FCPS is turning the new high school purchased to fix crowding into an Aviation magnet school instead of a high school??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP. No idea who said what--but I think that it is kind of comical that on an anonymous forum we expect names and dates and contact.

Yes, it is kind of funny since the people who started the petition for KAA to be a neighborhood school just identify themselves as western county residents. They don’t identify the neighborhoods they purport to represent, much less identify themselves personally.

Basically, you’ve got a few people who live close to the property trying to shut down any questions about the use, cost, or timing for this school.

As opposed to people who do not want the school trying to shut down the neighborhoods that need a traditional high school. Carson has a 3/4 way split feeder. Franklin has a 3 way split feeder. In other words, the neighborhood nearest KAA are split into many directions. Kind of like a spider web with the neighborhoods in the middle--and the only close high school is Chantilly for most of them--but only one of those elementary schools feeds to Chantilly.

And we know why these people want to shut down the possibility of it being a neighborhood school — they are afraid of how it will affect their own kids’ school boundaries. Fake concerns about the cost, the layout, etc are not fooling anyone.

The irony is that it will likely only require minor adjustment between two high schools. We are talking about one elementary school that is equidistant. That is one group.

There is also the "elites" who have been lobbying for another elite school besides TJ. Not sure why they cannot see the need of the local neighborhoods. Our superintendent likely falls in this category--plus it gets the others off her back.

And, then, there is another group who has a far different reason for why they do not want this school. The elephant in the room.

Why do you put elites in quotes? Did you hear someone else call them that, or are you just trying to make fetch happen?

We all get you two really want this school to be traditional, but your kids could still apply to the school if it is a magnet? I’m guessing there won’t be much interest for the first few years, so getting in should be easier.

Fairfax Federation Education Committee is pushing for this. There was a letter published in Fairfax Times. The chair is Harvard grad and Harvard Law and, while I'm sure her intentions are good, she does not appear focused on all FCPS students, but just on the top. The other chair has been on the AAP committee, so, perhaps that is also her agenda.

While there are many top kids in the KAA area, there are certainly many who are not at the top, and likely more that are just good students who want a normal high school experience.

As for kids just choosing to go to a magnet--that is not the same thing as a traditional high school and many--in fact, the ones who most need a local school, will not get it.

And, why should two women who chair the Education Committee of the Fairfax Federation get to decide that it needs to be a magnet? Shouldn't FCPS be concerned about ALL their kids?

I still don't understand why anyone thinks that any random magnet school without decades of history and status as a VDOE academic year governor's school, plus things like the tech labs, mentorships, and known partnerships is going to magically become a viable TJ alternative. If that were possible, why would anyone from Loudoun be going to TJ instead of the Academies? Why wouldn't any of the many other random magnet programs in FCPS have taken off?

You can't just clone TJ.

By that reasoning no new magnet should ever be built.

Good! We need good solid instruction--not magnets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP. No idea who said what--but I think that it is kind of comical that on an anonymous forum we expect names and dates and contact.

Yes, it is kind of funny since the people who started the petition for KAA to be a neighborhood school just identify themselves as western county residents. They don’t identify the neighborhoods they purport to represent, much less identify themselves personally.

Basically, you’ve got a few people who live close to the property trying to shut down any questions about the use, cost, or timing for this school.

As opposed to people who do not want the school trying to shut down the neighborhoods that need a traditional high school. Carson has a 3/4 way split feeder. Franklin has a 3 way split feeder. In other words, the neighborhood nearest KAA are split into many directions. Kind of like a spider web with the neighborhoods in the middle--and the only close high school is Chantilly for most of them--but only one of those elementary schools feeds to Chantilly.

And we know why these people want to shut down the possibility of it being a neighborhood school — they are afraid of how it will affect their own kids’ school boundaries. Fake concerns about the cost, the layout, etc are not fooling anyone.

Reminder that the comments pushing for a magnet school came from Region 5, which includes Chantilly and Westfield reps who don’t live in the potential KAA zone. Of course everyone is advocating for their best interests.

The KAA zone has NO reps on BRAC.

Exactly, you’re hearing what other people in those communities think. It’s not always Great Falls’s fault.

But, they were the first to complain about KAA. And, right after Lady met with them she said that it needed to be a magnet. Coincidence?

[Anonymous]

I'm not convinced that turning KAA into some TJ-like high school would be good for the majority of smart kids in the west. Each western high school could have their best and brightest students drawn away. This would reduce the pool of students for AP classes, possibly eliminating some of them if there aren't enough students to justify holding the class. It could also lower a high school's prestige when its performance metrics decrease because the top students within its boundaries are going to KAA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP. No idea who said what--but I think that it is kind of comical that on an anonymous forum we expect names and dates and contact.

Yes, it is kind of funny since the people who started the petition for KAA to be a neighborhood school just identify themselves as western county residents. They don’t identify the neighborhoods they purport to represent, much less identify themselves personally.

Basically, you’ve got a few people who live close to the property trying to shut down any questions about the use, cost, or timing for this school.

As opposed to people who do not want the school trying to shut down the neighborhoods that need a traditional high school. Carson has a 3/4 way split feeder. Franklin has a 3 way split feeder. In other words, the neighborhood nearest KAA are split into many directions. Kind of like a spider web with the neighborhoods in the middle--and the only close high school is Chantilly for most of them--but only one of those elementary schools feeds to Chantilly.

And we know why these people want to shut down the possibility of it being a neighborhood school — they are afraid of how it will affect their own kids’ school boundaries. Fake concerns about the cost, the layout, etc are not fooling anyone.

The irony is that it will likely only require minor adjustment between two high schools. We are talking about one elementary school that is equidistant. That is one group.

There is also the "elites" who have been lobbying for another elite school besides TJ. Not sure why they cannot see the need of the local neighborhoods. Our superintendent likely falls in this category--plus it gets the others off her back.

And, then, there is another group who has a far different reason for why they do not want this school. The elephant in the room.

Why do you put elites in quotes? Did you hear someone else call them that, or are you just trying to make fetch happen?

We all get you two really want this school to be traditional, but your kids could still apply to the school if it is a magnet? I’m guessing there won’t be much interest for the first few years, so getting in should be easier.

Fairfax Federation Education Committee is pushing for this. There was a letter published in Fairfax Times. The chair is Harvard grad and Harvard Law and, while I'm sure her intentions are good, she does not appear focused on all FCPS students, but just on the top. The other chair has been on the AAP committee, so, perhaps that is also her agenda.

While there are many top kids in the KAA area, there are certainly many who are not at the top, and likely more that are just good students who want a normal high school experience.

As for kids just choosing to go to a magnet--that is not the same thing as a traditional high school and many--in fact, the ones who most need a local school, will not get it.

And, why should two women who chair the Education Committee of the Fairfax Federation get to decide that it needs to be a magnet? Shouldn't FCPS be concerned about ALL their kids?

Sounds like the Fairfax federation are representing voices outside of the immediate KAA area. It’s good to remember that the school was purchased with county funds, not neighborhood funds.

Also, the school board members have been mostly doubling down recently on the magnet or academy concept, so it’s looking more and more likely each day.

I don’t think the school will be ready in less than a year though.

I could be wrong, but it sounds like there will be a delay either way. Either it will be a traditional school and they'll have to do more work to customize the space and add capacity, or it will be a magnet and they'll have to spend more time coming up with an admissions process and an appropriate curriculum.

They were so happy at the opportunity to pat themselves on the back that they got ahead of themselves. Now they are going to have to figure out what to do with the building they actually acquired, as opposed to the turnkey building they wanted to pitch to the public. The claimed savings will also end up being substantially less than originally promised.

They could just call it TJ west. There’s definitely a demand for it (esp from the Rachel Carson farm to TJ directly across the street)and they can simply use the admissions process for TJ to identify the pool of kids. I don’t think it would be that difficult to implement actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP. No idea who said what--but I think that it is kind of comical that on an anonymous forum we expect names and dates and contact.

Yes, it is kind of funny since the people who started the petition for KAA to be a neighborhood school just identify themselves as western county residents. They don’t identify the neighborhoods they purport to represent, much less identify themselves personally.

Basically, you’ve got a few people who live close to the property trying to shut down any questions about the use, cost, or timing for this school.

As opposed to people who do not want the school trying to shut down the neighborhoods that need a traditional high school. Carson has a 3/4 way split feeder. Franklin has a 3 way split feeder. In other words, the neighborhood nearest KAA are split into many directions. Kind of like a spider web with the neighborhoods in the middle--and the only close high school is Chantilly for most of them--but only one of those elementary schools feeds to Chantilly.

And we know why these people want to shut down the possibility of it being a neighborhood school — they are afraid of how it will affect their own kids’ school boundaries. Fake concerns about the cost, the layout, etc are not fooling anyone.

The irony is that it will likely only require minor adjustment between two high schools. We are talking about one elementary school that is equidistant. That is one group.

There is also the "elites" who have been lobbying for another elite school besides TJ. Not sure why they cannot see the need of the local neighborhoods. Our superintendent likely falls in this category--plus it gets the others off her back.

And, then, there is another group who has a far different reason for why they do not want this school. The elephant in the room.

Why do you put elites in quotes? Did you hear someone else call them that, or are you just trying to make fetch happen?

We all get you two really want this school to be traditional, but your kids could still apply to the school if it is a magnet? I’m guessing there won’t be much interest for the first few years, so getting in should be easier.

Fairfax Federation Education Committee is pushing for this. There was a letter published in Fairfax Times. The chair is Harvard grad and Harvard Law and, while I'm sure her intentions are good, she does not appear focused on all FCPS students, but just on the top. The other chair has been on the AAP committee, so, perhaps that is also her agenda.

While there are many top kids in the KAA area, there are certainly many who are not at the top, and likely more that are just good students who want a normal high school experience.

As for kids just choosing to go to a magnet--that is not the same thing as a traditional high school and many--in fact, the ones who most need a local school, will not get it.

And, why should two women who chair the Education Committee of the Fairfax Federation get to decide that it needs to be a magnet? Shouldn't FCPS be concerned about ALL their kids?

Sounds like the Fairfax federation are representing voices outside of the immediate KAA area. It’s good to remember that the school was purchased with county funds, not neighborhood funds.

Also, the school board members have been mostly doubling down recently on the magnet or academy concept, so it’s looking more and more likely each day.

I don’t think the school will be ready in less than a year though.

I could be wrong, but it sounds like there will be a delay either way. Either it will be a traditional school and they'll have to do more work to customize the space and add capacity, or it will be a magnet and they'll have to spend more time coming up with an admissions process and an appropriate curriculum.

They were so happy at the opportunity to pat themselves on the back that they got ahead of themselves. Now they are going to have to figure out what to do with the building they actually acquired, as opposed to the turnkey building they wanted to pitch to the public. The claimed savings will also end up being substantially less than originally promised.

They could just call it TJ west. There’s definitely a demand for it (esp from the Rachel Carson farm to TJ directly across the street)and they can simply use the admissions process for TJ to identify the pool of kids. I don’t think it would be that difficult to implement actually.

What a terrible idea. One TJ is enough. And, remember, they have new rules and the selectees are the "best and brightest" of EACH school. Not the "best and brightest" period.