Anonymous wrote:What was the reasoning behind getting rid of the language loophole but not the AP/IB loophole?

IB/AP is an entire school program that kids have no say in at a particular school. You can choose from 4 languages at most HSs and there are online option for other languages. Pupil placing for IB/AP requires kids take a certain number of IB/AP classes per year. I believe the IB pupil placed kids have to take at least 2 honors classes in 9th and 10th and then 2 IB classes in 11th and 12th grade. I am not sure what the requirements are for AP but I would guess that it would be similar.

You also can take a language that isn’t offered in HS in College.

If they shut down Pupil Placement for AP/IB they would have to give up IB because the number of really, really unhappy people would be large, Right now the IB/AP pupil placement placates the families that don’t want IB badly enough and allows kids to pupil place out of lower performing schools like Mt.Vernon, Lewis, Herndon.

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Anonymous wrote:Who at FCPS made the decision to redline Westfield like that? The boundaries don't even make sense.

I think going down to 2000 students isn't the worst thing, but it needs to be done thoughtfully with FCPS keeping in mind how difficult it is for a school community to lose so many teachers and staff pretty abruptly.

Concur here. I went to a high school that had 3200 students and there people at graduation that I thought were freshman. Smaller schools aren't a bad thing. That said I think we should strive for schools to be at min of 90% of their capacity without modulars or trailers. We should also never be above 105% of the same capacity. I realize thats a sweet spot thats tough to manage, but thats what FCPS should be trying to do.

I don’t agree boundaries should be purely capacity-driven without taking into account the fact that some schools got nice renovations and/or additions while other schools are still waiting for their next upgrades.

A renovated school with 2600 seats that’s at 105% capacity is going to function very differently than an unrenovated school with 2000 seats that’s left at 85% capacity.

What was the reasoning behind getting rid of the language loophole but not the AP/IB loophole?

There's an academic tipping point where even more open-minded, tolerant MC/UMC families will no longer send their kids to a school. Its a downward spiral.

Anonymous wrote:Who at FCPS made the decision to redline Westfield like that? The boundaries don't even make sense.

I think going down to 2000 students isn't the worst thing, but it needs to be done thoughtfully with FCPS keeping in mind how difficult it is for a school community to lose so many teachers and staff pretty abruptly.

Concur here. I went to a high school that had 3200 students and there people at graduation that I thought were freshman. Smaller schools aren't a bad thing. That said I think we should strive for schools to be at min of 90% of their capacity without modulars or trailers. We should also never be above 105% of the same capacity. I realize thats a sweet spot thats tough to manage, but thats what FCPS should be trying to do.

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Anonymous wrote:Meren is sending out the same letter to people, a bunch of us got the same thing.

She opposes micro-split feeders, mentions this connected to Crossfield and it's new feeder pattern.
She opposes the Fox Mill move because it will "further decrease under-enrolled membership"

SLHS is at 98% capacity, even at 85% capacity it is not under enrolled. The issue is that they don't have enough students taking IB, is my guess. That is not FMES fault, nor is it FMES problem.

Isn't she a little big late to express her opinion publicly? I feel she went easy and avoided conflict before the last version came out, which had fmes in both versions. And now, she is say cheap words hopefully to reduce blames from slhs parents. She should really push to fix IB in slhs if that's one of the main complaints of slhs.

If they fix IB at SLHS then they would lose the Herndon kids who transfer into SLHS for IB. Not that many of them finish the diploma but it is close to 200 students a year.

Aren't there hundreds of empty seats at Herndon after they renovated?

Yes. They renovated to a much higher capacity than HHS ever had, student wise. So Herndon didn't "lose" 800 students the way Westfield will; FCPS just build out the school with hundreds more seats than needed.

Herndon was around 2350 kids for a number of years. It’s lost 270 kids over the past three years but the plans to expand HHS were already in place by then. They were considering future growth in Herndon and of course waiting to overcrowd Langley with enough kids from McLean that they can move part of Langley back to Herndon in a few years.

It’s a very different situation from what they are doing to Westfield, which is more like what happened to Annandale after kids were moved out of AHS in 2011 (the enrollment dropped and the FARMS rate increased more than initially projected).

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Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area but just curious, where is this Walney Oaks area people are referencing? I can see the apartments zoned to Bull Run that are being turned into a Westfield island, that is obviously someone's political maneuvering because it makes no sense otherwise.

Look at the revised scenario map. There is an area basically cut out of the Westfield zone that clearly should be sent there. Its like a blue Chantilly peninsula. Mariah Court, etc.

Ok, I see it now. Yeah, that looks like a gerrymandering ad. Yikes.

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Anonymous wrote:Exactly. Keep in mind that with the rezoning, Chantilly will no longer be closed to transfers. It will fill right back up with Westfield zoned students who suddenly have a hankering to learn Latin.

Yes, this person FCPS'es. For sure there will be a sudden uptick in interest in taking Latin.

You can no longer pupil place for languages, they changed that this year. You can pupil place for AP or IB or specialized programs. So Westfield kids are likely to really want aviation or STEM pathways.

I thought that was proposed but tabled?

Regardless, there are multiple other ways to get your kid into neighboring schools (legit and illegit).

People were posting about rising 9th graders wanting to pupil place for language and it not being available. We know people in Japanese Immersion who pupil place to SLHS and they had to select IB because Japanese was not an option this year. Kids who had already been pupil placed were allowed to remain but rising 9th graders did not have the option.

That tells me that someone knew Skyview would be Fox Mill and that immersion kids were opting in to Skyview.

No, they want to attend SLHS and pupil placed for IB out of Herndon. People used to pupil place for Japanese. But Fox Mill families have been active in moving to Skyview, a lot opted in to Skyview.

Yes, they got rid of the language loophole. But still lots of other ways people can get their kids into other high schools.

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Anonymous wrote:Exactly. Keep in mind that with the rezoning, Chantilly will no longer be closed to transfers. It will fill right back up with Westfield zoned students who suddenly have a hankering to learn Latin.

Yes, this person FCPS'es. For sure there will be a sudden uptick in interest in taking Latin.

You can no longer pupil place for languages, they changed that this year. You can pupil place for AP or IB or specialized programs. So Westfield kids are likely to really want aviation or STEM pathways.

I thought that was proposed but tabled?

Regardless, there are multiple other ways to get your kid into neighboring schools (legit and illegit).

People were posting about rising 9th graders wanting to pupil place for language and it not being available. We know people in Japanese Immersion who pupil place to SLHS and they had to select IB because Japanese was not an option this year. Kids who had already been pupil placed were allowed to remain but rising 9th graders did not have the option.

That tells me that someone knew Skyview would be Fox Mill and that immersion kids were opting in to Skyview.

Who at FCPS made the decision to redline Westfield like that? The boundaries don't even make sense.

I think going down to 2000 students isn't the worst thing, but it needs to be done thoughtfully with FCPS keeping in mind how difficult it is for a school community to lose so many teachers and staff pretty abruptly.

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Anonymous wrote:Exactly. Keep in mind that with the rezoning, Chantilly will no longer be closed to transfers. It will fill right back up with Westfield zoned students who suddenly have a hankering to learn Latin.

Yes, this person FCPS'es. For sure there will be a sudden uptick in interest in taking Latin.

You can no longer pupil place for languages, they changed that this year. You can pupil place for AP or IB or specialized programs. So Westfield kids are likely to really want aviation or STEM pathways.

I thought that was proposed but tabled?

Regardless, there are multiple other ways to get your kid into neighboring schools (legit and illegit).

People were posting about rising 9th graders wanting to pupil place for language and it not being available. We know people in Japanese Immersion who pupil place to SLHS and they had to select IB because Japanese was not an option this year. Kids who had already been pupil placed were allowed to remain but rising 9th graders did not have the option.

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Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area but just curious, where is this Walney Oaks area people are referencing? I can see the apartments zoned to Bull Run that are being turned into a Westfield island, that is obviously someone's political maneuvering because it makes no sense otherwise.

Look at the revised scenario map. There is an area basically cut out of the Westfield zone that clearly should be sent there. Its like a blue Chantilly peninsula. Mariah Court, etc.

Yes. It is off Walney Rd right past Westfield Blvd. It's right across Walney from a neighborhood zoned to Westfield. The only egress of the neighborhood is onto Walney. Pure politics.

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Anonymous wrote:I think there is a huge difference psychologically between a school always having around 2000 students, and a school losing 800 students within a year or two, and with all the staff turnover that comes with that.

And losing all the electives and APs....

They are not going to be "losing all the electives and AP."

For sure they will be a losing a lot of them. Going from 2800 to 2000 students and *increasing* FARMs percentage (which seems likely given they are losing some UMC/MC areas but mostly gaining low income areas) is not a recipe for increasing academic options.

I used to work in HS scheduling for another district. There is no way, with FCPS staffing formulas, that a school in this situation won't be losing a LOT of elective and AP classes/sections.

2000 is not a small high school. They are also losing a lot of FARMS kids. Certainly, they are also losing some MC, but very few UMC. Also losing a lot of English learners.

2000 is a very small high school for FCPS.

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Anonymous wrote:I think there is a huge difference psychologically between a school always having around 2000 students, and a school losing 800 students within a year or two, and with all the staff turnover that comes with that.

And losing all the electives and APs....

They are not going to be "losing all the electives and AP."

For sure they will be a losing a lot of them. Going from 2800 to 2000 students and *increasing* FARMs percentage (which seems likely given they are losing some UMC/MC areas but mostly gaining low income areas) is not a recipe for increasing academic options.

I used to work in HS scheduling for another district. There is no way, with FCPS staffing formulas, that a school in this situation won't be losing a LOT of elective and AP classes/sections.

2000 is not a small high school. They are also losing a lot of FARMS kids. Certainly, they are also losing some MC, but very few UMC. Also losing a lot of English learners.