A crowd of students, parents and community members dressed in red and white gathered around the entrance of Luther Jackson Middle School on July 11 to rally against the staff recommendation of redistricting their neighborhoods to schools other than AHS. Most were from the Wakefield Chapel neighborhood, just west of the I-495 beltway. However, some came from the Bren Mar and Parklawn neighborhoods, and even neighborhood not at risk of being redistricted such as North Springfield.

It was PTSA president Emily Slough’s idea to organize the rally in support of AHS. Many AHS students showed up, but a lot of middle school students concerned about their own high school futures came in support. The main concern was that “with the recommendation, AHS will change dramatically,” Kathy Ryan, who has a daughter attending AHS, said. “The balance will shift and the diversity that we celebrate and are a part of will change.”

People from Wakefield Chapel did not want their children at Wakefield Elementary School to move from the Wakefield-Poe-Annandale triangle and be redistricted to attend Frost Middle School and Woodson High School. Although Woodson is currently underutlized and AHS has exceeded its design capacity by almost 500 students. The reason the parents and students are so keen on staying at AHS even though Woodson reportedly has higher test scores is the diversity AHS has to offer.

“AHS has so much diversity and it’s something FCPS should be celebrating, not compromising,” rising eighth grader Molly Gormley, who attends Poe Middle School, said.

At about 6 p.m. the public hearing began and the protesters filed into the auditorium before the school board members, headed by Chairman Kathy L. Smith. Each speaker was given three minutes to speak, and there were 92 registered speakers, so the event dragged on well into the night. Speakers ranged from second graders to community members who had graduated from AHS almost 30 years ago.

The option of redistricting Wakefield Chapel students to Woodson was met with strong opposition from many of the speakers. “I had an amazing ride at AHS, and [redistricting] will split up my family,” AHS sophomore Megan Ryan said. “The sports teams, academics, and arts will also change drastically.”

Many families take pride in having many generations of AHS graduates, and this was just one of the many reasons for them wishing to stay at AHS. One speaker mentioned a top-ten list of why he felt AHS was a better school for him than Woodson. “The IB program is important, so we need to stay at AHS; we grew up with AHS part of our lives; the diversity is important; and our parents and siblings graduated from AHS.”

Some people, however, found it illogical to keep students at overcrowded AHS when there is room for them at Woodson. “People need to adapt to change to combat the overcrowding at AHS,” one speaker said. “Change is a part of life and new friends will be made.”

“AHS has too many people, Woodson doesn’t have enough, and Frost is there in the middle to help,” Wakefield Chapel resident Robert Taylor said.

Kathy Ryan expressed that while overcrowding is a problem, she is an advocate for “smart change” in order to keep the integrity of AHS. “The diveristy of AHS is additional learning for my children since there is no clear majority [at AHS],” she said.

The neighborhood of Wakefield Chapel has been battling redistricting from AHS for almost 40 years, even though it is only 2 miles away from the school, while some students that live 6 or 7 miles away from AHS still attend.

Furthermore, according to Slough “there will only be a two percent change in AHS if Wakefield Chapel is moved, and Frost will [grow to be] overcrowded by 123 percent by 2016.

[AHS] reflects the global world in which we live, don’t compromise it,” Slough said. “There are more important things than test scores and increasing home value.”

“No test score can measure the learning and understanding” that comes from the diversity at AHS, speaker Ellen Roland said.

The supporters of AHS generally agreed that Option One proposed by the school board in May was the most reasonable. The option would move the Bren Mar Park students to Edison HS, with the intention of moving the least amount of students possible. This option also received the highest ratings in a survey conducted by the school board.

The final decision will be made by the school board on July 28, but until then, the AHS community members are doing their best to ensure the redistricting of the least amount of students from AHS as possible.