King Abdullah Academy Closing: FCPS Buy for HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is thus being discussed in boundary mtgs about property purchases?

It would have been more appropriate for the recently passed CIP.

Why waste money on a new HS in a perfect location when we can waste money on a new ES at a terrible location where it isn’t needed instead?

Just had to chime in to say you need help. You can’t still be this salty ajj bo out Blake Lane Park. How long ago was that? 4 years ago.

Seriously it’s time for move or move on already.

Are your kids even in ES anymore?

This poster is a perfect example of the irrational, “but the brown people are ruining my property values” nonsensical fears.

Am I the only one who looked at the line at the bottom of my mortgage documents that said this is what your house will have cost you in 30 years if you wait 30 years to pay it off.

A home isn’t an investment, or at least it isn’t a very good one.

The bulk of your money shouldn’t be tied up in a house, nor should your entire self image and ego be.

There are far too many deep in debt, middling class, middle American by origins, yet aspirational by design, Mini and Mega McMansion owners in this area worried about “ma property” values. It’s so transparent and gross. These are public schools we are talking about here.

If I were of such a mindset as most of you I’d just move back to Kansas already, or whatever hellscape fly over part of the country you clawed your way out of, and be done with it already. Stop trying to make fetch happen. Cheap housing, mediocre schools, not unlike FCPS, and white adjacency in buckets awaits you.

What the fresh hell are you going on about?

PP was absolutely right that a McLearen Road HS makes a lot more sense than Dunn Loring ES

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any existing FCPS school that has such an open design? I’ve been seeing a lot of pictures on my feeds and it’s lovely but I would never want a kid at a school where it would be so easy for a rowdy kid or a bully to toss another student over a railing and seriously injure them. I hope the interior modifications make that impossible.

I’m sure this wasn’t an issue at a private school with discipline and a small enrollment. At a big public school it’s not as safe.

You are crazy or a KAA troll continuing to pile on about “public school kids.” Stop the nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any existing FCPS school that has such an open design? I’ve been seeing a lot of pictures on my feeds and it’s lovely but I would never want a kid at a school where it would be so easy for a rowdy kid or a bully to toss another student over a railing and seriously injure them. I hope the interior modifications make that impossible.

I’m sure this wasn’t an issue at a private school with discipline and a small enrollment. At a big public school it’s not as safe.

You are crazy or a KAA troll continuing to pile on about “public school kids.” Stop the nonsense.

So the answer to the question is “no”? I’m a bit agoraphobic and would never send a kid to public high school at that building without some significant safety modifications.

[Anonymous]

I’ve heard (indirect) rumors that one of the SB members is putting a hard sell on staff to consider making KAA an aviation academy. Unclear who, but I have a guess.

Totally unsubstantiated rumor, but nonetheless something to monitor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard (indirect) rumors that one of the SB members is putting a hard sell on staff to consider making KAA an aviation academy. Unclear who, but I have a guess.

Totally unsubstantiated rumor, but nonetheless something to monitor.

It would feel like the ultimate bait and switch unless the academy could be housed in one of the smaller buildings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m thrilled about this. We are in Fox Mill/Carson and the transition from Carson to SLHS where our neighborhood kids are a minority is awful. I am hoping very much that our neighborhood along with RCMS area will go to this new school.

It’s going to very interesting to see what they do if they make this a general HS. Fox Mill is a big neighborhood. They may not want to pull it out of SLHS. There is also the reducing transportation time vs. reducing split feeder issue. I don’t see how they solve both because the new HS won’t have room for everyone. Look at
who people think should attend this new school… Fox Mill, Emerald Chase, Franklin Farm, Chantilly Highlands, who else? There’s isn’t room for everyone so someone is either keeping their long commute to Oakton or staying at Westfield or South Lakes

Fox Mill used to go to Oakton and South Lakes was just fine without it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard (indirect) rumors that one of the SB members is putting a hard sell on staff to consider making KAA an aviation academy. Unclear who, but I have a guess.

Totally unsubstantiated rumor, but nonetheless something to monitor.

Is it embezzler pilot McDaniel? That dude should have stepped down from his position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m thrilled about this. We are in Fox Mill/Carson and the transition from Carson to SLHS where our neighborhood kids are a minority is awful. I am hoping very much that our neighborhood along with RCMS area will go to this new school.

It’s going to very interesting to see what they do if they make this a general HS. Fox Mill is a big neighborhood. They may not want to pull it out of SLHS. There is also the reducing transportation time vs. reducing split feeder issue. I don’t see how they solve both because the new HS won’t have room for everyone. Look at
who people think should attend this new school… Fox Mill, Emerald Chase, Franklin Farm, Chantilly Highlands, who else? There’s isn’t room for everyone so someone is either keeping their long commute to Oakton or staying at Westfield or South Lakes

Fox Mill used to go to Oakton and South Lakes was just fine without it.

Actually it wasn’t; hence, the large boundary change in 2008.

And then South Lakes got expanded after that outside the renovation queue.

Fox Mill isn’t that far from South Lakes and should stay there. If anything they should look to adjust the boundaries so it goes to Hughes as well.

The last thing anyone should be implying is that we need to build an addition to KAA before the sale has even closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard (indirect) rumors that one of the SB members is putting a hard sell on staff to consider making KAA an aviation academy. Unclear who, but I have a guess.

Totally unsubstantiated rumor, but nonetheless something to monitor.

Is it embezzler pilot McDaniel? That dude should have stepped down from his position.

It seems unlikely to me he’d be pushing that now given his legal troubles. He is keeping a low profile and his championing an aviation academy would put his legal and personal issues front and center again. Unless he’s truly shameless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any existing FCPS school that has such an open design? I’ve been seeing a lot of pictures on my feeds and it’s lovely but I would never want a kid at a school where it would be so easy for a rowdy kid or a bully to toss another student over a railing and seriously injure them. I hope the interior modifications make that impossible.

I’m sure this wasn’t an issue at a private school with discipline and a small enrollment. At a big public school it’s not as safe.

Wow! Better keep your kid home. Ever seen a stairwell? Been in a stadium? A mall?
Lots of schools have some open areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any existing FCPS school that has such an open design? I’ve been seeing a lot of pictures on my feeds and it’s lovely but I would never want a kid at a school where it would be so easy for a rowdy kid or a bully to toss another student over a railing and seriously injure them. I hope the interior modifications make that impossible.

I’m sure this wasn’t an issue at a private school with discipline and a small enrollment. At a big public school it’s not as safe.

Wow! Better keep your kid home. Ever seen a stairwell? Been in a stadium? A mall?
Lots of schools have some open areas.

I did a bit more digging and the closest I found was Lightridge HS in Loudoun in terms of open spaces and upper level spaces overlooking an atrium. The railings looked higher and safer and I'd hope FCPS would pay some attention to this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m thrilled about this. We are in Fox Mill/Carson and the transition from Carson to SLHS where our neighborhood kids are a minority is awful. I am hoping very much that our neighborhood along with RCMS area will go to this new school.

It’s going to very interesting to see what they do if they make this a general HS. Fox Mill is a big neighborhood. They may not want to pull it out of SLHS. There is also the reducing transportation time vs. reducing split feeder issue. I don’t see how they solve both because the new HS won’t have room for everyone. Look at
who people think should attend this new school… Fox Mill, Emerald Chase, Franklin Farm, Chantilly Highlands, who else? There’s isn’t room for everyone so someone is either keeping their long commute to Oakton or staying at Westfield or South Lakes

Fox Mill used to go to Oakton and South Lakes was just fine without it.

Actually it wasn’t; hence, the large boundary change in 2008.

And then South Lakes got expanded after that outside the renovation queue.

Fox Mill isn’t that far from South Lakes and should stay there. If anything they should look to adjust the boundaries so it goes to Hughes as well.

The last thing anyone should be implying is that we need to build an addition to KAA before the sale has even closed.

Fox Mill parent here. I would love to be moved to the new school. Pupil placing is in our future because the IB program is 1) weak 2) not a good fit for our student. And I am pretty sure that moving kids from Carson to Hughes will cause an uproar. We were already moved from Oakton, an AP HS with better course offerings, to SLHS, an IB school with limited offerings. Moving from a top MS to a weka MS is not what anyone wants.

The New HS is perfectly close to Fox Mill, the kids already go to Carson, we know the commute. And most of the neighborhood fought to not be moved to SLHS.

I am sure some of my neighbors would be fine with staying at SLHS, no one person speaks for everyone, but the parents who already pupil place out of SLHS because they don’t like IB would be happy with the move. And I suspect that there are plenty of parents who are indifferent and would be happy to move to a newer building even if the are AP/IB agnostic. The IB kids can continue to attend SLHS through pupil placement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m thrilled about this. We are in Fox Mill/Carson and the transition from Carson to SLHS where our neighborhood kids are a minority is awful. I am hoping very much that our neighborhood along with RCMS area will go to this new school.

It’s going to very interesting to see what they do if they make this a general HS. Fox Mill is a big neighborhood. They may not want to pull it out of SLHS. There is also the reducing transportation time vs. reducing split feeder issue. I don’t see how they solve both because the new HS won’t have room for everyone. Look at
who people think should attend this new school… Fox Mill, Emerald Chase, Franklin Farm, Chantilly Highlands, who else? There’s isn’t room for everyone so someone is either keeping their long commute to Oakton or staying at Westfield or South Lakes

Fox Mill used to go to Oakton and South Lakes was just fine without it.

Actually it wasn’t; hence, the large boundary change in 2008.

And then South Lakes got expanded after that outside the renovation queue.

Fox Mill isn’t that far from South Lakes and should stay there. If anything they should look to adjust the boundaries so it goes to Hughes as well.

The last thing anyone should be implying is that we need to build an addition to KAA before the sale has even closed.

I meant reputation. South Lakes didn't need Fox Mill for its reputation. They had capacity for more students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m thrilled about this. We are in Fox Mill/Carson and the transition from Carson to SLHS where our neighborhood kids are a minority is awful. I am hoping very much that our neighborhood along with RCMS area will go to this new school.

It’s going to very interesting to see what they do if they make this a general HS. Fox Mill is a big neighborhood. They may not want to pull it out of SLHS. There is also the reducing transportation time vs. reducing split feeder issue. I don’t see how they solve both because the new HS won’t have room for everyone. Look at
who people think should attend this new school… Fox Mill, Emerald Chase, Franklin Farm, Chantilly Highlands, who else? There’s isn’t room for everyone so someone is either keeping their long commute to Oakton or staying at Westfield or South Lakes

Fox Mill used to go to Oakton and South Lakes was just fine without it.

Actually it wasn’t; hence, the large boundary change in 2008.

And then South Lakes got expanded after that outside the renovation queue.

Fox Mill isn’t that far from South Lakes and should stay there. If anything they should look to adjust the boundaries so it goes to Hughes as well.

The last thing anyone should be implying is that we need to build an addition to KAA before the sale has even closed.

Fox Mill parent here. I would love to be moved to the new school. Pupil placing is in our future because the IB program is 1) weak 2) not a good fit for our student. And I am pretty sure that moving kids from Carson to Hughes will cause an uproar. We were already moved from Oakton, an AP HS with better course offerings, to SLHS, an IB school with limited offerings. Moving from a top MS to a weka MS is not what anyone wants.

The New HS is perfectly close to Fox Mill, the kids already go to Carson, we know the commute. And most of the neighborhood fought to not be moved to SLHS.

I am sure some of my neighbors would be fine with staying at SLHS, no one person speaks for everyone, but the parents who already pupil place out of SLHS because they don’t like IB would be happy with the move. And I suspect that there are plenty of parents who are indifferent and would be happy to move to a newer building even if the are AP/IB agnostic. The IB kids can continue to attend SLHS through pupil placement.

The KAA school may be great for those who go there, but FCPS's purchase of that building doesn't mean that we've embarked on some great new era where the School Board actually cares about what most people want.

They don't care if moving kids from Carson to Hughes would cause an uproar, and your area got moved from Oakton to South Lakes over 15 years ago. Individual families aren't switching schools twice unless they spaced out their kids quite a bit.

If you look at the logical assignment of kids to KAA, it goes like this:

1. Floris/Coates/McNair because KAA is in the Floris district and Coates and McNair become a Westfield attendance island unless reassigned. Coates also adds diversity.

2. Oak Hill because it relieves overcrowding at Chantilly.

3. Crossfield because it avoids long commutes to Oakton.

4. Fox Mill because it's been a Carson feeder and some people don't like South Lakes or IB.

In the scheme of things, Fox Mill has the weakest case and it's not clear at all KAA has room for six feeders. Indeed, when the dust settles from all these changes, some high schools may only be left with four.

[Anonymous]

^ Carson above also has the same split feeder issue that Fox Mill poster is complaining about in addition to their long commute.