Will Mclean High School ever be able to upsize

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why the redistricting isn't a top priority in that case, like Kent Gardens was. You could easily move kids into Marshall or Langley from the outer boundaries of Mclean and that could bring down the number of students to closer to the capacity threshold at Mclean and bring up the numbers at Marshall and Langley, which both had expansive extensions. Langley looks like a private school campus now. So, what is taking the Board so damn long to do the redistricting for Mclean. I'm sure tons of kids would opt into Langley, if given the choice.

Marshall is full. The answer is to move some McLean kids to Langley. But great falls won’t allow it because they are worried about the other side of Langley getting rezoned to Herndon (and no board member has had the spine to stand up to great falls).

And, odd though it sounds, the very small number of McLean kids that Elaine tholen moved to Langley raised such a stink about it! They were not in favor. I wish the board would have gone bigger and done the right change then instead of a tiny one that didn’t even offset the increase in kids to McLean from their TJ admissions changes.

People typically don't like being redistricted. If you listened to the testimony at the time, there were quite a few families who asked to be moved. Typically, they had younger kids who wanted to stay with their elementary school peers at Colvin Run or Spring Hill or thought it would be good for their real estate values. In comparison, families with older kids, including kids already at Longfellow or McLean, tended to oppose getting redistricted.

Totally agree with this. That’s why the screw Great Falls argument is really misguided to me. It is a push for this monumental change negatively impacting thousands of kids (Not even just the “rich” ones) in the name of this theoretical equity. It’s the same argument for Boston busing in the 70s.

The advocate on this board who argues for broad redistricting to soak the western Great Falls “rich” is very fringe, even for Fairfax County, and I say that as a staunch democrat. The Board understands that too.

DP. I 100% agree with you. It's always the same fringe poster, parroting the same words and phrases. Very transparent.

You crazy.

Hi, fringe poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point is the water sale didn’t create a timber lane island. Boom, facts.

You seem to think an island existed simply because the Timber Lane area is on the other side of Route 7. The boundaries still would have looked odd given the then-existing boundaries of Falls Church City, but I don’t think it was literally an “island” until the area on the other side of Route 7 near Haycock Road was transferred to FCC.

The land that was sold didn’t have any homes on it and is closer to Shrevewood ES than Timber Lane ES. The Giant strip mall across from the land that was sold is still Fairfax County. I guess we would have to look at an old map to see for sure but, from the ground, the timber lane area is always an island because of the commercial area and major road between it and the rest of the McLean area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why the redistricting isn't a top priority in that case, like Kent Gardens was. You could easily move kids into Marshall or Langley from the outer boundaries of Mclean and that could bring down the number of students to closer to the capacity threshold at Mclean and bring up the numbers at Marshall and Langley, which both had expansive extensions. Langley looks like a private school campus now. So, what is taking the Board so damn long to do the redistricting for Mclean. I'm sure tons of kids would opt into Langley, if given the choice.

Marshall is full. The answer is to move some McLean kids to Langley. But great falls won’t allow it because they are worried about the other side of Langley getting rezoned to Herndon (and no board member has had the spine to stand up to great falls).

And, odd though it sounds, the very small number of McLean kids that Elaine tholen moved to Langley raised such a stink about it! They were not in favor. I wish the board would have gone bigger and done the right change then instead of a tiny one that didn’t even offset the increase in kids to McLean from their TJ admissions changes.

People typically don't like being redistricted. If you listened to the testimony at the time, there were quite a few families who asked to be moved. Typically, they had younger kids who wanted to stay with their elementary school peers at Colvin Run or Spring Hill or thought it would be good for their real estate values. In comparison, families with older kids, including kids already at Longfellow or McLean, tended to oppose getting redistricted.

Totally agree with this. That’s why the screw Great Falls argument is really misguided to me. It is a push for this monumental change negatively impacting thousands of kids (Not even just the “rich” ones) in the name of this theoretical equity. It’s the same argument for Boston busing in the 70s.

The advocate on this board who argues for broad redistricting to soak the western Great Falls “rich” is very fringe, even for Fairfax County, and I say that as a staunch democrat. The Board understands that too.

DP. I 100% agree with you. It's always the same fringe poster, parroting the same words and phrases. Very transparent.

No, it’s not one poster suggesting the most logical boundary change. And why are you calling this change a “screw Great Falls” approach? What’s the problem with shifting some kids to the newly renovated Herndon HS IF Langley were to get too crowded after adding McLean kids? And that’s a big IF because renovated Langley is way under capacity.

I called it the “screw Great Falls” approach because that’s all it is - seething animosity toward your county neighbors because some of the residents on the east side of Great Falls are well off (they generally go to private schools, btw). Most of the posts on this matter are not looking out for the Herndon High community, who probably don’t really want their school to become overcrowded with Forestville students. It is really just about soaking the western great falls families, who by the way live in houses that are basically on par with a good chunk of the other communities in Fairfax.

We all know that anyone advocating for the equity-based redistricting approach is likely just a Herndon property owner hoping that their property values go up further. It’s certainly not out of concern for Fairfax kids, nor is it something that would magically fix whatever you are trying to solve at Herndon High.

DP. Well said. I actually think it's McLean Mom who has such a chip on her shoulder about Langley being renovated. She really thinks she's going to somehow "stick it" to Langley on this weird crusade of hers.

I’ve never heard anyone from McLean say Langley shouldn’t have been renovated when it was up for a renovation. Do you hear other voices in your head, too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why the redistricting isn't a top priority in that case, like Kent Gardens was. You could easily move kids into Marshall or Langley from the outer boundaries of Mclean and that could bring down the number of students to closer to the capacity threshold at Mclean and bring up the numbers at Marshall and Langley, which both had expansive extensions. Langley looks like a private school campus now. So, what is taking the Board so damn long to do the redistricting for Mclean. I'm sure tons of kids would opt into Langley, if given the choice.

Marshall is full. The answer is to move some McLean kids to Langley. But great falls won’t allow it because they are worried about the other side of Langley getting rezoned to Herndon (and no board member has had the spine to stand up to great falls).

And, odd though it sounds, the very small number of McLean kids that Elaine tholen moved to Langley raised such a stink about it! They were not in favor. I wish the board would have gone bigger and done the right change then instead of a tiny one that didn’t even offset the increase in kids to McLean from their TJ admissions changes.

People typically don't like being redistricted. If you listened to the testimony at the time, there were quite a few families who asked to be moved. Typically, they had younger kids who wanted to stay with their elementary school peers at Colvin Run or Spring Hill or thought it would be good for their real estate values. In comparison, families with older kids, including kids already at Longfellow or McLean, tended to oppose getting redistricted.

Totally agree with this. That’s why the screw Great Falls argument is really misguided to me. It is a push for this monumental change negatively impacting thousands of kids (Not even just the “rich” ones) in the name of this theoretical equity. It’s the same argument for Boston busing in the 70s.

The advocate on this board who argues for broad redistricting to soak the western Great Falls “rich” is very fringe, even for Fairfax County, and I say that as a staunch democrat. The Board understands that too.

DP. I 100% agree with you. It's always the same fringe poster, parroting the same words and phrases. Very transparent.

No, it’s not one poster suggesting the most logical boundary change. And why are you calling this change a “screw Great Falls” approach? What’s the problem with shifting some kids to the newly renovated Herndon HS IF Langley were to get too crowded after adding McLean kids? And that’s a big IF because renovated Langley is way under capacity.

I called it the “screw Great Falls” approach because that’s all it is - seething animosity toward your county neighbors because some of the residents on the east side of Great Falls are well off (they generally go to private schools, btw). Most of the posts on this matter are not looking out for the Herndon High community, who probably don’t really want their school to become overcrowded with Forestville students. It is really just about soaking the western great falls families, who by the way live in houses that are basically on par with a good chunk of the other communities in Fairfax.

We all know that anyone advocating for the equity-based redistricting approach is likely just a Herndon property owner hoping that their property values go up further. It’s certainly not out of concern for Fairfax kids, nor is it something that would magically fix whatever you are trying to solve at Herndon High.

DP. Well said. I actually think it's McLean Mom who has such a chip on her shoulder about Langley being renovated. She really thinks she's going to somehow "stick it" to Langley on this weird crusade of hers.

I’ve never heard anyone from McLean say Langley shouldn’t have been renovated when it was up for a renovation. Do you hear other voices in your head, too?

Oh, please. The usual McLean posters constantly whined about Langley’s renovation. But nice gaslighting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why the redistricting isn't a top priority in that case, like Kent Gardens was. You could easily move kids into Marshall or Langley from the outer boundaries of Mclean and that could bring down the number of students to closer to the capacity threshold at Mclean and bring up the numbers at Marshall and Langley, which both had expansive extensions. Langley looks like a private school campus now. So, what is taking the Board so damn long to do the redistricting for Mclean. I'm sure tons of kids would opt into Langley, if given the choice.

Marshall is full. The answer is to move some McLean kids to Langley. But great falls won’t allow it because they are worried about the other side of Langley getting rezoned to Herndon (and no board member has had the spine to stand up to great falls).

And, odd though it sounds, the very small number of McLean kids that Elaine tholen moved to Langley raised such a stink about it! They were not in favor. I wish the board would have gone bigger and done the right change then instead of a tiny one that didn’t even offset the increase in kids to McLean from their TJ admissions changes.

People typically don't like being redistricted. If you listened to the testimony at the time, there were quite a few families who asked to be moved. Typically, they had younger kids who wanted to stay with their elementary school peers at Colvin Run or Spring Hill or thought it would be good for their real estate values. In comparison, families with older kids, including kids already at Longfellow or McLean, tended to oppose getting redistricted.

Totally agree with this. That’s why the screw Great Falls argument is really misguided to me. It is a push for this monumental change negatively impacting thousands of kids (Not even just the “rich” ones) in the name of this theoretical equity. It’s the same argument for Boston busing in the 70s.

The advocate on this board who argues for broad redistricting to soak the western Great Falls “rich” is very fringe, even for Fairfax County, and I say that as a staunch democrat. The Board understands that too.

DP. I 100% agree with you. It's always the same fringe poster, parroting the same words and phrases. Very transparent.

No, it’s not one poster suggesting the most logical boundary change. And why are you calling this change a “screw Great Falls” approach? What’s the problem with shifting some kids to the newly renovated Herndon HS IF Langley were to get too crowded after adding McLean kids? And that’s a big IF because renovated Langley is way under capacity.

I called it the “screw Great Falls” approach because that’s all it is - seething animosity toward your county neighbors because some of the residents on the east side of Great Falls are well off (they generally go to private schools, btw). Most of the posts on this matter are not looking out for the Herndon High community, who probably don’t really want their school to become overcrowded with Forestville students. It is really just about soaking the western great falls families, who by the way live in houses that are basically on par with a good chunk of the other communities in Fairfax.

We all know that anyone advocating for the equity-based redistricting approach is likely just a Herndon property owner hoping that their property values go up further. It’s certainly not out of concern for Fairfax kids, nor is it something that would magically fix whatever you are trying to solve at Herndon High.

DP. Well said. I actually think it's McLean Mom who has such a chip on her shoulder about Langley being renovated. She really thinks she's going to somehow "stick it" to Langley on this weird crusade of hers.

I’ve never heard anyone from McLean say Langley shouldn’t have been renovated when it was up for a renovation. Do you hear other voices in your head, too?

Oh, please. The usual McLean posters constantly whined about Langley’s renovation. But nice gaslighting.

You really are nuts, lady.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point is the water sale didn’t create a timber lane island. Boom, facts.

You seem to think an island existed simply because the Timber Lane area is on the other side of Route 7. The boundaries still would have looked odd given the then-existing boundaries of Falls Church City, but I don’t think it was literally an “island” until the area on the other side of Route 7 near Haycock Road was transferred to FCC.

The land that was sold didn’t have any homes on it and is closer to Shrevewood ES than Timber Lane ES. The Giant strip mall across from the land that was sold is still Fairfax County. I guess we would have to look at an old map to see for sure but, from the ground, the timber lane area is always an island because of the commercial area and major road between it and the rest of the McLean area.

That Giant strip mall on Route 7 is in the City of Falls Church, not Fairfax County. The new West Falls Development and Meridian/Mary Ellen Henderson are also in the City of Falls Church - that was the land swap area from the water district sale. I believe that area used to be zoned to Haycock, although there were no houses there.

Timber Lane borders Shrevewood ES's boundary, the City of Falls Church, Pine Spring ES and Graham Road ES. It does not border or touch any McLean HS ES boundaries. It almost touched Haycock ES boundaries before the land swap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point is the water sale didn’t create a timber lane island. Boom, facts.

You seem to think an island existed simply because the Timber Lane area is on the other side of Route 7. The boundaries still would have looked odd given the then-existing boundaries of Falls Church City, but I don’t think it was literally an “island” until the area on the other side of Route 7 near Haycock Road was transferred to FCC.

The land that was sold didn’t have any homes on it and is closer to Shrevewood ES than Timber Lane ES. The Giant strip mall across from the land that was sold is still Fairfax County. I guess we would have to look at an old map to see for sure but, from the ground, the timber lane area is always an island because of the commercial area and major road between it and the rest of the McLean area.

Hi, fellow geography buff. You are right - given how the boundary maps are drawn there is a small area off Shreve between the Timber Lane island and the main McLean attendance area zoned to Marshall, not that it really matters because it’s a commercial area that could be zoned to either school without impacting the enrollment. So the effect of the later land sale to FCC wasn’t to create the island so much as make it appear further out in the ocean, so to speak.

In any case, the board minutes suggest the intent at the time (in 1984) was just to reduce the enrollment at Falls Church and increase the enrollment at McLean and Marshall (the Timber Lane island moved to McLean at the same time as the area off Route 29 just to the west moved to Marshall), not to advance a particular goal in terms of demographics. Of course, things change over time, and it’s now McLean and Marshall with larger enrollments than Falls Church.

[Anonymous]

As an aside, around the time these boundary decisions were being made in the early 80s affecting McLean, the School Board was making key decisions that led to TJHSST’s creation. Specifically, the superintendent had told the school board that one of Annandale, Jefferson, and Stuart needed to close as a neighborhood school, due to declining enrollments, but proposed to locate a regional STEM magnet at Annandale.

But then the Annandale parents pushed back to keep their school open and to convert Jefferson instead. One of the School Board members made a last-ditch effort to get a bunch of Annandale and Stuart neighborhoods assigned to Jefferson, but he got shot down, which sealed Jefferson’s fate. If he’d succeeded there might have been an “Annandale High School for Science and Technology” or, even weirder, a “JEB Stuart High School for Science and Technology” rather than TJHSST.

I know it’s off topic, but if you dig into the history of how we ended up with some of the schools and boundaries we have today you come across some interesting (if such things interest you) things!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point is the water sale didn’t create a timber lane island. Boom, facts.

You seem to think an island existed simply because the Timber Lane area is on the other side of Route 7. The boundaries still would have looked odd given the then-existing boundaries of Falls Church City, but I don’t think it was literally an “island” until the area on the other side of Route 7 near Haycock Road was transferred to FCC.

The land that was sold didn’t have any homes on it and is closer to Shrevewood ES than Timber Lane ES. The Giant strip mall across from the land that was sold is still Fairfax County. I guess we would have to look at an old map to see for sure but, from the ground, the timber lane area is always an island because of the commercial area and major road between it and the rest of the McLean area.

Hi, fellow geography buff. You are right - given how the boundary maps are drawn there is a small area off Shreve between the Timber Lane island and the main McLean attendance area zoned to Marshall, not that it really matters because it’s a commercial area that could be zoned to either school without impacting the enrollment. So the effect of the later land sale to FCC wasn’t to create the island so much as make it appear further out in the ocean, so to speak.

In any case, the board minutes suggest the intent at the time (in 1984) was just to reduce the enrollment at Falls Church and increase the enrollment at McLean and Marshall (the Timber Lane island moved to McLean at the same time as the area off Route 29 just to the west moved to Marshall), not to advance a particular goal in terms of demographics. Of course, things change over time, and it’s now McLean and Marshall with larger enrollments than Falls Church.

Was the 1984 board meetings, also during the time they closed Whittier Middle School (which was a FCPS in fcc), and the kids the closest to that school moved from falls church high school to Jeb stuart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point is the water sale didn’t create a timber lane island. Boom, facts.

You seem to think an island existed simply because the Timber Lane area is on the other side of Route 7. The boundaries still would have looked odd given the then-existing boundaries of Falls Church City, but I don’t think it was literally an “island” until the area on the other side of Route 7 near Haycock Road was transferred to FCC.

The land that was sold didn’t have any homes on it and is closer to Shrevewood ES than Timber Lane ES. The Giant strip mall across from the land that was sold is still Fairfax County. I guess we would have to look at an old map to see for sure but, from the ground, the timber lane area is always an island because of the commercial area and major road between it and the rest of the McLean area.

Hi, fellow geography buff. You are right - given how the boundary maps are drawn there is a small area off Shreve between the Timber Lane island and the main McLean attendance area zoned to Marshall, not that it really matters because it’s a commercial area that could be zoned to either school without impacting the enrollment. So the effect of the later land sale to FCC wasn’t to create the island so much as make it appear further out in the ocean, so to speak.

In any case, the board minutes suggest the intent at the time (in 1984) was just to reduce the enrollment at Falls Church and increase the enrollment at McLean and Marshall (the Timber Lane island moved to McLean at the same time as the area off Route 29 just to the west moved to Marshall), not to advance a particular goal in terms of demographics. Of course, things change over time, and it’s now McLean and Marshall with larger enrollments than Falls Church.

Was the 1984 board meetings, also during the time they closed Whittier Middle School (which was a FCPS in fcc), and the kids the closest to that school moved from falls church high school to Jeb stuart.

Yes - it was at the same time as they voted to close Whittier and move the area between Hillwood and Route 50 to Stuart.

[Anonymous]

What is the MHS update? There was a “State of the School” presentation from the new principal… any important highlights?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the MHS update? There was a “State of the School” presentation from the new principal… any important highlights?

Raven Jones is quite dynamic and enthusiastic. With respect to facilities she made a "don't hold me to it comment" that the school might get renovated started in 2034 or 2036. No idea where she got those dates or whether they'd been vetted by others. She talked about some other smaller building repairs in process, such as the replacement of two chillers that she said should result in a more consistent temperature throughout the building.

She said the presentation (it was about 30 minutes) would get posted on the school's web page at some point. It was about what you'd expect - she loves being the principal, the kids are great, etc. The only other things she said that I specifically recall are that among the county's 25 high schools McLean's economically disadvantaged students had the second-best improvement in academic performance last year, and that the biggest number of disciplinary infractions are for kids skipping class. And she urged parents not to let their kids take 6 AP classes in a single year because she said it's unnecessary to get into great schools and will lead to burnout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why the redistricting isn't a top priority in that case, like Kent Gardens was. You could easily move kids into Marshall or Langley from the outer boundaries of Mclean and that could bring down the number of students to closer to the capacity threshold at Mclean and bring up the numbers at Marshall and Langley, which both had expansive extensions. Langley looks like a private school campus now. So, what is taking the Board so damn long to do the redistricting for Mclean. I'm sure tons of kids would opt into Langley, if given the choice.

Marshall is full. The answer is to move some McLean kids to Langley. But great falls won’t allow it because they are worried about the other side of Langley getting rezoned to Herndon (and no board member has had the spine to stand up to great falls).

And, odd though it sounds, the very small number of McLean kids that Elaine tholen moved to Langley raised such a stink about it! They were not in favor. I wish the board would have gone bigger and done the right change then instead of a tiny one that didn’t even offset the increase in kids to McLean from their TJ admissions changes.

People typically don't like being redistricted. If you listened to the testimony at the time, there were quite a few families who asked to be moved. Typically, they had younger kids who wanted to stay with their elementary school peers at Colvin Run or Spring Hill or thought it would be good for their real estate values. In comparison, families with older kids, including kids already at Longfellow or McLean, tended to oppose getting redistricted.

Totally agree with this. That’s why the screw Great Falls argument is really misguided to me. It is a push for this monumental change negatively impacting thousands of kids (Not even just the “rich” ones) in the name of this theoretical equity. It’s the same argument for Boston busing in the 70s.

The advocate on this board who argues for broad redistricting to soak the western Great Falls “rich” is very fringe, even for Fairfax County, and I say that as a staunch democrat. The Board understands that too.

DP. I 100% agree with you. It's always the same fringe poster, parroting the same words and phrases. Very transparent.

No, it’s not one poster suggesting the most logical boundary change. And why are you calling this change a “screw Great Falls” approach? What’s the problem with shifting some kids to the newly renovated Herndon HS IF Langley were to get too crowded after adding McLean kids? And that’s a big IF because renovated Langley is way under capacity.

The latest projections have Langley at about 99% capacity within the next five years.

moving spring hill into langley in this round of boundary changes pushes langley and cooper to like 102%. people keep talking about all this space at langley but they are at capacity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why the redistricting isn't a top priority in that case, like Kent Gardens was. You could easily move kids into Marshall or Langley from the outer boundaries of Mclean and that could bring down the number of students to closer to the capacity threshold at Mclean and bring up the numbers at Marshall and Langley, which both had expansive extensions. Langley looks like a private school campus now. So, what is taking the Board so damn long to do the redistricting for Mclean. I'm sure tons of kids would opt into Langley, if given the choice.

Marshall is full. The answer is to move some McLean kids to Langley. But great falls won’t allow it because they are worried about the other side of Langley getting rezoned to Herndon (and no board member has had the spine to stand up to great falls).

And, odd though it sounds, the very small number of McLean kids that Elaine tholen moved to Langley raised such a stink about it! They were not in favor. I wish the board would have gone bigger and done the right change then instead of a tiny one that didn’t even offset the increase in kids to McLean from their TJ admissions changes.

People typically don't like being redistricted. If you listened to the testimony at the time, there were quite a few families who asked to be moved. Typically, they had younger kids who wanted to stay with their elementary school peers at Colvin Run or Spring Hill or thought it would be good for their real estate values. In comparison, families with older kids, including kids already at Longfellow or McLean, tended to oppose getting redistricted.

Totally agree with this. That’s why the screw Great Falls argument is really misguided to me. It is a push for this monumental change negatively impacting thousands of kids (Not even just the “rich” ones) in the name of this theoretical equity. It’s the same argument for Boston busing in the 70s.

The advocate on this board who argues for broad redistricting to soak the western Great Falls “rich” is very fringe, even for Fairfax County, and I say that as a staunch democrat. The Board understands that too.

DP. I 100% agree with you. It's always the same fringe poster, parroting the same words and phrases. Very transparent.

No, it’s not one poster suggesting the most logical boundary change. And why are you calling this change a “screw Great Falls” approach? What’s the problem with shifting some kids to the newly renovated Herndon HS IF Langley were to get too crowded after adding McLean kids? And that’s a big IF because renovated Langley is way under capacity.

The latest projections have Langley at about 99% capacity within the next five years.

moving spring hill into langley in this round of boundary changes pushes langley and cooper to like 102%. people keep talking about all this space at langley but they are at capacity

Cool story. You got five years. Maybe give it a rest for a week or two?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the MHS update? There was a “State of the School” presentation from the new principal… any important highlights?

Raven Jones is quite dynamic and enthusiastic. With respect to facilities she made a "don't hold me to it comment" that the school might get renovated started in 2034 or 2036. No idea where she got those dates or whether they'd been vetted by others. She talked about some other smaller building repairs in process, such as the replacement of two chillers that she said should result in a more consistent temperature throughout the building.

She said the presentation (it was about 30 minutes) would get posted on the school's web page at some point. It was about what you'd expect - she loves being the principal, the kids are great, etc. The only other things she said that I specifically recall are that among the county's 25 high schools McLean's economically disadvantaged students had the second-best improvement in academic performance last year, and that the biggest number of disciplinary infractions are for kids skipping class. And she urged parents not to let their kids take 6 AP classes in a single year because she said it's unnecessary to get into great schools and will lead to burnout.

30 years after McLean's last renovation, it "might" be due for a new renovation. That's actually not out of the ordinary in terms of a timeline for FCPS facility improvements. The current roof has a 25-30 year life span, so fingers crossed a renovation in 2036 is more than a paint job, some new furniture, and hvac upgrades.