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]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]

"These sorts of programs" are exactly what the federal government calls "critical languages."  German and Latin?  Not so much.
DP[/quote]

If teaching Russian in person at FCPS high schools were critical, they’d be offering it at more than 1-2 schools.  [/quote]

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