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

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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Reid is from the Seattle area where she knows all about the successful aviation high school there. I’m sure that has a lot to do with it. Some parents here have pointed out that that specialized magnet school is only about 400 students however. [/quote]

And, she came into that work session expecting that the SB would go with one of her ideas.  Nothing presented that day was well developed.  Not a traditional school.  Not a magnet. Not academies.  Nothing.  Spaghetti at the wall.

Still trying to figure out the idea of a Magnet for Western schools and how that would solve overcrowding.  You know what it would do--assuming it would not be illegal?

It would draw the smartest kids from Chantilly and Westfield and Centreville.  Also, Herndon and South Lakes--but they don't need relief from overcrowding.

What could go wrong?[/quote]
Drawing the smartest kids out of surrounding schools does them a disservice.  If South Lakes kids go there then there will be even fewer kids to justify offering any of the advanced IB classes.  [b]It would also bring down average scores at all the other schools if kids from the top are pulled away to a magnet.[/b][/quote]

This has been an argument against TJ since...it was founded I think.

Counterpoint: having good academic options brings the kinds of families who are likely to bolster test scores to the area.[/quote]

You do know that TJ draws from all of Fairfax County, plus surrounding counties?

And, how is this going to help overcrowding?   Chantilly has 3000 students?  How many slots are going to be allotted to Chantilly in order to ensure that there is relief there?  500? Westfield has about 2700 and growing, how many from Westfield? 200?  I don't know how many Centreville needs to lose.  It is a smaller school, but is overcrowded.  Other schools in the area are also growing.  
So, are they planning on a selective school for 1000 Kids?  They are looking to do this because they think it would take too much work to have greater attendance.

They told us that the school was purchased to relieve overcrowding in Chantilly, Westfield, and others in the area.  
And, now they want to have a selective school that does not solve that problem. 
Are these kids going to have any extracurricular activities?  Or, just what?

Is this how FCPS wants to spend the money when they are currently turning down federal money and spending additional money on legal fees because it defends their "values?"

Yes.  Apparently.  [/quote]

DP.  Here’s a proposal.

Shut down McLean, which they refuse to invest in and which is falling apart.

Do everything needed so that KAA can be a real neighborhood high school with 2500 kids or so, including the kids in the western part of the Oakton district.  If that requires an addition, build it.

Resign McLean kids to Langley, Marshall, and Falls Church.  Then reassign kids from Langley to Herndon, Marshall to Madison, Madison to Oakton, and Falls Church to Justice, if and as needed.

We will end up with the same number of high schools but the boundaries will be more compact, FCPS can make use of the capacity at schools that have been expanded, kids will have decent commutes, and they can stop fretting about KAA being a magnet that relatively few want.

Sure, McLean had a nice 70-year run, but it’s an eyesore and FCPS leadership clearly isn’t committed to maintaining the school. They can sell the land for a bundle and a developer will happily build more townhouses and senior living facilities there.

Tell me why this isn’t a win for FCPS now that they’ve already spent $150 million on KAA. [/quote]

SJW doing what SJWs do best - being ridiculous.[/quote]

I think the post is just pointing out the ridiculousness of this mess.  The school needs to be a neighborhood school.  
Make it work.  It's cheaper than building a new school and something will have to be done in the next few years.

Lots of people posting with suggestions of sending these kids on lengthy bus rides and shifting here and shifting there.

I am not familiar with McLean.  From a view out here, it would appear they could send more kids to Langley, but I do not know the neighborhoods and  have no business weighing in. 
I am familiar and know well the neighborhoods around the KAA facility and sure, I'd like it to happen.  But, why?  Because they are planning to further split our neighborhoods and send more kids on long bus rides.  And, if they don't do something now, it will be worse a year or so down the road.

I'm sorry for those who don't want us to have this school because it is so beautiful.  It would be fine with me if it were a regular old building, but it is not.  The property belonged to FCPS and they gave it away years ago because of political pressure.  They had promised this area a school.

It is time to make it right.  The purchase has closed.  Make it a regular high school --it might not be as large as they would like, but it can work.  There are two additional buildings that could easily be made into classrooms.

The plan Reid suggested--for a traditional school--would be to begin with 9-10 grade.  That gives them time to figure it out.[/quote]

You are suggesting the only issue with McLean is overcrowding.  It's not.  The school is falling apart and the periodic critical "fixes" are insufficient.  And the money needed to address the school's needs is only less likely to be available for many years with the funds that will be needed to make KAA the school the community needs.  So it's time to acknowledge the consequences of FCPS's decisions and think bigger about how to operate efficiently in FCPS.  [/quote]

Falling apart, huh? Like walls are crumbling? Tell us more.[/quote]

DP. It would be nice if the plumbing and toilets worked reliably. [/quote]

DP. Part of the ceiling caved in a couple of years ago. They put a caution tape zone in the hallway. There used to be a McLean Rots IG but it was shut down. [/quote]

Our school had a game in the gym recently against Mclean, and it was cancelled last minute because part of the ceiling fell onto the court. [/quote]

The band room was without heat last year.  Ceiling tiles regularly fall down.  A water leak led to games in the gym being canceled.  One of the main electrical systems failed before the first day of school this year, leaving the school dependent on a back-up generator.  They’ll do something like replace the aging flooring only for water to leak on the new tiles within a few months.  It’s a maintenance whack-a-mole.

Robyn Lady appeared to suggest in the work session this week KAA needs to be a magnet because the amount of money needed to make it a typical 9-12 neighborhood school would lead to further delays in renovating or expanding McLean.  But realistically it’s just going to keep falling apart regardless of what happens with KAA.  The Great Falls folks asked her in 2024 why McLean wasn’t getting more attention from FCPS and her response was that her colleagues are not “empathetic” towards the school.

So maybe it’s time to think bolder.  Selling the expensive land on which MHS sits would allow FCPS to invest more in KAA and ensure it’s a strong neighborhood school that could potentially serve six feeders.  And McLean kids would be reassigned to schools that have all been renovated recently or are currently being renovated.

Not everyone would be happy but everyone affected would end up at a school that, unlike MHS, has recently been renovated or at least gotten an addition.  [/quote]

I suspect there are two groups that would not be happy:
McLean families
Forestville families.[/quote]

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