FCPS - Department of Facilities and Transportation Services-Facilities Planning Services-West County Boundary Study

Select a frequently asked question, and you will be directed to the answer. Please check back for updates, as additional information will be posted.

Question: What are the schools involved in the study?

Answer: Herndon HS, South Lakes HS, Westfield HS, Chantilly HS and Oakton HS.

Also included are the Madison High School attendance “island” north of the Dulles Airport Access Road and those elementary and middle schools serving the Madison High School attendance “island”. These schools are Wolftrap Elementary and Thoreau Middle School. Potential receiving schools for the attendance island are Sunrise Valley Elementary, Hughes Middle, and South Lakes High School. With the exception of the Madison “island”, elementary and middle school boundaries are not included in this study. Likewise, the remaining attendance area assigned to Madison High School is not included.

Question: What are the dates for the Town Meetings and School Board Hearings?

Answer: Please see below dates/times/locations.

Town Meetings:
November 12 Chantilly HS Gymnasium 7:30 pm
December 3 Westfield HS Gymnasium 7:30 pm
December 19 Oakton HS Auditorium 7:30 pm

School Board:
January 10, 2008, Staff recommendation to the School Board
January 30 & 31, 2008, Public Hearings
February 28, 2008, Board Action on Boundary Studies

Question: What School Board policy and regulations guide the conduct and implementation of a boundary study?

Answer: Policy 8130.5 and Regulation 8130.5.

Question: What authorizes the School Board to conduct and implement boundary studies and changes to attendance areas?

Answer: The School Board is empowered by the Code of Virginia: Section 22.1-79 (4) to undertake boundary studies as one of many School Board functions related to maintaining and furthering the quality of education that Fairfax County Public Schools provide. School Board policy and regulation ensures full public access to the process, encourages participation, and strongly considers public comment in the decision making process.

Question: Why is the School Board undertaking the West County Boundary Study now?

Answer: A goal in any boundary study is to provide a balanced enrollment, unique to a school’s capacity and programs, in order to enhance the learning environment and instructional effectiveness. When the Board established the scope of the boundary study in July, 2007, the following information was considered:

Question: Of the factors being considered for the boundary change, what are the most and least important? Why and what reasons are given for the weightings?

Answer: When the School Board authorized the scope for a west county boundary study, the focus was on providing academic and extra curricular choices and opportunities for all students. Four major considerations were listed as a starting point in the discussion:

The purpose of the town meetings, especially the first one, is for staff and the School Board to listen and understand what the community believes to be the most important criteria to be considered such as:

Although guided by School Board policy and regulation, each boundary study is a unique event based on the citizen input which is the key to establishing the criteria and priorities.

Question: Why is a major boundary study being conducted after School Board elections?

Answer: The timing and calendar for all boundary studies is guided by established School Board Policy and Regulation 8130.5. Each fall, current year enrollment data are gathered and one year and five year membership projections are updated as part of the yearly Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Boundary studies also begin at this time in order to rely on the most current information for the study and not outdated information that is a year old. It is not until the fall of each school year that new school enrollment information is gathered so that projections can be revised for the next five years. The fact that 2007 is an election year does not change school policy, regulation or the timing of a boundary process.

It should be noted that the town meetings scheduled for November and December are not public hearings. The town meetings are intended to inform the public about the issues and seek input from the people who may potentially be impacted by the changes to attendance areas. Under the town meeting process, school planning staff uses the information provided by public input from town meetings to develop possible scenarios for changing school boundaries. The School Board public hearings will be conducted after the elections on January 30 and 31 with Board action scheduled on February 28, 2007. Therefore, no action will be taken on any boundary change until after the November elections. The timing and calendar for the boundary study complies with School Board policy and regulation and is consistent with other boundary studies that have been conducted.

Question: What about phasing and minimizing disruption to students already attending their assigned school?

Answer: In accordance with Policy 8130.5, the School Board has discretion to determine the phasing for any proposed boundary changed. Typically, the School Board would make a determination on phasing or ‘grandfathering’ at the end of the process, after new boundary recommendations have been presented to the Board. Before making any final decisions on phasing, the Board listens to the potentially affected communities, and then makes a decision. However, the Board always would allow rising seniors to graduate with their class. In the most recent boundary study accomplished last year for South County High School, the Board phased in the change to begin with rising freshman which meant no disruption to students who were already attending that high school. Phasing for each boundary study is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Question: Why is there a building addition for Langley High School? Why isn’t Langley High School included in the scope of the West County Boundary Study?

Answer: Since 2005, the School Board has indicated a need to review boundaries in the western portion of the county, using space available at South Lakes High and, potentially, to a lesser extent, Herndon High School, to address facility and program issues at two very large high schools, Westfield and Chantilly. Westfield currently has over 3100 students and Chantilly currently serves over 2800 students. Moving students from Langley to Herndon or South Lakes would reduce the available capacity at these schools needed to address the more pressing enrollment/program issues at Westfield and Chantilly, especially when the basic general education, special needs students, and program resource capacity needs at Langley could be addressed with the building addition at Langley. School Board policy also discourages the creation of small split-feeder school boundaries wherever possible. The Langley attendance area includes neighborhoods in the north Reston and Herndon areas with students that feed into Forestville Elementary and Cooper Middle School. Including Langley HS in the study with the potential to send students currently in the Langley feeder pyramid to a different high school would create that type of split-feeder situation.

Langley High School is the smallest high school building in FCPS, having only 233,345 square feet (sf). The size for all other high schools ranges from 265,000 up to 450,000 sf. Due to its size, Langley has lacked many of the resource rooms and support areas available in new or renovated schools. The addition at Langley will provide general education classrooms and some of the resource and support space including a digital photo lab, wireless laptop lab space, teacher workrooms, storage areas and restrooms. The addition will increase Langley’s capacity to 2100 students. This capacity is very much in line with the School Board’s recently affirmed policy that states that an ideal capacity for new high schools would be 2000 students.

With the building addition, Langley will be able to accommodate its projected enrollment of up to 2080 students over the next five years. The enrollment for Langley includes approximately 132 students with some form of disability requiring special education services. These students are generally in classes that have significantly lower pupil teacher ratios than the general education program.

The statement in the FY 2008-2012 CIP regarding the inability of schools adjacent to Langley to solve the Langley overcrowding issue is confusing if not taken in context with the larger west county study. While not clearly articulated, the statement was made in light of the fact that a boundary study would likely be undertaken based on the availability of capacity at South Lakes and Herndon to solve the Westfield/Chantilly problem. The potential for this study is noted in the Cluster I and Cluster VIII Summary of Capital Improvement Recommendations contained in the CIP.

Capacity accommodation for all schools is reviewed yearly as a part of the CIP development process. Generally, a boundary adjustment for a school would only be considered after it has been determined that other capacity accommodations such as trailers, modular additions, or program adjustments are not appropriate.

Question: Why did the School Board approve and fund a significant expansion of South Lakes High School?

Answer: The School Board did not approve an expansion to South Lakes: the Board approved a renovation. When completed, the capacity for South Lakes will be slightly reduced from 2150 to 2100 as reported in the 2008-20012 CIP. The South Lakes High School renovation planning funds were approved in the 1999 Bond Referendum with construction funding approved in the 2003 Bond Referendum. South Lakes High School was originally built in1978 and this is the first major renovation project for the school.

Question: Why are there only three town meetings on the boundary study, and what has the School Board done to enhance citizen participation in this issue?

Answer: School Board Policy and Regulation 8130 provides the guidance for the conduct and content of town meetings. The town meeting process is structured to provide significant opportunity for all citizens participating in the town meeting process to be heard. After each town meeting general session, citizens are randomly assigned a classroom with 20-25 others community members; a trained facilitator is provided to ensure that all points of view get expressed and objectively recorded. Comments are reported out the night of the town meeting and are transcribed and posted in the following days to the FCPS boundary web site. With each of the successive two meetings, participants respond to proposals with comments, suggestions, and alternatives which are similarly recorded, reported, transcribed and posted to the web site. Once staff has provided a final recommendation to the School Board, public hearings are then conducted, providing another opportunity for public input and submitting items for the record such as petitions, letters, etc. While the Board considered establishment of intermediary citizen groups such as a boundary task force, it was felt that creating another layer between the community and staff and/or the Board would not enhance citizen input.

Question: Why isn’t all of Madison High School included in the Boundary Study?

Answer: The impetus for this boundary study is reducing the programmatic impacts of significant over enrollment at Chantilly and Westfield High Schools and under enrollment at South Lakes High School. Herndon was included in the study as it has some excess capacity available which could provide flexibility to move students into and/or out of that school’s attendance area as part of the overall boundary solution. Oakton High School was included as its boundary extends between Chantilly and South Lakes High Schools and provides flexibility to potentially shift students into and/or out of that attendance as part of a boundary solution.

Although the Madison High School attendance area shares a significant boundary line with South Lakes High School, the capacity of Madison at 1875 students and the projected 2011 enrollment of 1895 indicate there are no significant enrollment imbalances. Madison does have an attendance area “island” that is not contiguous to the rest of the school’s attendance area. This island is assigned to overcrowded schools at the elementary and middle schools that are long distances from the island. Because of this overcrowding and the School Board’s direction to eliminate attendance area islands when possible, the attendance area island portion of the Madison High, Thoreau Middle and Wolftrap Elementary boundary was included for review in this study.

The scope of this study includes only those schools necessary to address the enrollment imbalances at Chantilly, Westfield and South Lakes High School and those required to address the Madison “island”. It is noted that enrollment and capacity at Oakton High School are not significantly out of balance, however; the Oakton High School attendance area is situated between the Chantilly and South Lakes High School attendance areas. Including Oakton High School provides some flexibility with respect to transportation and boundary options if there is a recommendation to shift students to from Chantilly to Oakton, or Oakton students to South Lakes or Westfield.

Question: Why did FCPS build an addition to Westfield to accommodate 3000+ students only to determine that now the school is over enrolled?

Answer: The decision to add classrooms at Westfield was made for several reasons. The overcrowding at Westfield has been significant for a number of years, requiring the use of numerous temporary classroom trailers; even with the addition completed, the school still requires temporary classrooms to accommodate its enrollment. Although a boundary adjustment will help reduce this overcrowding, it is unlikely the adjustment will immediately reduce enrollment below Westfield’s original design capacity of 2500 students, thus requiring the added classrooms. An additional consideration is FCPS’ desire to establish a regional consortium of specialized and advanced high school courses and programs that were previously exclusive to centralized academies. This approach will allow FCPS to offer advanced academy-level programs at groups of high schools serving regions of the county rather than at specific schools serving the entire county. The consortium approach will reduce the travel time and distance and consequently the amount of lost instructional time for students enrolled in the academy programs. It should be noted that the renovation of South Lakes High School included specific facilities to support the implementation of this consortium concept and these specialized courses.

Question: Why has the overall population of South Lakes High School declined?

Answer: Like many communities in Fairfax County, school enrollment in the South Lakes area has declined as the community aged. A goal of the countywide high and middle school boundary study conducted in the mid 1980’s was to move enrollment from newly developed areas in the western portion of the county, to schools serving older communities in the east where enrollment had declined and school capacity was available. Many of the high school boundaries in existence today reflect the changes made in the 1980’s to use this available capacity. Examples are the Oakton High attendance area which extends several miles to the west of the school site; likewise, the Marshall and McLean High School attendance areas stretch several miles to the west along Leesburg Pike. At the time of the countywide study, the South Lakes High School and Hughes Middle School attendance areas were the only ones not adjusted. The attendance areas for these schools were very compact, and the area they served was fairly new and yielding enough students to keep both schools at capacity.

During the 20 plus years since that study, the South Lakes community has aged and is experiencing an enrollment decline similar to what occurred in other areas of the county in the past. It should be noted that in the late 1980’s, the School Board adjusted the South Lakes High School attendance area from the Dulles Area Access Road to Baron Cameron Avenue to address declining enrollment brought about by changing demographics. There have been no significant adjustments to the South Lakes High School attendance area since that time. The current boundary study is being undertaken in part for the same reasons. In recent years new development in the Reston area has consisted primarily of high density residential development in mid-and high-rise structures that generate far fewer school children than new single family and townhouse developments.

Question: Why not establish an academically selective magnet school similar to Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology at South Lakes High School to service the western portion of the County?

Answer: In addition to the increased operational cost of establishing another Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), there are also facilities considerations. The current TJHSST occupies a conventional high school building, previously Thomas Jefferson High School, which was closed to allow the entire building to be converted to house TJHSST. The TJHSST program requires significantly more capacity and square footage for laboratory space than a typical high school. Consequently, the operating capacity of the existing building was reduced to accommodate the lab space. There is not enough capacity available in the western county schools to absorb high school enrollment with one less building (if South Lakes were closed and converted to a TJHSST), nor is there sufficient capacity available at South Lakes to operate two high schools in one building.

For the past 20 years, the School Board has not been persuaded to create any more magnet high schools like TJHSST. At issue is a concern about draining high-achieving students from neighborhood schools rather than serving these students with challenging curricula in their base schools. The recent renovation of South Lakes includes space to support the implementation of planned new programming for advanced high school courses focusing on math, science and engineering, as well as an "academy" program in culinary arts; these focused programs would be in addition to the current International Baccalaureate program offered at South Lakes. Any attendance area recommendations for South Lakes High will include consideration of the additional enrollment the academy program may generate.

Question: Why is there no public input when establishing the scope of a boundary study?

Answer: The State Code requires a School Board to conduct a public hearing before acting on a student reassignment plan (boundary change); it does not require a public hearing to determine what schools should be studied for potential boundary adjustments. However, the School Board and staff received significant input from the community prior to deciding on the scope of this study. Parents brought the need for a west county boundary study to the attention of School Board members and FCPS staff at numerous public meetings over the last several years. Approximately two years ago, the School Board announced their decision to conduct a boundary study that would coincide with the completion of the South Lakes High School renovation in 2008. Since that time, the study has been discussed with the community at many school events and community meetings and has been referenced generally in the CIP and in school impact reports which provide FCPS comment on new residential rezonings.

The staff recommendation and School Board discussion regarding the scope of the study took place at a regularly scheduled School Board work session that was open to the public. The staff recommendation presented at that work session was available on the FCPS web site before the work session. It should also be noted there will be several Town Meetings this fall where the staff and community will work together to develop a boundary recommendation to be presented to the School Board in January 2008. The School Board will hold public hearings on that recommendation before making a decision in February 2008.

Question: Does South Lakes High School offer Advanced Placement (AP) classes? If not, will my student have any option to take AP classes in another school?

Answer: South Lakes High school is one of 8 high schools throughout Fairfax County that offers an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. At present, South Lakes does not offer any AP classes; however, they are exploring ways in which they can offer AP courses online or prepare students to take AP exams along with IB exams in selected courses as occurs in other IB schools. See question #4. Students that are re-assigned to South Lakes may request pupil placement to another school in order to enroll in AP classes, but are not guaranteed the school of their choice. Typically, students would be placed at the nearest school providing AP courses that can accommodate additional students. However, an initiative is underway to provide AP course offerings at South Lakes in addition to the IB program.

Question: How do the number of students graduating with IB or AP diplomas compare?

Answer: Comparing the number of IB diploma students with the number of AP diploma students is comparing apples and oranges. The differences between the two programs are significant. In fact, there is no AP diploma. The College Board, which administers AP exams, stopped offering an AP diploma four or five years ago. At that time, FCPS said it would continue recognizing students who take a specified number of AP courses and exams with an AP certificate. However, the requirements for the AP certificate are very different than the requirements for an IB diploma.

To earn an AP certificate from the Fairfax County Public Schools, a student must have taken an AP course in five different disciplines and make a score of not less than a three on each exam. Exams are evaluated and scored by AP examiners.

The International Baccalaureate Organization of North America oversees the IB diploma program in the U.S. In grades 9 and 10, students declare their intent to pursue an IB diploma. In grades 11 and 12 they complete a minimum of three higher level and three standard level courses and exams, a 4000 word essay (independent research), 50 hours in each of the following three areas: creativity, action, and service, and the Theory of Knowledge course. All exams, the 4000 word essay, and the 50 hours are evaluated and scored by IB examiners.

Students receive AP and IB exam results, and notification of earning an AP certificate or an IB diploma during the summer after their graduation.

Question: May students take an AP course online if they are at an IB school? If so, what costs are involved and who pays for the cost?

Answer: Any FCPS student may enroll in an AP course online. If the course is a part of the student’s 7-course schedule, there is no cost involved. If the AP online course exceeds the course complement (for example a high school student already taking 7 courses at a local high school decides to add an online campus course), a fee of $270 per semester course or, $540 per year-long course will be applied.

Question: Is it possible for students taking selected IB course to be prepared for the corresponding AP exam? Who pays for the AP exam? How much? Can you identify courses this works well for?

Answer: In some cases a student will be prepared for the AP exam, although the types of questions and some topics might differ. FCPS pays for all examinations in AP or IB courses; however, if a student chooses to take an additional or alternative exam, the fee of $84 (2007) is the student’s responsibility. Students in IB English A1, both in the junior and senior year, have had success on the AP Literature exam. Students in IB world language have also had success on AP language examinations. In other courses such as IB History of the Americas and IB Psychology, students have done well with a little extra study or assistance on the topics and types of questions that are not a part of the IB curriculum. In addition, students who complete IB Math HL I (first year) have done very well on the AP Calculus exam, especially BC Calculus. We would encourage any IB student interested in taking an AP examination to speak with the individual teacher for more specific information about the appropriateness and preparation for the AP exam. We also encourage students to use AP preparatory materials to be sure they understand the types of questions since they are often quite different than IB.

Question: Which Virginia universities provide credit for IB courses, which courses, and what are the criteria?

Answer: All Virginia universities provide credit for IB courses, although they do on different levels. Each school develops its own standards for college credit. There are two sources of information to determine the university recognition at an individual school; the most specific information is available on the university website. Often, the schools list the IB and AP acceptance together. In addition, IB lists a general description of the school’s recognition of IB examinations on their website – http://www.ibo.org/diploma/recognition/. Generalizing, most schools offer credit for HL courses in which a student receives a 5 or higher on the examination. In some cases, such as Virginia Tech, students who receive the diploma are awarded more credit than certificate students; in addition to the HL courses, they receive 3 credits for a “C” or better on their extended essay, 3 credits in philosophy for Theory of Knowledge (“C” or better), and credit for one SL course. As a sample of credits at the University of Virginia, students with a 5, 6, or 7 in the following IB courses receive the corresponding credit: Biology HL (6 credits); English A1 HL (3 credits); History HL (3 credits for a 6 and 6 credits for a 7); Mathematics HL (7 credits); Spanish B (3 credits for a 5 or 6). IB also considers university admission policy as part of the recognition of the program, and the percentage of students accepted into Virginia and most U.S. universities is consistently higher for IB diploma students than the general population.

Question: Do Virginia universities provide as much credit for IB course work as they do for AP course work?

Answer: Students who take an extensive program of studies of AP courses may have the potential of earning more credit since they can take AP examinations at the end of each year while IB HL courses are over 2 years. However, universities are continuing to recognize the IB program and have developed more equitable credit awards in the last 5 years. Students earning the full IB diploma have the potential of earning the greatest number of credits. However, it is important for parents and students to note that both the IB and the AP program prepare our students for success at the university level, and the greatest advantage for students taking advanced academic courses in high school is the high rate of success in college. A study done at a Midwestern university found that the greatest indicator of success at their university was the completion of the IB diploma.

Question: In order to participate in a full IB diploma program, do students need to have been enrolled in the MYP?

Answer: Each of the IB programs – Primary Years, Middle Years, and Diploma – are stand-alone programs, although they certainly build upon each other and use the same learner profile and have the same mission. However, a student need not be in MYP in order to have success in a diploma program. In fact, half of our IB high schools in FCPS do not have MYP feeder schools. Students in an MYP school have the advantage of being exposed to the inquiry-based, world-mindedness focus of the International Baccalaureate program.

Question: What are the requirements for the IBMYP certificate?

Answer: To be eligible to receive the IB MYP Certificate a student must:

Have participated in all 8 subjects of the MYP each year (50 hours per subject per year). At a minimum, student must participate for the last two years (9th and 10th grades) in the MYP.
Completed a Personal Project during their 10th grade year.
Be assessed in all 8 MYP Subjects and the Personal Project during their 10th grade year (using the IB MYP subject assessment criteria). The sum of all final marks in each subject and the Personal Project (1-7 points possible per subject) must be at least 36 points. (A maximum total of 63 points is possible.)
Participate successfully in the community service requirements (as established by the school) throughout their MYP years.
Be registered with the IB as a Certificate Candidate. This occurs in October of their 10th grade year, and can only occur in those MYP schools in which all the MYP Subjects are moderated (formally evaluated) by the IB.
Students must be academically on track to be able to be successfully assessed for the MYP Certificate. While this definition will differ among different programs, in our school this is defined as being, at a minimum, in Geometry and in the 3rd year of foreign language study.

Question: If a student wasn’t enrolled in an IB MYP middle school, is it still possible to earn the IB MYP Certificate?

Answer: A student needs to participate in at least the last 2 years of the program (9th and 10th grades). Students who transfer in to the high school from a non-MYP middle school are not, therefore, excluded from the MYP. Students must be academically on track by their 9th grade year (at least Algebra 1) and in the 2nd year of foreign language study. There are exceptions; for example, Hughes is expecting to offer students who enroll in Japanese 1 as 9th graders the opportunity to register for the MYP Certificate at what is known as the foundational level of language.

Question: What is the policy about optimal school size?

Answer: School Board Policy 8120.1 speaks to the preferred maximum sizes for new schools with a 2,000 student program capacity maximum for high schools. The policy which was adopted in 1986 was reviewed, corrected and reaffirmed by the Board on July 27, 2007. It is also noted that there was a study done in the mid-1980s to address declining enrollments at secondary schools in Fairfax County. This study may be found at: http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/ChangingEnrollmentTaskForceReportPhase II.pdf

Question: What is the impact on students when schools are under-enrolled?

Answer:

To increase their elective choices, students from smaller schools must travel to schools that offer academy and specialized courses.
Since overall enrollment determines overall staffing, smaller schools have to limit the number of electives offered. Schools that offer fewer elective courses have difficultly offering enough sections in particular courses to enable a teacher to work full-time at a particular school. This in turn creates a challenge to hire and retain the most desirable teachers since most teachers do not want to divide their time between two schools.
Schools that offer fewer elective courses have difficultly offering enough sections in particular courses to enable a teacher to work full-time at a particular school. This in turn creates a challenge to hire and retain the most desirable teachers since most teachers do not want to divide their time between two schools.
Smaller schools often have to combine upper level courses such as Latin 3, 4, and either IB or AP all in one class since the number of students who study at the higher levels is also smaller.
Smaller schools struggle to offer a wide range of AP or IB classes such as foreign language. Some smaller schools can only offer two or three languages instead of four or five. This could also be true for advanced level science. Upper level offerings could be limited to Biology and Chemistry forcing kids interested in Environmental Science or Physics to choose Chemistry or Biology.
Students also have difficulty making a schedule change due to an error or change of course. Small school schedules usually have many closed sections of several classes, limiting schedule change mobility.

Question: What is the impact on students when schools are over-enrolled?

Answer:

In over-enrolled schools there is greater competition for limited positions in extra-curricula clubs and activities. For example, in over-enrolled schools there are fewer opportunities for students to assume leadership positions, participate in school plays, yearbook, newspaper or literary magazine.
In a school with over 2,500 students, your odds of making the sports team are significantly lower than in a smaller school. Many more students are interested than are able to participate. It is also very difficult to find coaches for JV and freshmen teams.
Opportunities to participate in sports such as golf, volleyball, tennis and basketball are limited in a school that is over-enrolled.
Teams such as cross-country, field hockey, and football may not cut athletes but only the very best actually get the opportunity to play on the field during games. For example, there are 47 seniors on one high school’s football team, and fewer than half are starting.
Over-enrolled schools draw over capacity crowds for football games, raising safety concerns. For example, at the last Centreville/Westfield game there were over 8,000 people in a stadium that was built to hold 5,000. Obviously, this also poses parking and safety challenges.