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Fairfax County Public Schools is nearing the end of its first district-wide boundary overhaul in four decades, with Superintendent Michelle Reid recommending changes that would affect about 2,210 students across 52 schools.
Reid’s final proposal is scheduled for presentation to the Fairfax County School Board on Thursday, followed by a public hearing at Luther Jackson Middle School at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 10. The board is expected to vote Jan. 22.
The review began in fall 2024 with support from Thru Consultants after the board adopted a policy requiring division-wide boundary evaluations every five years.
FCPS says years of addressing crowding through individual boundary changes created a patchwork of split feeders and attendance islands. In the 2025-26 school year, 42 schools operate as split feeders across two school levels, affecting 18 of the district’s 24 high school pyramids. Those include 30 elementary schools feeding multiple middle schools, 33 feeding more than one high school and six middle schools divided among multiple high schools.
Another 22 schools have geographically disconnected attendance islands. Reid said recurring reviews should make the process of responding to crowding and changing facility needs clearer, more predictable and more equitable.
The recommended map would eliminate eight split feeders and four attendance islands, though several schools would remain crowded and more boundary studies are already planned.
Elementary school changes
Coates Elementary would send 108 students to McNair and McNair Upper, 65 to Floris and 190 to Herndon Elementary. Coates’ capacity use would fall from 137% to 86%, and middle- and high-school split feeders would be eliminated. Herndon Elementary, however, would rise above 100%.
Crossfield would send 12 students to Lees Corner, reducing its number of feeder middle schools from three to two.
Fort Belvoir Primary would reassign 19 students to Fort Belvoir Upper Elementary and Washington Mill.
Fort Hunt would send about 107 students to Mount Vernon Woods, eliminating an attendance island. Groveton would likewise eliminate an island by moving approximately 58 students to Hybla Valley.
A boundary involving what appears to be one house on Douglas Street would move from Hollin Meadows to Stratford Landing, but no current elementary students would be affected.
Some Keene Mill students would be assigned to Cardinal Forest and White Oaks, eliminating an attendance island and split feeders at both the middle- and high-school levels.
Olde Creek would send 53 students to Laurel Ridge, lowering its capacity use from 92% to 79% while eliminating an island and middle- and high-school split feeders.
Parklawn would reassign 78 students to Belvedere and 20 to Columbia. Its capacity utilization, including modular classrooms, would decline from 99% to 89%.
Riverside would move 35 students to Stratford Landing and 76 to Woodlawn, eliminating middle- and high-school split feeders.
Rolling Valley would send 48 students to Saratoga Elementary. Rolling Valley’s capacity use would fall from 99% to 90%, while Saratoga would increase to 84%.
Westbriar would move one area with fewer than 10 students to Colvin Run, eliminating a middle-school split feeder.
Middle school changes
Glasgow would reassign 67 students to Poe and 46 to Holmes. The change would also support the new full-time Advanced Academic Program Center approved for Poe.
Katherine Johnson would send two areas containing 23 current students to Rocky Run, resulting in a 2% capacity difference.
Kilmer would move the Wolf Trap area and a small portion of Vienna to Thoreau, affecting 172 students and eliminating a Vienna Elementary split feeder. Kilmer would fall from 118% capacity use to 101%, while Thoreau would rise from 91% to 103%.
Longfellow would reassign north-central Tysons to Cooper, affecting about 107 students. The move would eliminate a Longfellow attendance island and Spring Hill Elementary split feeder.
Sandburg would send an area with about 32 students to Whitman, reducing Sandburg’s capacity use.
High school changes
Fairfax High would move the Gates of Fair Lakes and Willow Oaks condominium communities to Chantilly, affecting 45 students and reducing Fairfax to 97% capacity. Chantilly would reach 112% even with modular classrooms.
Justice would send 101 students from part of West Falls Church to Falls Church High, eliminating a Mason Crest split feeder. About 60 Lake Barcroft-area students would move to Annandale High.
Marshall would reassign much of Wolf Trap and one Dunn Loring area to Madison, affecting 128 students and eliminating Wolftrap and Vienna elementary school split feeders. Town of Vienna students would remain at Madison, as requested by the Town Council.
McLean would send north-central Tysons to Langley, affecting 201 students and eliminating Spring Hill Elementary’s high-school split feeder. The move would ease recurring crowding at McLean but push Langley to 102% capacity use.
West Potomac would reassign one area with 54 students to Mount Vernon.
More boundary debates are coming
The recommendations would not eliminate any middle-to-high-school split feeders. FCPS and its consultant expect opportunities for progress when setting boundaries for the unnamed western high school scheduled to open this fall in the McNair area south of Herndon.
That upcoming study prompted FCPS to postpone adjustments involving Bull Run Elementary in Centreville. The Briarwood Trace and Briarwood Farms communities could be reconsidered in about two years after officials assess the new school’s effect on Oakton High enrollment.
Neighborhoods within the Gunston, Halley, Laurel Hill and Lorton Station elementary boundaries will also undergo review, with a recommendation due to the board by January 2027. Bren Mar Park Elementary’s middle- and high-school feeders are expected to be examined in approximately two years.
High school students in the Tysons Green community could receive a priority transfer option to Madison if they provide their own transportation. FCPS is also considering relocating Riverside Elementary’s AAP Center to Woodley Hills Elementary before the next redistricting review.
The board revised its phasing policy in July to permit grade-by-grade implementation. Students entering their final year at a school could remain there or transfer to their newly assigned school.
Whether FCPS should transport students who stay remains unsettled. Reid told the board Dec. 18 that serving students outside their newly assigned boundaries could require an estimated 57 additional buses over five years, costing more than $10.4 million.
Another proposal could bring further changes: establishing an AAP center in every middle school, potentially placing school boundaries back under review.