The new school boundary will go into effect with the new school year which begins on August 23, 2021.

FCPS will send information soon to all parents in the Justice pyramid about the new school boundaries. The information will include maps of the areas reassigned and a street listing of addresses reassigned within each school boundary.

FCPS will provide parents a street listing of addresses reassigned within each boundary. The information will also be updated in the boundary locator. Enter your home address into the boundary locator to find your school attendance boundary. Parents can also call Facilities Planning at 571-423-2320 for school assignment information.

No, rising 2-5 grade students can choose to remain at their current school or enroll at the newly assigned school.

If your child is in kindergarten or first grade, they will need to enroll in the new school. If your child will be in grades 2-5 next school year, they can choose to stay at the current school or enroll in the new school.

Yes, if you do not live within the walking zone for your assigned school, FCPS will provide bus transportation to students who live outside of the walking zone for your assigned school.

A student is expected to attend the school that serves his or her attendance area. However, student transfer information is available if a parent would like to transfer a student from a base school to another school within FCPS. Transfer requests are considered for very specific reasons as outlined in FCPS School Board Regulation 2230. Some schools are closed to transfer students. 

It should be noted that student transfers will be considered if the school capacity, grade-level capacity, and the school curricular program at the requested school will permit, as determined by FCPS. 

You must first be registered at a neighborhood school before submitting a request for student transfer.

If your child is already enrolled in the AAP center, they do not need to change schools.

No, the boundary adjustment only changed the attendance boundary for some elementary schools in the Justice pyramid. The middle school and high school boundaries remain the same.

If your home is in the new school boundary, all rising kindergarteners and 1st graders will need to attend their new assigned school. We are not able to accommodate sibling requests. Your 5th grade student can choose to remain at their current school or attend the new assigned school.

Please contact your current school to let them know your child plans to remain at the school.

Please check the Street Listings for your home address and information on your assigned school. If you have questions, you can also contact Facilities Planning at 571-423-2320 for school assignment information.

If your home is in the new school boundary, please contact your new school to enroll your children.

Please contact your new school to let them know your child will attend kindergarten next school year. The registration information will be sent to your new school.

If you live in the zone that requires bus transportation for students, FCPS will provide bus transportation to your children’s new school.

Any new students that move into an area where the boundary changed, would follow the specified phasing. For example, if a 4th grader moved into an area with a boundary change they would have the option on which school to attend with that phased grade level.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Thank you to everyone who provided input during the boundary adjustment process for the elementary schools in the Justice pyramid and at the public hearing.

On June 17, the Fairfax County School Board voted to approve a boundary adjustment of elementary school boundaries in the pyramid. The boundary adjustment also provides capacity relief to Glen Forest Elementary School. The approved boundary adjustment is a modified version of the Superintendent’s recommendation and impacts an estimated 497 students. The new boundaries will go into effect at the start of the next school year which begins on August 23, 2021.

The boundary adjustment includes phasing by grade. Students entering kindergarten and 1st grade will need to enroll in a new school if their home address is in the new boundary. Students in grades 2-5 can choose to remain at their current school until they move to middle school or they can choose to move to their new school. 

To learn if your home address is part of the new school boundary, please check the Street Listings. Parents can also call Facilities Planning at 571-423-2320 for school assignment information.

The boundary adjustment impacts several schools in the pyramid as they have capacity to accommodate additional students: Bailey’s, Bailey’s Upper, Beech Tree, Belvedere, Parklawn and Sleepy Hollow elementary schools.

By adjusting the boundaries, all the elementary schools in the Justice pyramid will have student enrollment of less than 1,000 students. The adjustment does not impact current walking zones and does not change the Advanced Academic Program boundary. The elementary boundary change also does not change the middle school or high school boundaries. The boundary adjustment also removes one attendance island. 

Please visit the FCPS website for additional information about the boundary adjustment and answers to common questions.

If you have additional questions, please contact your current elementary school.

Sincerely,

Fabio Zuluaga

Assistant Superintendent, Region 2

Information about a proposed boundary adjustment was shared with the following schools: Bailey's Elementary, Bailey's Upper, Beech Tree, Belvedere, Glen Forest, Mason Crest, Parklawn, and Sleepy Hollow. The feedback below was collected at four virtual community meetings on March 9 and March 10, 2021. 

What nearby schools should be considered for the boundary adjustment?

Schools that are closest to Glenn Forest Elementary - Bailey's Elementary, Bailey's Upper and Sleepy Hollow.

All

Looking at the numbers, it may be necessary to include all the schools to redistribute the population to schools that are under capacity.

Schools directly around Glen Forest.

Parent access to the school.

Looking at the numbers and maps perhaps Bailey's upper, Sleepy Hollow, and Beech Tree because they have the lowest capacity. But it depends on how much shift is needed.

The ones closest to Glen Forest should take on the extra students, and then adjust accordingly at those schools to their neighboring schools and so on across the district, with an eye toward still keeping all schools under their program capacity numbers.

Parents proximity to the school, especially for the parents that do not have access to an automobile.

It may be necessary to look at all schools so that a redistribution that is even and does not cause this same impact at another school further down the road.

I would redraw all boundaries to balance the student populations per school.

Since Glen Forest is on the county border, is there any possibility for Alexandria or Arlington County to assist? Perhaps they are at capacity too, or difficulties transferring funding between counties?

What effect will this have on Mason Crest students tracking into Falls Church HS?

Impact on middle and high school placements. Many families also pick their home location based on where their child will go to high school.

Can Leis Center be used for students?

Can Graham Road Community Building be used as well?

Not Mason Crest-it’s already a split school for the neighborhood and the kids currently

Bailey's and Parklawn

Belvedere, Glen Forest

Beech Tree?

Sleepy Hollow and Parklawn

I think Bailey’s is at capacity as are a lot of the other schools in the area.

Are there plans to expand the school buildings to accommodate more students or split into lower/upper?

The excess on Glen Forest should be prorated amongst the rest of the schools and have at least a 96-97% of capacity at all schools.

Glen Forest, Bailey's, Parklawn

Belvedere has modulars, but the chart doesn’t reflect that. What is Belvedere’s capacity without the modular?

Mason Crest

Glen Forest -> Bailey's Upper and Parklawn.

Why aren’t schools outside of our boundary being considered? Kids at Belvedere already get bused from pretty far, and some kids in the adjacent neighborhoods are at the beginning of bus rides so they rode for a long time before getting to school in the morning... hello

McLean.

FCPS should also be looking outside the Justice pyramid for help.

Parklawn

Schools that are below threshold.

Schools that are below their capacity.

Overcrowding

The schools that are overcrowded need to have their boundaries adjusted. I think that boundary between Sleepy Hollow and Bailey’s could be extended to Patrick Henry Drive.

Schools with nearby boundaries that are also below the threshold.

Any school that was performing at VDOE standards and had stable test performance data or trending positively performance data should be considered. Underperforming schools and/or schools with concerning performance trends should not be included.

Were other buildings considered or only other schools?

Agree with Parklawn

All of the schools in the Mason District pyramid should be considered for boundary adjustment, though obviously the two bordering schools of Parklawn and Sleepy Hollow are obvious contenders.

Schools near those that are already over capacity or projected to be over capacity

Sleepy Hollow and Beech Tree are both at limited capacity. I wonder how many schools would need to adjust boundaries to reduce overcrowding in Glen Forest.

I thought the other schools are also over the capacity. Any school selected that will be selected should provide the same curriculum or more as Glen Forest

What about the Annandale pyramid?

Some schools in the Annandale pyramid (like Columbia) go to Belvedere for the AAP program. Couldn't the Annandale pyramid or other Mason District schools be considered in this as well? While Sleepy Hollow appears to be the current answer, I would like to put an emphasis that moving lines should be done as deliberately and infrequently as possible. If this will create issues at Sleepy Hollow soon, it is not a solution. All areas should be considered with a 10 year projection.

It feels like this is a problem with significant secondary/tertiary impacts - all schools appear to be at or near capacity

Agree with the point re Annandale pyramid impact.

Schools like Beech Tree and Parklawn could be adjusted with all the schools in between to spread out the student population a little more equitably.

Underperforming schools should be included in case overcrowding is a cause of underperformance.

Glen Forest needs to be adjusted. Traffic/commuting/parking/congestion on Glen Forest Drive is very challenging.

What are the strengths of changing the boundary?

Glen Forest need capacity relief

All schools will be at a manageable capacity for staffing, resources, and classrooms to make sure that all children are supported successfully.

Good time to move students as everyone has been virtual until the last few weeks. Spread the wealth so all our students will be taken care of, no matter what school they are at.

This would allow improve teacher/student ratios per school.

Lower-capacity schools might gain new programs if enrollment expands.

Ratio

Agreed that improved student teacher ratio is a very strong argument.

Would be nice to have more students in the actual school building and not in mods

Would be nice to clean up split feeders.

Keeping schools at a manageable size for our teachers to effectively teach.

It will reduce student counts in overcrowded schools like Glen Forrest, and move more students to under capacity schools like Belvedere.

It will help make learning more achievable for Glen Forest students.

More diversity, and smaller class sizes in certain schools and possibly more parent support.

Smaller classes so students can receive more attention from teachers.

Will alleviate overcrowding, will help with pick-up and drop off congestion

Parklawn is not at full capacity and if this helps obtain more for our kids we need it.

Meeting ended early and I didn’t get a chance to comment.

Decreasing the capacity at Glen Forest: smaller class sizes, equitable resources, etc.

Providing capacity relief to Glen Forest

Easing overcrowding in Glen Forest.

Improve issues presented with parking, arrival/dismissal

Decrease the capacity, at least temporarily.

Decreases the need for trailers and modular units at Glen Forest ES

More even distribution

Boundaries can be changed to more evenly distribute the student population throughout the area. This will lead to smaller class sizes and less student to teacher ratios.

Building Capacity

Bringing student enrollments in line with building capacities

Better opportunities for students to access programming

Overall room for students at the buildings that are now overcrowded-better use of instructional spaces

Diversity.

Strengths: Opportunity to relieve some overcrowding and balance school census. It's also a chance to increase equity and school performance.

Diversity

Capacity management will ensure students have equitable access to resources

Potentially cost effectiveness.

Not having classrooms in trailers

I have neighbors moving away because of overcrowding

What are the challenges of changing the boundary?

Kids who attend a split feeder elementary school and go to the AAP level IV center at Glasgow don’t automatically attend Justice and need to apply for an administrative transfer. Will this boundary adjustment take this into account?

People don't like change - programming may be different

Families and neighborhoods are connected to their current school.

Feeder schools how will siblings be affected.

People who just moved to the area to be in a particular school 

How will this affect student transportation?

How will this affect current staff members?

Sibling and fellow students will be affected

How this change will affect accessibility to Advance Academic Program?

How current programs and where they are located might impact the adjustments.

Connection to school.

Families may have specific reasons why certain school may have been chosen prior to moving to the area. Often families pick school before picking their home.

School bus ride length.

Keeping neighborhoods together when boundaries are adjusted

Impact into feeder middle schools and high schools down the road.

Family relationships with schools are very important, and in some cases, have been built over many years. Would children currently in those schools have the choice to remain and close out elementary years with the adjustments for incoming students and those who choose to make a change?

Although families chose their home to attend a certain school, if boundaries are adjusted, they will move as a community to the new school and create the caring culture they want to see at the new school

How will this affect current staff?

Lake Barcroft is a significant geographical obstacle, how would the distance impact student and staff commutes?

Not making the best decision for the kids due to other factors

My kids now have friendships in the neighborhood and we could be separated.

Increased class sizes in my elementary school may be detrimental to a child's educational situation.

Unpredictable growth projections, considering possible influx of families related to Amazon HQ, new administration, etc.

Agreed with keeping the neighborhood children together. Our kids have grown up together and we would like the younger kids coming up to elementary to have the same opportunity.

Keeping kids together that live on the border lines already.

Needing to rebuild our school community after losing students or gaining students.

Larger class sizes in some schools, the AAP program, Belvedere is a small school until 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade.

Existing programs in schools and the effect on them.

Potentially long bus rides for students sent to schools far away

The challenge is that this process will not be equitable. Lower income parents may not attend these meetings and their voice may not be heard.

People do not like change.

Special Education Needs do not move w/o get proper staff support/training to serve our Special needs kids.

Transportation will be more difficult given the limited paths across Holmes Run and the lake.

Developers sometimes/often get more say than parents or FCPS staff.

Changing geographic boundaries has less effect when you have a magnet school in the area pulling kids out of their home school areas.

I am millennial but it still took me 1/2 hour on my Phone trying to figure out how to speak on this meeting.

Families often move to an area based on schools.

Social Biases

Schools become less like “neighborhood” hubs as actual neighborhoods are served by multiple schools

Transportation

Volume of students with high needs for ESOL services

Change is always hard, and families will be concerned about their new school.

New families moving in that are attending different schools than more established neighbors.

Many schools in this region are already near capacity or will be in coming years.

Currently, many new housing developments are underway or in the planning phases. Will this need to be done again in a few years?

People don't like change in general. School bias, home values, etc are dependent on school ratings.

Change in community

Change for Students

Some students may lose friends and a school community that they have become accustomed to.

Long-term solution needed

One challenge is that any boundary adjustments will likely be only interim fixes . . . it doesn't look like the overcrowding can be resolved by boundary changes due to the high numbers needing to find a space.

Shift in demographics=shifts in need

There could be a potential shift in the need for the students, such as needing more resource teachers like ESOL to meet the needs of the kids.

Not considering special programs at our schools

Some schools may be "under capacity" from just looking at numbers, but you are not considering special programs that schools have like the autism program which has a small class size. If students get shifted to a school that has an autism program, then you will need to consider where they would go.

Continued growth in all areas of Mason District, not just those currently over capacity

Fixing this small part of the boundary problem could lead to other problems elsewhere.

Special Programs

I wonder if building capacity numbers take into account the need for special programs to have lower student/teacher ratios that are below General Education ratios.

Adjusting boundaries now doesn't necessarily solve the problem. We will just have to readjust in a few years again. Maybe we should consider expanding the buildings and faculty.

Some families may be unhappy if they have to switch schools.

Will need to make sure that programming is equitable in all schools involved in this adjustment.

Seems like a temporary solution- this problem will arise in a few more years unless a new site or school is built (like Bailey’s Upper or Willston).

What happens if we decide to bring 6th grade back to Elementary School?

If the changes occur in the coming year, then our kids will have a hard time to adjust new school, especially those kids that are in 4th grade (like my daughter)

The challenge is to increase the performance of FCPS schools through the boundary change. FCPS is one of the premier school systems in the nation and the Mason District schools do not always reflect that in their performance (measured by test scores).

Mason District has many different cultures with many communities receiving influxes of new immigrants with limited English proficiency.

There are schools that appear to be under capacity because of special programs, Sleepy Hollow, an obvious choice being one of them. Adding a lot more students might not work well with these programs.

Adding to the schools that are currently under capacity doesn't fix the problem.

Diversity is an opportunity, but I could see this process leading to a lack of diversity in some ways--that well-resourced schools will only become better resourced

It is interesting to consider the boundary change during a pandemic

Especially when numbers are fluid right now with enrollment! Any changes now could lead to under capacity at one school or overcapacity at another school years from now as a consequence

Short term solution for a long term problem that requires actually building new schools

Capacity

What else would you like FCPS to know?

I would like to see the boundaries adjusted at a county wide level.

Agreed with the above statement. Does the entire county need to consider a boundary update?

Before changing boundaries, would it be possible to make our elementary schools K-6 and see how numbers would be after that?

How will this affect the next school year regarding COVID as elementary age students will most likely not be vaccinated yet. How will social distancing be maintained?

Adding 6th grade

I too would like to have the option of 6th grade in elementary schools be considered with this boundary change.

6th Grade Option

That's a great idea!

Neighborhoods should stay together so kids attend with their neighbors. 

I agree with the county-wide suggestion, many of these schools are on the cusp of over-crowding.

It seems like adding 6th grade to the elementary schools would add to the overcrowding but maybe I'm not understanding that suggestion.

Do we know if the schools are located where they need to be? Maybe look at some of the empty office buildings and possibly create more space that way?

I also do not understand adding 6th grade to help on this. I think 6th grade is appropriate for middle school (personally!)

Interested to know what the difference is between design capacity and program capacity.

Design capacity is how many students the school can accommodate. Program capacity tends to reduce the design capacity as some programs require a lot of space.

Will virtual school be used as a solution to overcapacity across the district?

Special programs have lower class sizes like autism and lower grade levels therefore the program capacity number is smaller (less students allowed in a classroom)

Don't split Mason Crest up if possible when redrawing the map.

Any chance of converting the community center at 7 corners back to a school?

I support moving 6th grade in elementary school.

Will FCPS build more elementary schools since overcrowding is an issue?

Staged redistricting

If a 5 year time horizon is appropriate for a rebalancing of capacity, a staged approach with  incoming/new students within a set distance of the current boundary could be a way to ease the transition.

How long will the process take from beginning to end?

Keeping neighborhood kids (especially in the same street) that are on the border streets together is important

The clarity and confidence of a timeline can help put people's minds at ease when thinking about change (which can be daunting).

This is the first we have heard of this process. How many other parents and families do not know this is a consideration?

Belvedere demographics

I request that if Belvedere's boundaries change, it will result in all socioeconomic groups being equally represented in the student body. I believe I recall when my kids were at BES, a neighbor's child was one of the few in his class where English was the primary language spoken at home.

Not sure if this is a demographic issue but please bring back the Belvedere sibling program so I can drop off my 2 kids at the same place each morning please ! I have a 3rd grader and a kindergartener. Thank you!

What additional resources will overcrowded schools get from the county?

Are there discussions at the county level to redistricting at the pyramid level if there are pyramids with more capacity? Not just within a pyramid but across pyramids?

This should be done looking at the whole FCPS school system at the same time, not necessarily looking at only individual pyramids.

I think this is an opportunity to have a good mix of disadvantaged students and advantaged students in each school, and not have one school where it is heavily disadvantaged students and another school where it is heavily advantaged students.

Our district has been plagued with overcrowding. We need better buildings with less modulars. These kids and FCPS teachers deserve them.

Allow parents to move out of base school by giving options and maybe this wouldn't be an issue or it could help somewhat.

Open Belvedere to in school transfers.

This band-aid keeps getting bigger. I agree that we do need more funds into permanent buildings. They produce better quality instruction and community.

Shifting away from an AAP center like Belvedere would help spread populations more closely with geography, as well as limit cannibalizing higher performing students away from their home schools. Refocus on AAP programs within each home school.

The influx of new students needs to be monitored for equity across the board.

I disagree that AAP should be removed from Belvedere. It’s a really important program, especially for our district. Let’s please keep what is working.

Have you considered online classes for those interested?

Please bring in SEPTA to represent the special needs families - consider how school staff changes will be supporting our needs. Please do not forget us.

I was not able to speak during this meeting. I only have a phone to use. I think it should be easier to access. I have thoughts about equity. I wish my thoughts could have gone on the record instead of 10 minutes of “closing thoughts” by the administrator of this program.

How can magnet be expanded to accept more Glen Forest students and provide transportation?

What is the capacity for all students in Region 2 and to follow up, is there a way to open a new school (Willston?) to relieve crowding now and potentially in the nearer future?

Happy that this is being addressed and that the scoping now includes the entire pyramid.

Consideration to split Glen Forest as a primary and then upper campus and purchase an existing unoccupied office space.

To consider a more long-term plan as other schools are already near capacity. So how many times will we have to do this?

Could Glen Forest concern be solved the same way Bailey’s was by purchase of office building?

6th grade

How will these changes impact 6th grade and is there a plan to bring them back to ES?

Curious to how potential redistricting to Bailey's will affect magnet opportunities for those throughout the district.

Are the noted future overcapacity in other schools being considered in conjunction with this or is this focused only on Glen Forest current overcapacity?

It seems that certain schools within FCPS are given more resources than others. This allows for families clamoring to get into one school over another. Maybe an initiative to alleviate these anxieties and highlighting the unique qualities of each school.

FCPS should consider re-purposing space and creating an upper school as with Bailey's so overcrowding issue isn't just pushed down the road a few years; a longer term solution is needed.

We're in the Glen Forest district map, and chose to lottery into Bailey's due to the overcrowding concerns and lack of magnet program at Glen Forest. It seems to be a popular sentiment in our neighborhood.

Bailey's is already a very large elementary school community with and Upper and Lower schools.

How would magnet spaces and immersion program spaces for out of boundary students be impacted?

Also wondering what the impact will be on the boundary change in relationship to the middle schools the elementary schools feed into?

How will this impact staffing at the schools?

Decision must be made with potential middle school changes in mind.

I understand there are discussions about 6th grade in Justice pyramid being moved from the middle schools into the elementary schools. An influx of 6th grade students into all the pyramid's elementary schools will cause additional crowding, even at elementary schools that are currently below max capacity.

Does this assume Williston does not transition back to FCPS? That would add capacity quickly.

What is the potential for additional capacity to be added at any of these schools (perhaps through development)?

Willston

For over 10 years, the community has requested that the Willston site be once again used for school purposes to alleviate area crowding. The issues at Glen Forest are not new. Willston is identified in the comprehensive plan to be a school. FCPS needs to make it a school again, ESPECIALLY with potential middle school changes as well.

Why is the program capacity taking up so much space?

Is there an opportunity to move some of the programs? What are the programs?

Students receiving special services should be prioritized to remain in their schools for consistency of services.

Building a new school - Is there any consideration on building a new school?

Is there opportunity for renovation to increase program capacity?

Thank you for using SY 2019 data for the projections. 2020-2021 has definitely been an anomaly in terms of enrollment decreases across FCPS.

School performance MUST be considered

Nowhere in this discussion has school performance been discussed. Sleepy Hollow ES, for instance, had cratering test scores prior to the pandemic, and it is doubtful it would be fully accredited without the current accreditation waiver. Many schools also have undergone leadership transition changes (including SHES – 3 principals in 3 years). Please be mindful of adding more variability.

It appears that the schools in this area are all different capacity. Do the students live near the larger schools?

Are there opportunities to create magnet schools with special programs?

It often feels like many of the schools have the same programs - could there be efficiencies in combining?

Commuting from Glen Forest across route 7 to SHES would be difficult.

During what school year does FCPS expect to enact boundary changes? And are they expecting to grandfather students who wish to remain at their current elementary school?

I support bringing the 6th grade back to the elementary school.

Long Term Solutions Needed

Why isn't the whole region being looked at?  Moving pockets of students here and there without finding a long term solution seems short sighted.

The empty Williston school should be considered.

Consider the Willston site.

7 corners revitalization will increase density in years to come. We need more schools.

All stakeholders not present.

All voices need to be heard on this issue. We need to hear from all voices in our communities.

Agreed with the stakeholders

We have not heard much from the Willston community or any of the Hispanic families that could be impacted by this.

What are the strengths of Option A?

This affects the least number of schools but from the short time we had to review seems to present a solid impact to solve the overcrowding at Glen Forest without having to affect every school.

The strength is the solution it offers Glen Forest.

Strength for Belvedere: the new families would live relatively close to the school.

For Belvedere, this option adds 31 kids, which is the most transferring in under the three options.

Strength is that the families live close by and brings more of Lake Barcroft community together.

If 31 kids will transfer into Belvedere from this option. Does this mean that trailers will have to be used? This seems the better option as it would bring the Barcroft Woods and Lake Barcroft community together.

First option is least burdensome on Parklawn; advantage is that it keeps a more affluent neighborhood in Glen Forest that is currently within the boundary in that boundary – helps with economic diversity of the school and perhaps more resources.

Strength is most relief to Glen Forest. Challenge is a large change in the capacity at Parklawn. Keeps Parklawn reliance on modular.

This option seems to overcorrect because Glen Forest drops to 72% capacity, but 2 other schools become overcrowded.

Yes, excellent point.

Strength: adds students to Beech Tree which is currently under capacity.

What are the challenges of Option A?

Impacts 7 schools and the second highest number of students. Two schools would end up at the same level of overcrowding that Glen Forest is currently at.

7 schools are impacted, but the projected capacity for Glen Forest is still very high.

Sharing the load is good, but a bigger change might have distributed the load better. No one should be near 100% to account for growth if possible.

Takes Sleepy Hollow families away from their friends and neighbors.

Parklawn is very overcrowded with this option.

This decimates Sleepy Hollow. SHES would likely already not be accredited NOW and this option would lead to an even more impoverished school.

Not an option.

I can’t imagine Option A being an actual option. It carves up Sleepy Hollow like a thanksgiving turkey and leaves SHES with MANY challenges.

This option still puts schools at above capacity.

In each option it seems we are trading one overcrowded school for another. We seem to be just moving the overcrowding issue from Glen Forest to Parklawn.

This option still over populates the schools.

Option A seems to move the higher income areas of Sleepy Hollow out of the school. I’m concerned about the equity within the pyramid.

Not a good option for Sleepy Hollow.

Affects way too many families.

Not a fan of this option.

Too much impact on Sleepy Hollow  and will disrupt the diversity and equity.

Can’t Arlington or Alexandria take Glen Forest.

Inequitable for SHES.

And does not take in consideration of special education and the smaller sizes needed for those classes.

Affects too many families.

Impact on families and students.

A challenge for Belvedere is that in its capacity it considers 6 trailers that are in very poor condition. Only in 2019-20 was the school able to bring all classes into the building with approximately 620-630 students. More students than that puts classes outside.

Challenge: modular are in poor condition.

I’m curious how many students Belvedere will gain in this scenario. We are currently at 95% so gaining more students seems like it might be an issue.

Long term? There is development, both underway and planned, in many areas all around Justice. These don’t seem to be taken into account.

This can be said for all the proposals, including the change nothing option.

While the zoning looks good on the map and makes sense, it seems to funnel a lot of students into Parklawn, creating a capacity issue there.

This option, like all options, leaves Parklawn more crowded thank Glen Forest is if we make no change.

All three options seem to transfer the overcapacity issue from one school to another.

This option should be scrapped. The option moves affluent, single-family home families from Sleepy Hollow and Lake Barcroft neighborhoods out of Sleepy Hollow, leaving it with much higher need. Moving more of Lake Barcroft to Belvedere also further increases its privilege.

That is a great point.

What are the strengths of Option B?

Strengths: Impacts the fewest number of students and the fewest number of schools.

Option B had no change to Beech Tree, right?

Only 5 schools are impacted.

If the projected enrollments at Glen Forest are still high, this puts them at a lower capacity for future growth.

Has the least amount of disruption to the current student/teacher relationships in schools.

Least amount of change that disrupts young kids and families.

The shift of the Glen Forest neighborhood to Parklawn makes the most sense in terms of proximity.

Involves the smallest number of students, so should have the smallest impact on families.

Best option

This seems like the best option.

Better option.

Strengths are less of  change in current boundaries, affects less students.

Strength of option B is that it makes minimal boundary changes for the needed effort.

Schools that are just under population from Glen Forest, receive additional students that push their operational number up higher.

Less impact to students overall (number-wise)

Involves the least amount of students and schools.

Option B does not shift a lot of students. It would not really alleviate much of the capacity concerns at Glen Forest.

I don’t  understand the methodology staff used in any of these options. The neighborhoods here that are moved aren’t even contiguous. The Parklawn one in B and C looks particularly gerrymandered.

All three options seem to transfer the overcapacity issue from one school to another.

Is this big enough change to alleviate Glen Forest in the long term?

What are the challenges of Option B?

Challenges: Parklawn still over capacity.

Impacts fewer families but keeps overpopulation in overpopulated areas.

Parklawn carries too much of the increase in students compared to the other schools.

Parklawn: worry that there is now an increase to Parklawn and that they would need to continue using their modular.

Puts too much burden on Parklawn.

Still just trading problems, schools are still above capacity.

Option B seems to move the over crowding from one school to another and doesn’t solve the issues long term.

Still a problem.

Just moving Glen Forest’s burden over to Parklawn.

Option B seems to localize the pain of reassignments to fewer schools, which will be less disruptive to schools, but more disruptive to the few involved.

Our neighborhood which belongs to Parklawn is being completely broken up in an off way. Under the map, my kid will remain at Parklawn (area surrounded by reassigned kids from Parklawn to Belvedere), but many people around us will end up in Belvedere. This is unfortunate since I currently have one kid at Belvedere (due to AAP) and my other kid will remain at Parklawn.

In each option it seems we are trading one overcrowded school for another. We seem to be just moving the overcrowding issue from Glen Forest to Parklawn.

Belvedere capacity is estimated with six trailers in mind. Having classes in those trailers is not a good idea as they are in poor condition. This option would also affect Belvedere’s Free and Reduced percentage, potentially placing the overall percentage below 55% and thus taking Belvedere out of the Title 1 status. Belvedere’s Title 1 allocation allows the school to have a math resource teacher and a second math/reading resource teacher. It also is instrumental in funding planning time for teachers, which is essential for the work of staff in an IB school like Belvedere.

Possible greater impact on school demographics when adjustment is concentrated in one area.

Bailey’s is already quite crowded, and I think in this option students move to Bailey’s.

B & C spread out Belvedere across a greater distance which makes family engagement even more challenging.

Options B & C are much more burdensome on Parklawn which might be solved from adding more modular; but lunch room and other common areas will still be used beyond capacity.

This option would put more stress on pick up

What are the strengths of Option C?

Will this option affect Beech Tree’s title 1 status?

This seems to be the best of the three options as it gives the best balance both in the short term and longer term.

Confusing, but more equitable.

While this option moves the largest number of students and affects the largest number of schools, the aggregate effects seem to be the most equitable across the Region. While not a “perfect” option and not a long-term solution, it appears to be more equitable than option A or option B.

I believe this option provides the largest increase to Beech Tree which is currently the smallest elementary school in the Justice pyramid.

Equity across the schools in the pyramid.

All current schools within the boundaries considered are impacted.

I think this is the fairest way to address the needs across the pyramid.

This seems like this option is the most equitable for all schools, as it involves all 8.

Strength: Mason Crest would no longer be split for high school.

Benefit: Presents an opportunity to rebalance numbers in all schools to acceptable levels.

Geographically it seems to make sense but am curious how the shift impacts the demographics of each school. Current “divisions” of neighborhood seem to be remedied, such as connecting the two pockets of Beech Tree neighborhoods.

What are the challenges of Option C?

Too much change to Beech Tree and Sleepy Hollow after years of building relationships.

Affects the most students and schools.

How does moving Mason Crest students to Beech Tree affect overcrowding in Glen Forest?

Part of Mason Crest to Beech Tree was once part of Beech Tree years ago.

Affects the most amount of students and families = no good.

Mason Crest to Beech Tree does not seem to be related to stated problem at Glen Forest.

Affects all schools instead of those closest to impacted areas.

Challenges: Impacts the greatest number of schools and students. Physical barriers make the logistics of moving students from Mason Crest to Beech Tree  mean it will take a lot longer to get to school than it does currently.

Mason Crest is already a split feeder school and was created in part from Beech Tree, and now they would go back there?

Too dramatic a change for Mason Crest, Beech Tree, and Sleepy Hollow families.

A large part of the Mason Crest community slated for Beech Tree came from Belvedere. Regardless, there would need to be a lot more community outreach to the Mason Crest community. I’m not sure how many have been paying attention, thinking this doesn’t pertain to their community.

Affects most amount of students and schools and relieves overcrowding at Glen Forest, but a lot of moves.

Mason Crest not overcrowded. Why mess with it?

It’s good to get rid of a split feeder, but I’m not sure I’d split it the way this is presented.

I’m concerned schools are still over capacity/overcrowded, even after this shift.

Still just trading problems, schools are still above capacity.

Option C seems like a peanut butter spread approach – taking a little off the top of every school. I’m concerned about the numbers of kids impacted.

In each option it seems we are trading one overcrowded school for another. We seem to be just moving the overcrowding issue from Glen Forest to Parklawn.

Not equitable.

Beech Tree seems to add huge areas of residential and loses diversity of Williston community.

Spreads the pain.

Spreads the pain, but still a bit too disruptive to Parklawn. Would be good to have this option but a few more students shifted from Parklawn to Bailey’s.

Seems to affect a lot of schools and families (challenge)

Parklawn gets the burden.

Again this shifts the burden to Parklawn.

Schools

I agree, why aren’t more schools built to help with overcrowding. This would help somewhat.

Affects everyone.

This would affect all the schools, which seems unfair and disruptive (challenge).

An immediate challenge of this option is the portion of Mason Crest that is proposed to move to Beech Tree. This section used to be part of Belvedere until Belvedere went through another boundary study 9 years ago. The result of that study was that section going to Mason Crest.

Challenge is that this option affects the most students for the same effect that option B does (with the smallest amount of change)

Challenge: Bailey’s Spanish immersion/magnet would not be available to incoming kinder siblings of those students already attending.

Does this mean there will no longer be a split in middle schools from Mason Crest?

Challenge involves all ES in pyramid.

All three options seem to transfer the overcapacity issue from one school to another.

Seems like you don’t need to move all of the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood away from the school in the neighborhood. I would adjust this option.

Option C overburdens Parklawn, and just moves other students around for the sake of moving them – their capacity numbers remain about the same.

What are the strengths of making no changes?

No change is a strength.

Allows for more time to study the problem and gather community input.

Allows for more time to see what the new enrollment numbers look like post-Covid (strength).  

The strengths are that rather than affecting all schools in the pyramid, a solution with change where change is needed will need to be found.

What are the challenges of making no changes?

Parklawn will be impacted negatively in all the options.

Challenges: Glen Forest doesn’t get the needed relief.

The problem continues to get worse if no changes are made. No change affects more kids overall if you compare the number of kids in overcrowded schools to the number of kids that could get moved.

Challenge: Glen Forest remains way over capacity.

Glen Forest would continue to have a problem with overcrowding. While Beech Tree remains small.

Doesn’t fix

Parklawn over capacity in all scenarios.

Surely there is another option.

The challenges are the size the of Glen Forest.

In lieu of this affecting all schools, can there be infrastructure improvements or build outs in Glen Forest?

Glen Forest needs capacity relief so the status quo is not sustainable.

Challenge is not having relief for Glen Forest.

Challenge is over capacity remains at Glen Forest. Strength is less disruption to school communities and programs.

Options A-C leave Parklawn more crowded than Glen Forest at status quo, so that’s not really tenable for Parklawn unless we don’t think the enrollment projection methodology is accurate.

What else would you like FCPS to know?

Seems like the issue here is that Glen Forest needs more space…I hate to see the county trying to fix what’s not broken (other schools that are under capacity) and shifting so many families around in the process.

What is the desired number of students FCPS is trying to move?

What is the number that will make a difference?

Phasing in to any changes at Kindergarten must be a give since once they are in their school, the school community becomes like family to kids. It breaks my heart to imagine separating some of the kids to another school mid-schooling.

Is it not an option to split Glen Forest into an upper and lower, similar to Bailey’s?

Has disruption for current students been analyzed?

A grade-by-grade phasing in would be preferable. There has already been so much change in the past couple of years, I hate for the students to have to go through a third transition in three years.

Will they consider adding 6th grade to ES as well, so we don’t have to change twice?

Option C seems like it gets at a different issue than what has been presented as the core issue. It means that Mason Crest is no longer a split feeder but doesn’t seem to do much more than Option A for the resolution to the issue at Glen Forest. This is frustrating for students who have to move for a reason that isn’t presented as a need. If that issue is a need then I would love to hear more about why. Otherwise it seems this is not the best options.

The Wilson Center should be a school again so Seven Corners doesn’t  have to split up separating neighbors and busing long distances.

Can we have more of an explanation about the consideration of 6th grade in writing? It’s confusing when we are thinking about the future. Thanks!

Move all of these students helps Glen Forest, but actually add to overcrowding at other schools.

What might be the effect on Mason Crest’s FRM percentage in Option C?

There needs to be a lot more outreach to each of the specific schools. Families are going to feel blind-sided.

Process is very important.

If FCPS has an analysis on the impact of the current size of classrooms by grade.

With the loss of students from Mason Crest how would this change the staffing for the school?

Consider the staffing implications for all of these schools. Choose Option B would mean the least disruption not only to students but also to staff.

It seems like the options are either all or nothing for Beech Tree  elementary school. Either no change, or changes that would eventually result in 100% capacity. Why not spread things out a bit more if you’re going to make changes?

Moving less kids around especially after this year with the pandemic and virtual learning seems the most idea. Kids have had to deal with a lot and the fewer kids that lose their school community the better.

None of the options keep schools below 100% capacity (I think). Why not explore other options to solve overcrowding at all schools?

It looks like there needs to be another school built to alleviate future growth.

Please do not change for 21-22 school year. Our kids and staff have gone through so much this year. There should be more options that solve overcrowding everywhere, none of these options solve that problem.

Moving kids around seems to be a temporary bandage – which could affect many families negatively as a result. Also considering Seven Corners possibly developing in the future, it is inevitable we need to build more school buildings rather than shifting kids around.

Consideration of programs

Sleepy Hollow has an amazing autism program. Two of the options do not consider the fact that the program has smaller size classrooms, only the fact that it will fill SHES close to capacity.

Capacity calculations

How are the capacity numbers calculated? At a certain number of students per classroom? How do the capacity numbers for each school reflect each school’s special programs, which would affect the number of students that are actually in each classroom?

I like any option that has considered siblings that already go to separate schools due to the AAP program. I have a 1st grader at Parklawn and a 3rd grader at Belvedere. Parklawn is pretty populated already so it would be great to allow siblings to go to Belvedere with their siblings. Thank you for your consideration.

Permanent Change?

Know that there may be further changes coming to our pyramid from the review of middle school beings grades 6, 7, and 8 vs 7, 8 and the subsequent impact that would have to our elementary schools, are the potential boundary changes being considered to be permanent or temporary changes? If temporary, only until the middle school review, I am concerned about each school’s community identity being impacted.

Please think carefully about the special education support needed in each school. I do not see capacity for special education identified in any of these options.

Consequences of changes

I was at another Mason District school when Annandale HS had a boundary adjustment and neighborhoods were sent to Lake Braddock and WT Woodson, losing some of the diversity and charm AHS had. Years later, Woodson is overcrowded but Annandale is not.

What is the impact if a parent has multiple kids? Do the kids go to different schools or they do they stay at the same school?

Underlying problem not solved.

It doesn’t appear that any of these options address the underlying problem that Region 2 faces of needing to have another school to more evenly distribute both the number of students and need across the region. Is this even a stopgap solution? I don’t think it is. What does FCPS plan to do to solve the longer term capacity challenge that we face?

I don’t know how this is going to change anything. Schools are going to continue to be overcrowded. Regardless of this change. Has Fairfax County taken into consideration how this will effect the children?

I still don’t understand the timing, this seems crazy to consider this during COVID when it’s unclear what will happen post-Covid.

Equity

The data provided do not take equity into account. I’m trying to envision how each proposed option would affect socio-economic diversity and equity at each of our region’s schools and I’m struggling to do so in the absence of having access to data showing what free and reduced lunch eligibility would look like under each option. Please ensure that equity is taken into account in considering these decisions.

How is this change going to stop future overcrowding? I don’t see how this is going to change anything. Schools are going to continue to be overcrowded. Regardless of this change. Has Fairfax County taken into consideration how this will effect children?

Phasing

I think the phasing is a great idea but I was not clear if that would be part of this particular process.

I would like to see an overlay of the social vulnerability index over the proposed solutions so that we can determine equity within the pyramid.

Resources

Please think about resources and not overburdening schools with limited resources.

Equity

Think about equity. It would be nice to see some more income diversity in some of the schools like Parklawn and Glen Forest. It gives opportunities to students as well as the community and PTA.

Willston Center

Turn Willston Center back into a school like the community has been saying for a DECADE! Stop kicking the can down the road.

Agreed. I wonder why opening a school at Willston is not a proposed solution?

New Schools

Is there an option to create a new school (similar to Bailey’s Upper) along Columbia Pike corridor in Seven Corners or Bailey’s Crossroad in some of the vacant buildings? I think this should be considered, especially given how quickly that building was retrofitted.

Willston Center

Is the Willston Center an option to reclaim from the County?

How would this shift in student support like ESOL teachers?

There would be more of a need for them depending on the need of the students and the impacts of the change.

School Board Approved Phasing

Based on the presented regulations, phasing may be approved by the School Board, but it is not a guarantee. The School Board needs to approve phasing as to mitigate additional stress of changes on kids after coming off a year in a pandemic.

Options not detailed enough to know impact.

Without information on the demographic/student information of the areas being proposed to be shifted in various scenarios, it is impossible to understand how the changes would impact the school losing those students – how will diversity be impacted? Will students using services or in special programs be caught up in the move? There has not been enough information or time to review and provide informed feedback.

I echo concerns about breaking up neighborhoods and oppose that idea. In addition, students at Sleepy Hollow neighborhood have been going to Sleepy Hollow elementary school since it opened in 1954. It doesn’t make sense to me to move them to another school under Option A or C.

Numbers

We are still in a pandemic, so we do not know the true numbers of enrollment because some families have enrolled into private or homeschool. This may change with the dwindling of COVID and the return to five days a week next school year. Why are we doing the boundary adjustment now and so quickly for the 21-22 school year?

I agree.

What part of Sleepy Hollow road will have an impact? The change shows Sleepy Hollow road as a border. So are students living on Sleepy Hollow road being transferred?

I’m curious the impact on school demographics, particularly income/qualification for free-reduced lunch with these changes – how would Option A impact Belvedere’s Title 1 status, or really any of the schools.

What are the criteria and weighting of the options that are being used?

What is the durability of the decision? Will this need to be adjusted a year down the line and some kids with three changes?

I’m wondering what outreach efforts are being made to hear directly from more families, particularly families from neighborhoods that would be moved, as well has historically marginalized groups.

Belvedere is overcrowded and has capacity issues with drop off, pick up, etc. So the slide could be more clear about the 6 “temporary classrooms” which are trailers on the playground. However, neither of the three options really seems to make a huge difference in alleviating or adding to the problem. (Option B add the most kids at 31)

None of these options are great for Parklawn ES. Each option brings Parklawn over capacity.

The projections seem off for Belvedere. I think Belvedere will see growth in the upcoming years given the changeover in the neighborhood and families with young children have moved in.

All the schools are crowded and I don’t see any improvement moving the kids from one school to another school. It will be better to expand the school.

How long will schools have to travel with these changes, how will bus times be impacted?

For whatever option is chosen, what are the mitigation strategies for the schools that remain at max or near max capacity?

What is the likelihood of Belvedere getting new trailers if our school population is going to increase?

These options are not good for Belvedere as it underestimates the school’s overcrowded reality without trailers. No parent wants their child in one of those trailers.

None of these options seem optimal for Belvedere as it would be overcrowded. In my particular neighborhood, there has been high overturn to families with younger kids. All families will have their kids attend Belvedere.

How will this impact levels of school segregation in FCPS?

I would like to see information posted to include what major changes to programs at each school would result from the options.

Also I’m curious as to where the projected population counts come from as many of the stagnant projections don’t seem to make sense.

Belvedere already has a problem with kiss and ride, where there is a long line that causes issues in the neighborhood and makes walking unsafe. Adding more students can only make this situation worse.

Are there discussions to reallocate resources from parts of the county to cover infrastructure investments in Mason District?

There should be consideration for when a school has gone through a boundary change. Belvedere already had to go through this when Mason Crest opened.

Return 6th grade to elementary

I would like to see the 6th grade students at elementary schools. 6 grade is too young to be at the middle school.

I am not familiar with area. How do current proposals impact the demographics of each school?

Are we going to consider the equity between schools? Bailey’s Primary might have smaller population but we also got close to 70 newcomers K-2 in 2018-19 school year. Each of those newcomers are amazing but they needed a lot of support.

I’m wondering if/how the different option affects Bailey’s title 1 status.

Is this presentation available in Spanish and other languages?

The differences between Bailey’s primary and Bailey’s upper could quickly shift with any boundary changes.

Just curious about how sustainable this will be with the future projections, it appears that some of the other schools, in particular Baileys primary could reach over capacity as well.

Agreed with this, and how do the magnet and immersion #s get calculated?

Most of the elementary schools in the pyramid (not including Sleepy Hollow and Beech Tree, and Bailey’s upper) will be approaching or exceeding capacity in years to come, without modular. This should be considered in changes made.

How will the boundary shifts affect the magnet student opportunities for this half of FCPS?

On behalf of a Bailey’s parent: If their children are in SACC at Bailey’s will they go automatically be in the Sleepy SACC or will they need to apply. 2. The children are in Spanish Immersion, can they stay at Bailey’s Spanish Immersion or have to move?

How do changes made affect numbers being able to be accepted to Bailey’s immersion and magnet programs? In what ways are effects to these programs being considered?

Please keep in mind that Bailey’s will always be overcrowded due to the housing surrounding Bailey’s.

While Bailey’s Primary and Bailey’s Upper are two separate schools, it should also be seen as a single school community so creating a larger student population is not ideal for an elementary school.

I agree with this statement. There was a reason why they had to create a new school for Bailey’s Upper. At Bailey’s, we had over 1300 students when it was K-5.

How are future years projected? There are a ton of young pre-pre-K age kids in the Bailey’s zone as the zoning stands now.

Will magnet and immersion programs be impacted?

All options will present overcrowding to Parklawn.

Isn’t there any plans to build an extra school.

What was the methodology staff used to develop these options?

Have you considered making Bailey’s and Bailey’s Upper separate schools?

Our neighbors want to better understand how phasing would be implemented for families with younger siblings, rising K, etc.

Why not build a new school at Willston?

I was wondering something similar. This would alleviate a lot of the impact on students, families, programs, resources, etc. Especially when looking through the equity lens. Secondly, it would possibly prevent other schools in the pyramid exceeding capacity in the very near future.

How do the boundary changes affect acceptance numbers of out of boundary students in the special programs in Bailey’s (e.g. Magnet, immersion) and other schools (e.g. Belvedere AAP)?

The Justice Pyramid area appears to be reaching capacity at many elementary schools. What is the long term plan?

Can we stop busing to AAP? I think that would keep more kids at home schools and affect populations.

We get the magnet program at Bailey’s ES because we wanted to get language models at Bailey’s for our language learners. I’m concerned we are going backwards if the magnet program is going to be affected. The Bailey’s PTA worked very hard to be the first Title 1 magnet program at Bailey’s.

May 17, 2021

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Thank you to everyone who attended the community meetings about the proposed boundary adjustment for the elementary schools in the Justice High School pyramid.

Fairfax County Public Schools is working to address overcrowding in some of the elementary schools in the Justice High School pyramid. To reduce overcrowding, adjustments are made to school boundaries by assigning some students to different schools that have more room.

Information about the proposed boundary adjustment was presented at community meetings in March and April. Feedback was collected and was used to create the boundary adjustment options that would be considered.

On Thursday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m., the Superintendent will make a recommendation to the Fairfax County School Board to approve a boundary adjustment for the elementary schools in the Justice pyramid. The recommendation will be presented as new business. No vote will take place at this meeting.

On Tuesday, June 8 at 6:00 p.m., the School Board will hold a public hearing. Students, parents, staff and the community are invited to sign up to speak about the recommended boundary adjustment. The public hearing will take place at Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA 22042. 

The School Board will take action and vote on the proposal at its regular meeting scheduled on Thursday, June 17 at 7:00 p.m.

For more information about the proposal, please visit Proposed Boundary Adjustment for Elementary Schools in the Justice Pyramid. 

As a reminder, any approved boundary adjustment related to the elementary schools will not change the middle or high school boundaries.

Sincerely,

Fabio Zuluaga

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

On Tuesday, June 8 at 6:00 p.m. the Fairfax County School Board will hold a public hearing on the proposed boundary adjustment for the elementary schools in the Justice High School pyramid. Students, parents, staff and the community are invited to sign up to speak about the recommended boundary adjustment. The public hearing will take place at Jackson Middle School, 3020 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA 22042.

The School Board will take action and vote on the proposal at its regular meeting scheduled on Thursday, June 17 at 7:00 p.m.

For more information about the proposal, please visit Proposed Boundary Adjustment for Elementary Schools in the Justice Pyramid. 

As a reminder, any approved boundary adjustment related to the elementary schools will not change the middle or high school boundaries.

Sincerely,

Fabio Zuluaga

Region 2 Assistant Superintendent