Anonymous
Post 02/28/2026 17:50     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
Do we really need five different, active threads about a single FCPS school? Perhaps that should be reported with a request that four of the threads be closed. There was only one thread allowed about the 18-month county-wide boundary review, and that involved far more schools.
Anonymous
Post 02/28/2026 17:32     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I second this, my sons and his friends are all straight A athletes and they all opted in (from different ES). I think the biggest factor was the parents who prioritized the pathways over sports - esp those of us who know that a year of sports makes little difference in the end. I was delighted to hear they will offer intramural sports - for a freshman, that is good enough, unless you have serious D1/Pro aspirations and that is not the end result for most student athletes.


This just confirms that families with kids who care about sports are unlikely to opt in to Skyview regardless of whether their parents like to call them “straight A athletes.” It’s easy to get straight As in middle school and athletes who take their sport seriously want to do more than play intramurals, even if they have no expectation of playing D1 at the college level.

Fascinating analysis of other people’s kids. Meanwhile, serious athletes’ families are busy paying $10K for clubs—some of which don’t even let them play varsity—and actually advocating for their own.



The overlap between kids opting in to Skyview and athletic kids whose club teams won’t let them play for their high schools will almost be very small, if not non-existent.

All we’re really hearing here is some Skyview boosters trying to minimize the significance of it definitely not having VHSL sports in 2026-27, possibly not having them in 2027-28, and likely ending up the Concorde District school that everyone else schedules to play for Homecoming and Senior Nights in the future.


This thread is about teachers. You need to just shut up about sports. I will report you if you keep going on and on and on, it is getting old.
Anonymous
Post 02/28/2026 16:14     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
Anonymous wrote:The Admin staff is mostly complete at Skyview, A large amount of teachers have been officially hired at Skyview, but the hiring process will continue for the next few weeks to finish the 1st wave of hires, and as the 9th and 10th grade numbers go up additional hires will occur.


How many teachers have been hired? I was told yesterday that the process is still ongoing.
Anonymous
Post 02/28/2026 16:12     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
I know one teacher who has opted in and that is because she lives very close to Skyview. She's excited about the commute and the leadership opportunity this provides her.
Anonymous
Post 02/28/2026 15:39     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
Anonymous wrote:The Admin staff is mostly complete at Skyview, A large amount of teachers have been officially hired at Skyview, but the hiring process will continue for the next few weeks to finish the 1st wave of hires, and as the 9th and 10th grade numbers go up additional hires will occur.


The 9th and 10th grade numbers may not go up if any additional enrollees are offset by families backing out now that it’s clear they won’t have 500 students in both grades. FCPS started off hyping the lottery they’d hold if Skyview was oversubscribed and instead they are extending the opt-in period because they didn’t hit their targets.
Anonymous
Post 02/28/2026 15:28     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
The Admin staff is mostly complete at Skyview, A large amount of teachers have been officially hired at Skyview, but the hiring process will continue for the next few weeks to finish the 1st wave of hires, and as the 9th and 10th grade numbers go up additional hires will occur.
Anonymous
Post 02/28/2026 14:35     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I second this, my sons and his friends are all straight A athletes and they all opted in (from different ES). I think the biggest factor was the parents who prioritized the pathways over sports - esp those of us who know that a year of sports makes little difference in the end. I was delighted to hear they will offer intramural sports - for a freshman, that is good enough, unless you have serious D1/Pro aspirations and that is not the end result for most student athletes.


This just confirms that families with kids who care about sports are unlikely to opt in to Skyview regardless of whether their parents like to call them “straight A athletes.” It’s easy to get straight As in middle school and athletes who take their sport seriously want to do more than play intramurals, even if they have no expectation of playing D1 at the college level.


Let me clarify, parents who have kids in or through college already realize what many eager young "sports" parents do not. These kids I refer to are playing AAU and travel and elite travel in their sports - but most of them are not the oldest child and what everyone learns when college comes around is no one ever talks about high school sports again, or cares. So yes, parents may love watching their kids play and have them engage at high level and elite teams but they also know it's 99% not going to end as a recruited athlete with pro prospects which is the only situation in which playing D1 makes sense (or if you could only get into the school for it). It is such a long shot - if you are choosing a high school for sports, I just feel bad for you at this point unless that is the only route for your kid. And for some kids, that is the case and all power to them. For most - you are chasing a dream. I've seen this over and over and over in the many years I have been in FCPS - I'm at the end of 4 kids now, I have seen it all. That is why I could care less about sports. Brains and education matter a whole lot more.


+1 every word of this

That said, high school sports were a great part of my kid's experience, but so many parents really thought their kids-- were D1 material -and they were not. Most get over it when they go to college, some mourn and blame others--coaches, etc. But, as my DH used to say: there is always someone faster, bigger, stronger.

I think the intramural plan sounds great for now.
Anonymous
Post 02/28/2026 14:34     Subject: Re:Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
I don't think it was Reid, I think it was the school board. For some reason, they decided it couldn't be done during the boundary decision, no one knows why. Maybe they realized that was already a cluster and tossing in guaranteed large moves was just asking for more of a mess.

That said, I don't care why they made that choice. It doesn't change what is happening now. It would be nice if topics about hiring teachers and admin and classes and the like stayed on topic and stopped getting derailed about how stupid the process is, why it is awful there won't be sports, or why in the world would anyone attend the school. Most of that is out of everyone's hands and the conversation is circular.
Anonymous
Post 02/28/2026 14:09     Subject: Re:Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
Anonymous wrote:I don’t have to minimize anything. My kid wasn’t going to be trying out for a sport at SLHS, it isn’t their jam. And that is fine. Sports had nothing to do with our families decision. And it is fine if people decided to stay at their base school for sports. And it is cool that people chose Skyview and have kids playing sports.

Some where between 650-700 families decided that Skyview was a good fit for their kid even without sports. Parents shouldn’t feel the need to defend their choice, it really is all good. I like that my kid will be in a class where most of the people chose to attend the school because they wanted to be there. I know some people chose the school because they think it will be their assigned school and they need the bus but I think

We wouldn’t be having this conversation if they had set the boundaries because kids would be attending the school they were assigned. Some would opt out but I suspect most people would have just come.


This! What is Reid's justification for pushing this off until June?
Anonymous
Post 02/28/2026 11:56     Subject: Re:Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
I don’t have to minimize anything. My kid wasn’t going to be trying out for a sport at SLHS, it isn’t their jam. And that is fine. Sports had nothing to do with our families decision. And it is fine if people decided to stay at their base school for sports. And it is cool that people chose Skyview and have kids playing sports.

Some where between 650-700 families decided that Skyview was a good fit for their kid even without sports. Parents shouldn’t feel the need to defend their choice, it really is all good. I like that my kid will be in a class where most of the people chose to attend the school because they wanted to be there. I know some people chose the school because they think it will be their assigned school and they need the bus but I think

We wouldn’t be having this conversation if they had set the boundaries because kids would be attending the school they were assigned. Some would opt out but I suspect most people would have just come.
Anonymous
Post 02/28/2026 10:51     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I second this, my sons and his friends are all straight A athletes and they all opted in (from different ES). I think the biggest factor was the parents who prioritized the pathways over sports - esp those of us who know that a year of sports makes little difference in the end. I was delighted to hear they will offer intramural sports - for a freshman, that is good enough, unless you have serious D1/Pro aspirations and that is not the end result for most student athletes.


This just confirms that families with kids who care about sports are unlikely to opt in to Skyview regardless of whether their parents like to call them “straight A athletes.” It’s easy to get straight As in middle school and athletes who take their sport seriously want to do more than play intramurals, even if they have no expectation of playing D1 at the college level.

Fascinating analysis of other people’s kids. Meanwhile, serious athletes’ families are busy paying $10K for clubs—some of which don’t even let them play varsity—and actually advocating for their own.



The overlap between kids opting in to Skyview and athletic kids whose club teams won’t let them play for their high schools will almost be very small, if not non-existent.

All we’re really hearing here is some Skyview boosters trying to minimize the significance of it definitely not having VHSL sports in 2026-27, possibly not having them in 2027-28, and likely ending up the Concorde District school that everyone else schedules to play for Homecoming and Senior Nights in the future.
Anonymous
Post 02/27/2026 22:29     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I second this, my sons and his friends are all straight A athletes and they all opted in (from different ES). I think the biggest factor was the parents who prioritized the pathways over sports - esp those of us who know that a year of sports makes little difference in the end. I was delighted to hear they will offer intramural sports - for a freshman, that is good enough, unless you have serious D1/Pro aspirations and that is not the end result for most student athletes.


This just confirms that families with kids who care about sports are unlikely to opt in to Skyview regardless of whether their parents like to call them “straight A athletes.” It’s easy to get straight As in middle school and athletes who take their sport seriously want to do more than play intramurals, even if they have no expectation of playing D1 at the college level.

Fascinating analysis of other people’s kids. Meanwhile, serious athletes’ families are busy paying $10K for clubs—some of which don’t even let them play varsity—and actually advocating for their own.

Anonymous
Post 02/27/2026 22:27     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
Also, straight-A all AAP kids is not to be dismissed. If your kid find school easy, maybe you should challenge them more. My kid tries to get a perfect score on every exam and it takes work- they are multiple years ahead on math in a HS course. Not sure what your kids are taking that is so easy, maybe you should engage and make sure they are in challenging classes. Sounds like your kids are ready to skip a year or two on their way to their D1 dreams.
Anonymous
Post 02/27/2026 22:23     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I second this, my sons and his friends are all straight A athletes and they all opted in (from different ES). I think the biggest factor was the parents who prioritized the pathways over sports - esp those of us who know that a year of sports makes little difference in the end. I was delighted to hear they will offer intramural sports - for a freshman, that is good enough, unless you have serious D1/Pro aspirations and that is not the end result for most student athletes.


This just confirms that families with kids who care about sports are unlikely to opt in to Skyview regardless of whether their parents like to call them “straight A athletes.” It’s easy to get straight As in middle school and athletes who take their sport seriously want to do more than play intramurals, even if they have no expectation of playing D1 at the college level.


Let me clarify, parents who have kids in or through college already realize what many eager young "sports" parents do not. These kids I refer to are playing AAU and travel and elite travel in their sports - but most of them are not the oldest child and what everyone learns when college comes around is no one ever talks about high school sports again, or cares. So yes, parents may love watching their kids play and have them engage at high level and elite teams but they also know it's 99% not going to end as a recruited athlete with pro prospects which is the only situation in which playing D1 makes sense (or if you could only get into the school for it). It is such a long shot - if you are choosing a high school for sports, I just feel bad for you at this point unless that is the only route for your kid. And for some kids, that is the case and all power to them. For most - you are chasing a dream. I've seen this over and over and over in the many years I have been in FCPS - I'm at the end of 4 kids now, I have seen it all. That is why I could care less about sports. Brains and education matter a whole lot more.
Anonymous
Post 02/27/2026 21:54     Subject: Western HS - any teachers hired yet?
Anonymous wrote:I second this, my sons and his friends are all straight A athletes and they all opted in (from different ES). I think the biggest factor was the parents who prioritized the pathways over sports - esp those of us who know that a year of sports makes little difference in the end. I was delighted to hear they will offer intramural sports - for a freshman, that is good enough, unless you have serious D1/Pro aspirations and that is not the end result for most student athletes.


This just confirms that families with kids who care about sports are unlikely to opt in to Skyview regardless of whether their parents like to call them “straight A athletes.” It’s easy to get straight As in middle school and athletes who take their sport seriously want to do more than play intramurals, even if they have no expectation of playing D1 at the college level.