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Students speak: Build western high school now
The worst part of the day is getting through the halls between classes.
Or maybe it's how hungry they get before the fourth lunch period at 1:40 in the afternoon.
Or maybe it's worrying about trying out for a spot on the travel basketball team as one student in an oversized seventh-grade class.
PUGAMP, the bone of contention between county and the Town of Purcellville, isn't even on the radar screen for the students who will wait at least two more years – that's the best-case scenario -- for a new high school to open in western Loudoun.
Getting through the hallways at Loudoun Valley High School is a huge blip on that radar.
PUGAMP is the Purcellville Urban Growth Area Management Plan. The town and county are in a tussle, with the courts' help, to nail down the meaning of "joint planning." Until they get it solved, no new high school.
Each delay is a long one to the 2,500 teenagers in the western part of the county who will be looking for a seat in a high school, or the 2,000 more who will be enrolled in a middle school in fall 2010.
For Harmony Intermediate School ninth-grader Chris Mao, it means he frequently can't ask his biology teacher a question at the end of class. A lot of his classmates are waiting to ask their questions, and he has five minutes to make it through jam-packed halls to his next class.
He likes Harmony, Chris said. But "lunches are pretty late and you can get really hungry in class."
Crowded hallways get the most complaints from frustrated students at Valley, Harmony and Blue Ridge Middle School.
Blue Ridge seventh-grader Halle Lynch confessed she and her friends "dodge" through the crowded halls as a game.
"The foreign language hallway is the most difficult," said Valley junior Kaitlin Bledsoe. "Everyone is supposed to walk on the right side, but they don't, and they try to push their way through. It's hard to get to class on time with all the pushing and shoving."
At least, Kaitlin said, the teachers understand she doesn't always have time to stop at the office or the restroom as she changes classes. They are generous with passes.
But she has to shuttle to Harmony for her German I class – all the first-year foreign language students do that, she said – and that can lead to more problems. A mix-up over which school was on which schedule left her with a 10-minute German class one day.
Justin Londosky, a ninth-grader at Harmony, said he does not feel like a Loudoun Valley Viking. "I heard they have pep rallies before games," he said.
"Harmony is a good school," Justin said. "But there are too many kids trying out for things. Even if you get on a team, you might not get to play."
"Build the new high school," said Kaitlin's eighth-grade sister Kelsey. "The ninth grade can get back into the high school, and it will be less crowded."
Contact the reporter at ssollinger@timespapers.com.
It is a sad day for Loudoun County when a Dog Park can get approval yet there is still bickering over a high school that was needed years ago. Regardless of the growth prospect, you have children that require and education NOW. Why isn't Purcellville/Loudoun taking care of it's children? It's a shame that 9th graders can't participate with their classmates, that's part of the high-school spirit. Get a grip Loudoun/Purcellville - your children need a facility and they need it NOW.
Posted by GlamRox
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The ONLY fiscally responsible thing for BOS members to do is accept the Town’s latest plea (dated 30Sep08) to settle the HS-3 litigation. To see the additional concessions they have made, see their letter at
http://smalltownschools.googlegroups....
Immediate settlement will finally allow this project to begin and end the County's collosal waste of Loudoun taxpayers limited funds on legal fees and project delays.
Posted by smalltownschools
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