FCPS comprehensive boundary review

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they do not take steps to bolster Lewis’s enrollment this entire boundary exercise will have been a fiasco.

Perhaps they could actually fix whatever underlying issues exist at the school to make it undesirable for many families, rather than use FCPS kids as pawns in their equity game.

Come on, everyone knows the issue at Lewis is the overwhelming number of poor, ESL students. That is why people avoid it. Not some terrible teaching, administration, or facilities. Elephant in the room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they do not take steps to bolster Lewis’s enrollment this entire boundary exercise will have been a fiasco.

I believe they need to keep their options open WRT Lewis. There was talk in the past of turning it into some kind of IB magnet and distributing the ES feeders to the nearby high schools. This may come up again with the state’s new rules on accreditation. Also there is a lot of residential development in the works in that area, not all of which is zoned for Lewis to be sure but they may need to shift borders in the future like 5-10 years off to relieve Edison.

A magic school / program at Lewis sounds kind of interesting. Look at Montgomery Blair and kids competing to get in to its magnet programs. The downside for the Lewis location is the traffic around Springfield and its location nestled in between freeway interchanges making access difficult, especially if it ceases to be a neighborhood school.

Circa 1987, Jefferson HS ceased to be a neighborhood school and became TJHSST.

I don’t understand why FCPS won’t consider making Lewis into a magnet school or language immersion or some special designation to at least keep the doors open. My own ES is now the Plum Center. Lewis has the smallest population - keep those students there but I don’t know - add vo-tech or academy classes.

Jefferson wasn’t near a high school with over 2700 kids in the mid-80. It was near two other schools with small, declining enrollments.

If either Annandale or Stuart had had over 2500 kids at the time they would have redistricted and kept Jefferson open.

How did Jefferson’s quality compare to those two schools at the time? If there was a large disparity then they definitely wouldn’t have redistricted.

They were more sane back then and not focused on bringing the whole county down to the lowest common denominator.

The disparities were not as large but they still would have redistricted.

In Jefferson’s case, given the declining enrollments at the area schools, moving kids into Jefferson wasn’t an option. It is here with Lewis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they do not take steps to bolster Lewis’s enrollment this entire boundary exercise will have been a fiasco.

I believe they need to keep their options open WRT Lewis. There was talk in the past of turning it into some kind of IB magnet and distributing the ES feeders to the nearby high schools. This may come up again with the state’s new rules on accreditation. Also there is a lot of residential development in the works in that area, not all of which is zoned for Lewis to be sure but they may need to shift borders in the future like 5-10 years off to relieve Edison.

A magic school / program at Lewis sounds kind of interesting. Look at Montgomery Blair and kids competing to get in to its magnet programs. The downside for the Lewis location is the traffic around Springfield and its location nestled in between freeway interchanges making access difficult, especially if it ceases to be a neighborhood school.

Circa 1987, Jefferson HS ceased to be a neighborhood school and became TJHSST.

I don’t understand why FCPS won’t consider making Lewis into a magnet school or language immersion or some special designation to at least keep the doors open. My own ES is now the Plum Center. Lewis has the smallest population - keep those students there but I don’t know - add vo-tech or academy classes.

Jefferson wasn’t near a high school with over 2700 kids in the mid-80. It was near two other schools with small, declining enrollments.

If either Annandale or Stuart had had over 2500 kids at the time they would have redistricted and kept Jefferson open.

Those schools were probably all around 1000 to 1200 students in the mid 80s. Few if any students lived in the apartments then. And there were lots of empty nesters in the houses. So it looked like the schools would continue to shrink further. The exception would be at Stuart and Whittier which had a large and growing Asian population at the time in the garden apartment communities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they do not take steps to bolster Lewis’s enrollment this entire boundary exercise will have been a fiasco.

I believe they need to keep their options open WRT Lewis. There was talk in the past of turning it into some kind of IB magnet and distributing the ES feeders to the nearby high schools. This may come up again with the state’s new rules on accreditation. Also there is a lot of residential development in the works in that area, not all of which is zoned for Lewis to be sure but they may need to shift borders in the future like 5-10 years off to relieve Edison.

A magic school / program at Lewis sounds kind of interesting. Look at Montgomery Blair and kids competing to get in to its magnet programs. The downside for the Lewis location is the traffic around Springfield and its location nestled in between freeway interchanges making access difficult, especially if it ceases to be a neighborhood school.

Circa 1987, Jefferson HS ceased to be a neighborhood school and became TJHSST.

I don’t understand why FCPS won’t consider making Lewis into a magnet school or language immersion or some special designation to at least keep the doors open. My own ES is now the Plum Center. Lewis has the smallest population - keep those students there but I don’t know - add vo-tech or academy classes.

Jefferson wasn’t near a high school with over 2700 kids in the mid-80. It was near two other schools with small, declining enrollments.

If either Annandale or Stuart had had over 2500 kids at the time they would have redistricted and kept Jefferson open.

How did Jefferson’s quality compare to those two schools at the time? If there was a large disparity then they definitely wouldn’t have redistricted.

They were more sane back then and not focused on bringing the whole county down to the lowest common denominator.

The disparities were not as large but they still would have redistricted.

In Jefferson’s case, given the declining enrollments at the area schools, moving kids into Jefferson wasn’t an option. It is here with Lewis.

Families don’t think it’s an option until the school quality improves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they do not take steps to bolster Lewis’s enrollment this entire boundary exercise will have been a fiasco.

I believe they need to keep their options open WRT Lewis. There was talk in the past of turning it into some kind of IB magnet and distributing the ES feeders to the nearby high schools. This may come up again with the state’s new rules on accreditation. Also there is a lot of residential development in the works in that area, not all of which is zoned for Lewis to be sure but they may need to shift borders in the future like 5-10 years off to relieve Edison.

A magic school / program at Lewis sounds kind of interesting. Look at Montgomery Blair and kids competing to get in to its magnet programs. The downside for the Lewis location is the traffic around Springfield and its location nestled in between freeway interchanges making access difficult, especially if it ceases to be a neighborhood school.

Circa 1987, Jefferson HS ceased to be a neighborhood school and became TJHSST.

I don’t understand why FCPS won’t consider making Lewis into a magnet school or language immersion or some special designation to at least keep the doors open. My own ES is now the Plum Center. Lewis has the smallest population - keep those students there but I don’t know - add vo-tech or academy classes.

Jefferson wasn’t near a high school with over 2700 kids in the mid-80. It was near two other schools with small, declining enrollments.

If either Annandale or Stuart had had over 2500 kids at the time they would have redistricted and kept Jefferson open.

How did Jefferson’s quality compare to those two schools at the time? If there was a large disparity then they definitely wouldn’t have redistricted.

They were more sane back then and not focused on bringing the whole county down to the lowest common denominator.

The disparities were not as large but they still would have redistricted.

In Jefferson’s case, given the declining enrollments at the area schools, moving kids into Jefferson wasn’t an option. It is here with Lewis.

Families don’t think it’s an option until the school quality improves.

This is nothing that Madison, Oakton, and Westfield parents didn’t say before they were moved to South Lakes back in 2008.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they do not take steps to bolster Lewis’s enrollment this entire boundary exercise will have been a fiasco.

I believe they need to keep their options open WRT Lewis. There was talk in the past of turning it into some kind of IB magnet and distributing the ES feeders to the nearby high schools. This may come up again with the state’s new rules on accreditation. Also there is a lot of residential development in the works in that area, not all of which is zoned for Lewis to be sure but they may need to shift borders in the future like 5-10 years off to relieve Edison.

A magic school / program at Lewis sounds kind of interesting. Look at Montgomery Blair and kids competing to get in to its magnet programs. The downside for the Lewis location is the traffic around Springfield and its location nestled in between freeway interchanges making access difficult, especially if it ceases to be a neighborhood school.

Circa 1987, Jefferson HS ceased to be a neighborhood school and became TJHSST.

I don’t understand why FCPS won’t consider making Lewis into a magnet school or language immersion or some special designation to at least keep the doors open. My own ES is now the Plum Center. Lewis has the smallest population - keep those students there but I don’t know - add vo-tech or academy classes.

Jefferson wasn’t near a high school with over 2700 kids in the mid-80. It was near two other schools with small, declining enrollments.

If either Annandale or Stuart had had over 2500 kids at the time they would have redistricted and kept Jefferson open.

How did Jefferson’s quality compare to those two schools at the time? If there was a large disparity then they definitely wouldn’t have redistricted.

They were more sane back then and not focused on bringing the whole county down to the lowest common denominator.

The disparities were not as large but they still would have redistricted.

In Jefferson’s case, given the declining enrollments at the area schools, moving kids into Jefferson wasn’t an option. It is here with Lewis.

Families don’t think it’s an option until the school quality improves.

This is nothing that Madison, Oakton, and Westfield parents didn’t say before they were moved to South Lakes back in 2008.

People forget that South Lakes used to be the school to avoid. A pariah so the speak. Now it’s generally a desirable middle of the pack FCPS school with solid academics and competitive sports teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they do not take steps to bolster Lewis’s enrollment this entire boundary exercise will have been a fiasco.

I believe they need to keep their options open WRT Lewis. There was talk in the past of turning it into some kind of IB magnet and distributing the ES feeders to the nearby high schools. This may come up again with the state’s new rules on accreditation. Also there is a lot of residential development in the works in that area, not all of which is zoned for Lewis to be sure but they may need to shift borders in the future like 5-10 years off to relieve Edison.

A magic school / program at Lewis sounds kind of interesting. Look at Montgomery Blair and kids competing to get in to its magnet programs. The downside for the Lewis location is the traffic around Springfield and its location nestled in between freeway interchanges making access difficult, especially if it ceases to be a neighborhood school.

Circa 1987, Jefferson HS ceased to be a neighborhood school and became TJHSST.

I don’t understand why FCPS won’t consider making Lewis into a magnet school or language immersion or some special designation to at least keep the doors open. My own ES is now the Plum Center. Lewis has the smallest population - keep those students there but I don’t know - add vo-tech or academy classes.

Jefferson wasn’t near a high school with over 2700 kids in the mid-80. It was near two other schools with small, declining enrollments.

If either Annandale or Stuart had had over 2500 kids at the time they would have redistricted and kept Jefferson open.

How did Jefferson’s quality compare to those two schools at the time? If there was a large disparity then they definitely wouldn’t have redistricted.

They were more sane back then and not focused on bringing the whole county down to the lowest common denominator.

The disparities were not as large but they still would have redistricted.

In Jefferson’s case, given the declining enrollments at the area schools, moving kids into Jefferson wasn’t an option. It is here with Lewis.

Families don’t think it’s an option until the school quality improves.

This is nothing that Madison, Oakton, and Westfield parents didn’t say before they were moved to South Lakes back in 2008.

People forget that South Lakes used to be the school to avoid. A pariah so the speak. Now it’s generally a desirable middle of the pack FCPS school with solid academics and competitive sports teams.

There are still plenty of people who are currently zoned for Oakton hoping their homes don’t get rezoned for South Lakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they do not take steps to bolster Lewis’s enrollment this entire boundary exercise will have been a fiasco.

I believe they need to keep their options open WRT Lewis. There was talk in the past of turning it into some kind of IB magnet and distributing the ES feeders to the nearby high schools. This may come up again with the state’s new rules on accreditation. Also there is a lot of residential development in the works in that area, not all of which is zoned for Lewis to be sure but they may need to shift borders in the future like 5-10 years off to relieve Edison.

A magic school / program at Lewis sounds kind of interesting. Look at Montgomery Blair and kids competing to get in to its magnet programs. The downside for the Lewis location is the traffic around Springfield and its location nestled in between freeway interchanges making access difficult, especially if it ceases to be a neighborhood school.

Circa 1987, Jefferson HS ceased to be a neighborhood school and became TJHSST.

I don’t understand why FCPS won’t consider making Lewis into a magnet school or language immersion or some special designation to at least keep the doors open. My own ES is now the Plum Center. Lewis has the smallest population - keep those students there but I don’t know - add vo-tech or academy classes.

Jefferson wasn’t near a high school with over 2700 kids in the mid-80. It was near two other schools with small, declining enrollments.

If either Annandale or Stuart had had over 2500 kids at the time they would have redistricted and kept Jefferson open.

How did Jefferson’s quality compare to those two schools at the time? If there was a large disparity then they definitely wouldn’t have redistricted.

They were more sane back then and not focused on bringing the whole county down to the lowest common denominator.

The disparities were not as large but they still would have redistricted.

In Jefferson’s case, given the declining enrollments at the area schools, moving kids into Jefferson wasn’t an option. It is here with Lewis.

Families don’t think it’s an option until the school quality improves.

This is nothing that Madison, Oakton, and Westfield parents didn’t say before they were moved to South Lakes back in 2008.

People forget that South Lakes used to be the school to avoid. A pariah so the speak. Now it’s generally a desirable middle of the pack FCPS school with solid academics and competitive sports teams.

There are still plenty of people who are currently zoned for Oakton hoping their homes don’t get rezoned for South Lakes.

I don’t blame them since Oakton has a brand new state of the art building with bells and whistles. While Oakton has beautiful large windows and common spaces for social gathering and flexible learning, South Lakes is largely windowless (since 70s era schools were typically built w/o any windows).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they do not take steps to bolster Lewis’s enrollment this entire boundary exercise will have been a fiasco.

I believe they need to keep their options open WRT Lewis. There was talk in the past of turning it into some kind of IB magnet and distributing the ES feeders to the nearby high schools. This may come up again with the state’s new rules on accreditation. Also there is a lot of residential development in the works in that area, not all of which is zoned for Lewis to be sure but they may need to shift borders in the future like 5-10 years off to relieve Edison.

A magic school / program at Lewis sounds kind of interesting. Look at Montgomery Blair and kids competing to get in to its magnet programs. The downside for the Lewis location is the traffic around Springfield and its location nestled in between freeway interchanges making access difficult, especially if it ceases to be a neighborhood school.

Circa 1987, Jefferson HS ceased to be a neighborhood school and became TJHSST.

I don’t understand why FCPS won’t consider making Lewis into a magnet school or language immersion or some special designation to at least keep the doors open. My own ES is now the Plum Center. Lewis has the smallest population - keep those students there but I don’t know - add vo-tech or academy classes.

Jefferson wasn’t near a high school with over 2700 kids in the mid-80. It was near two other schools with small, declining enrollments.

If either Annandale or Stuart had had over 2500 kids at the time they would have redistricted and kept Jefferson open.

How did Jefferson’s quality compare to those two schools at the time? If there was a large disparity then they definitely wouldn’t have redistricted.

They were more sane back then and not focused on bringing the whole county down to the lowest common denominator.

The disparities were not as large but they still would have redistricted.

In Jefferson’s case, given the declining enrollments at the area schools, moving kids into Jefferson wasn’t an option. It is here with Lewis.

Families don’t think it’s an option until the school quality improves.

This is nothing that Madison, Oakton, and Westfield parents didn’t say before they were moved to South Lakes back in 2008.

People forget that South Lakes used to be the school to avoid. A pariah so the speak. Now it’s generally a desirable middle of the pack FCPS school with solid academics and competitive sports teams.

They could move a whole relatively affluent WSHS-feeding ES to Lewis and it still wouldn’t bring it up to South Lakes’ level.

[Anonymous]

What I would like to see is that kids who live in Falls Church should NOT go to McLean HS. They should go to Falls Church HS because McLean is already crowded. Then again, it is not likely to happen because those parents will cry foul that their homes value will plummet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are still plenty of people who are currently zoned for Oakton hoping their homes don’t get rezoned for South Lakes.

I don’t blame them since Oakton has a brand new state of the art building with bells and whistles. While Oakton has beautiful large windows and common spaces for social gathering and flexible learning, South Lakes is largely windowless (since 70s era schools were typically built w/o any windows).

Well, I get news for you. McLean HS has old building infrastructure that has not changed much when I graduated in 2002, and yet many people want to send their kids there vs. Justice or Falls Church HS which has nice buildings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I would like to see is that kids who live in Falls Church should NOT go to McLean HS. They should go to Falls Church HS because McLean is already crowded. Then again, it is not likely to happen because those parents will cry foul that their homes value will plummet.

That's the case for most of the redistricting. There is a reason that it's been a third rail for years

[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:If they do not take steps to bolster Lewis’s enrollment this entire boundary exercise will have been a fiasco.

I believe they need to keep their options open WRT Lewis. There was talk in the past of turning it into some kind of IB magnet and distributing the ES feeders to the nearby high schools. This may come up again with the state’s new rules on accreditation. Also there is a lot of residential development in the works in that area, not all of which is zoned for Lewis to be sure but they may need to shift borders in the future like 5-10 years off to relieve Edison.

A magic school / program at Lewis sounds kind of interesting. Look at Montgomery Blair and kids competing to get in to its magnet programs. The downside for the Lewis location is the traffic around Springfield and its location nestled in between freeway interchanges making access difficult, especially if it ceases to be a neighborhood school.

Circa 1987, Jefferson HS ceased to be a neighborhood school and became TJHSST.

I don’t understand why FCPS won’t consider making Lewis into a magnet school or language immersion or some special designation to at least keep the doors open. My own ES is now the Plum Center. Lewis has the smallest population - keep those students there but I don’t know - add vo-tech or academy classes.

Jefferson wasn’t near a high school with over 2700 kids in the mid-80. It was near two other schools with small, declining enrollments.

If either Annandale or Stuart had had over 2500 kids at the time they would have redistricted and kept Jefferson open.

How did Jefferson’s quality compare to those two schools at the time? If there was a large disparity then they definitely wouldn’t have redistricted.

They were more sane back then and not focused on bringing the whole county down to the lowest common denominator.

The disparities were not as large but they still would have redistricted.

In Jefferson’s case, given the declining enrollments at the area schools, moving kids into Jefferson wasn’t an option. It is here with Lewis.

Families don’t think it’s an option until the school quality improves.

This is nothing that Madison, Oakton, and Westfield parents didn’t say before they were moved to South Lakes back in 2008.

People forget that South Lakes used to be the school to avoid. A pariah so the speak. Now it’s generally a desirable middle of the pack FCPS school with solid academics and competitive sports teams.

There are still plenty of people who are currently zoned for Oakton hoping their homes don’t get rezoned for South Lakes.

I don’t blame them since Oakton has a brand new state of the art building with bells and whistles. While Oakton has beautiful large windows and common spaces for social gathering and flexible learning, South Lakes is largely windowless (since 70s era schools were typically built w/o any windows).

What PP was referring to has very little to do with the South Lakes building and lots to do with the relative demographics of the two schools.

[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:If they do not take steps to bolster Lewis’s enrollment this entire boundary exercise will have been a fiasco.

I believe they need to keep their options open WRT Lewis. There was talk in the past of turning it into some kind of IB magnet and distributing the ES feeders to the nearby high schools. This may come up again with the state’s new rules on accreditation. Also there is a lot of residential development in the works in that area, not all of which is zoned for Lewis to be sure but they may need to shift borders in the future like 5-10 years off to relieve Edison.

A magic school / program at Lewis sounds kind of interesting. Look at Montgomery Blair and kids competing to get in to its magnet programs. The downside for the Lewis location is the traffic around Springfield and its location nestled in between freeway interchanges making access difficult, especially if it ceases to be a neighborhood school.

Circa 1987, Jefferson HS ceased to be a neighborhood school and became TJHSST.

I don’t understand why FCPS won’t consider making Lewis into a magnet school or language immersion or some special designation to at least keep the doors open. My own ES is now the Plum Center. Lewis has the smallest population - keep those students there but I don’t know - add vo-tech or academy classes.

Jefferson wasn’t near a high school with over 2700 kids in the mid-80. It was near two other schools with small, declining enrollments.

If either Annandale or Stuart had had over 2500 kids at the time they would have redistricted and kept Jefferson open.

How did Jefferson’s quality compare to those two schools at the time? If there was a large disparity then they definitely wouldn’t have redistricted.

They were more sane back then and not focused on bringing the whole county down to the lowest common denominator.

The disparities were not as large but they still would have redistricted.

In Jefferson’s case, given the declining enrollments at the area schools, moving kids into Jefferson wasn’t an option. It is here with Lewis.

Families don’t think it’s an option until the school quality improves.

This is nothing that Madison, Oakton, and Westfield parents didn’t say before they were moved to South Lakes back in 2008.

People forget that South Lakes used to be the school to avoid. A pariah so the speak. Now it’s generally a desirable middle of the pack FCPS school with solid academics and competitive sports teams.

There are still plenty of people who are currently zoned for Oakton hoping their homes don’t get rezoned for South Lakes.

I don’t blame them since Oakton has a brand new state of the art building with bells and whistles. While Oakton has beautiful large windows and common spaces for social gathering and flexible learning, South Lakes is largely windowless (since 70s era schools were typically built w/o any windows).

What PP was referring to has very little to do with the South Lakes building and lots to do with the relative demographics of the two schools.

Ah thanks. You’re probably right. But come to think of it, isn’t that the directive from the school board—to even the demographics among all the high schools and catchment areas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I would like to see is that kids who live in Falls Church should NOT go to McLean HS. They should go to Falls Church HS because McLean is already crowded. Then again, it is not likely to happen because those parents will cry foul that their homes value will plummet.

Uh huh. In that case maybe the kids in McLean who go to Longfellow should get the boot since Longfellow is in Falls Church.

Langley and McLean are both in McLean, and kids who live outside McLean can and should continue to attend both schools.