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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Part of what caused the current imbalance at Lemon Road was the initially Westbriar, Stenwood and Freedom Hill, I believe, were slated to go to Lemon Road.  But Westbriar AAP-aspirational parents in particular fought to make Westbriar a center for two reasons.  1. Their kids wouldn't have to be bused to a less desirable neighborhood (they'll claim the distance was too far, but some of the buses from Stenwood and others feeders to Westbriar were taking close to an hour. )  And, 2. So Westbriar would jump to the head of the cue to get a fancy new addition.    It was really kind of sickening, actually.  Basically a bunch of haves, making sure they got what they wanted, while less activist parents at Lemon Road were stuck accepting it as good.  You can bet Westbriar has more than a critical mass of AAP students now.  Actually, Westbriar, like Wolftrap, would be better off being a self-contained LLIV, but then parents would get to brag about the center label.  I[/quote]

I'm not sure I agree with this.

Lemon Road is a neighborhood in Falls Church zoned for McLean HS that's more expensive than the Tysons Woods neighborhood where Westbriar is located.  Maybe you're referring to other neighborhoods that feed into Lemon Road on the other side of Pimmit Run or Route 7.  Also, if Stenwood kids weren't going to Westbriar before the center was opened, how would they have known it might take an hour.

As I recall, there were a lot of Westbriar parents who didn't want an AAP center at their school.  If they are "haves," they haven't always been treated kindly by FCPS in terms of school assignments.  Students in the "Westbriar Island" area    have to pass by Colvin Run on their way to Westbriar, and they're zoned for Marshall even though they're closer to Madison.

It seems to me the biggest issue is the one that's been previously flagged - opening new centers and adding LLIV to nearby schools at more or less the same time without much information to know who'd end up going to the center and who'd stay at the base school.   [/quote]

I was involved in the AAP center change and yes, Westbriar parents and the principal fought to get their school to be an AAP center. There were some parents opposed but many were for the change. Other schools were being considered to take the pressure off Louise Archer and Haycock, but only Westbriar asked for their school to be a center. Then the Stenwood, Shrevewood, and Westgate parents and principals asked if they could have LLIV at their schools. I have no idea why. There are less than 10 students in AAP in any grade at most of those schools. There is a small pocket of Lemon Road that goes to Mclean but the majority of the school feeds to Marshall. Previously the AAP center for Shrevewood and Westgate was Haycock which was definitely in the Mclean pyramid, so obviously having Mclean students as part of the mix wasn't a problem in years past. The AAP center for Stenwood and Freedom Hill was Louise Archer which is mainly Madison kids. I fully understood why Westbriar parents didn't want to send their children to Lemon Road. It is very far. Freedom Hill and Stenwood made no sense though, particularly Stenwood which is much closer to Lemon Road than Westbriar. But those parents fought for Westbriar because it was in a better neighborhood. This I think was a mistake on their part mainly because Westbriar splits half to Madison and half to Marshall, so these students are now with kids who they won't go to high school with. If they are on a bus for an hour it is entirely of their choosing. Petition to have those students go to Lemon Road over Westbriar in the future and your problem will be solved.[/quote]

Westbriar is about an 80-20% Marshall-Madison split, not 50-50%.   [/quote]

I thought it was closer. More like 2/3 Marshall. Isn't Lemon Road similarly split though?[/quote]

The only part of Westbriar that goes to Madison is an area south of Old Courthouse Road near Cardinal Hill Swim & Racquet, and one street north of Old Courthouse (Westbriar Court) that's in the Town of Vienna.  The rest is Marshall.

Lemon Road is 85-15% Marshall/McLean.  Even though geographically almost half of Lemon Road's catchment area is zoned for McLean, that area doesn't send many kids to LR compared to the areas zoned for Marshall (1/2 of Pimmit Hills and a bunch of townhouses and apartments on the other side of Route 7).   All of the AAP kids at LR from Shrevewood and most of the AAP kids at LR from Westgate are zoned for Marshall, too. [/quote]

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