Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now I'd like GFCA to put out a letter about their Western High scenario. I am guessing they are the ones who put in the comment into the boundary tool about moving McNair and Coates into Herndon HS. Which is never going to happen.

Cute conspiracy theory. They don’t have a position on the school. Most people in great falls don’t care about the school because it doesn’t affect us directly. There are a few people who question the costs for the school, just like the school board members have done recently.

BS. You don't speak for all of Great Falls nor does Fairfax Matters or the very limited number of persons who are on the GFCA. It's great that FCPS did this and spending 50m+ more to make it a solid AP comprehensive HS is a worthwhile use of our tax dollars for a county wide school division. Main complainer on Western is Meren. That one also voted NO on all MS having AAP. Lady likes the concept of a Loudoun style magnet BUT recognizes that this is a different situation since she stated there are 1700 students learning in trailers and 2 modulars in all involved schools. TJ as an option was created because FCPS had low enrollment at the site.

Those 2 modulars, Chantilly and Centreville, were installed in 2005. Churchill Rd has one that was installed in 2006 with a 280 student capacity. So as Tysons grows and empty nesters residences get replaced by k-12 there eventually could be an ES capacity deficit. 4 feeders had 533 less members in SY2024-25 than in SY2004-05. Spring Hill grew by 206.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reviews in 5 and 10 years will be very interesting for the GFCA, LOL. They need to start pushing hard for renovations and expansions at McLean, or else all the planned growth in Tysons is going to start pushing kids out of Marshall and McLean into Langley, and then there is one obvious area to jettison if more space is needed at Langley to accommodate this growth …

I’m not convinced that the development in Tysons will materialize that quickly, and I’m not convinced that Herndon will have as much room as it does now, and I’m not convinced that the downward student population trends will reverse over the next few years.

Also, with the return of AAP students to their base schools, HMS will not be in a place to absorb that many students.

And finally, I’m not convinced a future school board is going to want to spend its tenure engaged in a bruising fight again, rather than focus on actions that might improve the school system rather than diminish it.

Lots would have to go right for that move to happen.

I'm not convinced they might not move kids to Herndon HS at some point and make another middle school a split feeder to Herndon if Herndon MS doesn't have enough capacity.

Anonymous wrote:Well, folks, it is official. Great Falls Citizens Association supports Option 4.


From the website:

"On November 10, GFCA sent letters to both Superintendent Michelle Reid (see below) and Dranesville District School Representative Robyn Lady supporting Scenario #4 for the Fairfax County Public Schools Comprehensive School Boundary Review (CSBR). Scenario #4 keeps the existing Langley High School (LHS) Community together while expanding it to fully utilize its facilities. Importantly, no families are moved out of the LHS pyramid. GFCA’s Special Committee on Schools worked closely with FairFACTS Matters over the past year and the community to develop this position in support of Scenario 4. "

And, from the letter to Reid:
"Scenario #4 keeps the existing Langley Community High School (LHS) together while expanding it to fully utilize its facilities. Importantly, no families are moved out of the LHS pyramid.
Our community highly values Langley High School. As you announced, it is one of seven Fairfax County High Schools ranked in the top ten High Schools within the Commonwealth. You are proud of it and so are we. This reflects very well on FCPS and its teachers!
Many parents want their children to be challenged at a nationally ranked High School, like Langley (#146), even if Scenario #4 brings LHS to 102% of capacity and there may be some long transportation routes.
We are not supportive of adding any more neighbors to the LHS pyramid, beyond what FCPS presented on October 15, 2025, as we are already at 102% capacity."

Some people don't understand that Great Falls, like every other area, has a diversity of views. The GFCA thinks of itself as representing the middle-of-the-road position for Great Falls, which is more conservative than most of Fairfax but still purple/blue.

They figured out that the School Board, with Robyn Lady's strong support, is going to move the Spring Hill island at McLean, which accounts for about 200 kids, from McLean to Langley whether they like it or not. So, unlike in 2021, when they pushed successfully to keep Langley without any part of Tysons, they saw the writing on the wall and decided their best shot was to support Scenario 4 (which does move part of Tysons into Langley) but oppose any further movement of kids into Langley.

Others in Great Falls disagree with that approach, and they oppose moving any kids into Langley, just like they oppose the western high school (aka "have a lot of questions about the process" for buying KAA). They showed up at the community meeting at Oakton to complain about Scenario 4, and they posted comments in the boundary explorer tool demanding that McLean "fix its own problems" or that FCPS move McLean kids into schools in Falls Church or Vienna rather than Langley. They say the things that the GFCA or FairFACTS Matters might like to say, but don't because they don't want to appear totally self-centered.

At the end of the day, the impact will be to buy the Great Falls parents another five years. If there's continued growth in Tysons and West Falls Church, it could further overcrowd Langley, McLean, or Marshall, and lead to moving some Langley kids to Herndon. But five years gives Great Falls plenty of time to push for other solutions, whether it's cutting back on pupil placements to Langley (Robyn Lady wants to halt pupil placements for foreign language, which accounts for many of the current pupil placements to Langley), relocating a modular to Langley, or finally getting an addition to McLean in the queue.

Anonymous wrote:Now I'd like GFCA to put out a letter about their Western High scenario. I am guessing they are the ones who put in the comment into the boundary tool about moving McNair and Coates into Herndon HS. Which is never going to happen.

Cute conspiracy theory. They don’t have a position on the school. Most people in great falls don’t care about the school because it doesn’t affect us directly. There are a few people who question the costs for the school, just like the school board members have done recently.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok from Reid’s boundary email, BRAC looked at feedback….now what?

All of the comments are up online as well.

Where can we find the comments?

https://www.fcps.edu/november-12-2025-superintendents-boundary-review-advisory-committee-meeting

They didn’t post the region 2 comments correctly.

A lot of the comments are posted incorrectly or in the wrong region. My kids go to Gunston which is heavily impacted by proposed changes and comments are in multiple regions. There are hundreds of comments about this school.

Is Gunston in region 4?

There were pages of Gunston comments in the region 4 notes.

What’s the issue with Gunston Elementary?

Hagel Circle.

It is a very poor housing complex that has been moved around from school to school, because none of the wealthier areas want the public housing complex.

FCPS finally settled on putting them into Halley a decade plus ago, a far away neighborhood on the other side of 95, around 4 elementary schools away from Hagel Circle.

From the map 1-3 comments, it sounds like one early version of the map put them at Lorton Station, which is located like a block away from Hagel Circle. That went over like a lead balloon, so in map 4 FCPS moved Hagel Circle to the next closest elementary school, Gunston, which will put them over capacity and overload their septic system.

Gunston does not want the poor kids from Hagel Circle either.

Right now, they are bussed so far out of their neighborhood to go to their elementary school, which affects their achievement, attendance and any possible parent involvement. It is basically the equivalent of bussing a Vienna elementary school past the beltway to Annandale... not one parent of any group but the poorest among us would stand for this if it were our own kids.

There are a ton of posts going back and forth from parents in those potential receiving schools of all the reasons why Hagel Circle should remain at far away Halley and not get rezoned to one of their neighborhood schools.

For one of the bluest areas of Fairfax County, the hypocrisy is astounding.

It's definitely more nuanced than how it's described.

Hagle Circle goes to South County - Halley Elementary is also zoned for South County, they're both areas of Lorton - so not exactly comparable to Annandale and Vienna.

When Lorton Station Elementary first opened up, Hagle Circle went to Lorton Station - somehow they got moved to Halley Elementary and Lorton Station suddenly had capacity for an AAP Center. So Lorton Station, which is the neighborhood school for the area and the closest school to Hagel Circle uses their AAP center status as an excuse for insufficient capacity. According to the capacity maps, even with Lorton Station's AAP center status - there is room for the Hagel Circle residents. I'm not a fan of the AAP centers, but it's clear that in this case - the AAP center was used to push neighborhood kids out of their school.
...

Finally, Halley Elementary (located just around the corner from Sandy Anderson's neighborhood) will end up with 68% capacity and almost no FARMS or low-income students. Meanwhile, Gunston will likely become a Title 1 school with a very high FARMS rate and a 98% capacity. That 98% capacity entails using dilapidated trailers to house these students. It's also one of the only schools with a septic system in the entire county and there are ongoing issues with the septic system that result in trucks emptying the septic nearly daily. So yes - the Gunston community clearly feels as though their school and community were completely disregarded in the process. More so than almost any elementary school in the entire county.

Halley:
membership SY2024-25 622
scenarios 476
Hagel Circle =146 ?

Lorton Station 736+ Hagel Circle 146=882 or 99% but it's larger than Gunston and NOT on septic.
Lorton Station 736-AAP transfers 52 + Hagel Circle=93%

So move the AAP feeds to where there is space. This is ridiculous. Lorton Station has program capacity of 888. That site should be an inhouse AAP only.

Why is Lorton Station, a Hayfield school, even the AAP elementary school for all South County feeders? Not a single Hayfield elementary school feeds into it for AAP.

I’ve often wondered that myself. It gets all of South County’s AAP, plus Saratoga (Lewis), plus Gunston (South County/Hayfield). Meanwhile, a lot of AAP kids in the Hayfield pyramid are bussed up to Springfield Estates (Lewis) for AAP. That includes kids at Island Creek, Hayfield, Lane, etc. Lewis kids get to stay at Springfield Estates for AAP. I’m assuming this is some artifact of when South County was created and they didn’t want to change the AAP boundaries or add new programs. Possibly a “deal” to support Lorton Station by giving it AAP and dividing up the low income areas between elementary schools and between Hayfield and South County. SC ended up with Hagel Cir being bussed to Halley, and the low rise garden style condos at the end of Silverbrook Rd. at Laurel Hill. Lorton Station and Hayfield had to take the Woods of Fairfax apartments and obviously the low income apartments that are located in the same cul-de-sac as Lorton Station Elementary and they were also given all the AAP kids to keep them afloat.

Well, now with LLIV at all the SC elementary schools, I’m not even sure how many families are electing to go to the center at Lorton Station. I’m in the South County pyramid and I know only one family from my kids’ school who went to the center. You can look at our student numbers yourself at Silverbrook, Newington Forest etc., there is no major “3rd grade dropoff” in enrollment. Lorton Station’s AAP seems to exist mostly to backdoor middle class Saratoga kids out of Saratoga and Lewis, since the middle school AAP center is Lake Braddock.

The middle school AAP option for South County is Lake Braddock??

Why doesn't SoCo have its own AAP?

South County has an AAP center for students assigned as South County MS base school. These schools had transfers into Lorton Station and 52 would get transportation if that's the assigned ES AAP transfer:

Gunston 10, AAP MS South County /Lake Braddock
Saratoga 29, AAP MS Lake Braddock
Newington Forest 10, AAP Lorton Station,MS South County
Silverbrook <10, AAP Lorton Station,MS South County
Halley <10, AAP Lorton Station, South County
Laurel Hill 17, AAP Lorton Station, South County
Island Creek <10
Rose Hill <10
Stratford Landing <10
Hybla Valley <10
Woodley Hills <10

Lorton Station current base school -AAP onsite , Lake Braddock

AAP ratmaze https://www.fcps.edu/academics/elementary/advanced-academic-programs/advanced-academic-level-iv-school

Lewis would improve do much in 3-4 years if Key had its own AAP program and all the Key/Lewis zoned smart kids weren't transferring into Lake Braddock.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Ok from Reid’s boundary email, BRAC looked at feedback….now what?

All of the comments are up online as well.

Where can we find the comments?

https://www.fcps.edu/november-12-2025-superintendents-boundary-review-advisory-committee-meeting

They didn’t post the region 2 comments correctly.

A lot of the comments are posted incorrectly or in the wrong region. My kids go to Gunston which is heavily impacted by proposed changes and comments are in multiple regions. There are hundreds of comments about this school.

Is Gunston in region 4?

There were pages of Gunston comments in the region 4 notes.

What’s the issue with Gunston Elementary?

Hagel Circle.

It is a very poor housing complex that has been moved around from school to school, because none of the wealthier areas want the public housing complex.

FCPS finally settled on putting them into Halley a decade plus ago, a far away neighborhood on the other side of 95, around 4 elementary schools away from Hagel Circle.

From the map 1-3 comments, it sounds like one early version of the map put them at Lorton Station, which is located like a block away from Hagel Circle. That went over like a lead balloon, so in map 4 FCPS moved Hagel Circle to the next closest elementary school, Gunston, which will put them over capacity and overload their septic system.

Gunston does not want the poor kids from Hagel Circle either.

Right now, they are bussed so far out of their neighborhood to go to their elementary school, which affects their achievement, attendance and any possible parent involvement. It is basically the equivalent of bussing a Vienna elementary school past the beltway to Annandale... not one parent of any group but the poorest among us would stand for this if it were our own kids.

There are a ton of posts going back and forth from parents in those potential receiving schools of all the reasons why Hagel Circle should remain at far away Halley and not get rezoned to one of their neighborhood schools.

For one of the bluest areas of Fairfax County, the hypocrisy is astounding.

It's definitely more nuanced than how it's described.

Hagle Circle goes to South County - Halley Elementary is also zoned for South County, they're both areas of Lorton - so not exactly comparable to Annandale and Vienna.

When Lorton Station Elementary first opened up, Hagle Circle went to Lorton Station - somehow they got moved to Halley Elementary and Lorton Station suddenly had capacity for an AAP Center. So Lorton Station, which is the neighborhood school for the area and the closest school to Hagel Circle uses their AAP center status as an excuse for insufficient capacity. According to the capacity maps, even with Lorton Station's AAP center status - there is room for the Hagel Circle residents. I'm not a fan of the AAP centers, but it's clear that in this case - the AAP center was used to push neighborhood kids out of their school.
...

Finally, Halley Elementary (located just around the corner from Sandy Anderson's neighborhood) will end up with 68% capacity and almost no FARMS or low-income students. Meanwhile, Gunston will likely become a Title 1 school with a very high FARMS rate and a 98% capacity. That 98% capacity entails using dilapidated trailers to house these students. It's also one of the only schools with a septic system in the entire county and there are ongoing issues with the septic system that result in trucks emptying the septic nearly daily. So yes - the Gunston community clearly feels as though their school and community were completely disregarded in the process. More so than almost any elementary school in the entire county.

Halley:
membership SY2024-25 622
scenarios 476
Hagel Circle =146 ?

Lorton Station 736+ Hagel Circle 146=882 or 99% but it's larger than Gunston and NOT on septic.
Lorton Station 736-AAP transfers 52 + Hagel Circle=93%

So move the AAP feeds to where there is space. This is ridiculous. Lorton Station has program capacity of 888. That site should be an inhouse AAP only.

Why is Lorton Station, a Hayfield school, even the AAP elementary school for all South County feeders? Not a single Hayfield elementary school feeds into it for AAP.

I’ve often wondered that myself. It gets all of South County’s AAP, plus Saratoga (Lewis), plus Gunston (South County/Hayfield). Meanwhile, a lot of AAP kids in the Hayfield pyramid are bussed up to Springfield Estates (Lewis) for AAP. That includes kids at Island Creek, Hayfield, Lane, etc. Lewis kids get to stay at Springfield Estates for AAP. I’m assuming this is some artifact of when South County was created and they didn’t want to change the AAP boundaries or add new programs. Possibly a “deal” to support Lorton Station by giving it AAP and dividing up the low income areas between elementary schools and between Hayfield and South County. SC ended up with Hagel Cir being bussed to Halley, and the low rise garden style condos at the end of Silverbrook Rd. at Laurel Hill. Lorton Station and Hayfield had to take the Woods of Fairfax apartments and obviously the low income apartments that are located in the same cul-de-sac as Lorton Station Elementary and they were also given all the AAP kids to keep them afloat.

Well, now with LLIV at all the SC elementary schools, I’m not even sure how many families are electing to go to the center at Lorton Station. I’m in the South County pyramid and I know only one family from my kids’ school who went to the center. You can look at our student numbers yourself at Silverbrook, Newington Forest etc., there is no major “3rd grade dropoff” in enrollment. Lorton Station’s AAP seems to exist mostly to backdoor middle class Saratoga kids out of Saratoga and Lewis, since the middle school AAP center is Lake Braddock.

The middle school AAP option for South County is Lake Braddock??

Why doesn't SoCo have its own AAP?

South County has an AAP center for students assigned as South County MS base school. These schools had transfers into Lorton Station and 52 would get transportation if that's the assigned ES AAP transfer:

Gunston 10, AAP MS South County /Lake Braddock
Saratoga 29, AAP MS Lake Braddock
Newington Forest 10, AAP Lorton Station,MS South County
Silverbrook <10, AAP Lorton Station,MS South County
Halley <10, AAP Lorton Station, South County
Laurel Hill 17, AAP Lorton Station, South County
Island Creek <10
Rose Hill <10
Stratford Landing <10
Hybla Valley <10
Woodley Hills <10

Lorton Station current base school -AAP onsite , Lake Braddock

AAP ratmaze https://www.fcps.edu/academics/elementary/advanced-academic-programs/advanced-academic-level-iv-school

Anonymous wrote:The reviews in 5 and 10 years will be very interesting for the GFCA, LOL. They need to start pushing hard for renovations and expansions at McLean, or else all the planned growth in Tysons is going to start pushing kids out of Marshall and McLean into Langley, and then there is one obvious area to jettison if more space is needed at Langley to accommodate this growth …

I’m not convinced that the development in Tysons will materialize that quickly, and I’m not convinced that Herndon will have as much room as it does now, and I’m not convinced that the downward student population trends will reverse over the next few years.

Also, with the return of AAP students to their base schools, HMS will not be in a place to absorb that many students.

And finally, I’m not convinced a future school board is going to want to spend its tenure engaged in a bruising fight again, rather than focus on actions that might improve the school system rather than diminish it.

Lots would have to go right for that move to happen.

Now I'd like GFCA to put out a letter about their Western High scenario. I am guessing they are the ones who put in the comment into the boundary tool about moving McNair and Coates into Herndon HS. Which is never going to happen.

Anonymous wrote:Well, folks, it is official. Great Falls Citizens Association supports Option 4.


From the website:

"On November 10, GFCA sent letters to both Superintendent Michelle Reid (see below) and Dranesville District School Representative Robyn Lady supporting Scenario #4 for the Fairfax County Public Schools Comprehensive School Boundary Review (CSBR). Scenario #4 keeps the existing Langley High School (LHS) Community together while expanding it to fully utilize its facilities. Importantly, no families are moved out of the LHS pyramid. GFCA’s Special Committee on Schools worked closely with FairFACTS Matters over the past year and the community to develop this position in support of Scenario 4. "

And, from the letter to Reid:
"Scenario #4 keeps the existing Langley Community High School (LHS) together while expanding it to fully utilize its facilities. Importantly, no families are moved out of the LHS pyramid.
Our community highly values Langley High School. As you announced, it is one of seven Fairfax County High Schools ranked in the top ten High Schools within the Commonwealth. You are proud of it and so are we. This reflects very well on FCPS and its teachers!
Many parents want their children to be challenged at a nationally ranked High School, like Langley (#146), even if Scenario #4 brings LHS to 102% of capacity and there may be some long transportation routes.
We are not supportive of adding any more neighbors to the LHS pyramid, beyond what FCPS presented on October 15, 2025, as we are already at 102% capacity."

I don't know why this group of a VERY SMALL PORTION OF FCPS FAMILIES has such huge influence.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reviews in 5 and 10 years will be very interesting for the GFCA, LOL. They need to start pushing hard for renovations and expansions at McLean, or else all the planned growth in Tysons is going to start pushing kids out of Marshall and McLean into Langley, and then there is one obvious area to jettison if more space is needed at Langley to accommodate this growth …

Not to be the Grumble Grumble poster, but GFCA could be making a big stink about Spring Hill for this exact reason but they’ve accepted it in endorsing Scenario 4.

I think they are not making a stink because if they did complain about overcrowding there, there is a very, very easy solution that they do not like. They made it clear in that letter that they should not move any more kids into Langley.

Interesting that one group has so much power.

Anonymous wrote:The reviews in 5 and 10 years will be very interesting for the GFCA, LOL. They need to start pushing hard for renovations and expansions at McLean, or else all the planned growth in Tysons is going to start pushing kids out of Marshall and McLean into Langley, and then there is one obvious area to jettison if more space is needed at Langley to accommodate this growth …

Not to be the Grumble Grumble poster, but GFCA could be making a big stink about Spring Hill for this exact reason but they’ve accepted it in endorsing Scenario 4.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok from Reid’s boundary email, BRAC looked at feedback….now what?

All of the comments are up online as well.

Where can we find the comments?

https://www.fcps.edu/november-12-2025-superintendents-boundary-review-advisory-committee-meeting

They didn’t post the region 2 comments correctly.

A lot of the comments are posted incorrectly or in the wrong region. My kids go to Gunston which is heavily impacted by proposed changes and comments are in multiple regions. There are hundreds of comments about this school.

Is Gunston in region 4?

There were pages of Gunston comments in the region 4 notes.

What’s the issue with Gunston Elementary?

Hagel Circle.

It is a very poor housing complex that has been moved around from school to school, because none of the wealthier areas want the public housing complex.

FCPS finally settled on putting them into Halley a decade plus ago, a far away neighborhood on the other side of 95, around 4 elementary schools away from Hagel Circle.

From the map 1-3 comments, it sounds like one early version of the map put them at Lorton Station, which is located like a block away from Hagel Circle. That went over like a lead balloon, so in map 4 FCPS moved Hagel Circle to the next closest elementary school, Gunston, which will put them over capacity and overload their septic system.

Gunston does not want the poor kids from Hagel Circle either.

Right now, they are bussed so far out of their neighborhood to go to their elementary school, which affects their achievement, attendance and any possible parent involvement. It is basically the equivalent of bussing a Vienna elementary school past the beltway to Annandale... not one parent of any group but the poorest among us would stand for this if it were our own kids.

There are a ton of posts going back and forth from parents in those potential receiving schools of all the reasons why Hagel Circle should remain at far away Halley and not get rezoned to one of their neighborhood schools.

For one of the bluest areas of Fairfax County, the hypocrisy is astounding.

It's definitely more nuanced than how it's described.

Hagle Circle goes to South County - Halley Elementary is also zoned for South County, they're both areas of Lorton - so not exactly comparable to Annandale and Vienna.

When Lorton Station Elementary first opened up, Hagle Circle went to Lorton Station - somehow they got moved to Halley Elementary and Lorton Station suddenly had capacity for an AAP Center. So Lorton Station, which is the neighborhood school for the area and the closest school to Hagel Circle uses their AAP center status as an excuse for insufficient capacity. According to the capacity maps, even with Lorton Station's AAP center status - there is room for the Hagel Circle residents. I'm not a fan of the AAP centers, but it's clear that in this case - the AAP center was used to push neighborhood kids out of their school.
...

Finally, Halley Elementary (located just around the corner from Sandy Anderson's neighborhood) will end up with 68% capacity and almost no FARMS or low-income students. Meanwhile, Gunston will likely become a Title 1 school with a very high FARMS rate and a 98% capacity. That 98% capacity entails using dilapidated trailers to house these students. It's also one of the only schools with a septic system in the entire county and there are ongoing issues with the septic system that result in trucks emptying the septic nearly daily. So yes - the Gunston community clearly feels as though their school and community were completely disregarded in the process. More so than almost any elementary school in the entire county.

Halley:
membership SY2024-25 622
scenarios 476
Hagel Circle =146 ?

Lorton Station 736+ Hagel Circle 146=882 or 99% but it's larger than Gunston and NOT on septic.
Lorton Station 736-AAP transfers 52 + Hagel Circle=93%

So move the AAP feeds to where there is space. This is ridiculous. Lorton Station has program capacity of 888. That site should be an inhouse AAP only.

Why is Lorton Station, a Hayfield school, even the AAP elementary school for all South County feeders? Not a single Hayfield elementary school feeds into it for AAP.

I’ve often wondered that myself. It gets all of South County’s AAP, plus Saratoga (Lewis), plus Gunston (South County/Hayfield). Meanwhile, a lot of AAP kids in the Hayfield pyramid are bussed up to Springfield Estates (Lewis) for AAP. That includes kids at Island Creek, Hayfield, Lane, etc. Lewis kids get to stay at Springfield Estates for AAP. I’m assuming this is some artifact of when South County was created and they didn’t want to change the AAP boundaries or add new programs. Possibly a “deal” to support Lorton Station by giving it AAP and dividing up the low income areas between elementary schools and between Hayfield and South County. SC ended up with Hagel Cir being bussed to Halley, and the low rise garden style condos at the end of Silverbrook Rd. at Laurel Hill. Lorton Station and Hayfield had to take the Woods of Fairfax apartments and obviously the low income apartments that are located in the same cul-de-sac as Lorton Station Elementary and they were also given all the AAP kids to keep them afloat.

Well, now with LLIV at all the SC elementary schools, I’m not even sure how many families are electing to go to the center at Lorton Station. I’m in the South County pyramid and I know only one family from my kids’ school who went to the center. You can look at our student numbers yourself at Silverbrook, Newington Forest etc., there is no major “3rd grade dropoff” in enrollment. Lorton Station’s AAP seems to exist mostly to backdoor middle class Saratoga kids out of Saratoga and Lewis, since the middle school AAP center is Lake Braddock.

The middle school AAP option for South County is Lake Braddock??

Why doesn't SoCo have its own AAP?

It does. Hayfield and Lewis don’t, so Saratoga/Lorton Station/Hayfield-Gunston go to Lake Braddock.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok from Reid’s boundary email, BRAC looked at feedback….now what?

All of the comments are up online as well.

Where can we find the comments?

https://www.fcps.edu/november-12-2025-superintendents-boundary-review-advisory-committee-meeting

They didn’t post the region 2 comments correctly.

A lot of the comments are posted incorrectly or in the wrong region. My kids go to Gunston which is heavily impacted by proposed changes and comments are in multiple regions. There are hundreds of comments about this school.

Is Gunston in region 4?

There were pages of Gunston comments in the region 4 notes.

What’s the issue with Gunston Elementary?

Hagel Circle.

It is a very poor housing complex that has been moved around from school to school, because none of the wealthier areas want the public housing complex.

FCPS finally settled on putting them into Halley a decade plus ago, a far away neighborhood on the other side of 95, around 4 elementary schools away from Hagel Circle.

From the map 1-3 comments, it sounds like one early version of the map put them at Lorton Station, which is located like a block away from Hagel Circle. That went over like a lead balloon, so in map 4 FCPS moved Hagel Circle to the next closest elementary school, Gunston, which will put them over capacity and overload their septic system.

Gunston does not want the poor kids from Hagel Circle either.

Right now, they are bussed so far out of their neighborhood to go to their elementary school, which affects their achievement, attendance and any possible parent involvement. It is basically the equivalent of bussing a Vienna elementary school past the beltway to Annandale... not one parent of any group but the poorest among us would stand for this if it were our own kids.

There are a ton of posts going back and forth from parents in those potential receiving schools of all the reasons why Hagel Circle should remain at far away Halley and not get rezoned to one of their neighborhood schools.

For one of the bluest areas of Fairfax County, the hypocrisy is astounding.

It's definitely more nuanced than how it's described.

Hagle Circle goes to South County - Halley Elementary is also zoned for South County, they're both areas of Lorton - so not exactly comparable to Annandale and Vienna.

When Lorton Station Elementary first opened up, Hagle Circle went to Lorton Station - somehow they got moved to Halley Elementary and Lorton Station suddenly had capacity for an AAP Center. So Lorton Station, which is the neighborhood school for the area and the closest school to Hagel Circle uses their AAP center status as an excuse for insufficient capacity. According to the capacity maps, even with Lorton Station's AAP center status - there is room for the Hagel Circle residents. I'm not a fan of the AAP centers, but it's clear that in this case - the AAP center was used to push neighborhood kids out of their school.
...

Finally, Halley Elementary (located just around the corner from Sandy Anderson's neighborhood) will end up with 68% capacity and almost no FARMS or low-income students. Meanwhile, Gunston will likely become a Title 1 school with a very high FARMS rate and a 98% capacity. That 98% capacity entails using dilapidated trailers to house these students. It's also one of the only schools with a septic system in the entire county and there are ongoing issues with the septic system that result in trucks emptying the septic nearly daily. So yes - the Gunston community clearly feels as though their school and community were completely disregarded in the process. More so than almost any elementary school in the entire county.

Halley:
membership SY2024-25 622
scenarios 476
Hagel Circle =146 ?

Lorton Station 736+ Hagel Circle 146=882 or 99% but it's larger than Gunston and NOT on septic.
Lorton Station 736-AAP transfers 52 + Hagel Circle=93%

So move the AAP feeds to where there is space. This is ridiculous. Lorton Station has program capacity of 888. That site should be an inhouse AAP only.

Why is Lorton Station, a Hayfield school, even the AAP elementary school for all South County feeders? Not a single Hayfield elementary school feeds into it for AAP.

I’ve often wondered that myself. It gets all of South County’s AAP, plus Saratoga (Lewis), plus Gunston (South County/Hayfield). Meanwhile, a lot of AAP kids in the Hayfield pyramid are bussed up to Springfield Estates (Lewis) for AAP. That includes kids at Island Creek, Hayfield, Lane, etc. Lewis kids get to stay at Springfield Estates for AAP. I’m assuming this is some artifact of when South County was created and they didn’t want to change the AAP boundaries or add new programs. Possibly a “deal” to support Lorton Station by giving it AAP and dividing up the low income areas between elementary schools and between Hayfield and South County. SC ended up with Hagel Cir being bussed to Halley, and the low rise garden style condos at the end of Silverbrook Rd. at Laurel Hill. Lorton Station and Hayfield had to take the Woods of Fairfax apartments and obviously the low income apartments that are located in the same cul-de-sac as Lorton Station Elementary and they were also given all the AAP kids to keep them afloat.

Well, now with LLIV at all the SC elementary schools, I’m not even sure how many families are electing to go to the center at Lorton Station. I’m in the South County pyramid and I know only one family from my kids’ school who went to the center. You can look at our student numbers yourself at Silverbrook, Newington Forest etc., there is no major “3rd grade dropoff” in enrollment. Lorton Station’s AAP seems to exist mostly to backdoor middle class Saratoga kids out of Saratoga and Lewis, since the middle school AAP center is Lake Braddock.

The middle school AAP option for South County is Lake Braddock??

Why doesn't SoCo have its own AAP?

Anonymous wrote:The reviews in 5 and 10 years will be very interesting for the GFCA, LOL. They need to start pushing hard for renovations and expansions at McLean, or else all the planned growth in Tysons is going to start pushing kids out of Marshall and McLean into Langley, and then there is one obvious area to jettison if more space is needed at Langley to accommodate this growth …

Yes. A Langley BRAC member lives 2 miles from Herndon High.

The reviews in 5 and 10 years will be very interesting for the GFCA, LOL. They need to start pushing hard for renovations and expansions at McLean, or else all the planned growth in Tysons is going to start pushing kids out of Marshall and McLean into Langley, and then there is one obvious area to jettison if more space is needed at Langley to accommodate this growth …