Reply to SB Member Anderson on County-wide Boundary Study

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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]I'll start with a helpful standardization - put AP back in all FCPS schools. This is a no brainer.

A second, but harder standardization would be the language programs. Not sure there is agreement on which three or so languages should be standard for in school classes. Beyond those languages the county should offer online opportunities for other, less popular languages.

What is described above is how the county operated high schools through the 90's.[/quote]

French, Spanish, German, and Latin used to be the standard HS offerings.  Add Chinese to reflect the greater interest in recent decades. Make Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and ASL purely online courses. [/quote]

Saying that you want to take Russian is the method for families transfer into Langley.  FCPS will face substantial blowback if they try to remove it.  [/quote]

So what. Make it an online course. [/quote]

DP.  The PP is correct.  And not only that, the Russian program at Langley is very highly respected and has the longest-running Russian exchange program in FCPS.  There is not a chance in hell this would ever be made an online program.  Try again.[/quote]

German is getting phased out now at Langley.  Russian absolutely could be an online course, which would expand its availability to students interested in the language all over the county. [/quote]

Highly regarded language programs at TJ, including Japanese, are being phased out based on enrollment. No reason Langley is unique. Maybe it can move to Herndon HS, if it’s so special?[/quote]

Well, sure - if a language is showing declining enrollment (like German) then no reason it shouldn't be phased out.  Russian is not in that category.  Quite the opposite, in fact.
DP[/quote]

It certainly would have declining enrollment if there weren’t exception to residency for wanting to “learn” Russian.  A bunch of Russian  and Eastern European kids attend Langley who live nowhere close.  And many kids who attend the Russian language classes (up to 1/3 of the class in some years) already speak fluent Russian.
[/quote]

Serious question:  what are you talking about?  And do your kids even attend Langley?[/quote]
DP. There are many Russian-speaking families in this area, and, without question, Langley is an extremely popular and highly desirable school for those families.  I can’t speak to how many live outside the district, but bringing in and attracting Russian kids from across Northern Virginia has no doubt contributed to the success of the program.  And no question, it is successful.

However, with declining budgets, it is entirely fair to discuss whether Fairfax County should continue to spend money on these sorts of programs (not just Russian, but Japanese and Korean) that target a specific minority population.[/quote]

We are at Fox Mill with a child in the Japanese Immersion class, the class is mainly non-Japanese speakers and it is wonderful. It provides a different type of challenge for the kids who are in the program. It is popular at the school and outside of the school. The first grade class is always full. The retention in the program is strong, the current 6th grade class has 45 or so kids in int he JI program and started with 64 kids. Most of the kids who have left are kids who moved, a few left for LIV and a few dropped out. We know families with kids fluent in Japanese who cannot get into the lower grades because the classes are full.

And yes, I think that the languages should continue on into MS and HS. the kids participating in these programs have a good start on learning a second language and many will continue on in MS and HS. The classes and cost of the Teachers are not a lost cost. Plenty of other kids take the language in MS and HS so it is not hard to fill those classes.

I believe that any LI programs that are started would probably be full very, very fast. There are a good number of parents who are interested in their kids learning a language at a younger age and the challenge that comes from learning a second language. There are plenty of kids who are up for that challenge in ES and any program that improves a child's academic experience. The programs that engage kids are ones we should be keeping because it motivates them to do well in school. The other benefit is that kids in the regular classrooms have smaller classes and Teachers are more able to work with those kids at their levels. This should be beneficial for kids with learning issues or who need more attention to help them engage. The programs are win-win for folks. [/quote]

What percentage of seats in the Fox Mill JI program are reserved for students who live in boundary and what percentage are available for students who enter a lottery?

I assume if they just start redrawing boundaries some people who theoretically get moved out of Fox Mill (say to Dogwood or Crossfield) and might have lesser access to JI would be unhappy.

Do you think the SB members talking big about county-wide redistricting have thought much about these scenarios?  I don't. [/quote]

Fox Mill is County-Wide placement. I think there is a small wait list for the program, it is less enticing then Spanish, French, or German, and I am pretty certain that the wait list clears every year. The only people I know who are struggling to enter the program are people moving into the area who have kids that speak Japanese and that is because the grades 1-3 are full. I know families who their kid in JI and then decided after the Open House that it wouldn't be a good fit and moved tot he regular classroom, it happens every year. The wait list ends up clearing because of that. We already have Dogwood kids in JI so that is not a big surprise.

Most of the kids are walkers, there are only 4 busses that bring kids to Fox Mill and one of those is for Special Needs kids at the school. I would be surprised if the boundary lines were re-dawn so that Fox Mill kids would end up at Dogwood or Crossfield because the kids that would theoretically be in that area that would be moved are all walkers. Crossfield is potentially more likely, looking the families over by John Milton, but those kids still walk to Fox Mill. The kids who are bussed would more likely end up at Floris because that is where our busses are coming from.

More importantly, the county boundaries should be redrawn. We have schools under capacity and we have schools over capacity. The boundaries should be adjusted to alleviate the over crowding and make the best use of the space that we happen to have. My kid is more likely to be affected at the MS and HS level, Carson to Luther Jackson, South Lakes to somewhere else but I could see them staying at South Lakes. And if they were to add more language immersion programs then there would be less moving because of LI interest. Given the length of the waitlists for the Spanish, French, and German programs we know that there is demand for the program. Japanese and Korean have far shorter waitlists. I would guess that Russian LI would be popular, probably Arabic and Chinese as well. [/quote]

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