Reply to Churchill road vs haycocks

Forum Index » Advanced Academic Programs (AAP)

Reply to "Churchill road vs haycocks"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Lemon Road has had quite a bit of upheaval in the past few years and all of it imposed by schools that surround them.  I would have expected a much lower number than 54.3% feel that teachers have an appropriate level of influence since it seems the the Haycock AND Freedom Hill ES seem to have MORE influence over Lemon Road than Lemon Road has over Lemon Road.  They have been thrown many curveball and I think they are doing a fantastic job considering it all.

Imagine the kerfuffle if Timber Lane tried to slough off ALL of its low income students on to Haycock and got away with 50% in the end.  Imagine the kerfuffle if Freedom Hill had to double in size a few years without any say from Freedom Hill.

[/quote]

I don't agree with this.  Lemon Road's expansion was a result of the growth around Tysons and FCPS's unwillingness to continue to operate elementary schools as small as Lemon Road.  Had it not been expanded, it would have been closed like Clifton ES.  The decision to expand the school was not made by those at Haycock, Freedom Hill, or any other school.

Subsequently, the Lemon Road principal appeared at work sessions and advised School Board members and FCPS Staff that he supported the transfer of Haycock AAP students to Lemon Road.  Many Lemon Road parents also preferred an influx of AAP students to a reassignment of additional GenEd students from Freedom Hill and, perhaps, Shrevewood.

Yes, it's a lot for any school to digest, and that may have impacted teacher satisfaction during a period of transition.  But the notion that Lemon Road has simply been on the receiving end of decisions made by others is wrong.  [/quote]

Both changes happened within one school year of not happening (or at least notifying LR) to being implemented.  The initial proposal about the boundary change with Freedom Hill was the Lemon Road would take ALL of the lower income children.  It was enough to make Lemon Road a Title I school.  This was a result of the Freedom Hill contingent lobbying to reduce enrollment and expunge the students they deemed undesirable.  They squabbled when Lemon Road pushed back and offered to take half of the lower income and half of a middle income townhouse complex.  It certainly felt like Lemon Road was being used as a dumping ground for excess students.  Then the next year the Haycock thing happened,.  Again, something the was initiated by Haycock, not Lemon Road.

Neither action was part of a grand plan to  address the issues surrounding Tyson's ( nothing has really happened on that front) both were attempts of a single ES to slough off students to Lemon Road.  LR has accepted its new students with grace and knew that it had to grow to stay open.  But this was done in a piece meal fashion and with very little advanced planning or notification.

[/quote]

No.  The initial boundary study for Lemon Road identified two options for moving students from Freedom Hill, an overcrowded school in Vienna, to Lemon Road, an under-capacity school much closer to their residences in Falls Church.  Lemon Road parents participated in the process, and the option that was selected involved the transfer of a lower percentage of low-income students to Lemon Road than the other option.   Both options involved a range of neighborhoods near Marshall HS that were not all low-income in any event, and neither option would have turned Lemon Road into become a Title I school.

At the time, the expansion of Lemon Road was ongoing, which left open whether and when Lemon Road would receive additional students.  The initial expectation was that more GenEd students from Freedom Hill and Shrevewood would be moved to Lemon Road in due course.  That was upended when the overcrowding at Haycock intensified and the decision was made to create an AAP center at Lemon Road instead.  The concept was initiated by FCPS, not Haycock, and it was supported by the Lemon Road principal in public fora, as well as by many Lemon Road parents, who believed that the AAP students likely would come from higher SES families than would be the case if there were a second round of GenEd transfers from Freedom Hill and Shrevewood.

Again, a lot to digest and work through in a short period, no doubt, but Lemon Road parents had a seat at the table.  I would like to believe that they have demonstrated the "grace" that you suggest, but the fact that you emphasize that some of the students were lower SES and refer to them as having been "dumped" and "slough[ed] off" on Lemon Road makes one wonder exactly how warm the reception has been.  As you point out, no larger plan to address the Tysons-related growth has been rolled out yet.  I think we'll all end up having to deal with more significant changes that the Lemon Road redistrictings before that is resolved.   [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics