Dear Oakton Community,

Welcome back from Spring Break!

The FCPS Boundary Review Committee is having a busy spring.  The Committee met on April 11 and is scheduled to meet again on April 25 and May 5. 

Recap from the April 11 meeting:

The April 25th meeting will focus on split feeders, or schools that feed into more than one school at the next level. Waples Mill is not a split feeder but Franklin MS is so it will be highlighted in Scenario 2. 

The county has said they plan to focus on feeders where less than 25% of students from a lower school are split off to a different upper-level school. All of Waples Mill (aside from AAP placements) go to Franklin MS and the vast majority of Franklin MS students go on to Oakton HS. By the county’s set criteria, Waples Mill students should continue to go on to Franklin and Oakton after the review process is complete. It is important we let the School Board know that 1) we understand their stated decision criteria will have the Waples-Franklin-Oakton community lines stay as is, 2) that is our preference, and 3) it would be unfair to make boundary modifications that don’t align with the county’s stated goals.

Please take the time to make sure your elected officials know how you feel about boundary changes.  

Our collective voice has pushed FCPS to provide more information about the process and acknowledge a need for more community input - the time you spend sending an email or making a phone call matters! Here is a link to contact information for key School Board members: https://weareoakton.org/county-officials

We will continue to send out updates as soon as they are available and encourage you to sign up for updates from FCPS and check the Boundary Review Committee Page for new information.

The Waples Mill Committee following this issue is happy to connect with any groups in the community who want to know more and/or who want to help. Please reach out to WMESBoundaryCommittee@gmail.com if you want to connect.

Thank you for your engagement,

Waples Mill Boundary Review Committee

Sign up for updates from the WM Boundary Review Committee here. 

 

Dear Oakton Community, 

 

The FCPS Boundary Review Advisory Committee met on Friday, April 25th and reviewed draft map changes that would fix split feeders, or those schools where fewer than 25% of students from a lower-level school are split off to a different upper-level school.

The consultants shared that the drafted recommendations are focused on resolving split feeders at the elementary school level. Waples Mill is not a split feeder.

The proposed maps from the April 25th meeting can be found here.

Boundaries for Waples Mill and Oakton High School are unaffected in the most recent maps. The makeup of Franklin Middle School’s district has changed slightly - but not for any Waples Mill students. A proposal to shift boundaries for two split feeder elementary schools (Cub Run and Oak Hill) will change the middle school for approximately 200 students currently at these elementary schools. 

The only proposed changes to High School Boundaries in this round of maps are for Annandale and Edison High Schools to address the split feeder issue at Holmes Middle School.

On May 5, the Committee will meet to review proposed changes based on school capacity. The changes being proposed are cumulative, meaning that as shifts have been made to Oakton (and neighboring schools) feeder schools, the projected capacity at Oakton may necessitate boundary adjustments. It is believed that the most significant boundary changes will be reflected in the maps proposed at the May 5th meeting. 

We will have an update out to the community as soon as possible after the May 5th meeting. You can also sign up for updates from FCPS and check the Boundary Review Committee Page for new information, which is typically posted on the Monday after the Committee meets.

The Waples Mill Committee following this issue is happy to connect with any groups in the community who want to know more and/or want to help. Please reach out to WMESBoundaryCommittee@gmail.com if you want to connect.

 

Thank you!

 

-Waples Mill Boundary Review Committee


Did someone forward you this email? Sign up for updates here.

 

 

Dear Oakton Community,

 

The FCPS Boundary Review Advisory Committee met on Monday, May 5 and reviewed draft map changes that would address capacity issues at schools across the county. These maps built on the previous two sets of maps that addressed attendance islands and split feeders.

 

You can view the most recent maps from the May 5th meeting here.

 

None of the schools in the Waples→Franklin→Oakton pyramid are over capacity and so minimal changes were made impacting the pyramid. Changes in the western part of the county will shift approximately 34 Chantilly HS students to Oakton.

 

According to the public facing schedule, this concludes the “Draft Scenario” portion of the Boundary Review.  Community meetings are scheduled to start on May 15 and go through June after which there will be updated scenarios and another round of community feedback. The final scenarios are expected at the end of the year with formal approval by the Board scheduled for Winter 2026.

 

While minimal changes to our school boundaries is fantastic news, there are still lingering questions and we recommend reaching out to your elected officials to share your thoughts and create pressure to provide answers. Some outstanding questions we have include:

 

 

  • The Superintendent announced in the BRAC update email that community meetings will start May 15 but no details have been provided. Is giving the community less than a week’s notice really engaging the community in good faith? Will there be a better virtual option this time? Many parents were locked out of attending virtually before.

 

 

 

  • Some of the proposed changes move fewer than 20 students. Is the disruption of moving students worth it for such a small overall change in school utilization?

 

 

 

  • What types of information or concerns will be factored into the updated scenarios?

 

 

 

  • When will a full map (not highlighted changes) be available to the public?

 

 

 

  • When will approved changes take effect?

 

 

 

  • Is going through this process every 5 years really necessary? This is a large expense that could be better spent on students and teachers and has created a considerable amount of stress in the community.

 

 

The best way to stay informed on when community meetings are happening is by signing up for updates from FCPS and checking the Boundary Review Committee Page. We will also update the community as information becomes available.

 

The Waples Mill Committee following this issue is happy to connect with any groups in the community who want to know more and/or want to help.

 

Please reach out to WMESBoundaryCommittee@gmail.com if you want to connect.

 

Additionally, sign up here to receive updates from the WMES PTA Boundary Change Committee.

 

Thank you!

 

Waples Mill Boundary Review Committee 

Make your voices heard!!!

We invite you to participate in a series of community meetings in order to review and reflect on the initial draft scenarios before the start of summer break. Another round of community meetings will be held in the fall.

 

As part of these community meetings, families, staff, and community members will be able to explore and visualize potential boundary scenarios using a customized Boundary Explorer Tool. The tool will also be accessible from our website.

 

Community Boundary Review Meetings - Phase 2  (Part 1)

 

 

 

 

Each meeting will be hybrid, meaning that you may attend in person or via Zoom. Childcare for in-person participants and language interpretation/translation for all participants will be available as needed.

 

Keep an eye out for meeting registration links from the Superintendent's Boundary Review Advisory Committee.

Dear Oakton Community,

 

The first Phase 2 Community Meeting of the FCPS Boundary Review Process was held tonight at Oakton High School. There were over 100 people in attendance in person and more than 300 participating virtually. The slides that were presented at the meeting can be found here.

 

FCPS and its hired consultants confirmed that the maps are not final and additional changes will be made over the summer. The next round of maps is due out in September.  An interactive tool was shared that allows you to see the current boundaries along with the first three scenario maps. There is a feature within the tool to tag specific areas and leave comments.

 

The September maps will be adjusted using feedback that is collected through the Phase 2 Community Meetings. At the end of each meeting, attendees are given a link to an anonymous feedback platform. This meeting-based feedback will be the basis for changes going forward so it is important our community’s views are incorporated into this formal process. FCPS officials and consultants did not take questions from meeting participants - the tool is the only way they are gathering feedback.

 

While many attendees at the Oakton meeting shared thoughts on specific boundary adjustments, there were far more comments about the impact of boundary changes generally - asking that FCPS grandfather students who have started at a school until they finish, engage directly with communities impacted by changes, address concerns about losing a place in SACC with a school change and generally providing feedback that a boundary review isn’t wanted or needed now. Per Policy 8130, this process will be repeated every five years so even if these issues don’t impact us now, they could in the future. This process is setting the tone for what will be considered in future boundary reviews. 

 

If you missed the May 15th meeting, there are still a number of opportunities to participate and all meetings include a virtual option. Please attend and provide comments which will formally guide the boundary review process.

The Waples Mill Committee following this issue is happy to connect with any groups in the community who want to know more and/or want to help. Please reach out to WMESBoundaryCommittee@gmail.com if you want to connect.

 

Thank you!

-Waples Mill Boundary Review Committee