A-Blast Coverage of Boundary Vote

Wakefield Chapel, Bren Mar Park redistricted

Written by CJ Aftergut, Co-Editor in Chief, The A-Blast

Of all the words used to describe AHS, “overcrowded” and “diverse” have been perhaps the most common in recent years. Both have become staples of the school and its student body, although both are expected to change as a result of a boundary decision made by the FCPS Board on July 28.

The motion, approved by a 10-2 vote, will relocate students from the eastern portion of the Wakefield Forest ES and Bren Mar Park ES attendance areas from AHS to Woodson HS and Edison HS, respectively. This change will first take place in the 2012-2013 school year, re-assigning approximately 121 incoming ninth graders out of AHS.

Made looking ahead to the future, the decision is also anticipated to re-assign approximately 441 students in the 2016-2017 school year. Impacts of the boundary change, however, are expected to be seen long before those students enter high school.

“According to the statistics I’ve heard, I feel that the populations of after school activities such as A-Blast, marching band, sports like lacrosse, etc. will go down, along with the number of IB diploma candidates,” senior and Wakefield Chapel resident Danielle Turner said. “Of course, every time we lose a neighborhood, we lose a small part of AHS’s diverse culture, so we’re losing part of that.”

As two middle class neighborhoods, Wakefield Chapel and Bren Mar Park are generally acknowledged as a significant source of funding for extracurricular activities at AHS. Therefore, some are worried that the boundary shift will push AHS beyond its tipping point.

“Since they’re high income areas, the proportion of free and reduced lunch students will probably increase, and I suspect that the boosters and funds of certain clubs will decrease,” Turner said.

It was this factor that worried a number of school board members, including Tina Hone and Sandy Evans, both of whom strongly supported an amendment to keep the eastern portion of the Wakefield Forest ES attendance area at AHS.

In defense of her position, Hone described AHS as “incredibly successful despite the odds,” saying that “we have to preserve AHS, we have to be ready for the challenges ahead.”

Evans also cited the school’s success, describing “a whole mix of things,” including avid students, energetic parents, and leadership, that have contributed to AHS’s achievement.

“It doesn’t take that much to put them on the wrong side of the tipping point,” Evans said before the vote.

Hone and Evans were not the only two board members to speak, however, as all but two of the board’s 12 members argued their position. Those in favor of the amendment seemed to echo the arguments of Hone and Evans, describing the effect that shifting AHS’s socioeconomic balance could have on the school and its student body. They also argued that lower class students benefit from the presence of higher income families, who often serve as an inspiration to succeed.

Meanwhile, those in opposition to the amendment repeated the need to relieve the school’s overcrowding in order to drop its enrollment to a point less than capacity. They also cited the success of Hayfield SS following a boundary change that sent middle class neighborhoods from the school to South County SS.

Despite a large amount of discussion by both sides, voting on the amendment resulted in a 6-6 tie, thereby preventing passage of the amendment. The amendment to retain students in the Bren Mar Park “west” attendance area at AHS also failed, in this case by a vote of 4-8.

The approved motion will also move students in the eastern portion of the Wakefield Forest ES and Bren Mar Park ES attendance areas from Poe MS to Frost MS and Holmes MS, respectively. This will create the need for a modular to be built at Frost MS until permanent capacity is added with a planned renovation in 6-7 years. The motion also includes changes at the elementary school level, due mainly to the opening of a new school at the Lacey site.

Although the effects of this boundary change will take several years to be fully understood, it seems evident that AHS will lose not only financial support and extracurricular involvement, but also a piece of its trademark diversity. With change comes uncertainty, and although its effects cannot be predicted, one thing is certain: good or bad, AHS will never be exactly the same again.

FCPS Work Session Recap

The Annandale Blog has an interesting write-up of Monday’s FCPS School Board work session on proposals to redistrict (again) Annandale High School.    

FXCO school board weighs overcrowding vs. diversity

 

The issue of whether the need to maintain balanced diversity should outweigh the need to reduce overcrowding at Annandale High School dominated a school board work session on proposed boundary changes July 18.

 

Board members engaged in a thoughtful, in-depth conversation about the larger issues raised by shifting the boundaries of  more than 20 schools in the Annandale area. At one point, though, at-large board member Tina Hone demanded that Superintendent Jack Dale apologize for referring to a question she raised as “stupid.”

The school board is scheduled to adopt a new boundary plan July 28.

Both Hone and at-large board member James Raney said they plan to offer amendments to keep the students who live in the Wakefield Forest area at Annandale High School (AHS). The proposal in the Fairfax County Public School staff recommendation to move those students from Poe Middle School and AHS to Frost Middle School and Woodson High School drew the most attention at the school board hearing last week.

Hone suggested that the benefits of maintaining a socioeconomic balance at AHS by keeping those students there would outweigh the benefits of reducing overcrowding. About 140 Wakefield Forest students are affected.

“Nobody is wrong here,” Hone said. “The school is overcrowded. The socioeconomic balance is key to academic success of a school. Some think making a school a little less socioeconomically diverse isn’t going to hurt the school.”

But she suggested such a move would upset the school’s balance, noting that several parents who spoke at the hearing last week referred to AHS as a “magical school” because it has a high rate of academic success while maintaining a good socioeconomic mix.

According to Dean Tistadt, chief operating officer for facilities and transportation services, removing the Wakefield Forest students wouldn’t have a huge impact on the school’s diversity. The percentage of AHS students living in single-family homes would only decrease from 41.7 percent to 39.5 percent, he said.

But that statistic does not present a clear picture of how the socioeconomic balance at AHS would change, Hone said. For example, there are wide disparities in the sizes and values of single-family homes, and it makes a difference whether they are occupied by more than one family. She called for the staff to produce more data on foreclosures and unemployment rates.

Board member Sandy Evans of the Mason District said she has “deep concerns about both the numbers we’re looking at moving out of Annandale High School and the impact on the fabric of the school.”

 

 

 

If Wakefield Forest stays at AHS, the school would only be 52 students over target and would be at just 102 percent of capacity. “So why not do that?” Evans asked. “We would take a lot of energy out of that school” if those students are moved out. “If we approve this, we might be messing with something that’s working.”

If AHS is at 102 percent capacity, “could we live with that? Are we addressing overcrowding enough? It’s hard to figure out what the tradeoffs are,” added Patty Reed of the Providence District.

For Tessie Wilson of the Braddock District, the overriding issue is capacity and enrollment. “I can’t see leaving more kids at that school.”

There are 16 trailers behind AHS housing 29 classrooms plus a modular unit with 14 classrooms. The trailers have either one, two, or four classrooms. Another trailer houses the Annandale Neighborhood Center, which is not part of the school. In all, there are 43 outdoor classrooms at AHS, more than at any other FCPS school.

Elizabeth Bradsher of the Springfield District said  “it’s a disservice to underestimate the population at Annandale.” She objected to others’ statements that taking out a small group of students “will decimate that school.”

“That sets a wrong perception,” Bradsher said. “This school is severely overcrowded. Going down the hallway, you could be crushed against the lockers.”

The non-voting student representative on the board, Eugene Coleman, said his experience at Mt. Vernon High School, which is very diverse, “helped me grow as an individual. I would rather be at a more diverse school than have a few less students in class.”

Evans expressed concerns about the recommendation to move some 300 students in the Bren Mar Park Elementary School attendance area from AHS to Edison High School. That move involves way more students than Wakefield Forest, but it’s getting a lot less attention, she said, “and they’re feeling a little left out.”

Transferring those students to Edison requires crossing the beltway, and that raises safety concerns for teenage drivers, Evans said. She had considered proposing an amendment to keep the Bren Mar Park students at AHS but said, “after talking to the parents there, they feel it would be better for them to stay together as a community.”

Evans does plan to offer an amendment to allow students in the small Columbia Pines community to go to Glasgow Middle School and Stuart High School rather than Poe Middle School and Falls Church High School. Those students, now in the attendance area for Belvedere Elementary School, would be shifted to the new school on the Lacey site.

Reed said she will propose an amendment to keep at Pine Spring Elementary School a group of students who would be slated to transfer to Beech Tree Elementary School under the FCPS staff recommendation.

Tisdadt said the staff has subsequently decided that an autism program is needed at a school inside the beltway and that Beech Tree would be the best place for it. So, if that happens, it won’t be necessary to transfer the Pine Spring students to Beech Tree.

Dan Storck of Mount Vernon questioned whether the overcrowding issue could be resolved through a liberal pupil placement policy that would let individual students switch to Woodson if their community remains at AHS. 

Pupil placements “are not a viable solution to address the capacity issue,” Tistadt said. Allowing a school to be 102 percent of capacity does not provide a big enough buffer when you consider the increasing numbers of students in the area entering kindergarten, he said.

Raney suggested having the Facilities Planning Advisory Council explore long-range capacity solutions, including converting Holmes Middle School to a secondary school. Reed echoed the call for a longer-term perspective, noting that over half of all county schools will be overcapacity in five years.

High birthrates in the poorer areas of the county are creating an imbalance, Hone said. “We’re at a crossroads. We will have schools with islands of poverty. Are we going to have a county with haves and have-nots? AHS is the leading edge of what’s going to be a very difficult question.”

“We’re already there,” Dale said, noting that some elementary schools have poverty rates of 85 to 95 percent and some have zero.

Raney said he is considering an amendment to delay the board vote from July 28 to October to give the staff more time to collect additional data.

Evans suggested that a delay might be a good idea because a lot of people in the communities she represents don’t have access to e-mail and are just now learning about the boundary changes.
Four other board members—Gibson, Wilson, Reed, and Brad Center (Lee District)—spoke against delaying the vote. All school board amendments must be submitted by Thursday, July 21, at 5 p.m.

 

 

 

 

Staff Recommendation for Overcrowding Released

FCPS Facilities staff has released their recommendation for resolving overcrowding in our region.  The report can be found at http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/annandalestudy/regional/index.htm.  A summary is below. Further action on your part depends on what you think of this proposal.  We believe each family, each person should consider it their duty to add their voice to this process.

The School Board will treat this recommendation as “new business” at their meeting on June 23rd (7pm, Luther Jackson MS).   You can sign up now to speak at the July 11 public hearing by visiting this link (if July 11 fills up, there will be additional opportunities on July 12).  The School Board will hold a work session on July 18th (9am-4:30pm, with this subject falling somewhere within that time frame), and then the final vote will be on July 28.

This has been a long two years.  All of the time invested in committee meetings, in community engagement – has it made a difference?  This proposal continues the “same old” approach FCPS has always used but with one key concession: allowing all registered AHS students (rising 9th graders and older) to remain at AHS until graduation (this is known as “grandfathering”).  Is that enough to make you comfortable with this proposal?  Again – this is something for each person to decide.  While we are cognizant of the significant shift in thinking the grandfathering offer represents, here are our principal concerns with this recommendation:

1. The use of questionable data as justification.  The FRL percentages used are inaccurate, and Facilities staff will not put their full confidence in their own 2016 projections – yet those projections are still being used to justify moving more students out of AHS than the community has indicated it can tolerate.  Facilities’ own narrative indicates the community’s strong preference for “minimum disruption” – a reflection of awareness and concern over impact from the last boundary change added to that which would arise from this recommendation.  Other parts of this website provide more details about impact to the advanced academic program, performing arts, and various competitive sports teams.
2. The lack of resolution re: continuity across grade levels.  The Annandale region has K-5 ES’s and 6-7-8 MS’s, while the remainder of the county has K-6/7-8. The non-boundary option offered some unique benefits, but was rejected partly due to the fact that it would be “too odd” and that – if crowding continues – we will struggle for ways to resolve it. Where is the move, then, in the right direction (uniformity)?
3. The cherry-picking of some priorities identified for this study while ignoring others (like “provide socio-economic and ESOL balance” and “eliminate split feeders” and “geographic proximity”), and making a recommendation which creates an even more challenging situation for our high school as well as Poe MS, and treating students as bodies to fill seats at other, more distant schools without regard for proximity and accessibility. Maintaining socio-economic balance in our schools has been a priority of this School Board and others before it (magnet and other programs have been designed specifically for this purpose) until just recently – the last boundary change for AHS marked a departure from that approach.  This proposal also eliminates one split feeder (at a cost of $3M) while creating two new ones (the new ES, and Holmes MS) and maintaining other split feeders.
4. The lack of long-term (or even short-term) resolution to the overcrowding at the ES and MS level.  This proposal does little (or nothing) to address a number of overflowing schools inside the beltway, which means we will be dealing with enrollment adjustments (of some variety) again in the near future.
5. If the 2016 projections are true, FCPS will be lacking over 3600 seats just at the MS and HS level by 2016, with crowding focused in a band that stretches from Bailey’s Crossroads west to Fairfax.  FCPS’s own demographer says he believes these projections are more accurate than those of recent years due to improved sampling techniques from the US Census.  And this does not include the impact of thousands of families moving into Northern VA due to BRAC.  This begs the question: where are all those students going to go to school?   The idea of “taking back TJ” has been raised; however, there are significant barriers to doing so.  This is why the study committee pointed to the site of Holmes MS as an ideal location for creating a secondary school that could take on the overcrowding from AHS and Poe now, and Glasgow and Stuart in the near future (which would then provide some relief to Jackson MS).  This school would effectively replace TJ as a general ed school. Adding more capacity inside the beltway would deliver additional seats where they are most needed and bring services to the students in their communities, rather than busing students farther only in order to fill under-utilized schools in the suburbs (and save money).
6. Cost seems to trump sensible long-term solutions. Cost has been given as a reason not to transition to K-6/7-8, and cost was part of the reason the non-boundary solution was unpopular with FCPS staff, and cost is why the idea of a secondary school at Holmes was shelved before we ever got to community feedback meetings.  There is a construction reserve of $45M and FCPS receives $155M in new funds from the county for capital projects every year.  Using existing resources wisely (like the $1M+ modular recently installed at AHS) should also be a priority.

Twenty-five years ago the Annandale community gave up one of its two high schools “for the greater good” (and TJ became TJHSST), combining two attendance areas into one.  Now that the inevitable over-crowding has occurred, what is the right solution? Do these proposed changes deliver long-term relief to our region or is something more or different required?  Are we looking at SMART changes for the region, developed with an eye to the future and to the real needs of students and families, or are these short-term “solutions” that simply put another finger in the dyke while creating hardship for AHS’s students (especially those who get moved to more distant schools)? What do you think?

These are our concerns and comments based on reading the report, but you are free to make your own. But please share your thoughts with your School Board representative (Tessie Wilson jtwilson@fcps.edu, or Sandy Evans, ssevans@fcps.edu), and make sure you copy the rest of the School Board by using schoolboardmembers@fcps.edu.

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SUMMARY:

New ES at Lacey site – would be a K-5 split feeder to Poe (85%) and Glasgow (15%).  It would open with a capacity of 750 students, but enroll only 475 students in 2012 and grow to 557 by 2016.  The substantial “enrollment buffer” (empty seats) has been left for the possible addition of a center-based special needs program, a FECEP program, and possibly a GT (or AAP) center.  None of the students going to this new ES currently live within the AHS attendance zone.  Under this proposal, Annandale Terrace, Braddock, Columbia, Pine Spring, Woodburn and Bren Mar ES’s would (continue to) be overcrowded well into the future.

Changes at the MS level:

• Students from Wakefield Forest ES who currently attend Poe MS would instead be sent to Frost MS.  Because Frost is already overcrowded (117.4%), sending additional students there will require a $3 million modular to be constructed at Frost.
• Students from Bren Mar Park ES would no longer attend Poe MS, but would instead attend Holmes MS.
• Some students from Woodburn ES (those who live in Parliament Village plus the area between Annandale Rd and Gallows Rd) would be reassigned from Jackson MS to Poe MS.
• Some students from Poe MS (those who live in the Annandale Terrace ES area north of Rt. 236) would be reassigned to Jackson MS.

Under this proposal, Frost and Jackson MS’s would continue to experience significant overcrowding. WFES would no longer be a split feeder, but Parklawn ES would remain one. Poe would lose about 300 students by 2016, and still be a split feeder to AHS/Falls Church HS.  Glasgow and Holmes MS would be over-crowded by 2016, if not before.  Holmes MS would become a split feeder to AHS and Edison HS.  FRL and ESL percentages at Poe MS would increase while percentages at other MS’s would decrease.

Changes at the HS level:

• Students from Wakefield Chapel (west of I-495) would be sent to Woodson HS
• Students who live in the Bren Mar Park ES attendance area would be sent to Edison HS
• Some students from Falls Church HS would be sent to Stuart HS

AHS would lose 441 students by 2016, bringing enrollment to 2263.  Enrollment at area HS’s would be “leveled” to a large extent by this proposal with only one HS showing over-enrollment by 2016 (Stuart). ESL and FRL percentages would rise at AHS relative to very slight changes (or no changes at all) at other schools in the study.

Now What? A Process Report on AHS Overcrowding

Four out of five community meetings have now been held re: the Annandale regional study.  The last meeting – which is intended for speakers of other languages – will be held at Annandale Terrace ES on Monday 6/6 at 7pm.  You can sign up for the 6/6 meeting, as well as view the comments from the first 2 sets of meetings online, by visiting the FCPS Website.  Here are the next steps in this process:

• On or about June 16, Facilities staff will post their recommended solution to AHS overcrowding (and the boundary for the new elementary school) to the School Board’s website (attached to the agenda item for June 23), and also to the website noted above.

• On June 17, you may begin signing up for 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  or call the School Board Office at 571-423-1075 during normal business hours [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.

• At the school board meeting on June 23 (7pm, Luther Jackson MS), this recommendation will be “new business” on the agenda and there may be some discussion between members of the Board.

• As mentioned above, public hearings will take place on Monday, July 11 and Tuesday July 12 at 6pm at Luther Jackson MS.

• This matter will be a point of discussion at the School Board work session on Mon., July 18 (exact time TBD), in Room 1600 of the Gatehouse Administrative Center in Falls Church.

• The School Board will vote on this matter at their regular meeting on Thursday, July 28, at 7pm (Luther Jackson MS).

There are a few things worth noting at this time:

1. the fact that the 3 boundary options do not differ much in terms of the number of students that would be moved out of AHS (11%, 14%,  and 17% of the projected 2016 population for AHS, respectively) and none of them deliver long-term relief to our region, most particularly at the ES and MS level;
2. the options may not vary much in terms of enrollment relief, but they do vary greatly in terms of impact to AHS/benefit to receiving schools, with Option 3 having the most impact, followed closely by Option2, then  more distantly by Option 1;
3. huge increases in projected enrollments for schools across the county (particularly in Annandale, Falls Church, Oakton/Vienna and Fairfax City), are an indicator of what will be a  prolonged effort to find seats for a lot of students across a very wide area.  In other words – this current study will be just one part of a long, bumpy ride as the county adjusts to a continuing influx of new students. (Our neighbors in Arlington Co. are going through a similar situation as their K-1-2 enrollments skyrocket.)  Thousands more students are now expected by 2016 than had been previously predicted.

With only a few weeks left, we continue to encourage each person to advocate for their student(s) and for their schools -  but to also consider the “bigger picture” outlined above, as well as the well-being of all students in the broader Annandale region.

Annandale Options Detailed

Annandale Regional Study

Expanded Summary of Preliminary Boundary Options

 

Option 1: Minimum Movement of Students

Elementary School Level:

• Proposes the new elementary school at the Lacey site to be a K‐5 school feeding to Poe Middle and Falls Church High schools.
• Creates an attendance area by reassigning students from Annandale Terrace, Beech Tree, Belvedere, and Woodburn Elementary schools.
• Assigns Advanced Academic Program (AAP) students to the Belvedere AAP center.
• Reduces the size of the attendance island—north of Columbia Pike and near Annandale Road and Gallows Road—for Woodburn Elementary School.
• Reassigns approximately 438 students in the 2012‐13 school year and 498 students in the 2016‐17 school year at the elementary school level.

Middle School Level:

• Reassigns Bren Mar Park Elementary School from Poe Middle to Holmes Middle School.
• Moves Woodburn Elementary School students—reassigned to the new elementary school at the Lacey site–from Jackson Middle to Poe Middle School.
• Relocates the Advanced Academic Program (AAP) Center from Glasgow Middle to Poe Middle School.
• Reassigns approximately 369 students in the 2012‐13 school year and 438 students in the 2016‐17 school year at the middle school level.

• High School Level:
• Reassigns Bren Mar Park Elementary School from Annandale High to Edison High School.
• Reassigns approximately 283 students in the 2012‐13 school year and 302 students in the 2016‐17 school year at the high school level.

Option 2: Reduces Split Feeders and Attendance Islands

 

Elementary School Level:

• Proposes the new elementary school at the Lacey site to be a K‐5 school feeding to Poe Middle and Falls Church High schools.
• Creates an attendance area by reassigning students from Annandale Terrace, Beech Tree,
• Belvedere, and Woodburn Elementary Schools.
• Assigns Advanced Academic Program (AAP) students to the Belvedere AAP center
• Eliminates an attendance island—north of Columbia Pike and near Annandale Road and Gallows
• Road—for Woodburn Elementary School.
• Eliminates an attendance island—north of 50 and south of Chestnut Avenue—for Pine Spring
• Elementary School by reassigning this area to Beech Tree Elementary School. 2
• Reassigns a portion of Annandale Terrace Elementary School—areas east of Hummer Road including
• Fairmont Garden Apartments—to Woodburn Elementary School.
• Reassigns a portion of the Bren Mar Park Elementary School attendance area—west of I‐395—to North Springfield Elementary School.
• Bren Mar Park Elementary—with an attendance area east of I‐395— becomes K‐6.
• Reassigns approximately 891 students in the 2012‐13 school year and 1,047 students in the 2016‐17 school year at the elementary school level.

 

Middle School Level:

• Moves some Belvedere Elementary School students—reassigned to the new elementary school at the Lacey site–from Glasgow Middle to Poe Middle School.
• Moves Woodburn Elementary School students—reassigned to the new elementary school at the Lacey site–from Jackson Middle to Poe Middle School.
• Moves Annandale Terrace Elementary School students—reassigned to Woodburn Elementary School –from Poe Middle to Jackson Middle School.
• Reassigns the Parklawn Elementary School attendance area—along Lincolnia Road and North
• Beauregard Street—from Holmes Middle to Glasgow Middle School.
• Moves Bren Mar Park Elementary School students (K‐6)—from the attendance area east of I‐395—from Poe Middle to Twain Middle School.
• Moves Bren Mar Park Elementary School students—from the attendance area west of I‐395—reassigned to North Springfield Elementary School—from Poe to Holmes Middle School.
• Moves Pine Spring Elementary School students—reassigned to Beech Tree Elementary School—from Jackson Middle to Glasgow Middle School.
• Moves Wakefield Forest Elementary School students that currently attend Poe Middle to Frost Middle School.
• This proposal may require a building addition at Frost.
• Relocates the Advanced Academic Program (AAP) center from Glasgow Middle to Holmes Middle School.
• Reassigns approximately 611 students in the 2012‐13 school year and 785 students in the 2016‐17 school year at the middle school level.

 

High School Level:

• Moves some Belvedere Elementary School students—reassigned to the new elementary school at the Lacey site—from Stuart High to Falls Church High School.
• Reassigns the Parklawn Elementary School attendance area—along Lincolnia Road and North
• Beauregard Street—from Annandale High to Stuart High School.
• Reassigns Bren Mar Park Elementary School—the area east of I‐395—from Annandale to Edison High School.
• Bren Mar Park students, who under this option have been reassigned to North Springfield Elementary, will continue attending Annandale High School.
• Moves Pine Spring Elementary School students—reassigned to Beech Tree Elementary School—from Falls Church High to Stuart High School.
• Moves Wakefield Forest Elementary School students that currently attend Annandale High to Woodson High School.3
• Reassigns approximately 419 students in the 2012‐13 school year and 430 students in the 2016‐17 school year at the high school level.

 

Option 3: Moves Toward K‐6 Elementary Schools

 

Elementary School Level:

• Proposes the new elementary school at the Lacey site to be a K‐5 school feeding to Poe Middle and Falls Church High schools.
• Creates an attendance area by reassigning students from Annandale Terrace, Beech Tree,
• Belvedere, and Woodburn Elementary Schools.
• Assigns Advanced Academic Program (AAP) students to the Belvedere AAP center.
• Changes Beech Tree, Belvedere, and Sleepy Hollow Elementary schools from K‐5 to K‐6.
• Eliminates an attendance area island—north of Columbia Pike and near Annandale Road and Gallows Road—for Woodburn Elementary School .
• Reassigns Annandale Terrace Elementary School attendance areas—east of Hummer Road, including Fairmont Gardens Apartments—to Woodburn Elementary School.
• Reassigns the Bren Mar Park Elementary School attendance area—west of I‐395—to North Springfield Elementary School. Both schools remain grades K‐5.
• Keeps 3rd ‐ 5th grade AAP students at Belvedere Elementary and 6th grade students at the Glasgow Middle School AAP center.
• Reassigns approximately 946 students in the 2012‐13 school year and 1,084 students in the 2016‐17 school year at the elementary school level.

 

Middle School Level:

• Keeps the Advanced Academic Program (AAP) center at Glasgow Middle School.
• Moves Woodburn Elementary School students—reassigned to the new elementary school at the Lacey site—from Jackson Middle to Poe Middle School.
• Moves Annandale Terrace Elementary School students—reassigned to Woodburn Elementary—from Poe Middle to Jackson Middle School. Sixth grade students will attend Woodburn Elementary School.
• Reassigns the Parklawn Elementary School attendance area—north of Lincolnia Road—from Holmes Middle to Glasgow Middle School.
• Moves Bren Mar Park Elementary School students from Poe Middle to Holmes Middle School.
• Moves Bren Mark Park students—from the attendance area west of I‐395—reassigned to North Springfield Elementary School—to Holmes Middle School.
• Moves some Belvedere Elementary School students—reassigned to the new elementary school at the Lacey site–from Glasgow Middle to Poe Middle School.
• Reassigns Wakefield Forest Elementary School students from Poe and Frost Middle Schools to Lake Braddock Middle School.
• Reassigns approximately 637 students in the 2012‐13 school year and 804 students in the 2016‐17 school year at the middle school level. 4

 

High School Level:

• Reassigns the Parklawn Elementary School attendance area—north of Lincolnia Road—from
• Annandale High to Stuart High School.
• Reassigns the adjusted Bren Mar Park Elementary School attendance area—east of I‐395—from Annandale to Edison High School.
• Moves Bren Mark Park students—from the attendance area west of I‐395—reassigned to North Springfield Elementary School—to Edison High School, making North Springfield a split feeder to Edison High and Annandale High.
• Moves some Belvedere Elementary School students—reassigned to the new elementary school at the Lacey site—from Stuart High to Falls Church High School.
• Reassigns Wakefield Forest Elementary School students from Annandale and Woodson High Schools to Lake Braddock High School.
• Reassigns approximately 669 students in the 2012‐13 school year and 634 students in the 2016‐17 school year at the high school level.

 

Option 4: Non‐boundary Solution

This proposal doesn’t contain boundary changes. Instead, the proposed changes are based on an

attendance area that includes the existing Annandale High School boundary for Holmes and Poe Middle schools and changing the grade levels at Holmes, Poe, and Annandale. After elementary school, students from grades 6‐12 would change to Holmes Middle, Poe Middle, and Annandale High School.

 

Middle School Level:

• Proposes that Holmes Middle will serve grades 6 and 7.
• Proposes that Poe Middle will serve grades 8 and 9.
• Reassigns 6th and 7th grade students from Poe Middle to Holmes Middle.
• Reassigns 8th grade students from Holmes Middle and 9th grade students from Annandale High to PoeMiddle.
  • Walkers to riders
  • Holmes to Poe 12
  • Poe to Holmes 30
  • Annandale to Poe 163
  • Requires building modifications at both Poe Middle and Holmes Middle to accommodate the
  • expansion and addition of programs to increase the capacity of both schools to 1,200 with a total cost estimate of approximately $3.5 million for both.
  • This proposal may also require moving existing programs at both Poe Middle and Holmes Middle.
  • Would require a bell schedule change at Poe Middle.
  • Would require 12 additional buses to accommodate Poe/Holmes Middle changes. 5

 

High School Level:

• Proposes that Annandale High will serve grades 10, 11, and 12.
• Requires additional transportation between Poe Middle and Annandale High to allow ninth graders the opportunity to access the full‐range of student activities and some course offerings at the high school. Would require 2 additional buses for shuttles to/from Poe to Annandale High schools.
• Reassigns a total of approximately 1,520 student in the 2012‐13 school year and 1,750 students in the 2016‐17 school year.
• NOTE: It should be noted that if the decision of the School Board is to implement the non‐boundary solution, staff would recommend that the elementary school at the Lacey site become a K‐6 school and that students in this attendance area would attend Jackson Middle School and then Falls Church High School. Should this happen, it would be necessary to fund an addition at Jackson Middle School to ensure that the additional students could be accommodated instructionally.

Overcrowding Community Meetings Set

FCPS Announces Community Meetings for Annandale Regional Boundary Study

The Fairfax County School Board has authorized an elementary, middle, and high school boundary study in the Annandale area and will hold five community dialogue meetings to discuss the proposals.

Community dialogue meetings will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the following locations:

• Monday, May 16: Annandale High School cafeteria, 4700 Medford Drive, Annandale (use entrance 7).
• Monday, May 16: Edison High School cafeteria, 5801 Franconia Road, Alexandria (use entrance 1).
• Monday, May 23: Falls Church High School cafeteria, 7521 Jaguar Trail, Falls Church (use entrance 8).
• Monday, May 23: Lake Braddock Secondary School cafeteria, 9200 Burke Lake Road, Burke (use entrance 15).
• Monday, June 6: specifically for speakers of other languages, Annandale Terrace Elementary School gymnasium, 7604 Herald Street, Annandale (use entrance 1). This meeting will include interpreters for Arabic, Farsi, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Other languages may be provided as requested.

The Annandale Regional Study involves 25 area schools: Annandale Terrace, Beech Tree, Belvedere, Braddock, Bren Mar Park, Columbia, North Springfield, Pine Spring, Sleepy Hollow, Westlawn, and Woodburn Elementary Schools; Annandale, Edison, Falls Church, Lee, Stuart, and Woodson High Schools; Lake Braddock Secondary School; and Frost, Glasgow, Holmes, Jackson, Key, Poe, and Twain Middle Schools.  The study proposes:

• Boundary options for a new elementary school currently under construction at 3705 Crest Drive in Annandale, also known as the Lacey site.  The new elementary school will help relieve significant overcrowding at several nearby elementary schools.
• Middle and high school boundary change options to relieve overcrowding at Annandale High School.
• Review of a non-boundary change option to relieve overcrowding at Annandale High School.

It is also possible that advanced academic center assignments for students or program locations among these schools may change.

Each meeting will feature an identical presentation. Unlike a town hall, these community engagement meetings will bring interested citizens together in small group discussions to explore and answer questions.  The feedback from these discussions will provide critical information to the staff and School Board.  Staff members from the Departments of Facilities and Transportation Services, Instructional Services, and Special Services will be available to answer questions. Those planning to attend are asked to register at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/annandalecommunitydialogue.

Staff members will review community input and feedback and present a recommendation at the June 23 School Board business meeting. Public hearings will follow on July 11 and 12, and the School Board will conduct an all-day work session on July 18.  The School Board is scheduled to take action on solutions for the Annandale area at its business meeting on July 28.

Resources, maps and other materials are available at http://www.fcps.edu/fts/planning/annandalestudy/regional/index.htm, where interested citizens who are unable to attend the community dialogue meetings can submit comments or individual questions to facilities staff members.

Note:  For more information, contact Denise James at 571-423-2330.

The Big Picture

We need to talk about “The Big Picture.”  But first, a few updates and clarifications to pass on:

•           Today, 4/14, the School Board moves what was discussed at their 4/4 Work Session to “New Business” on their meeting agenda.  This regular School Board meeting – open to the public and also broadcast on Channel 21 – will take place at 7pm at Luther Jackson MS in Merrifield.  The School Board will actually vote on this matter – the scope and criteria – on Thursday, April 28th. Text from the agenda item is below (scroll down to text in blue italics).  As a member of the Annandale regional community, please evaluate whether you agree with these criteria, which the School Board will use to make their final decision. If you do not agree, consider writing your representatives today (schoolboardmembers@fcps.edu – don’t forget to include your name/address/phone on all correspondence).

•           The School board is also being encouraged to narrow non-boundary options down to just one (1A). Two of the five options have already been deemed unworkable/rejected, and of the 3 non-boundary options that remain, only 1A seems to be viable from a Facilities perspective (and has been observed to have the general – but not total – support of our community).  Another creative option (Option 2) – creating a secondary school at Holmes MS – is still on the list, but it is considered too expensive and so has been recommended for rejection – but again, the votes have not yet been cast.  Please keep reading.

•           Facilities staff is now considering boundary options, and part of that includes figuring out the ideal number of students to move out of AHS in 2012.  If the desire is to bring AHS to 95% capacity (slightly underpopulated) – which leaves wiggle room for future growth – the decision may be made to move as many as 600 (or more) students. (It may be that a smaller number are chosen – this is a work in progress.)   A few surrounding high schools (Lake Braddock, Woodson, Falls Church, Edison) have sufficient space at this time to take on all the “excess” AHS students through boundary adjustments; however, as members of the ARPS realized, all potential boundary shifts are complicated by current/future overcrowding at the middle schools, and the K-5/K-6 issue.  The ARPS also recognized that boundary shifts are ineffective for AHS: given the expectation that the school population will continue to grow, and that population growth is focused immediately around AHS and near Stuart HS (kids who walk to school cannot be moved to another school), then you start to realize the Board could carve off all the edges of the AHS boundary and still not fix the problem.  Therefore, it seems prudent, at least to this writer, to look past traditional approaches and take a serious look at what will provide the best chance of long-term relief/success for our inner-beltway schools, which brings me back to the idea of creating a secondary school at Holmes MS.  This school would – due to its geographic location (ironically very near the TJ site) – nicely relieve both AHS and Stuart now and well into the future.   It may not ultimately be the best solution, but the point is this: the votes are not yet cast – there is still time for feedback from the community, encouraging Board members to look at where the overcrowding is focused, the likelihood that population growth is only going to continue (K-1-2 enrollments are very high) and to decide the best long-term solution. This is not to say Option 1A isn’t also a viable approach; in fact, 1A could be a good “run-up” (2-4 year) solution for managing the current AHS pyramid population while Holmes undergoes modifications that would make it a secondary school.

•           FCPS staff are working on setting up community feedback meetings for this May.  These meetings will follow the release of first-round proposals – by FCPS Facilities staff – for relieving the overcrowding at AHS (and the new ES at Lacey), and so will focus on gathering community feedback about those proposed options.  At this time, these meetings are tentatively scheduled for May 16 and May 23 in the evening, and will take place at several HS’s involved in the study (Annandale, Falls Church, Edison and Lake Braddock). A great deal of background information is available now on the Annandale study website; additional information will be posted about a week before the first meeting.  The format will be small group discussions and members of Facilities staff and other FCPS employees will be present to circulate among the groups and answer questions as needed.  Mark your calendars but be aware that dates/locations could change.

So now we get to the title of this blog post: “The Big Picture.”  Members of the Annandale region need to recognize that change is unavoidable. Specific to AHS, we need to understand that AHS will be different in the future. Whether we lose a few hundred Atoms to boundary shifts, or if all freshmen are shifted to Poe (in Option 1A), or we lose some of our eastern neighborhoods to a new secondary school – we are going to experience a significant reduction in our population.  A smaller high school is a good thing in many ways, and it is important to remember that the quality of an FCPS education still trumps that of nearly every other school district’s, no matter what school you attend in our county.  Your role as a community member is to understand the options,to educate yourself/reflect on what each option means – for your family, and for the region – and to provide feedback to the School Board about what you think is best.

Scope of Boundary Studies – Recommendation to:

1)  adopt the following criteria for the boundary studies for the new elementary school at the Lacy site and to relieve overcrowding at Annandale High School to the extent feasible and practicable:

•           help balance and accommodate current and projected enrollments;

•           to have geographic proximity;

•           to provide socio-economic and ESOL balance;

•           to adhere to core capacity;

•           to respect man-made and natural barriers;

•           to minimize split neighborhoods and split feeder assignments;

•           to maximize program stability;

•           and to minimize additional capital/operating costs;

•           to consider not only these criteria, but also any other factors that will contribute to the improved operational efficiency and instructional effectiveness of the school system, pursuant to Policy 8130, Local School Boundaries, Program Assignments and School Closings;

(2) direct the Superintendent to conduct a boundary study to include: Annandale Terrace, Beech Tree, Belvedere, Braddock, Bren Mar Park, Columbia, North Springfield, Pine Spring, Sleepy Hollow, Westlawn, and Woodburn Elementary schools in order to establish an attendance area for a new elementary school at the Lacey site, pursuant to Policy 8130, Local School Boundaries, Program Assignments and School Closings;

3) accept the scope and objectives of the middle and high school study in the Annandale region and further direct the Superintendent to conduct a study to include: Annandale, Edison, Falls Church, Lee, Stuart and Woodson High Schools; Lake Braddock Secondary School; Frost, Glasgow, Holmes, Jackson, Key, Poe, and Twain Middle Schools, pursuant to Policy 8130, Local School Boundaries, Program Assignments and School Closings (FTS; work sessions held 3/14/11 and 4/4/11; action scheduled 4/28/11)

—Emily Slough, AHS PTSA President

FCPS Staff Recommends Options

The Fairfax County School Board staff has narrowed the options to relieve overcrowding at Annandale High School to two – one would be a traditional boundary change, the other a non-boundary solution which involves reconfiguring grades at Poe, Holmes and Annandale.

The School Board heard the FCPS staff recommendations on overcrowding solutions at a work session Monday, April 4^th.  Details on any possible Boundary change options were not discussed as the goal of this meeting was to set the Scope of the Study, in other words define the areas/schools to be included in the boundary discussion.  The Staff report concluded:

“One of the boundary concepts developed by the ad hoc included a portion of Pine Spring Elementary, a school which was not included in the initial scope of study. However, staff concurs with the committee’s assessment that Pine Spring should be included in the scope of the study. In addition, staff recommends inclusion of North Springfield and Bren Mar Park elementaries since continued enrollment pressures at Bren Mar Park and projected capacity surplus at North Springfield should be reviewed as part of the overall goal of balancing enrollment in the region. Therefore, staff recommends retaining the schools identified in the initial scope for the ad hoc study and the addition of Pine Spring, Bren Mar Park, and North Springfield Elementary Schools, as noted above, for a total of 11 elementary schools.”

In addition to beginning work on a Boundary Change for Annandale, the FCPS staff lists Option 1A of the Annandale Regional Planning Study Report as the most viable non-boundary option.  However, they express concerns about the cost involved.  The Staff report states:

“Unlike the other non-boundary solutions, Option 1A proposes to retain the K-5 elementary school model and avoids the cost and capacity implications associated with inserting a 6th grade into the overcrowded elementaries that feed into the Stuart and Annandale pyramids. Under this proposal,  two grade levels are maintained at Holmes and Poe and three grade levels, 10-12, would be maintained at Annandale High School.”

“this option could address overcrowding at Annandale High School with more moderate facilities costs and would keep student cohorts together from grades 6 through 12 without adjusting boundaries, making Option 1A the most viable of the non-boundary solutions offered. Should the Board desire to continue to explore a non-boundary solution to overcrowding at Annandale High School, staff believes that Option 1A offers the greatest potential and would merit further analysis and review concurrently with a traditional boundary study.”

Here are the important FCPS overcrowding dates coming up:

April 14, 2011 – new business for the scope of study
April 28, 2011 – action on the scope of study

Possible Boundary Schedule
June 23, 2011 – new business for solutions recommendation
July 11 & 12, 2011 – public hearings
July 18, 2011 – work session (all-day work session)
July 28, 2011 – action on solutions