Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/12/01/townhouses-approved-to-complete-oakton-office-park-redevelopment/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=nextdoor.com&utm_campaign=nextdoor_news

581 new homes coming to Oakton.

Non Oakton parent here. This thread seems to be hyper fixated on bringing up the same issues that have been discussed at length. Oakton has new developments…Crossfield might get moved now or in the future. We get it! Some of the last few comments about TJ and upcoming events have been helpful but now we are just going to pivot back to infighting between Crossfield parents and those who wants to see RIO fail.

This is about the Western Boundary options. Not TJ. Oakton development has an effect. And, you do not sound like a non-Oakton parent. Why are you concerned about RIO failing? You really do not understand the ramifications of 500 new homes up the street from Oakton High?

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone heard anything about the meetings this week? The website said that there would be meetings Dec 1-6.

I believe there is a board meeting on the 4th.

Anonymous wrote:https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/12/01/townhouses-approved-to-complete-oakton-office-park-redevelopment/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=nextdoor.com&utm_campaign=nextdoor_news

581 new homes coming to Oakton.

Non Oakton parent here. This thread seems to be hyper fixated on bringing up the same issues that have been discussed at length. Oakton has new developments…Crossfield might get moved now or in the future. We get it! Some of the last few comments about TJ and upcoming events have been helpful but now we are just going to pivot back to infighting between Crossfield parents and those who wants to see RIO fail.

Has anyone heard anything about the meetings this week? The website said that there would be meetings Dec 1-6.

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/12/01/townhouses-approved-to-complete-oakton-office-park-redevelopment/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=nextdoor.com&utm_campaign=nextdoor_news

581 new homes coming to Oakton.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Vocational" machine learning? First time I've heard that is a thing. I'd be pretty thrilled for my teen to get ML skills, whatever you want to call it. For the record, it's mostly high level math and stats.

I'll speak for myself, I see TJ as a STEM school and not a "upscaled peers" school. The only kid we considered it for was my STEM kid (all kids were high achieving and could have been admitted) but its just too far. With AP classes, many FCPS schools can provide a comparable advanced education.

So I think Western could absolutely pull from TJ. TJ is a great STEM school, no doubt, but it's also VERY hard to get into top schools from there due to the peer group (they only want so many from a specific school) and it's social life crushing far away. Even a limited STEM/AI/AE/ML track would appeal to people who want that but don't want the commute. It appeals to me and my 8th grader.

Chantilly has the academy and that was also nice to have some additional technical programming. I see this as a more focused academy, which is broad based.
I

I have heard this about colleges and wonder if it's true across the board. If so, why do people only want their kids going to certain high schools? Don't they have a better chance to getting in to a particular college from high schools where a smaller number of their peers have applied to that school?

They want the rigor and they aren't often aware of the impact to college admissions as incoming freshman, but they will find out - ask any TJ kid. Getting into CMU, UVA, MIT, etc. is harder from TJ than elsewhere. These kids would have likely been stars in their base school but at TJ they are part of a constellation and schools have various limits on how many they will admit from a school and also from a region (like VT with NOVA). It's not the end of the world but its a fact many don't realize until they are already on the road.

The TJ info sessions highlight that college outcomes will be different coming out of TJ than the base HS. Everyone we have talked to about TJ brings up the college issue. I doubt that there are that many kids applying to TJ unaware of the potential college ramifications. We will have that conversation with DS if he is accepted at TJ but it is his HS of choice. He wants the classes and the challenge.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Vocational" machine learning? First time I've heard that is a thing. I'd be pretty thrilled for my teen to get ML skills, whatever you want to call it. For the record, it's mostly high level math and stats.

I'll speak for myself, I see TJ as a STEM school and not a "upscaled peers" school. The only kid we considered it for was my STEM kid (all kids were high achieving and could have been admitted) but its just too far. With AP classes, many FCPS schools can provide a comparable advanced education.

So I think Western could absolutely pull from TJ. TJ is a great STEM school, no doubt, but it's also VERY hard to get into top schools from there due to the peer group (they only want so many from a specific school) and it's social life crushing far away. Even a limited STEM/AI/AE/ML track would appeal to people who want that but don't want the commute. It appeals to me and my 8th grader.

Chantilly has the academy and that was also nice to have some additional technical programming. I see this as a more focused academy, which is broad based.
I

I have heard this about colleges and wonder if it's true across the board. If so, why do people only want their kids going to certain high schools? Don't they have a better chance to getting in to a particular college from high schools where a smaller number of their peers have applied to that school?

They want the rigor and they aren't often aware of the impact to college admissions as incoming freshman, but they will find out - ask any TJ kid. Getting into CMU, UVA, MIT, etc. is harder from TJ than elsewhere. These kids would have likely been stars in their base school but at TJ they are part of a constellation and schools have various limits on how many they will admit from a school and also from a region (like VT with NOVA). It's not the end of the world but its a fact many don't realize until they are already on the road.

https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/facilities/building-our-future-capital-projects/western-high-capital-project/community-engagement

Has anyone received any information about these "Parent Zoom Information Sessions" that are supposed to be held Dec 1-8?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Vocational" machine learning? First time I've heard that is a thing. I'd be pretty thrilled for my teen to get ML skills, whatever you want to call it. For the record, it's mostly high level math and stats.

I'll speak for myself, I see TJ as a STEM school and not a "upscaled peers" school. The only kid we considered it for was my STEM kid (all kids were high achieving and could have been admitted) but its just too far. With AP classes, many FCPS schools can provide a comparable advanced education.

So I think Western could absolutely pull from TJ. TJ is a great STEM school, no doubt, but it's also VERY hard to get into top schools from there due to the peer group (they only want so many from a specific school) and it's social life crushing far away. Even a limited STEM/AI/AE/ML track would appeal to people who want that but don't want the commute. It appeals to me and my 8th grader.

Chantilly has the academy and that was also nice to have some additional technical programming. I see this as a more focused academy, which is broad based.
I

I have heard this about colleges and wonder if it's true across the board. If so, why do people only want their kids going to certain high schools? Don't they have a better chance to getting in to a particular college from high schools where a smaller number of their peers have applied to that school?

Your chances of getting into a top 20 school are lottery like regardless of the school you graduate from even with a perfect GPA and excellent extra curricular activities. While it is harder to get into say, MIT, from TJ, it is still highly unlikely to get into MIT from SLHS. There would be fewer kids from SLHS applying but the regional competition is still high and the number of spots available are still few.

You go to TJ for the specialized STEM programs and to be around other kids that are academically minded, into STEM, and to be challenged.

Anonymous wrote:"Vocational" machine learning? First time I've heard that is a thing. I'd be pretty thrilled for my teen to get ML skills, whatever you want to call it. For the record, it's mostly high level math and stats.

I'll speak for myself, I see TJ as a STEM school and not a "upscaled peers" school. The only kid we considered it for was my STEM kid (all kids were high achieving and could have been admitted) but its just too far. With AP classes, many FCPS schools can provide a comparable advanced education.

So I think Western could absolutely pull from TJ. TJ is a great STEM school, no doubt, but it's also VERY hard to get into top schools from there due to the peer group (they only want so many from a specific school) and it's social life crushing far away. Even a limited STEM/AI/AE/ML track would appeal to people who want that but don't want the commute. It appeals to me and my 8th grader.

Chantilly has the academy and that was also nice to have some additional technical programming. I see this as a more focused academy, which is broad based.
I

Sounds like an oxymoron.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vocational AI/ML and aviation is nothing like the holistic, well-rounded, STEM-focused curriculum at TJ. AI/ML is more akin to IT electives. Good job opportunities to be found for sure, but it is not the traditional grounding in math and science that top colleges look for.

Aw, look at TJ mommy trying to insult Western families by saying it's a "vocational" program. Try harder.

Have you seen the FCPS proposal documents? They propose courses aligned for vocational credential exams like FAA certificates, Microsoft Office badges, IBM, AWS certs, etc. The definition of vocational.

Where would we find this information? Can you provide links? This would be great for a lot of kids.

Anonymous wrote:"Vocational" machine learning? First time I've heard that is a thing. I'd be pretty thrilled for my teen to get ML skills, whatever you want to call it. For the record, it's mostly high level math and stats.

I'll speak for myself, I see TJ as a STEM school and not a "upscaled peers" school. The only kid we considered it for was my STEM kid (all kids were high achieving and could have been admitted) but its just too far. With AP classes, many FCPS schools can provide a comparable advanced education.

So I think Western could absolutely pull from TJ. TJ is a great STEM school, no doubt, but it's also VERY hard to get into top schools from there due to the peer group (they only want so many from a specific school) and it's social life crushing far away. Even a limited STEM/AI/AE/ML track would appeal to people who want that but don't want the commute. It appeals to me and my 8th grader.

Chantilly has the academy and that was also nice to have some additional technical programming. I see this as a more focused academy, which is broad based.
I

I have heard this about colleges and wonder if it's true across the board. If so, why do people only want their kids going to certain high schools? Don't they have a better chance to getting in to a particular college from high schools where a smaller number of their peers have applied to that school?

"Vocational" machine learning? First time I've heard that is a thing. I'd be pretty thrilled for my teen to get ML skills, whatever you want to call it. For the record, it's mostly high level math and stats.

I'll speak for myself, I see TJ as a STEM school and not a "upscaled peers" school. The only kid we considered it for was my STEM kid (all kids were high achieving and could have been admitted) but its just too far. With AP classes, many FCPS schools can provide a comparable advanced education.

So I think Western could absolutely pull from TJ. TJ is a great STEM school, no doubt, but it's also VERY hard to get into top schools from there due to the peer group (they only want so many from a specific school) and it's social life crushing far away. Even a limited STEM/AI/AE/ML track would appeal to people who want that but don't want the commute. It appeals to me and my 8th grader.

Chantilly has the academy and that was also nice to have some additional technical programming. I see this as a more focused academy, which is broad based.
I

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vocational AI/ML and aviation is nothing like the holistic, well-rounded, STEM-focused curriculum at TJ. AI/ML is more akin to IT electives. Good job opportunities to be found for sure, but it is not the traditional grounding in math and science that top colleges look for.

Aw, look at TJ mommy trying to insult Western families by saying it's a "vocational" program. Try harder.

Have you seen the FCPS proposal documents? They propose courses aligned for vocational credential exams like FAA certificates, Microsoft Office badges, IBM, AWS certs, etc. The definition of vocational.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the draft boundary maps

The new western school =

1000 kids from Westfield (McNair, Coates, and most Floris) +
350 Chantilly (Oak Hill kids) +
370-400 SLHS (Fox Mill/Floris) or Oakton (Crossfield)

The demographics would be similar to that of Chantilly high in my opinion.

Has it been settled yet if any grades allowed to opt-out of going to new school? Can about to be seniors class of 2027 stay at school they are at now? Anyone else allowed to stay either because of their year in school now or because have siblings already in current school?

Three years - current 6th, 7th, and 8th will be able to opt out.

I don’t think current 6th would get to opt out under the plan they were initially considering. And as of right now the school board has not voted on any plan other than opt in only for next year. They scrapped the language about the following two years from the motion because Meren said it violated a rule or something regarding 48 hrs notice before a vote.