Send All WFES Students to Frost & Woodson
The School Board still needs to hear from you! Even if you have previously written to the school board, please send another e-mail to support the FCPS Staff Recommendation to send all WFES students together to Frost MS and Woodson HS.
The Staff Recommendation is being introduced to the School Board as new business on Thursday, June 23 at 7:00 p.m. at Luther Jackson MS. During the next month, the School Board may be hearing from some in the community who wish to amend the Staff Recommendation. It is imperative that the School Board hear support for the Staff Recommendation as it stands. The School Board's final vote on this issue will be July 28. If you support the Staff Recommendation, please e-mail ALL school board members.
Those interested in registering to provide public comment on the recommendation should do so by signing up online or by calling the FCPS Board Office at 571-423-1075. Public comments will be received at the public hearings scheduled for July 11 and 12, at 6:00 pm at the Luther Jackson Middle School, Auditorium, 3020 Gallows Rd, Falls Church, VA.
The staff recommendation will be voted upon by the School Board on July 28. Please continue to communicate your opinions to the School Board members.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Why We Strongly Support the FCPS Staff Recommendation
We strongly support the Staff Recommendation because it:
1) Provides enrollment relief for Annandale HS that serves the long term.
The Staff Recommendation successfully eliminates the over-crowding of Annandale HS. In the 2016-2017 school year, upon full implementation of the Staff Recommendation, enrollment at Annandale HS is projected to be 2,263, which is still 85 students over AHS' design capacity of 2,178, but well under the revised program capacity of 2,350. This amount of students will allow AHS to remain robust in terms of class offerings while allowing for future pupil placement of students wishing to pursue an IB degree. We have always believed a long-term solution was necessary and this proposal meets that need.
2) Balances HS enrollment in the region.
The Staff Recommendation does an excellent job of balancing high school enrollment in a region that includes some of the densest population ‘pockets’ in the County. With US Census trends predicting a significant population spike within the Beltway, this solution allows for growth in all but one high school in the region.
3) Eliminates the only K-6 feeder into a 6-8 middle school in the county.
Wakefield Forest ES is currently the only K-6 elementary school to feed into a 6-8 middle school in Fairfax County. The Staff Recommendation would send Wakefield Forest ES to a 7-8 middle school, making it consistent with its structure.
4) Minimizes impact on ESOL and FRL populations.
The recommended solution echoes a primary goal of the Annandale Ad Hoc Committee to minimize the impact of any change to Annandale HS on ESOL and FRL demographics and to maintain socio-economic balance to the extent possible, both requirements of School Board Policy 8130.
5) Permits liberal grandfathering.
Facilities has proposed a gradual transition of the Staff Recommendation to allow students who have begun their high school career at Annandale HS to remain in the school. Implementation of the boundary changes would begin with rising 9th grade students at the high school level and rising 6th or 7th grade students at the middle school level (depending upon the grade model) in SY 2012-13. We believe once students have invested themselves in a particular school, its programs and community, that they be allowed to remain should they wish to do so. We, therefore, heartily support the grandfathering proposal as detailed in the recommended solution.
6) Satisfies the requirements of SB Policy 8130.
The recommended solution adheres closely to SB Policy 8130. It considers: the proximity of schools to student residences; enrollment balance; transportation costs and times; geographic boundaries, school feeder alignments and contiguous areas; the impact on neighborhoods; and long-range capital planning.
There is no one perfect solution for everyone; however, VOICE believes the Staff Recommendation makes the best possible solution out of this difficult situation. We greatly appreciate the time and effort everyone, particularly the Facilities staff, has expended these past long months.
1) Provides enrollment relief for Annandale HS that serves the long term.
The Staff Recommendation successfully eliminates the over-crowding of Annandale HS. In the 2016-2017 school year, upon full implementation of the Staff Recommendation, enrollment at Annandale HS is projected to be 2,263, which is still 85 students over AHS' design capacity of 2,178, but well under the revised program capacity of 2,350. This amount of students will allow AHS to remain robust in terms of class offerings while allowing for future pupil placement of students wishing to pursue an IB degree. We have always believed a long-term solution was necessary and this proposal meets that need.
2) Balances HS enrollment in the region.
The Staff Recommendation does an excellent job of balancing high school enrollment in a region that includes some of the densest population ‘pockets’ in the County. With US Census trends predicting a significant population spike within the Beltway, this solution allows for growth in all but one high school in the region.
3) Eliminates the only K-6 feeder into a 6-8 middle school in the county.
Wakefield Forest ES is currently the only K-6 elementary school to feed into a 6-8 middle school in Fairfax County. The Staff Recommendation would send Wakefield Forest ES to a 7-8 middle school, making it consistent with its structure.
4) Minimizes impact on ESOL and FRL populations.
The recommended solution echoes a primary goal of the Annandale Ad Hoc Committee to minimize the impact of any change to Annandale HS on ESOL and FRL demographics and to maintain socio-economic balance to the extent possible, both requirements of School Board Policy 8130.
5) Permits liberal grandfathering.
Facilities has proposed a gradual transition of the Staff Recommendation to allow students who have begun their high school career at Annandale HS to remain in the school. Implementation of the boundary changes would begin with rising 9th grade students at the high school level and rising 6th or 7th grade students at the middle school level (depending upon the grade model) in SY 2012-13. We believe once students have invested themselves in a particular school, its programs and community, that they be allowed to remain should they wish to do so. We, therefore, heartily support the grandfathering proposal as detailed in the recommended solution.
6) Satisfies the requirements of SB Policy 8130.
The recommended solution adheres closely to SB Policy 8130. It considers: the proximity of schools to student residences; enrollment balance; transportation costs and times; geographic boundaries, school feeder alignments and contiguous areas; the impact on neighborhoods; and long-range capital planning.
There is no one perfect solution for everyone; however, VOICE believes the Staff Recommendation makes the best possible solution out of this difficult situation. We greatly appreciate the time and effort everyone, particularly the Facilities staff, has expended these past long months.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Staff Recommendation Is Out
After careful examination of the overcrowding situation at Annandale High School, the various options for resolving the overcrowding, and review of public feedback on the options, Facilities staff for Fairfax County Public Schools presented its recommendation to the school board today. In brief, the recommendation:
- moves the Wakefield Forest ES students who would attend Poe MS and Annandale HS to Frost MS and Woodson HS;
- moves the Bren Mar Park ES children to Holmes MS and Edison HS;
- sends 85% of the new Lacey Center children to Poe MS and Falls Church HS, with the remainder going to Glasgow MS and Stuart HS; and
- moves the Pine Spring ES island to Beech Tree ES, Glasgow MS and Stuart HS.
The AAP Center at Glasgow MS will not be relocated.
Facilities staff also recommended liberal grandfathering, applying to any student who started 9th grade in the 2011-2012 school year.
Those interested in registering to provide public comment on the recommendation, should do so by signing up online or by calling the FCPS Board Office at 571-423-1075, starting at 6 a.m. Friday, June 17. Public comments will be received at the public hearings scheduled for July 11 and 12, at 6:00pm at the Luther Jackson Middle School, Auditorium, 3020 Gallows Rd, Falls Church, VA.
The staff recommendation will be voted upon by the School Board on July 28. Please continue to communicate your opinions to the School Board members.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Why Opposing Option 3 is Not Enough
We know some who oppose Option 3 believe Option 1 is the best choice because it maintains the status quo. As we’ve said before, that’s the problem. The status quo leaves AHS overcrowded with a burgeoning population within the Beltway, both now and in the future. Option 2 does the best job of removing a sufficient number of students from Annandale HS to relieve the overcrowding, now and for the foreseeable future. It even removes enough students from AHS to allow pupil placement for students who wish to take IB classes. We believe Option 2 is a WIN/WIN/WIN choice.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Survey Results Show an Overwhelming Majority of Voters Support Option 2
Thank you to the hundreds of you who have visited VOICE, signed our petition, and/or taken our survey tailored specifically to the Wakefield Forest community. Your voices have been heard! The results of our survey show overwhelming support for Option 2, an option which, if adopted, would unite Wakefield Forest ES as one feeder to Frost MS and Woodson HS. Specifically, the results show the following:
Note that these results are not related in any way to the petition to oppose Option 4 (formerly Option 1a), to which there are currently over 250 signatures. There are some in the community who are ambivalent to a move to a specific school who still realize that Option 4 is a terrible choice. These are two entirely separate petitions and have been treated as such.
There are those in the community who try to paint us as a small group of parents with elementary age children from the east side of Wakefield Chapel. On the contrary, as you can see by the survey results and as shown on the map below, we are part of a group of over 150 parents and families who have children of all ages, including high school, and who live on both sides of Wakefield Chapel Road. Some of us do not have children. Some of us have children of elementary school age. Some of us have children who attend or will attend Poe MS and Annandale HS; some of us have children who attend or will attend Frost MS and Woodson HS. We are not a small group, nor are we a minority. We are instead a large, vibrant majority of the local community who supports Option 2 as providing the best long-term solution to the overcrowding at Annandale HS.
- 82% of survey respondents agreed that the school board should change the boundaries so that all of the WFES students attend Frost/Woodson together.
- 94% of survey respondents agreed that the school board should eliminate the split feeder at WFES and send all of WFES students to Woodson if given a choice between shifting the AHS portion of the WFES attendance area to the Woodson pyramid, or shifting the entire WFES attendance area to the Lake Braddock Pyramid.
- 84% of survey respondents signed our petition in favor of having the school board make a boundary change to unify the WFES attendance area within the Woodson pyramid ("VOICE for WFES unification.")
Note that these results are not related in any way to the petition to oppose Option 4 (formerly Option 1a), to which there are currently over 250 signatures. There are some in the community who are ambivalent to a move to a specific school who still realize that Option 4 is a terrible choice. These are two entirely separate petitions and have been treated as such.
There are those in the community who try to paint us as a small group of parents with elementary age children from the east side of Wakefield Chapel. On the contrary, as you can see by the survey results and as shown on the map below, we are part of a group of over 150 parents and families who have children of all ages, including high school, and who live on both sides of Wakefield Chapel Road. Some of us do not have children. Some of us have children of elementary school age. Some of us have children who attend or will attend Poe MS and Annandale HS; some of us have children who attend or will attend Frost MS and Woodson HS. We are not a small group, nor are we a minority. We are instead a large, vibrant majority of the local community who supports Option 2 as providing the best long-term solution to the overcrowding at Annandale HS.
If you wish to join our campaign, sign our petition, or send us an e-mail at wakefieldvoice@gmail.com
Coming Next Week: Facilities Recommendation to School Board, Ensure Your Voice is Heard
On or about Thursday, June 16, 2011, FCPS Facilities staff will post their recommended solution to AHS overcrowding to the School Board’s website. The recommended solution will be introduced as “new business” at the School Board meeting on June 23 (7:00 p.m., Luther Jackson MS). Once the recommended solution has been released, the only way to make a change to the solution is for the School Board members to agree to amend the solution. The recommended solution may be any of the four options currently on the table or a combination of some or all of them. There will be no community feedback meetings after the release of the recommended solution.
What Can You Do?
Option 3 requires students to be transported through two of the most dangerous intersections in the West Springfield Police District: (a) Braddock Road and Burke Lake Road, and (b) Burke Lake Road and Rolling Road.
Option 4 merely reshuffles the population within the subject area, resulting in a 105.6% capacity at Poe, and 133.2% at Holmes MS by the 2016-2017 school year, while AHS, at a projected 76.8%, would be severely underutilized.
What Can You Do?
- Send an e-mail to the School Board members and Facilities staff to make your voices heard. Please be respectful in your comments. The School Board listens to specific, factually supported comments and suggested solutions rather than emotional argument. We recommend you support a particular solution and back it up with sound reasoning instead of just opposing any change. Many of the issues are discussed from our perspective on our web page. If you have already sent a letter or e-mail, we ask you to, please, send another outlining your position and your support. Click here to send an e-mail to the School Board members and Facilities staff.
- Sign up to speak at the public hearings, which will be held on Monday and Tuesday, July 11 and 12, at 6pm at Luther Jackson MS. To reserve a space on the speaker’s lists, you can sign up online starting on June 17 or call the School Board Office at 571-423-1075 from 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. The speakers list will close at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, July 8. Each speaker is given 3 minutes. Students get to speak first no matter when they sign up.
- Be aware of other upcoming events: (a) School Board Work Session, at which the recommended solution will be discussed on Monday, July 18 (time TBA); and (b) final School Board action on this matter on Thursday, July 28 at 7:00 p.m. at Luther Jackson MS.
- It moves a sufficient number of children to relieve the overcrowding in the long-term.
- Option 2 best meets the requirements of School Board Policy 8130.
- Option 2 alleviates the overcrowding at AHS by using existing capacity at neighboring schools.
- Option 2 demonstrates even HS capacity across the region, ranging from 88.5% (Edison) to 105.3% (Stuart) whereas Option 3 ranges from 83% (Woodson) to 102.6% (Stuart).
- Approximately 70% of the WFES area is physically closer to Frost and Woodson than to LBSS. The transportation routes are already set in that buses to Frost and Woodson currently run through our neighborhoods.
- Woodson HS has a program capacity of 2,339 and requires approximately 570 incoming freshman per year to reach that enrollment but Frost currently sends fewer than 500 as the sole middle school feeder to Woodson HS.
- Option 2 will add only 12 children to the current enrollment of 1,049 at Frost and is scheduled for renovation in 6-7 years to increase its capacity. Frost design capacity (core building facilities such as the cafeteria, library and gymnasium) is 1,062 students (equal to 2016-17 projected enrollment). Frost’s program capacity (based on classroom usage) is 864, nearly 200 fewer students than its design capacity.
- Wakefield Forest ES is the only K-6 school in FCPS to enter a 6-8 middle school (Poe). Option 2 solves this inconsistency by sending WFES students to a 7-8 middle school (Frost). It eliminates two attendance islands and a split-feeder and reconfigures one K-5 school to a K-6.
Option 3 requires students to be transported through two of the most dangerous intersections in the West Springfield Police District: (a) Braddock Road and Burke Lake Road, and (b) Burke Lake Road and Rolling Road.
Option 4 merely reshuffles the population within the subject area, resulting in a 105.6% capacity at Poe, and 133.2% at Holmes MS by the 2016-2017 school year, while AHS, at a projected 76.8%, would be severely underutilized.
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