addition looks sensible until you review attendance areas and site locations across the county. Oakton is getting an addition and most of it's attendance area is far west. Oakton is near the Madison site.

2 miles with the Western HS not built and no planning money. Piecemeal additions including Madison, Oakton, Justice, West Potomac add up to what? 100 million?

Magisterial district members get their projects but skew the county. At least Madison is a useful site surrounded by other FCPS attendance areas.

West Potomac and Justice are simply NO justice under One Fairfax.

They want more money so there will be new boundaries. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Madison addition looks sensible until you review attendance areas and site locations across the county. Oakton is getting an addition and most of it's attendance area is far west. Oakton is near the Madison site.

2 miles with the Western HS not built and no planning money. Piecemeal additions including Madison, Oakton, Justice, West Potomac add up to what? 100 million?

Magisterial district members get their projects but skew the county. At least Madison is a useful site surrounded by other FCPS attendance areas.

West Potomac and Justice are simply NO justice under One Fairfax.

So do they redistrict the Marshall neighborhood in Vienna to an expanded Madison and turn Marshall into Tysons-Pimmit High? How is THAT consistent with One Fairfax?

[Anonymous]

Prediction: In ten years, FCPS will be struggling countywide in all schools with dropping scores and those with the means will be going private - if they haven't moved from this liberal hell hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prediction: In ten years, FCPS will be struggling countywide in all schools with dropping scores and those with the means will be going private - if they haven't moved from this liberal hell hole.

This. It’s so easy to see what’s coming down the pike and I am eternally grateful my kids will be done with FCPS before then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prediction: In ten years, FCPS will be struggling countywide in all schools with dropping scores and those with the means will be going private - if they haven't moved from this liberal hell hole.

Not sure it will be that bad, but the list of schools people avoid will have grown considerably. Taxes will be higher. More will go private.