Anonymous
05/20/2026 13:17
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
Fortunately for us there already was a public review period and a school board vote making it a traditional school. No matter how much fear-mongering some people try to stir up on this board a magnet isn't happening. They are fully underway opening as a traditional school.
This is not quite true. The county’s recent approval to allow Skyview to open as a public school was based on its initial 1000-student enrollment. If FCPS wants Skyview to operate as a traditional school with a typical, larger enrollment, it will have to come back to the county within the next year. And if the county were to deny the follow-up application FCPS’s fall-back might be to cap enrollment and operate Skyview as a magnet or lottery school.
I know that’s not what the School board directed, and FCPS may be able to satisfy the county Skyview can accommodate more than 1000 students, but it’s somewhat misleading to claim there aren’t still uncertainties.
How does a school transition from traditional to magnet? Do the students who are already there have to make it through the application process or be sent back to their base school?
They won't be doing that.
Here is a quote from someone on the planning commission:
“This has really been a long road trying to find an adequate spot and the fact that this just materialized is pretty miraculous,” said Braddock District Commissioner Mary Cortina. “I just can’t envision a better scenario of being able to find a place for the school.”
Sounds to me like they will approve it in the future when the plans are set.
https://www.ffxnow.com/2026/05/20/reuse-of-private-academy-as-public-skyview-high-school-approved/#disqus_thread
Everyone agrees the site is a good site for a high school. But they don't have the approvals yet to serve more than 1000 kids.
The costs are a real issue. FCPS already lied when it put out multiple statements referring to an estimated $280 million in savings, based on the difference between the initial $150 million purchase price and estimates that building a new school from scratch would cost around $430 million. Within a few months, they were estimating it would cost over $50 million more to get Skyview ready, which means the prior statements were false and the purported savings would be $230 million, not $280 million.
The "plans" for the future are not "set" until they've done a LOT of additional work with the main Skyview building and the two shell buildings. If the costs are even higher, their prior misrepresentation becomes even more glaring. In addition, future county approvals are not guaranteed. That's why they probably do have a "Plan B" (i.e., some type of smaller magnet or lottery school) that would be an exit ramp if the costs spiral or future approvals hit an obstacle (as at Centreville).
Centreville is still not approved, as far as I know.
It is at capacity.
Westfield is at capacity.
Oakton is over capacity.
South Lakes is close to capacity.
Chantilly is way over capacity.
There is new construction in most of the area around all these schools. (Maybe not Centreville.)
Where do you think the kids should go to school?
Anonymous
05/20/2026 13:03
Subject: FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
You know what, I've changed my mind. I think the magnet person is right.
Anonymous
05/20/2026 13:01
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
Where is this info?
Anonymous
05/20/2026 12:56
Subject: FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
So when do they release the new maps…at the actual meeting or before the meeting on Thursday? Will FCPS try to pull another fast one on everyone??
Anonymous
05/20/2026 12:32
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
Fortunately for us there already was a public review period and a school board vote making it a traditional school. No matter how much fear-mongering some people try to stir up on this board a magnet isn't happening. They are fully underway opening as a traditional school.
This is not quite true. The county’s recent approval to allow Skyview to open as a public school was based on its initial 1000-student enrollment. If FCPS wants Skyview to operate as a traditional school with a typical, larger enrollment, it will have to come back to the county within the next year. And if the county were to deny the follow-up application FCPS’s fall-back might be to cap enrollment and operate Skyview as a magnet or lottery school.
I know that’s not what the School board directed, and FCPS may be able to satisfy the county Skyview can accommodate more than 1000 students, but it’s somewhat misleading to claim there aren’t still uncertainties.
How does a school transition from traditional to magnet? Do the students who are already there have to make it through the application process or be sent back to their base school?
They won't be doing that.
Here is a quote from someone on the planning commission:
“This has really been a long road trying to find an adequate spot and the fact that this just materialized is pretty miraculous,” said Braddock District Commissioner Mary Cortina. “I just can’t envision a better scenario of being able to find a place for the school.”
Sounds to me like they will approve it in the future when the plans are set.
https://www.ffxnow.com/2026/05/20/reuse-of-private-academy-as-public-skyview-high-school-approved/#disqus_thread
Everyone agrees the site is a good site for a high school. But they don't have the approvals yet to serve more than 1000 kids.
The costs are a real issue. FCPS already lied when it put out multiple statements referring to an estimated $280 million in savings, based on the difference between the initial $150 million purchase price and estimates that building a new school from scratch would cost around $430 million. Within a few months, they were estimating it would cost over $50 million more to get Skyview ready, which means the prior statements were false and the purported savings would be $230 million, not $280 million.
The "plans" for the future are not "set" until they've done a LOT of additional work with the main Skyview building and the two shell buildings. If the costs are even higher, their prior misrepresentation becomes even more glaring. In addition, future county approvals are not guaranteed. That's why they probably do have a "Plan B" (i.e., some type of smaller magnet or lottery school) that would be an exit ramp if the costs spiral or future approvals hit an obstacle (as at Centreville).
Anonymous
05/20/2026 12:25
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
Fortunately for us there already was a public review period and a school board vote making it a traditional school. No matter how much fear-mongering some people try to stir up on this board a magnet isn't happening. They are fully underway opening as a traditional school.
This is not quite true. The county’s recent approval to allow Skyview to open as a public school was based on its initial 1000-student enrollment. If FCPS wants Skyview to operate as a traditional school with a typical, larger enrollment, it will have to come back to the county within the next year. And if the county were to deny the follow-up application FCPS’s fall-back might be to cap enrollment and operate Skyview as a magnet or lottery school.
I know that’s not what the School board directed, and FCPS may be able to satisfy the county Skyview can accommodate more than 1000 students, but it’s somewhat misleading to claim there aren’t still uncertainties.
How does a school transition from traditional to magnet? Do the students who are already there have to make it through the application process or be sent back to their base school?
I would argue that Skyview isn't really a "traditional" school until it's a neighborhood school where a super-majority of the students attending the school live within the defined boundaries.
If for whatever reason they were to decide to cap enrollment at 1000, then it's a question of managing future class sizes. They almost surely wouldn't send kids who've opted into Skyview back to their base schools. They'd just come up with some process for admitting small classes in the future. That could mean a lottery process, like HB Woodlawn in Arlington, or a selective process, like TJ.
They are going pretty far down the road in signaling the intent is to do what's necessary to operate as a neighborhood high school with around 2000 students, most drawn from within the school's future boundaries. But they have a fair amount of work left to do to make that happen, and if the costs were to spiral or the logistics prove too challenging, some type of smaller magnet school is an exit ramp.
Anonymous
05/20/2026 12:19
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
Fortunately for us there already was a public review period and a school board vote making it a traditional school. No matter how much fear-mongering some people try to stir up on this board a magnet isn't happening. They are fully underway opening as a traditional school.
This is not quite true. The county’s recent approval to allow Skyview to open as a public school was based on its initial 1000-student enrollment. If FCPS wants Skyview to operate as a traditional school with a typical, larger enrollment, it will have to come back to the county within the next year. And if the county were to deny the follow-up application FCPS’s fall-back might be to cap enrollment and operate Skyview as a magnet or lottery school.
I know that’s not what the School board directed, and FCPS may be able to satisfy the county Skyview can accommodate more than 1000 students, but it’s somewhat misleading to claim there aren’t still uncertainties.
How does a school transition from traditional to magnet? Do the students who are already there have to make it through the application process or be sent back to their base school?
They won't be doing that.
Here is a quote from someone on the planning commission:
“This has really been a long road trying to find an adequate spot and the fact that this just materialized is pretty miraculous,” said Braddock District Commissioner Mary Cortina. “I just can’t envision a better scenario of being able to find a place for the school.”
Sounds to me like they will approve it in the future when the plans are set.
https://www.ffxnow.com/2026/05/20/reuse-of-private-academy-as-public-skyview-high-school-approved/#disqus_thread
Anonymous
05/20/2026 12:13
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
Fortunately for us there already was a public review period and a school board vote making it a traditional school. No matter how much fear-mongering some people try to stir up on this board a magnet isn't happening. They are fully underway opening as a traditional school.
This is not quite true. The county’s recent approval to allow Skyview to open as a public school was based on its initial 1000-student enrollment. If FCPS wants Skyview to operate as a traditional school with a typical, larger enrollment, it will have to come back to the county within the next year. And if the county were to deny the follow-up application FCPS’s fall-back might be to cap enrollment and operate Skyview as a magnet or lottery school.
I know that’s not what the School board directed, and FCPS may be able to satisfy the county Skyview can accommodate more than 1000 students, but it’s somewhat misleading to claim there aren’t still uncertainties.
How does a school transition from traditional to magnet? Do the students who are already there have to make it through the application process or be sent back to their base school?
Anonymous
05/20/2026 11:44
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
Fortunately for us there already was a public review period and a school board vote making it a traditional school. No matter how much fear-mongering some people try to stir up on this board a magnet isn't happening. They are fully underway opening as a traditional school.
This is not quite true. The county’s recent approval to allow Skyview to open as a public school was based on its initial 1000-student enrollment. If FCPS wants Skyview to operate as a traditional school with a typical, larger enrollment, it will have to come back to the county within the next year. And if the county were to deny the follow-up application FCPS’s fall-back might be to cap enrollment and operate Skyview as a magnet or lottery school.
I know that’s not what the School board directed, and FCPS may be able to satisfy the county Skyview can accommodate more than 1000 students, but it’s somewhat misleading to claim there aren’t still uncertainties.
News report said they intend to go back sooner rather than later. Not sure what that means. But, it will most likely be approved with no problem.
To be clear, FCPS previously sought approval for Skyview to operate as a 2000-student school, and county staff said they could not support that.
So rather than getting up-front approval that would cover the future work necessary for Skyview to operate as a 2000-student neighborhood high school, FCPS realized they had to take it in steps.
They now have approval to open this fall to operate as a 1000-student school in the main Skyview building.
They'll have to go back if they want to expand further, and that means addressing all the issues that county staff viewed as problematic earlier. So it's no problem if FCPS takes care of business. It's a problem if they don't.
Note that their recent track record isn't perfect, as they've encountered all sorts of road blocks when seeking approvals for the Centreville HS renovation and expansion.
Anonymous
05/20/2026 11:35
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
Fortunately for us there already was a public review period and a school board vote making it a traditional school. No matter how much fear-mongering some people try to stir up on this board a magnet isn't happening. They are fully underway opening as a traditional school.
This is not quite true. The county’s recent approval to allow Skyview to open as a public school was based on its initial 1000-student enrollment. If FCPS wants Skyview to operate as a traditional school with a typical, larger enrollment, it will have to come back to the county within the next year. And if the county were to deny the follow-up application FCPS’s fall-back might be to cap enrollment and operate Skyview as a magnet or lottery school.
I know that’s not what the School board directed, and FCPS may be able to satisfy the county Skyview can accommodate more than 1000 students, but it’s somewhat misleading to claim there aren’t still uncertainties.
News report said they intend to go back sooner rather than later. Not sure what that means. But, it will most likely be approved with no problem.
Anonymous
05/20/2026 10:52
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
Fortunately for us there already was a public review period and a school board vote making it a traditional school. No matter how much fear-mongering some people try to stir up on this board a magnet isn't happening. They are fully underway opening as a traditional school.
This is not quite true. The county’s recent approval to allow Skyview to open as a public school was based on its initial 1000-student enrollment. If FCPS wants Skyview to operate as a traditional school with a typical, larger enrollment, it will have to come back to the county within the next year. And if the county were to deny the follow-up application FCPS’s fall-back might be to cap enrollment and operate Skyview as a magnet or lottery school.
I know that’s not what the School board directed, and FCPS may be able to satisfy the county Skyview can accommodate more than 1000 students, but it’s somewhat misleading to claim there aren’t still uncertainties.
Anonymous
05/20/2026 10:18
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
Fortunately for us there already was a public review period and a school board vote making it a traditional school. No matter how much fear-mongering some people try to stir up on this board a magnet isn't happening. They are fully underway opening as a traditional school.
Anonymous
05/20/2026 09:44
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
My student (who lives within the eventual Skyview boundary) and his friends all agreed that the other option (Yeti) was even worse.
It will be a good school, but Reid et al have really rolled this out poorly.
It doesn't lend itself to a cheer for a football team. Did they do this like the name selection? Drop one of the most popular choices before the vote?
Anonymous
05/20/2026 09:43
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
My student (who lives within the eventual Skyview boundary) and his friends all agreed that the other option (Yeti) was even worse.
Personally, I liked Yeti better but only because it was so ridiculous. My kid said that Yeti was suggested because so many answers to questions were "Not Yet."
Anonymous
05/20/2026 09:33
Subject: Re:FCPS Skyview Boundary Scenario 1/2/3
Anonymous wrote:The new mascot is incredibly stupid.
Why bother making it a traditional high school when she clearly wants an aviation magnet.
Just prepare for the boundaries to be nullified at a programming re-vote.
My student (who lives within the eventual Skyview boundary) and his friends all agreed that the other option (Yeti) was even worse.