FCCPS: why does no one post about it here?

[Anonymous]

What’s the big deal about the building having multiple floors??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s the big deal about the building having multiple floors??

Agree. It’s really an odd thing to gripe about. Kids can walk a few flights, they’ll be okay. We all need the exercise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Class size overall is probably smaller but it varies a lot. My kids had some very small language classes in middle school, which was great, but some large classes (well over the benchmark) in high school.

As for the question about IB and size of school being limiting - many IB courses are two years long so, especially if a student is going for the full IB diploma, it limits the variety of courses they can fit in their schedule (plus there is an additional two-year course that is required for IB diploma students). The IB diploma path is rigorous and has many benefits but you have to be all in. It’s not like AP where you just choose the AP courses you want. For the IB diploma you are required to take IB courses across all fields. This is good for making students well-rounded but it’s a downside for some students and families.

As another PP said, the small size of the school means some core classes have only one section and sometimes they are at the same time, which makes HS scheduling difficult. At a larger school, it would be unlikely that a core class (like math or Spanish) would have only one section.

A high percentage of kids in the HS also take IB classes without pursuing the IB diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: My biggest beef has been activists on our school board that ....., woke religious holidays instead. Other than that, I'm happy with the education.

Religious holidays were removed. They were on the schedule only one year. Now they are school days but teachers have option to take day off and can't schedule tests or quizzes on such days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. OK then! Can anyone tell me about Mount Daniel? We are moving there in November

Our DC is in 2nd grade. Kids come and go mid year due to the many State Dept, World Bank and military families. We have loved every year since K. The best school and staff in the system. What concerns you or want to know? Did you use the search function? Maybe I can share that the Mt Daniel principal, many of the teachers and staff, the Superintendent have their kids in this same system, or the went through it, and they live (and want to live) in this small 2 sq mi community. It is more diverse that others have posted. We have a multiracial family as neighbors, many other neighbors born abroad and we are ourselves naturalized citizens. The school communications are send in English and Spanish, for a reason.

[Anonymous]

I wish they had a campus instead of being trapped by towering office buildings. Parking is also a nightmare for school events.

I wish I was a little bit taller, a little bit stronger... Parking will get better when construction nexf door is over. The other vent is typical first world. It's Falls Church CITY. Cities are dense. Get on with it.

[Anonymous]

And there is a campus. The stadium, the middle school, baseball fields, tennis courts and all the other buildings all in one sizeable contiguous area. Isn't that a campus to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And there is a campus. The stadium, the middle school, baseball fields, tennis courts and all the other buildings all in one sizeable contiguous area. Isn't that a campus to you?

I didn’t post that but have been in the high school and understand what they are saying. It doesn’t feel like a school. It feels like an office building. Maybe this is what schools in cities are like. For some of us that have been around a long time, it’s a hard adjustment from the old building. It was old and needed to be knocked down but it had character and felt like a welcoming school. This doesn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And there is a campus. The stadium, the middle school, baseball fields, tennis courts and all the other buildings all in one sizeable contiguous area. Isn't that a campus to you?

I didn’t post that but have been in the high school and understand what they are saying. It doesn’t feel like a school. It feels like an office building. Maybe this is what schools in cities are like. For some of us that have been around a long time, it’s a hard adjustment from the old building. It was old and needed to be knocked down but it had character and felt like a welcoming school. This doesn’t.

The decision to build the school the way it currently is was a long drawn out process over many years that was driven by the goal of getting developers to help pay the cost of the new school by selling part of the school property for mixed use development which also helps shift the tax burden in the city from mostly paid by residential taxes to more income from commercial taxes. This also included other commercial and mixed use development in other parts of the city and while the tax burden has shifted there is obviously a price to pay for that in aesthetics and the character of the school and of the city itself. More high rises, more urban feel than previously, and obviously a much less sprawled out high school and middle school campus. That actually started years ago when the middle school was designed as a four story building if you include the lower level. Smaller footprints for the MS and HS means some room for sought after mixed use development right there by the metro station. It has been challenging keeping FCC and/or the schools from being absorbed by Fairfax or Arlington but ultimately that's what the majority of FCC wanted and continues to want. Shifting the tax burden was the best solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And there is a campus. The stadium, the middle school, baseball fields, tennis courts and all the other buildings all in one sizeable contiguous area. Isn't that a campus to you?

I didn’t post that but have been in the high school and understand what they are saying. It doesn’t feel like a school. It feels like an office building. Maybe this is what schools in cities are like. For some of us that have been around a long time, it’s a hard adjustment from the old building. It was old and needed to be knocked down but it had character and felt like a welcoming school. This doesn’t.

The decision to build the school the way it currently is was a long drawn out process over many years that was driven by the goal of getting developers to help pay the cost of the new school by selling part of the school property for mixed use development which also helps shift the tax burden in the city from mostly paid by residential taxes to more income from commercial taxes. This also included other commercial and mixed use development in other parts of the city and while the tax burden has shifted there is obviously a price to pay for that in aesthetics and the character of the school and of the city itself. More high rises, more urban feel than previously, and obviously a much less sprawled out high school and middle school campus. That actually started years ago when the middle school was designed as a four story building if you include the lower level. Smaller footprints for the MS and HS means some room for sought after mixed use development right there by the metro station. It has been challenging keeping FCC and/or the schools from being absorbed by Fairfax or Arlington but ultimately that's what the majority of FCC wanted and continues to want. Shifting the tax burden was the best solution.

Yes. We are well aware. As I said, I have been here a long time. I was at some of those meetings. I understand the rationale. It doesn’t change the feeling of the new building. Some may like it but I don’t. Personally, I think it would be a huge improvement to have FCCPS absorbed by FCPS, even with all of their issues, but that’s a different discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And there is a campus. The stadium, the middle school, baseball fields, tennis courts and all the other buildings all in one sizeable contiguous area. Isn't that a campus to you?

I didn’t post that but have been in the high school and understand what they are saying. It doesn’t feel like a school. It feels like an office building. Maybe this is what schools in cities are like. For some of us that have been around a long time, it’s a hard adjustment from the old building. It was old and needed to be knocked down but it had character and felt like a welcoming school. This doesn’t.

The decision to build the school the way it currently is was a long drawn out process over many years that was driven by the goal of getting developers to help pay the cost of the new school by selling part of the school property for mixed use development which also helps shift the tax burden in the city from mostly paid by residential taxes to more income from commercial taxes. This also included other commercial and mixed use development in other parts of the city and while the tax burden has shifted there is obviously a price to pay for that in aesthetics and the character of the school and of the city itself. More high rises, more urban feel than previously, and obviously a much less sprawled out high school and middle school campus. That actually started years ago when the middle school was designed as a four story building if you include the lower level. Smaller footprints for the MS and HS means some room for sought after mixed use development right there by the metro station. It has been challenging keeping FCC and/or the schools from being absorbed by Fairfax or Arlington but ultimately that's what the majority of FCC wanted and continues to want. Shifting the tax burden was the best solution.

Yes. We are well aware. As I said, I have been here a long time. I was at some of those meetings. I understand the rationale. It doesn’t change the feeling of the new building. Some may like it but I don’t. Personally, I think it would be a huge improvement to have FCCPS absorbed by FCPS, even with all of their issues, but that’s a different discussion.

I have often been confused over the many years this has been a topic of conversation, why don't those who want the schools absorbed by a nearby school district just go ahead and move over there? Puzzling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And there is a campus. The stadium, the middle school, baseball fields, tennis courts and all the other buildings all in one sizeable contiguous area. Isn't that a campus to you?

I didn’t post that but have been in the high school and understand what they are saying. It doesn’t feel like a school. It feels like an office building. Maybe this is what schools in cities are like. For some of us that have been around a long time, it’s a hard adjustment from the old building. It was old and needed to be knocked down but it had character and felt like a welcoming school. This doesn’t.

The decision to build the school the way it currently is was a long drawn out process over many years that was driven by the goal of getting developers to help pay the cost of the new school by selling part of the school property for mixed use development which also helps shift the tax burden in the city from mostly paid by residential taxes to more income from commercial taxes. This also included other commercial and mixed use development in other parts of the city and while the tax burden has shifted there is obviously a price to pay for that in aesthetics and the character of the school and of the city itself. More high rises, more urban feel than previously, and obviously a much less sprawled out high school and middle school campus. That actually started years ago when the middle school was designed as a four story building if you include the lower level. Smaller footprints for the MS and HS means some room for sought after mixed use development right there by the metro station. It has been challenging keeping FCC and/or the schools from being absorbed by Fairfax or Arlington but ultimately that's what the majority of FCC wanted and continues to want. Shifting the tax burden was the best solution.

Yes. We are well aware. As I said, I have been here a long time. I was at some of those meetings. I understand the rationale. It doesn’t change the feeling of the new building. Some may like it but I don’t. Personally, I think it would be a huge improvement to have FCCPS absorbed by FCPS, even with all of their issues, but that’s a different discussion.

I have often been confused over the many years this has been a topic of conversation, why don't those who want the schools absorbed by a nearby school district just go ahead and move over there? Puzzling.

Here’s my reason for not moving immediately. We have been here for a long time and now only have a couple of years left. It’s sad to see the change in FCCPS over the past ten or so years.

This conversation has gotten sidetracked so I want to turn it back to OP. Your child will be fine in elementary school. I would consider alternatives (moving or private) before middle and high school. We saw what the district used to be like and it no longer has the same academic standards of the past. We have not been happy with the changes with the MYP program in the middle school and grading at the high school. Part of our issue is we know what it used to be and see how the changes are now. Hindsight is 20/20 but we should have moved.