FCPS comprehensive boundary review

[Anonymous]

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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?

That is not the stated directive from the school board because they would be sued if it was. One Fairfax lurks in the background, but will likely get struck down by the courts at some point.

The school board finds proxies for that goal instead, which is why you get the school board members like Robin Lady heralding facially ridiculous initiatives like pretending to give your high schoolers a couple more minutes of sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I would be more than happy that McLean kids get booted from Longfellow and kids from Falls Church get booted from McLean HS. Make McLean HS a secondary school like Robinson or Lake Braddock for ONLY McLean residents only. I am going to bet that it will make a lot of unhappy Falls Church residents because more homes value outside of McLean will take a big hit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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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?

Geography is a barrier to that directive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I would be more than happy that McLean kids get booted from Longfellow and kids from Falls Church get booted from McLean HS. Make McLean HS a secondary school like Robinson or Lake Braddock for ONLY McLean residents only. I am going to bet that it will make a lot of unhappy Falls Church residents because more homes value outside of McLean will take a big hit.

This will never happen, nor should it. And, if it did, which it won’t, it would have a negative impact on home values in the part of McLean stuck with this runt secondary school (the rest of McLean would still go to Langley).

Not worth discussing further.

[Anonymous]

I think the homes really vulnerable to redistricting is the Mozaic part of Oakton High School. Look at the Falls Church HS versus Oakton HS geography / district. In that area, they intertwine like fingers on two hands.

I deliberately avoided the Riveradale (I think that is the name?) area currently districted for Braddock, and the areas of Mozaic ES closest to Inova Fairfax Hospital. With the addition and renovation of the Falls Church HS, one of them will be moved back - or possibly Mozaic to Falls Church HS, and Riverdale to Annandale HS where it used to be 20 years ago.

[Anonymous]

I just hope that as many school board members’ kids as possible get included in the redistricted areas. Of course they just won’t include those kids, because they are hypocrites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I would be more than happy that McLean kids get booted from Longfellow and kids from Falls Church get booted from McLean HS. Make McLean HS a secondary school like Robinson or Lake Braddock for ONLY McLean residents only. I am going to bet that it will make a lot of unhappy Falls Church residents because more homes value outside of McLean will take a big hit.

This will never happen, nor should it. And, if it did, which it won’t, it would have a negative impact on home values in the part of McLean stuck with this runt secondary school (the rest of McLean would still go to Langley).

Not worth discussing further.

I live in McLean and I am more than happy to be stuck with this runt secondary school. Other McLean residents can go to Langley, and that is fine with me.

That's the reason why McLean HS still has trailers next to the baseball field because of kids from Falls Church that attend McLean HS. In other words, people who live in Falls Church that pay less in property taxes to take advantage of the system. The board probably will not do anything about it due to PC, DEI, and so on. Absolutely disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the homes really vulnerable to redistricting is the Mozaic part of Oakton High School. Look at the Falls Church HS versus Oakton HS geography / district. In that area, they intertwine like fingers on two hands.

I deliberately avoided the Riveradale (I think that is the name?) area currently districted for Braddock, and the areas of Mozaic ES closest to Inova Fairfax Hospital. With the addition and renovation of the Falls Church HS, one of them will be moved back - or possibly Mozaic to Falls Church HS, and Riverdale to Annandale HS where it used to be 20 years ago.

Oakton HS sits within the Mosaic ES catchment area, so why would any part of Mosaic get moved to Falls Church HS? It wasn’t that long ago that area got pulled out of Jackson MS and moved to Thoreau MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I would be more than happy that McLean kids get booted from Longfellow and kids from Falls Church get booted from McLean HS. Make McLean HS a secondary school like Robinson or Lake Braddock for ONLY McLean residents only. I am going to bet that it will make a lot of unhappy Falls Church residents because more homes value outside of McLean will take a big hit.

This will never happen, nor should it. And, if it did, which it won’t, it would have a negative impact on home values in the part of McLean stuck with this runt secondary school (the rest of McLean would still go to Langley).

Not worth discussing further.

I live in McLean and I am more than happy to be stuck with this runt secondary school. Other McLean residents can go to Langley, and that is fine with me.

That's the reason why McLean HS still has trailers next to the baseball field because of kids from Falls Church that attend McLean HS. In other words, people who live in Falls Church that pay less in property taxes to take advantage of the system. The board probably will not do anything about it due to PC, DEI, and so on. Absolutely disgusting.

The Falls Church residents in the county pay the same property tax rate as you, and many are also in the “McLean Tax District” that pays the additional surcharge to fund the MCC, Old Firehouse, etc. It’s quite arbitrary, in fact, whether many of these houses are in 22043 as opposed to the 22101 zip code.

Again, this is a non-starter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the homes really vulnerable to redistricting is the Mozaic part of Oakton High School. Look at the Falls Church HS versus Oakton HS geography / district. In that area, they intertwine like fingers on two hands.

I deliberately avoided the Riveradale (I think that is the name?) area currently districted for Braddock, and the areas of Mozaic ES closest to Inova Fairfax Hospital. With the addition and renovation of the Falls Church HS, one of them will be moved back - or possibly Mozaic to Falls Church HS, and Riverdale to Annandale HS where it used to be 20 years ago.

Are Mosaic Elementary School and the Mosaic district being confused? The Mosaic District borders INOVA Fairfax and is already zoned for Falls Church High School. Mosaic Elementary includes Oakton High School in its attendance zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the homes really vulnerable to redistricting is the Mozaic part of Oakton High School. Look at the Falls Church HS versus Oakton HS geography / district. In that area, they intertwine like fingers on two hands.

I deliberately avoided the Riveradale (I think that is the name?) area currently districted for Braddock, and the areas of Mozaic ES closest to Inova Fairfax Hospital. With the addition and renovation of the Falls Church HS, one of them will be moved back - or possibly Mozaic to Falls Church HS, and Riverdale to Annandale HS where it used to be 20 years ago.

Oakton HS sits within the Mosaic ES catchment area, so why would any part of Mosaic get moved to Falls Church HS? It wasn’t that long ago that area got pulled out of Jackson MS and moved to Thoreau MS.

The county is expanding Falls Church HS for a reason. I just look at that weird little "finger" of their district coming up to the Mozaic district, and cannot help but think that the easiest way to increase achievement in FCHS is to redistrict a part of Mozaic there. These townhouses / houses tend to be lower cost and primarily occupied by immigrants, giving a combination of lower influence and higher achievement that the country would want to move around.

Another possibility is that part of Marshall HS would be redistricted to FCHS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I would be more than happy that McLean kids get booted from Longfellow and kids from Falls Church get booted from McLean HS. Make McLean HS a secondary school like Robinson or Lake Braddock for ONLY McLean residents only. I am going to bet that it will make a lot of unhappy Falls Church residents because more homes value outside of McLean will take a big hit.

This will never happen, nor should it. And, if it did, which it won’t, it would have a negative impact on home values in the part of McLean stuck with this runt secondary school (the rest of McLean would still go to Langley).

Not worth discussing further.

I live in McLean and I am more than happy to be stuck with this runt secondary school. Other McLean residents can go to Langley, and that is fine with me.

That's the reason why McLean HS still has trailers next to the baseball field because of kids from Falls Church that attend McLean HS. In other words, people who live in Falls Church that pay less in property taxes to take advantage of the system. The board probably will not do anything about it due to PC, DEI, and so on. Absolutely disgusting.

The Falls Church residents in the county pay the same property tax rate as you, and many are also in the “McLean Tax District” that pays the additional surcharge to fund the MCC, Old Firehouse, etc. It’s quite arbitrary, in fact, whether many of these houses are in 22043 as opposed to the 22101 zip code.

Again, this is a non-starter.

They pay the same tax rate but there is a big difference in the amount of tax for a 3M home in McLean vs. a 700K home in Falls Church. It is like saying the Toyota Camry is the same as the Lexus LX570.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the homes really vulnerable to redistricting is the Mozaic part of Oakton High School. Look at the Falls Church HS versus Oakton HS geography / district. In that area, they intertwine like fingers on two hands.

I deliberately avoided the Riveradale (I think that is the name?) area currently districted for Braddock, and the areas of Mozaic ES closest to Inova Fairfax Hospital. With the addition and renovation of the Falls Church HS, one of them will be moved back - or possibly Mozaic to Falls Church HS, and Riverdale to Annandale HS where it used to be 20 years ago.

Oakton HS sits within the Mosaic ES catchment area, so why would any part of Mosaic get moved to Falls Church HS? It wasn’t that long ago that area got pulled out of Jackson MS and moved to Thoreau MS.

The county is expanding Falls Church HS for a reason. I just look at that weird little "finger" of their district coming up to the Mozaic district, and cannot help but think that the easiest way to increase achievement in FCHS is to redistrict a part of Mozaic there. These townhouses / houses tend to be lower cost and primarily occupied by immigrants, giving a combination of lower influence and higher achievement that the country would want to move around.

Another possibility is that part of Marshall HS would be redistricted to FCHS.

I don't think the county would do anything that lowers the FARMS rate at Oakton and raises it at FCHS

[Anonymous]

This is all speculation. Nothing has been announced yet. Maybe take a deep breath and wait to see what the school board proposes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I would be more than happy that McLean kids get booted from Longfellow and kids from Falls Church get booted from McLean HS. Make McLean HS a secondary school like Robinson or Lake Braddock for ONLY McLean residents only. I am going to bet that it will make a lot of unhappy Falls Church residents because more homes value outside of McLean will take a big hit.

This will never happen, nor should it. And, if it did, which it won’t, it would have a negative impact on home values in the part of McLean stuck with this runt secondary school (the rest of McLean would still go to Langley).

Not worth discussing further.

I live in McLean and I am more than happy to be stuck with this runt secondary school. Other McLean residents can go to Langley, and that is fine with me.

That's the reason why McLean HS still has trailers next to the baseball field because of kids from Falls Church that attend McLean HS. In other words, people who live in Falls Church that pay less in property taxes to take advantage of the system. The board probably will not do anything about it due to PC, DEI, and so on. Absolutely disgusting.

The Falls Church residents in the county pay the same property tax rate as you, and many are also in the “McLean Tax District” that pays the additional surcharge to fund the MCC, Old Firehouse, etc. It’s quite arbitrary, in fact, whether many of these houses are in 22043 as opposed to the 22101 zip code.

Again, this is a non-starter.

They pay the same tax rate but there is a big difference in the amount of tax for a 3M home in McLean vs. a 700K home in Falls Church. It is like saying the Toyota Camry is the same as the Lexus LX570.

$3M homes in McLean tend to be zoned for Langley and $700K homes in Falls Church tend to be zoned for Falls Church or Justice. Most houses in McLean and Falls Church zoned to McLean fall in the middle, so your comparison falls flat.