Bren Mar Park to Key/Lewis

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Lewis moms were out in force last night at a boundary meeting for WSHS elementaries at Saratoga ES, arguing that none of the kids Gatehouse were thinking of moving from Key/Lewis to Irving/WSHS should go. There was also a lot of complaining about how people have demonized their community.

So be careful, BMP moms, the Lewis moms are also out in force and unhappy at how people are talking about their school.

This was the meeting to rezone the 300 Rolling Valley Lewis home to WSHS?

The lewis moms are correct, but the issue is not that black and white. There are only around 20 kids from that neighborhood who attend Lewis. However, if you look at the number of kids from that neighborhood who attend Rolling Valley, that neighborhood has many times more high school students than 20. It has around 40-50 high schoolers, just based on the Rolling Valley numbers for that neighborhood. If you include Nativity and St Bernadette stufents, the number of high school students from that neighborhood could be over 50.

If that RV neighborhood is rezoned from Lewis to WSHS, Lewis will only lose around 4 or 5 students per grade, but WSHS will gain 50 to 60 new students or more. It is the exact same scenario as Daventry, except Daventry only had around a dozen total high school students attending then Lee (now Lewis)

Rezoning that Rolling Valley neighborhood from Lewis to WSHS will only minimally affect Lewis. But it will significantly affect WSHS, just like Daventry did.

The neighborhood should probably have also gone to Saratoga, making it a straight feeder into Lewis like the RV homes on the other side of the parkway. Another solution is for fcps to move the Shannon Station Keene Mill Island to White Oaks and Lake Braddock and the remaining RV homes to WSHS in their spots, so it is a status quo impact on enrollment numbers.

The only affect that proposed RV rezoning has on Lewis is related to image. 4 or 5 Lewis kids per grade is not going to affect programs at Lewis, but 50 to 60 RV students attending WSHS will certainly affect WSHS.

That being said, I stand by my statement that the Lewis moms are right to fight for their school.

Fighting to keep your boundaries intact is very different than fighting to move other peoples kids from other school zones around

They also need to fight to get rid of IB and for a residency check at the adjacent high schools, particularly when students transition from 8th to 9th grade. A huge part of Lewis' enrollment is 100s of high performing students who should attend Lewis going to other schools.

If FCPS did minimal residency checks between each school level transition, Lewis would be a much larger school with much higher stats and more opportunities.

[Anonymous]

They need to drop IB and put in a full AP program at all of the HS, not the modified version at Robinson but a full AP program. Pick a few schools and turn them into IB academies where people can apply to attend the Academy but they are agreeing to completing the IB Diploma, not just taking a few IB classes. This is what Arlington and Loundon do, FCPS needs to switch it up. The people who love IB will hae a place to take IB but everyone else has the full AP program. This limits pupil placement to Academy programs only.

The issue is that there are people who are at IB schools who like IB, not because they like IB but because the classes guarantee a school with in a school and they like it that way. But they get upset that others leave the school because they don't want IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Lewis moms were out in force last night at a boundary meeting for WSHS elementaries at Saratoga ES, arguing that none of the kids Gatehouse were thinking of moving from Key/Lewis to Irving/WSHS should go. There was also a lot of complaining about how people have demonized their community.

So be careful, BMP moms, the Lewis moms are also out in force and unhappy at how people are talking about their school.

This was the meeting to rezone the 300 Rolling Valley Lewis home to WSHS?

The lewis moms are correct, but the issue is not that black and white. There are only around 20 kids from that neighborhood who attend Lewis. However, if you look at the number of kids from that neighborhood who attend Rolling Valley, that neighborhood has many times more high school students than 20. It has around 40-50 high schoolers, just based on the Rolling Valley numbers for that neighborhood. If you include Nativity and St Bernadette stufents, the number of high school students from that neighborhood could be over 50.

If that RV neighborhood is rezoned from Lewis to WSHS, Lewis will only lose around 4 or 5 students per grade, but WSHS will gain 50 to 60 new students or more. It is the exact same scenario as Daventry, except Daventry only had around a dozen total high school students attending then Lee (now Lewis)

Rezoning that Rolling Valley neighborhood from Lewis to WSHS will only minimally affect Lewis. But it will significantly affect WSHS, just like Daventry did.

The neighborhood should probably have also gone to Saratoga, making it a straight feeder into Lewis like the RV homes on the other side of the parkway. Another solution is for fcps to move the Shannon Station Keene Mill Island to White Oaks and Lake Braddock and the remaining RV homes to WSHS in their spots, so it is a status quo impact on enrollment numbers.

The only affect that proposed RV rezoning has on Lewis is related to image. 4 or 5 Lewis kids per grade is not going to affect programs at Lewis, but 50 to 60 RV students attending WSHS will certainly affect WSHS.

That being said, I stand by my statement that the Lewis moms are right to fight for their school.

Fighting to keep your boundaries intact is very different than fighting to move other peoples kids from other school zones around

They also need to fight to get rid of IB and for a residency check at the adjacent high schools, particularly when students transition from 8th to 9th grade. A huge part of Lewis' enrollment is 100s of high performing students who should attend Lewis going to other schools.

If FCPS did minimal residency checks between each school level transition, Lewis would be a much larger school with much higher stats and more opportunities.

+1 I couldn’t attend the meeting, but I agree that they should fight for their school. I also think it will bloat wshs if they approve that many houses to switch.

The residency issue is very frustrating and I cannot understand why they don’t address it at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Lewis moms were out in force last night at a boundary meeting for WSHS elementaries at Saratoga ES, arguing that none of the kids Gatehouse were thinking of moving from Key/Lewis to Irving/WSHS should go. There was also a lot of complaining about how people have demonized their community.

So be careful, BMP moms, the Lewis moms are also out in force and unhappy at how people are talking about their school.

Did the Lewis parents mention dropping IB for AP? Expanding foreign language offerings? Even if they manage to do something about those two glaring issues, a number of students leave for the STEM Academy at Edison.

FCPS has set Lewis up for failure. The School Board knows this and does nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Lewis moms were out in force last night at a boundary meeting for WSHS elementaries at Saratoga ES, arguing that none of the kids Gatehouse were thinking of moving from Key/Lewis to Irving/WSHS should go. There was also a lot of complaining about how people have demonized their community.

So be careful, BMP moms, the Lewis moms are also out in force and unhappy at how people are talking about their school.

Did the Lewis parents mention dropping IB for AP? Expanding foreign language offerings? Even if they manage to do something about those two glaring issues, a number of students leave for the STEM Academy at Edison.

FCPS has set Lewis up for failure. The School Board knows this and does nothing.

Not really, other than mentioning again the need to address the programming at the school. It was more about not moving any more kids out of Key/Lewis.

[Anonymous]

Michelle Reid and Sandy Anderson ought to be apologizing profusely that FCPS ever let a proposal go out that would move any more kids out of Lewis. That level of incompetence and venality is simply unacceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Michelle Reid and Sandy Anderson ought to be apologizing profusely that FCPS ever let a proposal go out that would move any more kids out of Lewis. That level of incompetence and venality is simply unacceptable.

I mean, Sandy Anderson is the person who was pushing for that change. She'd love to have those kids go to WSHS so she can get some other kids out of there and sent to South County, where her kids go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michelle Reid and Sandy Anderson ought to be apologizing profusely that FCPS ever let a proposal go out that would move any more kids out of Lewis. That level of incompetence and venality is simply unacceptable.

I mean, Sandy Anderson is the person who was pushing for that change. She'd love to have those kids go to WSHS so she can get some other kids out of there and sent to South County, where her kids go.

She’s a disgusting pig.

[Anonymous]

Why do people say it would "suck" for high school kids to get on a highway to get to school? It's not abnormal to get on a highway around here....it baffles me every time I read it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people say it would "suck" for high school kids to get on a highway to get to school? It's not abnormal to get on a highway around here....it baffles me every time I read it

Many people would prefer young drivers limit their time on interstate highways. Is that really that hard to understand?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people say it would "suck" for high school kids to get on a highway to get to school? It's not abnormal to get on a highway around here....it baffles me every time I read it

Many people would prefer young drivers limit their time on interstate highways. Is that really that hard to understand?

It’s also reduces the community aspect of the school, and I’m pretty sure it’s documented that the further a student is from a school, the less likely they are to participate in extra curriculars of all types.

[Anonymous]

With their flourishing leadership program I imagine more students will be coming. The program has had lots of good press and the leadership classes seem to be a big part of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people say it would "suck" for high school kids to get on a highway to get to school? It's not abnormal to get on a highway around here....it baffles me every time I read it

Many people would prefer young drivers limit their time on interstate highways. Is that really that hard to understand?

I grew up here and took drivers ed here, and the first thing they do is take you on the highways due to the layout of this area and how you typically get around. Many accidents happen on old keene mill/burke center pkwy/etc and not actually on the highways and involve stopped cars/traffic lights, so yeah....still not understanding it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With their flourishing leadership program I imagine more students will be coming. The program has had lots of good press and the leadership classes seem to be a big part of it.

Is this a joke or serious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people say it would "suck" for high school kids to get on a highway to get to school? It's not abnormal to get on a highway around here....it baffles me every time I read it

Many people would prefer young drivers limit their time on interstate highways. Is that really that hard to understand?

I grew up here and took drivers ed here, and the first thing they do is take you on the highways due to the layout of this area and how you typically get around. Many accidents happen on old keene mill/burke center pkwy/etc and not actually on the highways and involve stopped cars/traffic lights, so yeah....still not understanding it.

That's absurd. The last place the private driving instructors take kids is on the highways. They have to work up to them. The highways here are very dangerous and difficult driving conditions for experienced drivers.