Please advise!! (Annandale, Centreville, Chantilly: 2015, house, neighborhoods)

[maggi12]

We are planning to buy house in Sycamore Lake (20171). I wanted to find out about schools in this area. I know that the Elemetary school is Floris which is a very good school. However, I feel that the school may change to MCNair in the future.

Does anyone know about the re-districting of schools in this area? My son is 2 yrs old now. He still has 3 more yrs to go to Elementary school. My biggest fear is that school may change when he turns 5.

Any input will be helpful.

[liloulou]

I suggest you call the school board and ask when they might plan to redistrict next and if that boundary could be moved in the future. They may not know, but they might be able to offer some insight. They just went through redistricting last year or the year before so it may not come up again for a while. Call 'em.

[JD984]

People in the Floris area contend they have been redistricted more than just about any part of the county (in particular, there were neighborhoods that were redistricted from Oakton HS to Westfield HS a while back and then, in 2008, to South Lakes HS).

However, with the very recent opening of Coates ES (called "Coppermine ES" in the planning stages) north of Floris, it doesn't seem very likely that FCPS would turn around and redistrict Floris again soon. There are many other elementary schools in the county currently projected to be over-capacity by far larger percentages than Floris by 2015 (although FCPS has a way of adjusting those numbers when it wants to redistrict).

FYI - Here's the information on the Coppermine study, in case you're interested:

FCPS - Department of Facilities and Transportation Services - Facilities Planning Services-Coppermine ES Site Boundary Study

Hope this helps!

[JD984]

Originally Posted by liloulou

I suggest you call the school board and ask when they might plan to redistrict next and if that boundary could be moved in the future. They may not know, but they might be able to offer some insight. They just went through redistricting last year or the year before so it may not come up again for a while. Call 'em.

It's unlikely you'd get a straight answer unless you have a personal friendship with a School Board member or someone on the facilities staff like Denise James or Dean Tisdadt. Redistrictings usually rub someone the wrong way, so information about potential redistrictings tends not to be shared freely.

The two redistricting studies that I'm currently aware of are the Southwestern Regional study that would affect students in the Clifton/Centreville/Chantilly areas if Clifton ES is closed (rather than renovated), and an "Annandale Regional Study" to address continued overcrowding at Annandale HS. I don't think either would have an impact on Floris.

[liloulou]

I actually called for a different area before and the person I spoke with couldn't give me details but gave me great information on timing and potential boundary changes. Maybe it was just my luck... can't hurt to place a call.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by liloulou

I actually called for a different area before and the person I spoke with couldn't give me details but gave me great information on timing and potential boundary changes. Maybe it was just my luck... can't hurt to place a call.

Were you living in Fairfax or Loudoun at the time? If you called while living in 20151 in Fairfax, as you mentioned in another post, you actually might get some information, because there is an ongoing study (the Southwestern Regional study) that may affect schools in Chantilly, Centreville and Clifton, and the schools that are within the study's scope have already been identified. No one is going out on a limb if they share that information with someone on the phone.

I think it's less likely someone living in Floris would be told anything they could rely upon about potential changes that haven't previously been publicly disclosed. But, you're right - it's a local call and you never know what you might be told!

[liloulou]

I was actually calling about 20171 Fairfax Cnty. when I was looking at at a house that fell into Crossfield ES and I knew they had just redistricted in that area. Maybe they had some parameters to tell callers, don't know. And even if the OP does get information, you're right JEB77- if it isn't publicity disclosed- I'd take it with a grain of salt.

[maggi12]

Thankyou all for your replies. This helps a lot.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by maggi12

We are planning to buy house in Sycamore Lake (20171). I wanted to find out about schools in this area. I know that the Elemetary school is Floris which is a very good school. However, I feel that the school may change to MCNair in the future.

Does anyone know about the re-districting of schools in this area? My son is 2 yrs old now. He still has 3 more yrs to go to Elementary school. My biggest fear is that school may change when he turns 5.

Any input will be helpful.

It's really not possible to say. It seems that the school board frequently redistricts in that area due to growth but I don't think the area is growing like it was in the past.

I would not suggest calling the school board since they don't set boundaries. They only vote to approve them after the administrative staff has set the new boundaries. You could call the facilities staff. It can't hurt to ask because they do have population predictions for the out years. They predict when and where they will need new schools and that's the most common reason for redistricting. Remember though, they aren't always accurate with their predictions.

[normie]

Originally Posted by Denton56

It's really not possible to say. It seems that the school board frequently redistricts in that area due to growth but I don't think the area is growing like it was in the past.

I agree. They've done quite a bit in recent years but I think they're at a point where they won't need to do more for a long time.