Anonymous wrote:During the public meetings that were held at Hayfield Secondary when South Co. was being planned, Saratoga residents petitioned to be included in the new school. It soon became clear that they were being pushed out of the process in favor of including the Gunston area and parts of Lorton that attended Hayfield. There was discussion of eventually moving Saratoga to Hayfield - or maybe W. Springfield. I’m not 100% sure as it was in the early 2000’s - before I had kids of my own. Staff was directed to look into redrawing boundaries in that part of the county.

It does seem like those students have a long way to go to get to any high school. It can be annoying with traffic and lights to get to the Lee HS area from Saratoga.

During the public meetings that were held at Hayfield Secondary when South Co. was being planned, Saratoga residents petitioned to be included in the new school. It soon became clear that they were being pushed out of the process in favor of including the Gunston area and parts of Lorton that attended Hayfield. There was discussion of eventually moving Saratoga to Hayfield - or maybe W. Springfield. I’m not 100% sure as it was in the early 2000’s - before I had kids of my own. Staff was directed to look into redrawing boundaries in that part of the county.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those families were given the option to move to South county 10+ years ago.
The voted to stay at Lee.
Really bad decision.

I’ve heard that too, although I don’t know the full story of what happened. Certainly, with the benefit of hindsight, seems like a bad decision. That said, the further back in time you go, the less clear the choice would have been. I don’t think Lee has ever been one of the “top tier” pyramids in Fairfax County, but I also don’t think it was regarded nearly as poorly as it is today.

It was middle of the pack in the mid-90s with test scores frequently higher than schools like Marshall and Herndon. Those days are history, at least insofar as Marshall is concerned.

Anonymous wrote:Those families were given the option to move to South county 10+ years ago.
The voted to stay at Lee.
Really bad decision.

I’ve heard that too, although I don’t know the full story of what happened. Certainly, with the benefit of hindsight, seems like a bad decision. That said, the further back in time you go, the less clear the choice would have been. I don’t think Lee has ever been one of the “top tier” pyramids in Fairfax County, but I also don’t think it was regarded nearly as poorly as it is today.

Those families were given the option to move to South county 10+ years ago.
The voted to stay at Lee.
Really bad decision.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is Saratoga elementary so low rated? There are some nice middle-class neighborhoods of SFH over there, and the town homes look nice too. There’s lots of schools in West Springfield and Burke that have TH and condos in bounds, but none of those schools are as bad as Saratoga. What gives?

And yes, I know schools are what you make of it and a motivated student with involved parents can do well anywhere (my husband graduated from a high school much like TC Williams and his elementary was not much better) but I just have no idea what makes Saratoga so poorly-rated.

Hint: it’s not from the housing directly around it.

I know the Saratoga boundary is very large and includes the Fort Belvoir north area, but it does seem like a nice area. So, where are the majority of struggling students coming from? If there is low-income housing, it’s well hidden.

Look at the map.
It runs way up 395.
It’s catching all kinds of low rent housing in Springfield.

I really don’t think that’s quite right. The attendance map does not include anything north of the Franconia-Springfield Parkway and even the developments on the south side of the Franconia-Springfield Parkway are not within Saratoga boundaries. Loisdale Estates on the eastern side of I-95 is also not in the Saratoga attendance zone. Saratoga has some nice, stable SFH neighborhoods within its boundaries. There are a lot of empty nesters in those neighborhoods who don’t use the schools, and I knew many parents (during the 5 years I lived there) who used private schools for ES. There are some nice THs within Saratoga boundaries, but there are also a lot of very small, older THs that are either very cheap (for Fairfax County) or are used as rentals with relatively cheap rents (again, by Fairfax County standards). These neighborhoods are very diverse, with a lot of immigrants. I’m aware of at least a couple of sections that are county-owned housing for low-income families.

At one point, I think Saratoga was considered an ok neighborhood as long as you planned to move before Key/Lee, but, eventually, enough middle-class families with kids have avoided the area which, when combined with the continued influx of less privileged families in some of the TH neighborhoods, has resulted in a bit of a vicious cycle at Saratoga. It’s now Title 1 and has close to a 50% FARMs rate. The Saratoga area, on the whole, is still a great area with some nice housing options with very convenient access to Metro/Pentagon Bus/95/Ft. Belvoir, but the schools are not a very good selling point for the area. I think its still perfectly possible for kids from good families to get a good education at Saratoga/Key/Lee, but most parents who prioritize school opt to find something in West Springfield, Lake Braddock, or maybe even South County. It’s a shame - if Saratoga had been moved out of the Key/Lee pyramid to South County or West Springfield 10 years ago, I don’t think Saratoga’s reputation would have suffered a much as it has. The housing stock is almost identical to what you will find in the West Springfield pyramid just on the other side of the Fairfax County parkway, but because it has always been zoned for Key/Lee, the performance of the student body at Saratoga has slowly deteriorated and fallen in line with the rest of the Lee pyramid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach at Key. I may be biased, but I've taught at 3 different schools in the county and the teachers at Key are above and beyond the best I've come across. Your child will be able to find a peer group here, and if they want leadership roles, they will have the opportunity to pursue them here as well.

We are getting a new principal this year (some time, eventually), and I think that will spark even more positive change.

You are no longer able to leave Lee for AP classes. The principal at Lee has begun to offer AP versions of classes, so students have a choice between AP or IB. It's definitely a step in the right direction!

Right, but you can still transfer out based on a Language.

Also, the number of AP classes offered at Lee is small fraction of what’s offered at other non-IB schools.

+1. The only thing that will stop pupil placements out of Lee is closing nearby AP schools to transfers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So it would be the only IB school in the county? Is that really likely and if so, when?

DP- Seems more likely they’d get rid of IB at Annandale, Edison and Mount Vernon and consolidate those programs at Lee. The SB avoids conflict and the louder IB parents are at Marshall, Robinson, South Lakes, and Stuart.

Does Stuart have a loud group of advocates?

Yes, in the Lake Barcroft/Sleepy Hollow areas. It’s why Stuart’s name is changing to Justice, yet there’s little effort underway to rename Lee.

Anonymous wrote:There has been zero talk of consolidating the IB schools. They are expanding IBMYP and have plans to do the PYP program in feeder elementaries as well. Whoever sold fairfax on IB should be raking in $$$$ by now.

FCPS has a great track record of doubling down on dumb ideas, but either way the Lee pyramid should be avoided until they come up with something better than PYP for a few of the elementary school feeders.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach at Key. I may be biased, but I've taught at 3 different schools in the county and the teachers at Key are above and beyond the best I've come across. Your child will be able to find a peer group here, and if they want leadership roles, they will have the opportunity to pursue them here as well.

We are getting a new principal this year (some time, eventually), and I think that will spark even more positive change.

You are no longer able to leave Lee for AP classes. The principal at Lee has begun to offer AP versions of classes, so students have a choice between AP or IB. It's definitely a step in the right direction!

Right, but you can still transfer out based on a Language.

Also, the number of AP classes offered at Lee is small fraction of what’s offered at other non-IB schools.

Anonymous wrote:I teach at Key. I may be biased, but I've taught at 3 different schools in the county and the teachers at Key are above and beyond the best I've come across. Your child will be able to find a peer group here, and if they want leadership roles, they will have the opportunity to pursue them here as well.

We are getting a new principal this year (some time, eventually), and I think that will spark even more positive change.

You are no longer able to leave Lee for AP classes. The principal at Lee has begun to offer AP versions of classes, so students have a choice between AP or IB. It's definitely a step in the right direction!

Right, but you can still transfer out based on a Language.

There has been zero talk of consolidating the IB schools. They are expanding IBMYP and have plans to do the PYP program in feeder elementaries as well. Whoever sold fairfax on IB should be raking in $$$$ by now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I would be more concerned about whether your kid would even attend Lee. There is talk of closing the school and re-branding it as the regional IB center for a bunch of schools, fwiw.

No, they're not going to do that.

What I think they are considering is whether to turn Lee into an IB only school and turn Key into an IB MYP site exclusively.

I think it would result in shuffling feeders from West Springfield, South County, Hayfield, Lake Braddock (I think?), Annandale, and Edison, IIRC. Students at all of these schools could attend the proposed IB site with the thought that the loss of students to the new IB site would be off-set through boundary adjustments, redistricting, etc.

I don't know how probable this is, fwiw. But it's something to keep in mind around that part of the county.

That's not going to happen. OP doesn't need to think about that at all.

I thought I read that they were looking into this around here recently. I don't know if I would be so certain, PP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I would be more concerned about whether your kid would even attend Lee. There is talk of closing the school and re-branding it as the regional IB center for a bunch of schools, fwiw.

No, they're not going to do that.

What I think they are considering is whether to turn Lee into an IB only school and turn Key into an IB MYP site exclusively.

I think it would result in shuffling feeders from West Springfield, South County, Hayfield, Lake Braddock (I think?), Annandale, and Edison, IIRC. Students at all of these schools could attend the proposed IB site with the thought that the loss of students to the new IB site would be off-set through boundary adjustments, redistricting, etc.

I don't know how probable this is, fwiw. But it's something to keep in mind around that part of the county.

That's not going to happen. OP doesn't need to think about that at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I would be more concerned about whether your kid would even attend Lee. There is talk of closing the school and re-branding it as the regional IB center for a bunch of schools, fwiw.

No, they're not going to do that.

What I think they are considering is whether to turn Lee into an IB only school and turn Key into an IB MYP site exclusively.

I think it would result in shuffling feeders from West Springfield, South County, Hayfield, Lake Braddock (I think?), Annandale, and Edison, IIRC. Students at all of these schools could attend the proposed IB site with the thought that the loss of students to the new IB site would be off-set through boundary adjustments, redistricting, etc.

I don't know how probable this is, fwiw. But it's something to keep in mind around that part of the county.