Western High School Boundary Map options (A/B/C/D)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually ar most 1 hr day.

LOL! I've driven it. Twice a day, there and back in one hour? No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't the eastern side of Crossfield’s boundary is actually quite far from the new school?

Crossfield is probably the farthest of all the elementary schools under consideration from KAA.

The eastern side of Crossfield goes to Hughes/South Lakes.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Serious question…why do people with kids already in Oakton HS care?

I don't have any high schoolers but perhaps property value concerns?

It’s impossible to account for siblings forever - I had a kid in elementary when others were in college. If they follow through with the AI sub school (robotics, computer vision, machine learning) Western will be THE coveted school, full stop. God knows leaving that in FCPS hands is risky but if it happens it will be national news. The demographics are always mixed in this area - we have lots of immigrant families - by the same token there are lots of parents who are serious about academics. Personally I’d like to see Fox Mill in there since they send the kids to Carson with the Oak Hill AAP kids - it’s be nice to keep them together. I also feel bad for Emerald Chase who is at Oak Hill then cast off elsewhere. The neighborhood is often visited by Chantilly Highlands kids via the woods and basketball courts. That said if I were in charge I’d draw a demographic radius circle around neighborhoods and that is who would be going. Forget agendas- public high school are intended to be primarily proximity. The lobbying to stay or go is next level. We go in all scenarios so Let’s go Western! Stop spending time on personal agendas and property value woes and get the AI and AE programs going.

Thank you. Too many people forgetting this. It's one thing to argue that you don't want your kids attending a school that won't have access to the same programming as others while it's still very new. It's another thing to say your neighborhood should always get to be zoned for a school far away when several others are closer, just because you like that school better.

That is part of the wacky county model we have down south.

If you go to the north east, schools are town based so people just move to whatever town's high schools they want to go to.

And there are towns with great schools, because of a wealthier population, and towns with poor schools, because of an impoverished population. And there are parents looking for the least expensive house or apartment that gets them into the town with the better school because it is important to them. Kind of like parents moving into the pyramids that they want their kids to attend. The people most likely affected by the boundary changes are the people who bought at the edges of the pyramid they wanted to attend because that is where the houses were more affordable. It is the fight over being moved from Langley to Herndon or WSHS to Lewis.

The issue here is that many people at Oakton, SLHS, Chantilly, Westfield, and Centerville are not sure what the new school is going to be like because it is new, that causes concern for folks. It makes sense.

That's not quite right. The issue is that the new school is going to be perceived as comparable to something similar to Fairfax HS and a tad shy of Chantilly HS, because of the lower-income kids from Coates and McNair, and that's not good enough for some Oakton HS parents.

That will be the case when Western opens, and it will remain the case when Western is 100% full and operating on all cylinders. People would be happy if it it had the standing of Carson, but it won't because Carson is pumped up by all the AAP kids from Franklin, and without those AAP kids Carson will be an above-average school but not what it's been for the past several decades.

People from Floris and Oak Hill - the higher-income areas most likely to attend Western - find that grating because, while they can understand why Langley parents might chafe at moving to Herndon, they think it's weird that parents now at Oakton would subject themselves and their kids to longer trips to school when they might have a much closer and perfectly acceptable option closer to their homes. People from Fox Mill find it annoying as well, but some are happy that some of the Oakton parents are working overtime to avoid Western because they'd prefer a new AP school for their kids over South Lakes.

Spot on.

Carson won’t be as special once AAP kids go back to base school.

We don’t know how good the new school will be in terms of academics. But in terms of poverty rate and wealth, it’s probably comparable to that of Chantilly High School.

Oakton and Floris are not poor, and they are almost certainly going to KAA.

There are many wealthy families in Crossfield. If Crossfield stays at Oakton, Fox Mill is likely in. Fox Mill is comparable to Oak Hill and Floris.

Coates has some poor families.

So the school is not going to be as rich as Oakton especially if Crossfield gets to stay.

I don't think there are as many wealthy families at Crossfield as you think. There's the horse farm neighborhood and one or two small neighborhoods that are closer to Navy than Crossfield. Everyone else is upper middle class. Our houses are no different than people in Emerald Chase/Chantilly Highlands/etc that go to Oak Hill.

There's a bunch of hidden from the main road and infill neighborhoods in the 1.3 to 2 million range. Pop on zilliow with an overhead view and you might be surprised. Look down autumn crest, Westwood hikls/English garden, willow Glen etc, basically any house not on a main thoroughfare the house doubles in price.

There are 3-bedroom houses in Fox Mill that are listed, and sold, for around $750,000 and 4-5 bedroom houses going for close to 1 million. Housing is expensive in this area. What we consider UMC in this area is rich in most of the country. There is a reason that the Title 1 schools are over 50% FARMs, it is because those are the few areas in the County that people who live below the poverty line might be able to find housing that families cram into. I expect that the FARMs rates in many of the pyramids discussed in this thread will be declining because the cost of housing has been increasing, pushing out low income families.

The townhouses that are being built are selling for $700,000, they are not meant for low income families. The one plan I know of to build low income housing in the area of the Western HS is being fought tooth and nail by Franklin Farm families, the apartments proposed by the Kindercare and Community of Faith.

The housing values in this area are going to keep increasing, which will drop the FARMs rates at most of these schools. Herndon HS might be the exception.

We just moved here over the summer and looked at homes zoned to Chantilly, Oakton, and South Lakes. They were all in the $900K - $1.2Million range. Yes, there are smaller houses in Fox Mill Estates, but there are $1M+ homes there, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't the eastern side of Crossfield’s boundary is actually quite far from the new school?

Crossfield is probably the farthest of all the elementary schools under consideration from KAA.

The eastern side of Crossfield goes to Hughes/South Lakes.

No, that's just one neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do these entitled Oakton and Langley people think they deserve a menu of options and they can select their favorite? We are zoned for a mediocre school. No one is giving our kids an option to go somewhere else. It is what it is.

The menu of options are the four scenarios. All involved should voice their opinion but ultimately respect the board’s decision. People in those neighborhoods currently zoned for Crossfield have the right to voice their support for option b or any other option they prefer as much as you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do these entitled Oakton and Langley people think they deserve a menu of options and they can select their favorite? We are zoned for a mediocre school. No one is giving our kids an option to go somewhere else. It is what it is.

The menu of options are the four scenarios. All involved should voice their opinion but ultimately respect the board’s decision. People in those neighborhoods currently zoned for Crossfield have the right to voice their support for option b or any other option they prefer as much as you do.

Yes. But just wanting is not enough. You must have reasons other than that to prove your point.

[Anonymous]

The main reason why this entire process has become a drama fest is because no one trusts the school board or the superintendent to make sound decisions. All of their decisions lately lack thoughtfulness, precision, and efficiency. They attempt to appease the loudest groups and end up pissing everyone off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do these entitled Oakton and Langley people think they deserve a menu of options and they can select their favorite? We are zoned for a mediocre school. No one is giving our kids an option to go somewhere else. It is what it is.

Why is there a demand to live in some locations more so than others?

I can't possibly think why that might be!

I bet a your local real estate agent can explain it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't the eastern side of Crossfield’s boundary is actually quite far from the new school?

Crossfield is probably the farthest of all the elementary schools under consideration from KAA.

The eastern side of Crossfield goes to Hughes/South Lakes.

No, that's just one neighborhood.

Well, the Folkstone area is closer to KAA--but, even closer to South Lakes.

But, the highest number of Crossfield is much, much closer to KAA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't the eastern side of Crossfield’s boundary is actually quite far from the new school?

Crossfield is probably the farthest of all the elementary schools under consideration from KAA.

The eastern side of Crossfield goes to Hughes/South Lakes.

No, that's just one neighborhood.

The eastern most part of Crossfield that’s assigned to Oakton is about 4 miles to KAA, 4 miles to SLHS, and 6 miles to Oakton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't the eastern side of Crossfield’s boundary is actually quite far from the new school?

Crossfield is probably the farthest of all the elementary schools under consideration from KAA.

The eastern side of Crossfield goes to Hughes/South Lakes.

That's only a small pocket and even that pocket would feed into KAA under Options C and D. There are also a number of Crossfield kids east of Lawyers Road attending Carson and Oakton. In fact, the entire Crossfield boundary sits east of Fairfax County Parkway.

I think pro Oakton families should use the fact Crossfield is the farthest of all the elementary schools under consideration. That would be a stronger argument than “rooted in Oakton.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't the eastern side of Crossfield’s boundary is actually quite far from the new school?

Crossfield is probably the farthest of all the elementary schools under consideration from KAA.

The eastern side of Crossfield goes to Hughes/South Lakes.

That's only a small pocket and even that pocket would feed into KAA under Options C and D. There are also a number of Crossfield kids east of Lawyers Road attending Carson and Oakton. In fact, the entire Crossfield boundary sits east of Fairfax County Parkway.

I think pro Oakton families should use the fact Crossfield is the farthest of all the elementary schools under consideration. That would be a stronger argument than “rooted in Oakton.”

Thank you for the support! We appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't the eastern side of Crossfield’s boundary is actually quite far from the new school?

Crossfield is probably the farthest of all the elementary schools under consideration from KAA.

The eastern side of Crossfield goes to Hughes/South Lakes.

No, that's just one neighborhood.

Well, the Folkstone area is closer to KAA--but, even closer to South Lakes.

But, the highest number of Crossfield is much, much closer to KAA.

You are looking at the distance from Crossfield to different high schools.

But what about the distance from KAA to different elementary schools? This is also a relevant question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't the eastern side of Crossfield’s boundary is actually quite far from the new school?

Crossfield is probably the farthest of all the elementary schools under consideration from KAA.

The eastern side of Crossfield goes to Hughes/South Lakes.

No, that's just one neighborhood.

Well, the Folkstone area is closer to KAA--but, even closer to South Lakes.

But, the highest number of Crossfield is much, much closer to KAA.

You are looking at the distance from Crossfield to different high schools.

But what about the distance from KAA to different elementary schools? This is also a relevant question.

Good hint!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do these entitled Oakton and Langley people think they deserve a menu of options and they can select their favorite? We are zoned for a mediocre school. No one is giving our kids an option to go somewhere else. It is what it is.

Why is there a demand to live in some locations more so than others?

I can't possibly think why that might be!

I bet a your local real estate agent can explain it?

Sorry, don't see the connection. Buying a house doesn't entitle you to attend the same school in perpetuity.