FCPS Boundary Review Updates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The status quo isn't really working for Lewis, boundaries or academics. Yet nothing is being done. People on here talk about community, but Lewis really has no strong community. I would wager the neighborhoods that feed it have some of the highest private, homeschool, or pupil placement rates. Not a lot of Lewis graduate signs up right now.

And, some hope to improve it with a boundary adjustment.

The boundary adjustment is NOT the answer.

The School Board should look to improve Lewis. It is possible. They should not look to other students to improve it, but look to see what can be done to improve opportunities and instruction.
Is that not what a school is for?

I don't know the Lewis community. I live in another part of the county. But, I do remember when the Graham Road community wanted the school to stay put--because they had a community there. Instead the School Board "knew better" and moved them to a brand new school that requires walking along busy streets to get there.
And, now, I've read somewhere on this forum that the School Board wants to change that around and switch them to a different school. And, put another neighborhood in the new school.

How is that for creating community?

You're talking about the Graham Road/Timber Lane situation.

The "old" Graham Road ES mostly used to serve kids in the large, low-income Kingsley Commons community right next to the school.

The school was up for a renovation and, rather than renovate on a small plot, FCPS built a new school further away on Graham Road just south of Route 29. However, that site lay within the boundaries of Timber Lane ES, and they didn't want to change the boundaries. So for 13 years Kingsley Commons kids traveled to the "new" Graham Road school inside the Timber Lane attendance area.

Along comes Reid and Thru, and they decide that's a problem and the boundaries should be drawn so Graham Road lies within its attendance area. Sounds logical, but the solution involves moving the Kingsley Commons kids to Timber Lane, which is even further away than "new" Graham Road, and then changing Timber Lane's boundaries so that some of the Timber Lane kids north of Route 29 go to Shrevewood and the Timber Lane kids south of Route 29 flip to Graham Road, while Timber Lane south of Routh 29 is redrawn to pick up kids currently at Pine Spring and Graham Road.

Add to this the fact that Timber Lane north of Route 29 currently goes to McLean and Timber Lane south of Route 29 goes to Falls Church. Thru has proposed to move the area north of Route 29 to Falls Church, apparently to justify their expansion of Falls Church, and those Timber Lane families aren't happy about that. And then the Timber Lane families south of Route 29 feel like they're being disrespected, but they're all being moved to Graham Road anyway, so whatever "community" exists currently at Timber Lane is apparently going to be upended in any event.

It's kind of a mess.

Thanks for the explanation. Does not sound like FCPS supports our struggling communities very well. They don't understand what makes a community.

I taught in a very poor Title I community where the boundary was split with a major highway. Most of the kids lived in projects across this road. Many did not have reliable transportation, if any. Getting support was extremely difficult.

If any community needs to attend schools in their own community, it is a poor one.
I remember reading about Graham Rd when they were asking to stay there. It sounded like they had built a community there. And, then, they moved them.

Has there been any kind of "study" on this? I'm betting they lost a lot in this move.

No common sense at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The status quo isn't really working for Lewis, boundaries or academics. Yet nothing is being done. People on here talk about community, but Lewis really has no strong community. I would wager the neighborhoods that feed it have some of the highest private, homeschool, or pupil placement rates. Not a lot of Lewis graduate signs up right now.

And, some hope to improve it with a boundary adjustment.

The boundary adjustment is NOT the answer.

The School Board should look to improve Lewis. It is possible. They should not look to other students to improve it, but look to see what can be done to improve opportunities and instruction.
Is that not what a school is for?

I don't know the Lewis community. I live in another part of the county. But, I do remember when the Graham Road community wanted the school to stay put--because they had a community there. Instead the School Board "knew better" and moved them to a brand new school that requires walking along busy streets to get there.
And, now, I've read somewhere on this forum that the School Board wants to change that around and switch them to a different school. And, put another neighborhood in the new school.

How is that for creating community?

You're talking about the Graham Road/Timber Lane situation.

The "old" Graham Road ES mostly used to serve kids in the large, low-income Kingsley Commons community right next to the school.

The school was up for a renovation and, rather than renovate on a small plot, FCPS built a new school further away on Graham Road just south of Route 29. However, that site lay within the boundaries of Timber Lane ES, and they didn't want to change the boundaries. So for 13 years Kingsley Commons kids traveled to the "new" Graham Road school inside the Timber Lane attendance area.

Along comes Reid and Thru, and they decide that's a problem and the boundaries should be drawn so Graham Road lies within its attendance area. Sounds logical, but the solution involves moving the Kingsley Commons kids to Timber Lane, which is even further away than "new" Graham Road, and then changing Timber Lane's boundaries so that some of the Timber Lane kids north of Route 29 go to Shrevewood and the Timber Lane kids south of Route 29 flip to Graham Road, while Timber Lane south of Routh 29 is redrawn to pick up kids currently at Pine Spring and Graham Road.

Add to this the fact that Timber Lane north of Route 29 currently goes to McLean and Timber Lane south of Route 29 goes to Falls Church. Thru has proposed to move the area north of Route 29 to Falls Church, apparently to justify their expansion of Falls Church, and those Timber Lane families aren't happy about that. And then the Timber Lane families south of Route 29 feel like they're being disrespected, but they're all being moved to Graham Road anyway, so whatever "community" exists currently at Timber Lane is apparently going to be upended in any event.

It's kind of a mess.

Thanks for the explanation. Does not sound like FCPS supports our struggling communities very well. They don't understand what makes a community.

I taught in a very poor Title I community where the boundary was split with a major highway. Most of the kids lived in projects across this road. Many did not have reliable transportation, if any. Getting support was extremely difficult.

If any community needs to attend schools in their own community, it is a poor one.
I remember reading about Graham Rd when they were asking to stay there. It sounded like they had built a community there. And, then, they moved them.

Has there been any kind of "study" on this? I'm betting they lost a lot in this move.

No common sense at all.

The only other thing I remember is that, at one point when Kingsley Commons was adjacent to the "old" Graham Road, the school had a really close relationship with the community and the Graham Road kids were outperforming kids at much wealthier schools on some of the SOL-type tests.

That's no longer happening, but I can't say it's because they relocated the school. It's possible later administrations just de-emphasized standardized test prep, which can be a drudge, or the kids who live in the complex now are less prepared for school than kids a decade ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The status quo isn't really working for Lewis, boundaries or academics. Yet nothing is being done. People on here talk about community, but Lewis really has no strong community. I would wager the neighborhoods that feed it have some of the highest private, homeschool, or pupil placement rates. Not a lot of Lewis graduate signs up right now.

And, some hope to improve it with a boundary adjustment.

The boundary adjustment is NOT the answer.

The School Board should look to improve Lewis. It is possible. They should not look to other students to improve it, but look to see what can be done to improve opportunities and instruction.
Is that not what a school is for?

I don't know the Lewis community. I live in another part of the county. But, I do remember when the Graham Road community wanted the school to stay put--because they had a community there. Instead the School Board "knew better" and moved them to a brand new school that requires walking along busy streets to get there.
And, now, I've read somewhere on this forum that the School Board wants to change that around and switch them to a different school. And, put another neighborhood in the new school.

How is that for creating community?

You're talking about the Graham Road/Timber Lane situation.

The "old" Graham Road ES mostly used to serve kids in the large, low-income Kingsley Commons community right next to the school.

The school was up for a renovation and, rather than renovate on a small plot, FCPS built a new school further away on Graham Road just south of Route 29. However, that site lay within the boundaries of Timber Lane ES, and they didn't want to change the boundaries. So for 13 years Kingsley Commons kids traveled to the "new" Graham Road school inside the Timber Lane attendance area.

Along comes Reid and Thru, and they decide that's a problem and the boundaries should be drawn so Graham Road lies within its attendance area. Sounds logical, but the solution involves moving the Kingsley Commons kids to Timber Lane, which is even further away than "new" Graham Road, and then changing Timber Lane's boundaries so that some of the Timber Lane kids north of Route 29 go to Shrevewood and the Timber Lane kids south of Route 29 flip to Graham Road, while Timber Lane south of Routh 29 is redrawn to pick up kids currently at Pine Spring and Graham Road.

Add to this the fact that Timber Lane north of Route 29 currently goes to McLean and Timber Lane south of Route 29 goes to Falls Church. Thru has proposed to move the area north of Route 29 to Falls Church, apparently to justify their expansion of Falls Church, and those Timber Lane families aren't happy about that. And then the Timber Lane families south of Route 29 feel like they're being disrespected, but they're all being moved to Graham Road anyway, so whatever "community" exists currently at Timber Lane is apparently going to be upended in any event.

It's kind of a mess.

You forgot to mention that the neighborhood (Jefferson Village/Greenway downs) between 50/29 and Annandale and Graham Rd. Currently go to 4 different elementary schools and 2 different MS and HS.
For the sake of economic diversity in schools, kids in this neighborhood go to Timber Lane, Pine Spring, Graham and then there is a small pocket in the corner that go to Beech Tree followed by Justice HS. Talk about a terrible plan that splits up a community. New plan does send them all to Graham.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The status quo isn't really working for Lewis, boundaries or academics. Yet nothing is being done. People on here talk about community, but Lewis really has no strong community. I would wager the neighborhoods that feed it have some of the highest private, homeschool, or pupil placement rates. Not a lot of Lewis graduate signs up right now.

And, some hope to improve it with a boundary adjustment.

The boundary adjustment is NOT the answer.

The School Board should look to improve Lewis. It is possible. They should not look to other students to improve it, but look to see what can be done to improve opportunities and instruction.
Is that not what a school is for?

I don't know the Lewis community. I live in another part of the county. But, I do remember when the Graham Road community wanted the school to stay put--because they had a community there. Instead the School Board "knew better" and moved them to a brand new school that requires walking along busy streets to get there.
And, now, I've read somewhere on this forum that the School Board wants to change that around and switch them to a different school. And, put another neighborhood in the new school.

How is that for creating community?

You're talking about the Graham Road/Timber Lane situation.

The "old" Graham Road ES mostly used to serve kids in the large, low-income Kingsley Commons community right next to the school.

The school was up for a renovation and, rather than renovate on a small plot, FCPS built a new school further away on Graham Road just south of Route 29. However, that site lay within the boundaries of Timber Lane ES, and they didn't want to change the boundaries. So for 13 years Kingsley Commons kids traveled to the "new" Graham Road school inside the Timber Lane attendance area.

Along comes Reid and Thru, and they decide that's a problem and the boundaries should be drawn so Graham Road lies within its attendance area. Sounds logical, but the solution involves moving the Kingsley Commons kids to Timber Lane, which is even further away than "new" Graham Road, and then changing Timber Lane's boundaries so that some of the Timber Lane kids north of Route 29 go to Shrevewood and the Timber Lane kids south of Route 29 flip to Graham Road, while Timber Lane south of Routh 29 is redrawn to pick up kids currently at Pine Spring and Graham Road.

Add to this the fact that Timber Lane north of Route 29 currently goes to McLean and Timber Lane south of Route 29 goes to Falls Church. Thru has proposed to move the area north of Route 29 to Falls Church, apparently to justify their expansion of Falls Church, and those Timber Lane families aren't happy about that. And then the Timber Lane families south of Route 29 feel like they're being disrespected, but they're all being moved to Graham Road anyway, so whatever "community" exists currently at Timber Lane is apparently going to be upended in any event.

It's kind of a mess.

You forgot to mention that the neighborhood (Jefferson Village/Greenway downs) between 50/29 and Annandale and Graham Rd. Currently go to 4 different elementary schools and 2 different MS and HS.
For the sake of economic diversity in schools, kids in this neighborhood go to Timber Lane, Pine Spring, Graham and then there is a small pocket in the corner that go to Beech Tree followed by Justice HS. Talk about a terrible plan that splits up a community. New plan does send them all to Graham.

As far as I was aware all of Greenway Downs went to Falls Church. I knew Jefferson Village splits to Falls Church and Justice. There was a proposal in 2011 to move the rest of Jefferson Village to Beech Tree/Glasgow/Stuart (now Justice) and Patty Reed, who represented Providence at the time, got the School Board to exclude that proposal and retain the Pine Spring attendance island at Jackson/Falls Church. I assume the area wanted to stay at Pine Spring/Jackson/Falls Church. Now they are proposing to move that island from Pine Spring to Westlawn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t want to quote all those posts where the quotes got messed up, but there will be a LOT of space at Halley ES in Lorton with them moving out the Hagel Circle kids. Like … a concerning amount of space. “Staffing changes” amount of space. If anything, they need to move kids out of Silverbrook to Halley (which does not change the MS/HS feeder situation since everyone already goes to SCMS/HS). That’s an easy change since they all basically live in the same neighborhoods. Why Thru moved some kids out of Silverbrook to fill out a small number of openings at Sangster and LB (as a result of moving that attendance island to Newington Forest) I have no idea. That was one of those things that wasn’t on the BRAC maps - Thru’s AI or whatever came up with it on their own. Silverbrook is one of those schools that is perpetually over crowded as hardly anyone leaves for the AAP center and it’s a desirable area for families.

They won’t move kids out of Silverbrook because that’s Sandy Anderson’s school, I think. I don’t see them changing boundaries in any areas where there are school board members living.

More than anything, this really upsets me. If the sb thinks this is not a big deal, all their kids - every one of them- should be moved to a different school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The status quo isn't really working for Lewis, boundaries or academics. Yet nothing is being done. People on here talk about community, but Lewis really has no strong community. I would wager the neighborhoods that feed it have some of the highest private, homeschool, or pupil placement rates. Not a lot of Lewis graduate signs up right now.

And, some hope to improve it with a boundary adjustment.

The boundary adjustment is NOT the answer.

The School Board should look to improve Lewis. It is possible. They should not look to other students to improve it, but look to see what can be done to improve opportunities and instruction.
Is that not what a school is for?

I don't know the Lewis community. I live in another part of the county. But, I do remember when the Graham Road community wanted the school to stay put--because they had a community there. Instead the School Board "knew better" and moved them to a brand new school that requires walking along busy streets to get there.
And, now, I've read somewhere on this forum that the School Board wants to change that around and switch them to a different school. And, put another neighborhood in the new school.

How is that for creating community?

More students would be part of the answer for Lewis. It is now very different in size from its neighbors. They could start this by going back to AP and trying to reduce transfers. But the county also set up the STEM academy at Edison (another IB school) that is bleeding students away from Lewis. They also shrank the boundaries too much in 2005 and 2015.

It just seems that the county has undercut Lewis at every opportunity. It is almost like they want it to be a school only for poor, ESL students. Maybe that makes life easier for the staff at Lewis. Only concentrate on this group and let advanced students (or just native speakers) transfer out. Of course they could never say this. But they certainly have had ample time to address the problem and have done nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The status quo isn't really working for Lewis, boundaries or academics. Yet nothing is being done. People on here talk about community, but Lewis really has no strong community. I would wager the neighborhoods that feed it have some of the highest private, homeschool, or pupil placement rates. Not a lot of Lewis graduate signs up right now.

And, some hope to improve it with a boundary adjustment.

The boundary adjustment is NOT the answer.

The School Board should look to improve Lewis. It is possible. They should not look to other students to improve it, but look to see what can be done to improve opportunities and instruction.
Is that not what a school is for?

I don't know the Lewis community. I live in another part of the county. But, I do remember when the Graham Road community wanted the school to stay put--because they had a community there. Instead the School Board "knew better" and moved them to a brand new school that requires walking along busy streets to get there.
And, now, I've read somewhere on this forum that the School Board wants to change that around and switch them to a different school. And, put another neighborhood in the new school.

How is that for creating community?

More students would be part of the answer for Lewis. It is now very different in size from its neighbors. They could start this by going back to AP and trying to reduce transfers. But the county also set up the STEM academy at Edison (another IB school) that is bleeding students away from Lewis. They also shrank the boundaries too much in 2005 and 2015.

It just seems that the county has undercut Lewis at every opportunity. It is almost like they want it to be a school only for poor, ESL students. Maybe that makes life easier for the staff at Lewis. Only concentrate on this group and let advanced students (or just native speakers) transfer out. Of course they could never say this. But they certainly have had ample time to address the problem and have done nothing.

Sounds like they need to fix the school before adding any.

Maybe, spend money on instruction rather than studies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Emerald Chase parent here. We’re getting a lot of hate (and several outright rude comments) about our community. Last night, we had one comment that we encouraged all our parents to vote for. We want to make sure our voices are heard since we have two schools changing and yet no meeting scheduled for our (new or old) pyramid. Per the zoom, they were actually only showing one comment live and they locked it on the display. Other “out of pyramid” schools also voiced opinions (Coates, Hunters Valley, etc.) but we are the only ones getting hate. It is the nature of the way Thru consulting has set up the feedback system that should be attacked, not us. We encourage all communities to participate and stand up for their children.

Also, our community is not being organized through our HOA. Our small SPA is actually made up of 2 HOAs. It is a group of parents that feel very strongly and are working tirelessly to make sure FCPS listens.

Of course you are going to say that. It is a “bootstraps” statement. Like it is your hard work that is making this happen instead of the existing structure of your community. That is why you are using the words “Tirelessly etc”.

In truth, it is much easier to post links to meetings through already existing email pathways and websites than it is to create those pathways in communities that have no HOA. In a non-HOA Community that would involve door knocking, social media posting across multiple sites, getting personal contact information etc just to get to the point where a community has an email list. I understand people’s defensiveness in me pointing that out, but it isn’t “rude” to say so. It is the truth. Saying things like “we encourage all communities to participate” when many can’t organize as easily as you do is disingenuous.

A community of 240+ votes attending one meeting is not a “small SPA”. We have far far less children in our neighborhood.

It is clear Emerald Chase has beaten the system, but don’t lie to yourself that it is your “tireless efforts.” You have a lot of structure you are relying on.

But definitely no hate here.

There is a distinct difference between me hating you and not wanting you to succeed vs me pointing out that you have a much easier time advocating for your children because of the type of community you live in.

I do NOT hate you, in fact I am anti any boundary changes without generous grandfathering. I don’t want your kids moved or mine unless it is done in a way that allows kids to stay in their school and transition to a new school at a natural transition point (end of 8th, end of 5th, not for high school).

BUT I am also pointing out that your assumptions that all communities can just as easily pull together to get want they want for their kids as Emerald Chase can for their kids is WRONG. I am pointing out that I think taking over meeting feedback repeatedly with 250+ votes for a single community every time takes away from others voices. Again, that doesn’t mean I hate you, it does mean I think it is wrong to continue to take over meetings. It does mean I am telling you I think that is wrong. I think your defensiveness in saying I ‘hate” you makes it easier for you to take that criticism (that you probably understand is objectively true) and negate it so you don’t have to think about it.

Not an Emerald Chase parent here, but I really want you to understand that any single motivated person could easily vote on one issue 200 times all by themself. They wouldn't even need a bot or a script, just using a private (incognito) browser window to log in and vote over and over. There are definitely people posting here often that give that kind of a vibe. No need to hate on a whole community when I seriously doubt anyone organized that many people to vote on the same exact question versus just one person doing it themself. It would actually take much less time to just do it yourself than to try to get others to vote the way you wanted them to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The status quo isn't really working for Lewis, boundaries or academics. Yet nothing is being done. People on here talk about community, but Lewis really has no strong community. I would wager the neighborhoods that feed it have some of the highest private, homeschool, or pupil placement rates. Not a lot of Lewis graduate signs up right now.

And, some hope to improve it with a boundary adjustment.

The boundary adjustment is NOT the answer.

The School Board should look to improve Lewis. It is possible. They should not look to other students to improve it, but look to see what can be done to improve opportunities and instruction.
Is that not what a school is for?

I don't know the Lewis community. I live in another part of the county. But, I do remember when the Graham Road community wanted the school to stay put--because they had a community there. Instead the School Board "knew better" and moved them to a brand new school that requires walking along busy streets to get there.
And, now, I've read somewhere on this forum that the School Board wants to change that around and switch them to a different school. And, put another neighborhood in the new school.

How is that for creating community?

More students would be part of the answer for Lewis. It is now very different in size from its neighbors. They could start this by going back to AP and trying to reduce transfers. But the county also set up the STEM academy at Edison (another IB school) that is bleeding students away from Lewis. They also shrank the boundaries too much in 2005 and 2015.

It just seems that the county has undercut Lewis at every opportunity. It is almost like they want it to be a school only for poor, ESL students. Maybe that makes life easier for the staff at Lewis. Only concentrate on this group and let advanced students (or just native speakers) transfer out. Of course they could never say this. But they certainly have had ample time to address the problem and have done nothing.

If the majority of the school is lower income, english as a second language, shouldn't that allow the school system to focus on the unique needs of that student body population? How does bringing in high performing students help these kids? The only thing it does is mask the problem and raise average scores. It takes resources away from the existing population. Then everyone can pretend there is no problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The status quo isn't really working for Lewis, boundaries or academics. Yet nothing is being done. People on here talk about community, but Lewis really has no strong community. I would wager the neighborhoods that feed it have some of the highest private, homeschool, or pupil placement rates. Not a lot of Lewis graduate signs up right now.

And, some hope to improve it with a boundary adjustment.

The boundary adjustment is NOT the answer.

The School Board should look to improve Lewis. It is possible. They should not look to other students to improve it, but look to see what can be done to improve opportunities and instruction.
Is that not what a school is for?

I don't know the Lewis community. I live in another part of the county. But, I do remember when the Graham Road community wanted the school to stay put--because they had a community there. Instead the School Board "knew better" and moved them to a brand new school that requires walking along busy streets to get there.
And, now, I've read somewhere on this forum that the School Board wants to change that around and switch them to a different school. And, put another neighborhood in the new school.

How is that for creating community?

More students would be part of the answer for Lewis. It is now very different in size from its neighbors. They could start this by going back to AP and trying to reduce transfers. But the county also set up the STEM academy at Edison (another IB school) that is bleeding students away from Lewis. They also shrank the boundaries too much in 2005 and 2015.

It just seems that the county has undercut Lewis at every opportunity. It is almost like they want it to be a school only for poor, ESL students. Maybe that makes life easier for the staff at Lewis. Only concentrate on this group and let advanced students (or just native speakers) transfer out. Of course they could never say this. But they certainly have had ample time to address the problem and have done nothing.

If the majority of the school is lower income, english as a second language, shouldn't that allow the school system to focus on the unique needs of that student body population? How does bringing in high performing students help these kids? The only thing it does is mask the problem and raise average scores. It takes resources away from the existing population. Then everyone can pretend there is no problem.

Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner!

You figured it out. They care about scores, not learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Revised list.

*** Madison had their "before" meeting. They had a rezoning meeting in phase 1, on December 18, 2024.

https://www.fcps.edu/abou...w-meetings


Pyramids that did not hold public meetings before any rezoning changes were proposed, in violation of Policy 8130:

Edison
Falls Church
Hayfield
Langley
Marshall
McLean
South County
West Potomac
West Springfield


Pyramids that held public meetings prior to any proposed changes:

Annandale (Phase 1 and Phase 2)
Chantilly (Phase 2)
Herndon (Phase 2)
Justice (Glasgow MS meeting, Phase 1 and Phsse 2)
Lake Braddock (Phase 1)
Lewis (Phase 2)
Madison (Phase 1)
Mount Vernon (Phase 1 at MV, Phase 2 at Whitman MS meeting)
Oakton (Phase 2)
Robinson (Phase 2)
Westfield (Phase 1)
Woodson (Phase 2)

Which schools am I missing?

Several pyramids had 2 meetings.

At least 9 pyramids with proposed changes had zero meetings before proposed changes were released, in violation of 8130.

Phase 1 meeting dates and locations:

https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/maps/2024-2026-boundary-review/phase-1-community-boundary-review-meetings

Phase 2 meeting dates and locations:

https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/maps/2024-2026-boundary-review

Woodson has had zero meetings.... and is planned to have zero meetings

[Anonymous]

I actually think this process is still pretty young and nothing is definitive or agreed upon, as the slides say .... think they're not supposed to vote until January so we still have 6 or 7 months of potential changes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The status quo isn't really working for Lewis, boundaries or academics. Yet nothing is being done. People on here talk about community, but Lewis really has no strong community. I would wager the neighborhoods that feed it have some of the highest private, homeschool, or pupil placement rates. Not a lot of Lewis graduate signs up right now.

And, some hope to improve it with a boundary adjustment.

The boundary adjustment is NOT the answer.

The School Board should look to improve Lewis. It is possible. They should not look to other students to improve it, but look to see what can be done to improve opportunities and instruction.
Is that not what a school is for?

I don't know the Lewis community. I live in another part of the county. But, I do remember when the Graham Road community wanted the school to stay put--because they had a community there. Instead the School Board "knew better" and moved them to a brand new school that requires walking along busy streets to get there.
And, now, I've read somewhere on this forum that the School Board wants to change that around and switch them to a different school. And, put another neighborhood in the new school.

How is that for creating community?

More students would be part of the answer for Lewis. It is now very different in size from its neighbors. They could start this by going back to AP and trying to reduce transfers. But the county also set up the STEM academy at Edison (another IB school) that is bleeding students away from Lewis. They also shrank the boundaries too much in 2005 and 2015.

It just seems that the county has undercut Lewis at every opportunity. It is almost like they want it to be a school only for poor, ESL students. Maybe that makes life easier for the staff at Lewis. Only concentrate on this group and let advanced students (or just native speakers) transfer out. Of course they could never say this. But they certainly have had ample time to address the problem and have done nothing.

If the majority of the school is lower income, english as a second language, shouldn't that allow the school system to focus on the unique needs of that student body population? How does bringing in high performing students help these kids? The only thing it does is mask the problem and raise average scores. It takes resources away from the existing population. Then everyone can pretend there is no problem.

This gets sticky legally. They can't intentionally segregate the poor ESL students into a separate high school (or acknowledge that they are doing this). Lewis is zoned as a regular high school just like 23 other regular high schools in the county. There are still native English speakers (American born) zoned to the pyramid but as the years go by Lewis is less and less capable of serving those students - forcing them to transfer and provide their own transportation. But that is where it becomes a legal problem. Why should those students have to go out of their way to seek an education equal (or closer to) to that at WS or other surrounding schools?

Bringing in high performing students would help the current high performing students whether they are ESL or not. Maybe Lewis would keep more of these advanced students. As it is now, many just bail. And then the remaining advanced students have fewer advanced classes or instances of those classes (less schedule flexibility) to choose from.

The bottom line is that FCPS has a problem on its hands with Lewis. It is not resembling the other FCPS schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The status quo isn't really working for Lewis, boundaries or academics. Yet nothing is being done. People on here talk about community, but Lewis really has no strong community. I would wager the neighborhoods that feed it have some of the highest private, homeschool, or pupil placement rates. Not a lot of Lewis graduate signs up right now.

And, some hope to improve it with a boundary adjustment.

The boundary adjustment is NOT the answer.

The School Board should look to improve Lewis. It is possible. They should not look to other students to improve it, but look to see what can be done to improve opportunities and instruction.
Is that not what a school is for?

I don't know the Lewis community. I live in another part of the county. But, I do remember when the Graham Road community wanted the school to stay put--because they had a community there. Instead the School Board "knew better" and moved them to a brand new school that requires walking along busy streets to get there.
And, now, I've read somewhere on this forum that the School Board wants to change that around and switch them to a different school. And, put another neighborhood in the new school.

How is that for creating community?

More students would be part of the answer for Lewis. It is now very different in size from its neighbors. They could start this by going back to AP and trying to reduce transfers. But the county also set up the STEM academy at Edison (another IB school) that is bleeding students away from Lewis. They also shrank the boundaries too much in 2005 and 2015.

It just seems that the county has undercut Lewis at every opportunity. It is almost like they want it to be a school only for poor, ESL students. Maybe that makes life easier for the staff at Lewis. Only concentrate on this group and let advanced students (or just native speakers) transfer out. Of course they could never say this. But they certainly have had ample time to address the problem and have done nothing.

If the majority of the school is lower income, english as a second language, shouldn't that allow the school system to focus on the unique needs of that student body population? How does bringing in high performing students help these kids? The only thing it does is mask the problem and raise average scores. It takes resources away from the existing population. Then everyone can pretend there is no problem.

This gets sticky legally. They can't intentionally segregate the poor ESL students into a separate high school (or acknowledge that they are doing this). Lewis is zoned as a regular high school just like 23 other regular high schools in the county. There are still native English speakers (American born) zoned to the pyramid but as the years go by Lewis is less and less capable of serving those students - forcing them to transfer and provide their own transportation. But that is where it becomes a legal problem. Why should those students have to go out of their way to seek an education equal (or closer to) to that at WS or other surrounding schools?

Bringing in high performing students would help the current high performing students whether they are ESL or not. Maybe Lewis would keep more of these advanced students. As it is now, many just bail. And then the remaining advanced students have fewer advanced classes or instances of those classes (less schedule flexibility) to choose from.

The bottom line is that FCPS has a problem on its hands with Lewis. It is not resembling the other FCPS schools.

The fairest way to bring 250 high performing students into Lewis is to het rid of IB so 250 students aren't transferring yo other schools each year, NOT bussing in other kids from far off neighborhoods to fill the spots of kids who actually live within the Lewis zone.

That problem needs to be fixed with the kids whose parents bought homes zoned for Lewis, not through bussing based on national origin.

[Anonymous]

Before FCPS tries to make hundreds of kids from other neighborhoods bus in to "fix" Lewis, FCPS needs to first fix whatever issues are causing hundreds of Lewis students to transfer to other schools each year.