Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) officials are working to establish attendance boundaries for Skyview High School, the new school in the western part of the county.
Located in Herndon, the new school is scheduled to open for the 2026–2027 school year. For the first year, attendance includes the 1,000 ninth and 10th grade students who opted to attend Skyview.
The task now is to determine who attends the school beginning in the 2027–2028 school year. The Centreville, Chantilly, Oakton, South Lakes, and Westfield high school pyramids could be impacted.
The elementary and middle schools that feed into those schools will also be part of the review process. FCPS will seek to minimize split feeder patterns, which happen when students within one elementary or middle schools attend different high schools.
The school board held two community meetings last week to discuss early drafts of potential boundary scenarios. Families can see how the boundaries may affect them under three different scenarios posted in the Boundary Review Tool.
Under each scenario, the tool shows a map of each district and includes details on each school’s capacity, the utilization rate, and students’ average distance to school.
Draft Scenarios
- Scenario 1 aims to address “feeder coherence and overutilization.” It would move 12.8% of students, with 5.4% going to Skyview. It would decrease the number of split feeders from nine to five in the study area.
- Scenario 2, which aims to improve utilization and minimize disruption, would move the fewest students. It would have 9.9% of students reassigned, with 5% to Skyview.
- Scenario 3 has “greater near-term changes in exchange for thorough boundary alignment” and reduces the chances of future overcrowding due to development. It has the most students reassigned, 13.8%, with 4.8% going to Skyview. It would cut the number of split feeders to four.
FCPS will consider community feedback before presenting revisions in meetings on May 28 and 30. In June, the superintendent will present a final recommendation to the school board for a vote.
This process comes shortly after FCPS wrapped up its comprehensive boundary review, a process that took more than a year. It was the first comprehensive boundary change in nearly 40 years and targeted overcrowding, split feeders, and attendance islands within the district.
Feature image courtesy Donnie Biggs/FCPS
