relative pros and cons of mclean area elementary schools

[Anonymous]

we are moving stateside by spring of next year and will be relocating to McLean. I was hoping to reach out to some mclean families to get some direct feedback on the relative pros and cons of kent gardens, chesterbrook, sherman and churchill schools. I've gone to a number of websites (including great schools) and while there's a lot of information out there, some of it is a little dated, some of the messages boards seem to get off track/off message and I've more often than nto found general discussions/threads comparing fairfax and arlington. So here's hoping some of the moms and dads out there might be willing to offer a bit of advice. many thanks!!

[Anonymous]

Is there a reason why you are not considering Haycock? It's also very good. I can't comment personally (DD not school age yet), but we moved the area due to schools and are in the Haycock/Longfellow/McLean pyramid. There was a thread recently around here (maybe on the VA school forum?) that suggested that Kent Gardens is kind of snooty.

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for the suggestion - I was slightly confused coming across so many discussions of falls church that I thought haycock school was not part of mclean but I take it that it does serve mclean. Btw, I've never lived in DC so I'm learning about all the neighborhoods. I understand its a wonderful school.

[Anonymous]

You are right, I think Haycock mostly serves part of the 22043 zip code in Falls Church (although some people consider that area to be McLean, despite its postal designation as Falls Church). I am not sure why you wouldn't consider that area if you are considering the immediately adjacent area that feeds into Kent Gardens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a reason why you are not considering Haycock? It's also very good. I can't comment personally (DD not school age yet), but we moved the area due to schools and are in the Haycock/Longfellow/McLean pyramid. There was a thread recently around here (maybe on the VA school forum?) that suggested that Kent Gardens is kind of snooty.

It's a public school, and it's not in a high-priced area of McLean (relatively speaking). Not sure why it would be "snooty". We live in McLean, but kids go to private. Some of our friends have kids that go there, I'm just surprised to hear that, knowing that it's not exclusive owing to a) being public and b) not serving the more high-priced neighborhoods.
Interesting.

[Anonymous]

Kent Gardens is not a snooty school and a lot of the other schools that you listed, namely Chesterbrook, Churchill, and Franklin Sherman don't exclusively serve high priced areas either.

I think the priciest homes/area that is within the Kent Garden boundary is Evans Farms community where the homes run around $2mil.

The only snooty I know is probably at the high school level with Langley.

[Anonymous]

I can't speak to the purported "snootiness" of Kent Gardens (?), but other things being equal I'd pick Chesterbrook, Churchill Road or Sherman over Haycock, Kent Gardens or Spring Hill. Haycock is in an older building that hasn't been renovated recently and Kent Gardens and Spring Hill each have over 900 students.

Churchill Road has more students than Chesterbrook or Sherman, but it's not as packed as Kent Gardens and Spring Hill. On the other hand, Sherman and Chesterbrook are closer to DC than Churchill Road, which might be an advantage if you or your spouse will be working downtown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many thanks for the suggestion - I was slightly confused coming across so many discussions of falls church that I thought haycock school was not part of mclean but I take it that it does serve mclean. Btw, I've never lived in DC so I'm learning about all the neighborhoods. I understand its a wonderful school.

Haycock is not officially in McLean and does not officially serve McLean.

Kent Gardens serves McLean and parts of West Falls Church that borders McLean and if you look at redfin.com and search 22101 and 22043, you'll see an overlap in a small area right along the border.

Given all that, the area bordered by Arlington County in the East, Dranesville to the West, and the Leesburg Pike/Dulles Toll Road insersection on the South fall under the McLean tax zone and pay extra taxes that help support the McLean Community Center.

Homes within that border also qualify for McLean activities such as the McLean Little League.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't speak to the purported "snootiness" of Kent Gardens (?), but other things being equal I'd pick Chesterbrook, Churchill Road or Sherman over Haycock, Kent Gardens or Spring Hill. Haycock is in an older building that hasn't been renovated recently and Kent Gardens and Spring Hill each have over 900 students.

Churchill Road has more students than Chesterbrook or Sherman, but it's not as packed as Kent Gardens and Spring Hill. On the other hand, Sherman and Chesterbrook are closer to DC than Churchill Road, which might be an advantage if you or your spouse will be working downtown.

If you look at the stats, Churchill Road, Haycock, and Spring Hill have the highest student/teacher ratio at 15.

Note also that there's very little diversity at Sherman (72% white) and Chesterbrook (80% white).

[Anonymous]

If lack of diversity is what you seek, nothing can beat Waynewood. Srsly.

[Anonymous]

I have experience with both Chesterbrook (last year) and Franklin Sherman (currently). I liked Chesterbrook a lot and so far Franklin Sherman seems about the same (not even through first two weeks though). Both have good facilities and Franklin Sherman was just renovated last year. Chesterbrook is overenrolled though and classes were more crowded with 30 in 2nd grade last year compared to about 22 this year in Franklin Sherman for 3rd grade. Class size for first grade at Franklin Sherman is also about 22 students. PTAs appear to be about the same. They are both very good choices but neither offer anything extra like language immersion at Kent Gardens. They both offer FLES language two times per week. Chesterbrook overs local level IV gifted and talented at their school so kids do not necessarilyh need to transfer to Haycock for the G&T program in 3rd grade. Franklin Sherman does not offer local level IV. We also came from oversees and were glad to see a number of international families at both schools so it was a bit more like the international schools they were used to overseas. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have experience with both Chesterbrook (last year) and Franklin Sherman (currently). I liked Chesterbrook a lot and so far Franklin Sherman seems about the same (not even through first two weeks though). Both have good facilities and Franklin Sherman was just renovated last year. Chesterbrook is overenrolled though and classes were more crowded with 30 in 2nd grade last year compared to about 22 this year in Franklin Sherman for 3rd grade. Class size for first grade at Franklin Sherman is also about 22 students. PTAs appear to be about the same. They are both very good choices but neither offer anything extra like language immersion at Kent Gardens. They both offer FLES language two times per week. Chesterbrook overs local level IV gifted and talented at their school so kids do not necessarilyh need to transfer to Haycock for the G&T program in 3rd grade. Franklin Sherman does not offer local level IV. We also came from oversees and were glad to see a number of international families at both schools so it was a bit more like the international schools they were used to overseas. Good luck.

Kent Gardens is very international also, and they have hold an international night where cultures and foods are shared by all attendees.

[Anonymous]

Churchill is the best pick.

[Anonymous]

I don't think KG is snooty but the French Immersion program is the top priority there. I would go to Chesterbrook if I had my choice of any Mclean School. Smaller school with a lot of family friendly neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone - OP here, thanks for the feedback - and to 20:32 I'm comforted to hear you had a similar experience and things seem to have worked out well. As i mentioned, I'm relocating from overseas and am/will be entirely new to this area and am trying to figure out all the different neighborhoods and such. the company is helping us relocate and our HR rep advised me to look in in the 22101 zip code for proximity to the office in DC - my wife is looking at potential jobs in fair oaks or tysons corner. I have no real knowledge of the schools and have no preference, but since we looking at different housing options (most likely renting the first year and buying afterwards) it's important to consider schools as well.