Is it really worth it to pay a premium for a house in a top school pyramid?

[Anonymous]

We live in Alexandria where our son will attend Belle View Elementary, Carl Sandburg, and West Potomac. If you look strictly at test scores or the ratings on greatschools.org, the numbers aren't that great. That said, it seems to me that you pay a premium for houses in McLean H.S., Langley H.S., Madison H.S., and other "top" school pyramids. We're wondering if it's really worth it to pay that premium. We need to be closer in as we both work in DC, but I'm wondering if it's really worth paying $200K more for a house that is similar to ours, but in a better school pyramid. My husband and I emphasize education, so our son will have that going for him. I'm just wondering what others out there in the DC Urban Mom community think about when looking at school districts and how important the reputation of the schools are before you buy a house. Parents with older children, is being in a top school pyramid really worth it? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

yes factor in the difference between paying out of pocket for private and the more expensive home. Also as an investment your value will go up and hold better with good schools.

[Anonymous]

This is a complex question because there are many factors involved and schools (administration, zoning, etc) change. When I went to school in NOVA (a long time ago) my high school was considered one of the best in the state. Today, it is just middle of the pack. So, I tend to think that the school rating go through a cycle of highs and lows. I also would pay attention to actual reviews from parents/teachers and not just the greatschool number. Just because a school isn't rated the highest doesn't mean you "have" to send your children to private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in Alexandria where our son will attend Belle View Elementary, Carl Sandburg, and West Potomac. If you look strictly at test scores or the ratings on greatschools.org, the numbers aren't that great. That said, it seems to me that you pay a premium for houses in McLean H.S., Langley H.S., Madison H.S., and other "top" school pyramids. We're wondering if it's really worth it to pay that premium. We need to be closer in as we both work in DC, but I'm wondering if it's really worth paying $200K more for a house that is similar to ours, but in a better school pyramid. My husband and I emphasize education, so our son will have that going for him. I'm just wondering what others out there in the DC Urban Mom community think about when looking at school districts and how important the reputation of the schools are before you buy a house. Parents with older children, is being in a top school pyramid really worth it? Thanks in advance.

I didn't think the Belle View area was that far from DC. Realistically, it seems to me the only schools with better test scores than your pyramid potentially closer to DC are Yorktown, W-L, George Mason, and parts of the Langley, McLean and Marshall HS districts. I definitely would not move from where you are now just for the schools.

[Anonymous]

OP here - we're looking for a bigger house. I just used the size of our house as an example for how much more the houses cost in areas close-in with better school pyramids. And, for the record, we consider this part of Alexandria to be "close" to DC.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, buy in the best district you can afford that makes sense for your commute. The rest of it is just noise.

We bought as close to our commute midpoints as we could within our budget. The neighborhood has a well regarded elementary and middle school within walking distance. The high school (also walking distance) is middle of the pack for FCPS, but that is still pretty darn good. McLean and some of the other places with the better reputations made no sense for us commute-wise, and we couldn't have had a house with a yard there, anyway.

People get way too wrapped up in the "best of the best" here. A good student can do well at any FCPS school. The socioeconomics of the surrounding student body is the biggest difference among the schools, and in most cases, there is a high achieving, motivated group somewhere there. Just have your son involved in activities, get to know the other parents, etc. I grew up in a less affluent area, and still managed to do quite well in school as my parents were involved in my life. I never got in trouble and had a good group of friends.

The high-scoring schools have problems, too - just a different variety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, buy in the best district you can afford that makes sense for your commute. The rest of it is just noise.

We bought as close to our commute midpoints as we could within our budget. The neighborhood has a well regarded elementary and middle school within walking distance. The high school (also walking distance) is middle of the pack for FCPS, but that is still pretty darn good. McLean and some of the other places with the better reputations made no sense for us commute-wise, and we couldn't have had a house with a yard there, anyway.

People get way too wrapped up in the "best of the best" here. A good student can do well at any FCPS school. The socioeconomics of the surrounding student body is the biggest difference among the schools, and in most cases, there is a high achieving, motivated group somewhere there. Just have your son involved in activities, get to know the other parents, etc. I grew up in a less affluent area, and still managed to do quite well in school as my parents were involved in my life. I never got in trouble and had a good group of friends.

The high-scoring schools have problems, too - just a different variety.

+1

It's not worth it in my book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, buy in the best district you can afford that makes sense for your commute. The rest of it is just noise.

We bought as close to our commute midpoints as we could within our budget. The neighborhood has a well regarded elementary and middle school within walking distance. The high school (also walking distance) is middle of the pack for FCPS, but that is still pretty darn good. McLean and some of the other places with the better reputations made no sense for us commute-wise, and we couldn't have had a house with a yard there, anyway.

People get way too wrapped up in the "best of the best" here. A good student can do well at any FCPS school. The socioeconomics of the surrounding student body is the biggest difference among the schools, and in most cases, there is a high achieving, motivated group somewhere there. Just have your son involved in activities, get to know the other parents, etc. I grew up in a less affluent area, and still managed to do quite well in school as my parents were involved in my life. I never got in trouble and had a good group of friends.

The high-scoring schools have problems, too - just a different variety.

Another one who agrees with this. Plus, if you have a good student at a not-so-perfect school, that helps in the college application process. The ones who shine at the not top 5 high schools often get into colleges where they would not had they been in the middle of the pack at the top 5 HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - we're looking for a bigger house. I just used the size of our house as an example for how much more the houses cost in areas close-in with better school pyramids. And, for the record, we consider this part of Alexandria to be "close" to DC.

So if I understand correctly, you view where you are now as close-in, but are wondering whether you should move some place else, also close in but more expensive, for better schools.

I don't subscribe to the "any school in FCPS will automatically be fine" viewpoint, but I do think there are plenty of opportunities within your current pyramid. The West Potomac pyramid may not be unique, but it's somewhat unusual in FCPS in terms of its socio-economic diversity across the entire spectrum (it's probably more like W-L in Arlington than any other school in FCPS). These are schools where you can be assured that a child can find a cohort of good kids who pay attention to academics and are invested in their futures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, buy in the best district you can afford that makes sense for your commute. The rest of it is just noise.

We bought as close to our commute midpoints as we could within our budget. The neighborhood has a well regarded elementary and middle school within walking distance. The high school (also walking distance) is middle of the pack for FCPS, but that is still pretty darn good. McLean and some of the other places with the better reputations made no sense for us commute-wise, and we couldn't have had a house with a yard there, anyway.

People get way too wrapped up in the "best of the best" here. A good student can do well at any FCPS school. The socioeconomics of the surrounding student body is the biggest difference among the schools, and in most cases, there is a high achieving, motivated group somewhere there. Just have your son involved in activities, get to know the other parents, etc. I grew up in a less affluent area, and still managed to do quite well in school as my parents were involved in my life. I never got in trouble and had a good group of friends.

The high-scoring schools have problems, too - just a different variety.

Another one who agrees with this. Plus, if you have a good student at a not-so-perfect school, that helps in the college application process. The ones who shine at the not top 5 high schools often get into colleges where they would not had they been in the middle of the pack at the top 5 HS.

You have to balance that against the possibility that a larger and more challenging peer group may make your kid more competitive when it comes time to apply to colleges and universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - we're looking for a bigger house. I just used the size of our house as an example for how much more the houses cost in areas close-in with better school pyramids. And, for the record, we consider this part of Alexandria to be "close" to DC.

So if I understand correctly, you view where you are now as close-in, but are wondering whether you should move some place else, also close in but more expensive, for better schools.

I don't subscribe to the "any school in FCPS will automatically be fine" viewpoint, but I do think there are plenty of opportunities within your current pyramid. The West Potomac pyramid may not be unique, but it's somewhat unusual in FCPS in terms of its socio-economic diversity across the entire spectrum (it's probably more like W-L in Arlington than any other school in FCPS). These are schools where you can be assured that a child can find a cohort of good kids who pay attention to academics and are invested in their futures.

OP here - yes, precisely. We're wondering if we should move somewhere else close-in for better schools. We'll be looking for a bigger house, so it'll be a lot more than what we pay now for our mortgage!

[Anonymous]

this profile doesn't scare me at all: http://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:13:2397319020182405:::0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID:200

[Anonymous]

ok, don't know why it inserted a smiley face. just checked out the demos for west potomac on fcps.edu, and didn't see anything that would worry me there.

[Anonymous]

Buying in a good school district is overrated. Generally FCPS is a good schooling system. More important than schools is that you work with your kid. You will find some higher rated schools are clustered in areas where there is high Asian population. You miss on diversity in these schools. I am sure you are just not looking for academic scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buying in a good school district is overrated. Generally FCPS is a good schooling system. More important than schools is that you work with your kid. You will find some higher rated schools are clustered in areas where there is high Asian population. You miss on diversity in these schools. I am sure you are just not looking for academic scores.

Asian kids add to diversity as well. If buying in a good school district were overrated, you'd think the market would largely correct for it.