I've mentioned it before, but I love new school talk. I love talking colors, mascots, classifications, boundaries, which schools are affected. And I also like seeing downstream effects on a local, regional, and state basis. Maybe that's the analytical side of me.
I came across this article which talks about the impacts of Skyview's opening (Fall 2026 for 9th and 10th graders). Now, they won't play football this year and it seems like they won't be playing a lot or even all VHSL sports for 2026-2027. I don't know what they will try to implement for 2027-2028 (where many kids will still be able to opt to attend their old or currently zoned high school), but I will say that whichever boundaries are chosen, they will be locked in starting at the 2028-2029 year (Year 2 of the next 4 Year VHSL Cycle (so Skyview's eventual district-mates better plan ahead on one-year non-district game contracts for 2027-2028...so if you're in Fairfax, tell your AD buddies to keep this in mind when it comes to scheduling).
Anyways, this was the line that jumped out at me the most.
"The superintendent’s recommended scenario would assign 333 Chantilly students, 384 South Lakes students and 1,062 Westfield students to Skyview High School, bringing the new site up to 89% capacity."
And with this, Westfield will drop to 72% capacity at 2030 students.
Now, it's Northern Virginia, and anyone who has driven Fairfax County Parkway and 28 up to Dulles Airport to take a flight recently can easily see that they are constantly building. One row of townhomes after another. Same with subdivisions. And the road work is really annoying as well.
So eventually, Westfield won't have a problem backfilling and getting back closer to capacity within a decade.
But losing over a quarter of the student population just has to suck for morale and atmosphere purposes on top of athlete availability. Anyone who has attended high school at a time when another high school has opened and the new place seized a sizable chunk of a school's student population or the population of multiple schools (and the teachers who want to go to the shiny new toy) knows how that's not fun.
Anyways, just something I thought I'd share.
www.ffxnow.com
I came across this article which talks about the impacts of Skyview's opening (Fall 2026 for 9th and 10th graders). Now, they won't play football this year and it seems like they won't be playing a lot or even all VHSL sports for 2026-2027. I don't know what they will try to implement for 2027-2028 (where many kids will still be able to opt to attend their old or currently zoned high school), but I will say that whichever boundaries are chosen, they will be locked in starting at the 2028-2029 year (Year 2 of the next 4 Year VHSL Cycle (so Skyview's eventual district-mates better plan ahead on one-year non-district game contracts for 2027-2028...so if you're in Fairfax, tell your AD buddies to keep this in mind when it comes to scheduling).
Anyways, this was the line that jumped out at me the most.
"The superintendent’s recommended scenario would assign 333 Chantilly students, 384 South Lakes students and 1,062 Westfield students to Skyview High School, bringing the new site up to 89% capacity."
And with this, Westfield will drop to 72% capacity at 2030 students.
Now, it's Northern Virginia, and anyone who has driven Fairfax County Parkway and 28 up to Dulles Airport to take a flight recently can easily see that they are constantly building. One row of townhomes after another. Same with subdivisions. And the road work is really annoying as well.
So eventually, Westfield won't have a problem backfilling and getting back closer to capacity within a decade.
But losing over a quarter of the student population just has to suck for morale and atmosphere purposes on top of athlete availability. Anyone who has attended high school at a time when another high school has opened and the new place seized a sizable chunk of a school's student population or the population of multiple schools (and the teachers who want to go to the shiny new toy) knows how that's not fun.
Anyways, just something I thought I'd share.
FCPS releases recommendation for Skyview High School boundaries | FFXnow
After four months of study and community meetings, Fairfax County Public Schools has unveiled Superintendent Michelle Reid's initial recommendation for Skyview High School's future attendance boundaries. Under Reid's proposal, which was publicly released last Thursday (July 2), the new public...
www.ffxnow.com
