Moving the only Title I school (Timber Lane) out of the McLean pyramid is not equitable: The current scenarios reinforce a growing class disparity within Fairfax County, as our elementary school is the only Title I school within the McLean pyramid. Retaining Timber Lane Elementary School (TLES) within the McLean pyramid provides opportunity for Title I children to access a high-performing school while enriching the McLean High School (MHS) student body. This shift is counter to the objectives outlined in the School Board Boundary Change Policy 8130.8 which stresses that boundary decisions should seek to ensure equitable access to educational programming. Student achievement data proves that low income students would be better served to remain at Longfellow (McLean): Reading: +24%, Math: +16%, Science: +21% (Link to comprehensive data and source information)
We have been misclassified as an “attendance island”: While we may appear isolated on a map, this is due to the proximity of Falls Church City (FCC) boundaries. This isolated view on the map was exacerbated when Fairfax County sold a sliver of land to FCC in 2014 (link). Bridging this “attendance island” does not solve any significant transportation or logistics challenges. Moreover, the proposed boundary change to FCHS and LJMS doesn’t meaningfully account for the “man made barriers” of Hwy 29 and Rt 50 (required per policy P8130.8). Although the proposed scenarios appear geographically cohesive on a map, they risk transforming our neighborhood from a currently misclassified “attendance island”—without any of its typical drawbacks—into a true one in principle. This shift most certainly carries the potential negative consequence, as noted by the FCPS Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee of hindering the development of a strong sense of community. (link)
This change has negative impacts on the safety of our children: As mentioned above, assigning our students to Falls Church High School would require students to cross TWO high speed major highways (Hwy 29 and Rt 50) vs one (Rt 7) which has a reduced speed limit (25 mph on Broad & Shreve Rd.)
- Rt 50 Speed Limit: 45
- Hwy 29 (Lee Hwy) Speed Limit: 40
- Rt 7 (Broad Street) Speed Limit: 25
The data proves that roads and routes to FCHS and LJMS are more dangerous, having more than twice as many accidents and injures (Link to analysis and sources):
- En Route to Longfellow/McLean: Route 7, between West and Shreve, as the two primary neighborhood exits to cross Rt. 7: 10 total accidents, 6 with injuries
- En route to Luther Jackson: 29 between Woodley and gallows, gallows between 29 and 50: 37 accidents, 11 with injuries
- En route to Falls Church High School: 29 between Woodley and Fairview Park, 50 between graham and Fairview park: 39 accidents, 14 with injuries
School Zone Accidents: McLean: 0; Longfellow: 2 (no injuries); LJMS: 2 (with injuries); Falls Church High School: 7 total, 2 with injuries
This proposed change will leave a meaningful group of students more isolated than ever: This proposed change is especially disruptive for a cohort of young students: those children in 3rd through 6th grade and currently receive Level IV AAP services at Haycock Elementary. If this proposal is adopted, we understand those children will instead need to travel to Mantua Elementary for Level IV AAP center services. This more than doubles the commuting distance and time — 5.5 vs. 2.1 miles and runs explicitly counter to several of the School Board’s stated goals. Even more concerning, students from this zone who already have received Level IV services at Haycock Elementary will be orphaned: proceeding to middle school with virtually no cohort continuity.
There will be a drastic loss of community cohesion: Reassigning our neighborhood to Falls Church High School separates us from our long-standing connections with the Haycock, Longfellow, and McLean communities. Our children participate in joint AAP programs, extracurricular activities, and sports with these schools. This change undermines the committee’s stated goal of preserving community integrity.
It appears, based on previously released data/maps, our neighborhood boundary could remain unchanged without putting McLean or Longfellow above 105% enrollment: (105% is the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) defined threshold for ‘overcrowded’) Prior to the release of the ‘Boundary Explorer Tool’ the Superintendent Boundary Review Advisory Committee Presentations did not move our neighborhood and concluded on slide 19 of the 5-5-2025 presentation that McLean overcrowding was brought within 105% capacity via adjustments in the “split feeders” and “boundary Island” adjustments from previous presentations. What happened between the release of the presentations and the release of the ‘boundary explorer tool’? What prompted this seemingly unnecessary change?
Related note: the FY26-30 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) projects year-over-year declines system wide as well as in the McLean pyramid, meaning capacity challenges at McLean have hit a “high water mark” and are easing. (The CIP was released in JAN 2026, it doesn’t take into account region uncertainty and potential economic hardship related to DOGE related layoffs/contract cancellations. It is likely that this could further reduce enrollment as former Feds leave the area…)
The proposed scenarios from the Boundary Explorer Tool don’t resolve overcrowding, just shifts it: The proposed scenarios may help alleviate enrollment capacity challenges at McLean, but it creates them at Luther Jackson Middle School (LJMS). LJMS will at 103% capacity under the proposed scenarios! just 2% from the “red line” of 105% capacity (Schools with an enrollment of 105% or more are outlined by the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) as being ‘overcrowded”)
Access to programming between the schools is not equitable: Programs at FCHS do not match what is offered at MHS:
- McLean offers 37 sports teams, FCHS has 24
- McLean has 39 AP courses, FCHS has 28
- McLean offers 102 established clubs, FCHS has 45
The current proposal retains and even creates new split feeders: If other elementary schools are permitted to remain split feeders, why can’t Timber Lane do the same? The Timber Lane split feeder is not severely unbalanced, it has historically had close to a 60/40 split between McLean High School and Falls Church High School. The Boundary Review Committee, as noted on the boundary website, was specifically targeting those schools “where less than 25% of students from a lower school (elementary or middle school) are split off to a different upper-level school (middle or high).” Timber Lane does not and has not historically fallen in that 25% range.
There is a lack of consideration for other scenarios: Why were Kilmer Middle School and Marshall High School not included in the proposed scenarios? Given the proximity of our neighborhood to residential borders of the Marshall High School Pyramid, this seems like a logical and feasible alternative scenario if one must be considered (To be clear – we want to stay at McLean and Longfellow with our established school community). Our neighborhood shares about 1.5 miles of Hwy 29 (Lee Highway) with the current Falls Church High School boundary. Of that 1.5 miles, all but a tenth of a mile is commercial property on the south side. Children don’t build communities across four lane highways, especially when the vast majority is commercial. There should be a scenario where this is ‘in play’ – why was our community not given meaningful alternatives to provide feedback on? (History lesson: before our neighborhood was zoned to McLean, it was zoned to Marshall. FCHS has never made sense!)
The whole region is undergoing a radical change, now is not the time for a boundary study: Due to the reduction of the federal government, many of our neighbors have lost jobs and millions of dollars of economic activity have been eliminated. Until we understand the impacts to the enrollment in FCPS – and the revenue impacts – it’s simply not the time for redrawing the map. There’s enough disruption at the moment – let’s not add our schools to the churn.
Our shift was sudden and not in the previous slides/proposals: During the most recent Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee meetings, presentation materials clearly indicated our neighborhood remained zoned for Longfellow and McLean. However, on Thursday, May 15, when the boundary tool was published on the FCPS website, our neighborhood appeared to have been reassigned to Jackson and Falls Church. What prompted this abrupt change?
Redundancy of Review! McLean pyramid was just adjusted: A McLean pyramid boundary review was conducted in 2021. Why is this issue being revisited so soon?