Best elementary schools in Fairfax

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the best elementary schools in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) with their respective key statistics and average SOL scores for each:

Sangster Elementary
Enrollment: 899
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 4.0%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Wolftrap Elementary
Enrollment: 550
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.6
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.7%
Average SOL Score: 91%

Haycock Elementary
Enrollment: 829
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 4.2%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Colvin Run Elementary
Enrollment: 766
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.7
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.1%
Average SOL Score: 92%

Churchill Road Elementary
Enrollment: 600
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.7
Economically Disadvantaged: 3.0%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Forestville Elementary
Enrollment: 580
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.1
Economically Disadvantaged: 5.7%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Navy Elementary
Enrollment: 851
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 7.9%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Spring Hill Elementary
Enrollment: 948
Student-Teacher Ratio: 18.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 11.5%
Average SOL Score: 87%

Kent Gardens Elementary
Enrollment: 1,006
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 4.1%
Average SOL Score: 91%

Wakefield Forest Elementary
Enrollment: 648
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.8
Economically Disadvantaged: 7.9%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Waynewood Elementary
Enrollment: 726
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.0
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.8%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Poplar Tree Elementary
Enrollment: 721
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.4%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Chesterbrook Elementary
Enrollment: 537
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.6%
Average SOL Score: 92%

Westbriar Elementary
Enrollment: 847
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.6
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.4%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Flint Hill Elementary
Enrollment: 608
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.0
Economically Disadvantaged: 8.6%
Average SOL Score: 87%

Silverbrook Elementary
Enrollment: 814
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.8
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.2%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Great Falls Elementary
Enrollment: 517
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.6
Economically Disadvantaged: 5.4%
Average SOL Score: 91%

Canterbury Woods Elementary
Enrollment: 796
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 14.4%
Average SOL Score: 86%

Vienna Elementary
Enrollment: 377
Student-Teacher Ratio: 13.3
Economically Disadvantaged: 5.3%
Average SOL Score: 93%

Cherry Run Elementary
Enrollment: 461
Student-Teacher Ratio: 13.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 6.1%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Stenwood Elementary
Enrollment: 539
Student-Teacher Ratio: 13.9
Economically Disadvantaged: 10.9%
Average SOL Score: 87%

Hunt Valley Elementary
Enrollment: 747
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 11.0%
Average SOL Score: 86%

Willow Springs Elementary
Enrollment: 859
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 14.2%
Average SOL Score: 85%

Keene Mill Elementary
Enrollment: 801
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 19.9%
Average SOL Score: 84%

Oak Hill Elementary
Enrollment: 657
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 8.4%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Fox Mill Elementary
Enrollment: 645
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.0
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.3%
Average SOL Score: 89%

The best??? All you’ve done is prove that children who come from upper middle class home where parents are college educated will score well on standardized tests. Doesn’t say a word about the learning experiences of the students. The kids at these schools would score exactly the same if they were placed in a Title 1 school.

You raise an important issue about the influence of socioeconomic status on education. However, the assertion that students would perform the same in Title 1 schools as in more affluent schools overlooks key challenges. Title 1 schools, which serve higher percentages of low-income families, often face additional hurdles such as higher student-to-teacher ratios and limited resources, which can impact the focus on and quality of education. Additionally, these schools frequently address more non-academic issues related to poverty, which can detract from learning. Research shows that poverty correlates with lower academic achievement due to factors like increased stress and reduced access to learning materials. Therefore, the environment and resources of a school significantly influence student performance.

[Anonymous]

If I could do it all over again, I'd get a much cheaper home and save my money for private school. I don't think anything in FCPS is very good.

[Anonymous]

We went for a highly rated FCPS school and it was terrible. We pulled our kids out and are now in private for the rest of schooling. House is beign sold to be near school. I regret making the housing decision based on FCPS zoning. One of the "best" schools was horrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I could do it all over again, I'd get a much cheaper home and save my money for private school. I don't think anything in FCPS is very good.

100% this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The LBSS and West Springfield pyramids are both strong and the Burke/West Springfield area is an excellent place to live - good commutes, strong community, easy access to amenities. We're at Sangster and it's fantastic.

Horrific experience at Sangster. Multiple incidents. We left to go private school. We will never return to FCPS. I regret buying in the Sangster/LB zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d buy a house you can afford, in a neighborhood you like, with a commute you can manage and send your kid to Catholic school. Stay away from the FCPS nonsense.

We were lucky to be in a great FCPS elementary, but if I had to do it all over again, this is absolutely what I would do. And we are not Catholic. But Catholic schools are excellent, time tested, and not affected by the kind of crap coming out of Gatehouse.

There is a misconception that Catholic schools are "excellent" especially by comparison to FCPS schools, but it depends on what your definition of "excellent" is. Are they "excellent" at weeding out kids with special needs? Sure - often times, they do not provide the depth and breadth of special needs services to students so those parents send their special needs kids to public schools to get those services. Are they "excellent" at assigning lots of busy work to give parents the impression that their students are always busy, churn out a ton of work product and are buried under homework which must mean that they are learning more than the kids in public school. Yep, sure do. Are they "excellent" because their student bodies are predominantly made up of a homogeneous pool of MC-UMC families with active parents who work together as a community to prioritize compliance instead of free-thinking? Yes again. Catholic schools are excellent at keeping MC-UMC predominantly white, similarly thinking families together to learn without the "distraction" of poor students, special needs students, LGBTQ students, and students whose families have different (read: more leftist) world views. Is that "excellent?" Apparently large swaths of families think so.

But the actual level of instruction provided at each grade level is often times not as high as what one would receive in the public school system. In our FCPS pyramid, there is a very large and active K-8
Catholic school. The parents are extremely vocal about the exceptional quality of education they are paying for. Then they send their kids to the local public high school after they graduate from the Catholic school and realize that their kids have not been offered the advanced math options that FCPS offers in 5th-8th, or foreign language options in 7th/8th, and many of those kids are competent in Honors classes but fail to excel in AP classes where critical thinking is emphasized over rote memorization and regurgitation. Then the public school kids start running circles around them in the classroom.

We switched from FCPS to a Catholic school. It is a night and day difference. The Catholic school is 100% better. My kid is taking math an entire grade ahead. Advanced math in FCPS was a joke. Kid was totally bored. You have no idea what you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here are the best elementary schools in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) with their respective key statistics and average SOL scores for each:

Sangster Elementary
Enrollment: 899
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 4.0%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Wolftrap Elementary
Enrollment: 550
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.6
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.7%
Average SOL Score: 91%

Haycock Elementary
Enrollment: 829
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 4.2%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Colvin Run Elementary
Enrollment: 766
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.7
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.1%
Average SOL Score: 92%

Churchill Road Elementary
Enrollment: 600
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.7
Economically Disadvantaged: 3.0%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Forestville Elementary
Enrollment: 580
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.1
Economically Disadvantaged: 5.7%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Navy Elementary
Enrollment: 851
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 7.9%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Spring Hill Elementary
Enrollment: 948
Student-Teacher Ratio: 18.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 11.5%
Average SOL Score: 87%

Kent Gardens Elementary
Enrollment: 1,006
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 4.1%
Average SOL Score: 91%

Wakefield Forest Elementary
Enrollment: 648
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.8
Economically Disadvantaged: 7.9%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Waynewood Elementary
Enrollment: 726
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.0
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.8%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Poplar Tree Elementary
Enrollment: 721
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.4%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Chesterbrook Elementary
Enrollment: 537
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.6%
Average SOL Score: 92%

Westbriar Elementary
Enrollment: 847
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.6
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.4%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Flint Hill Elementary
Enrollment: 608
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.0
Economically Disadvantaged: 8.6%
Average SOL Score: 87%

Silverbrook Elementary
Enrollment: 814
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.8
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.2%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Great Falls Elementary
Enrollment: 517
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.6
Economically Disadvantaged: 5.4%
Average SOL Score: 91%

Canterbury Woods Elementary
Enrollment: 796
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 14.4%
Average SOL Score: 86%

Vienna Elementary
Enrollment: 377
Student-Teacher Ratio: 13.3
Economically Disadvantaged: 5.3%
Average SOL Score: 93%

Cherry Run Elementary
Enrollment: 461
Student-Teacher Ratio: 13.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 6.1%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Stenwood Elementary
Enrollment: 539
Student-Teacher Ratio: 13.9
Economically Disadvantaged: 10.9%
Average SOL Score: 87%

Hunt Valley Elementary
Enrollment: 747
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 11.0%
Average SOL Score: 86%

Willow Springs Elementary
Enrollment: 859
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 14.2%
Average SOL Score: 85%

Keene Mill Elementary
Enrollment: 801
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 19.9%
Average SOL Score: 84%

Oak Hill Elementary
Enrollment: 657
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 8.4%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Fox Mill Elementary
Enrollment: 645
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.0
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.3%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Horrible Sangster experience in so many ways. Never coming back to FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I could do it all over again, I'd get a much cheaper home and save my money for private school. I don't think anything in FCPS is very good.

Pains me to say this, but long, long ago my late father scrimped, saved, researched and even visited schools to determine the best FCPS HS pyramids for his large family. Dad was proudly Jesuit-educated from elementary to masters and only briefly considered Catholic schools. He determined the area parochial schools were inferior to FCPS.

How the tide has turned. DH and I are FCPS alumni and so also educated DC in FCPS. We have seen firsthand how our schools have declined precipitously.

If we had to do all over, we’d have gone private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I could do it all over again, I'd get a much cheaper home and save my money for private school. I don't think anything in FCPS is very good.

Pains me to say this, but long, long ago my late father scrimped, saved, researched and even visited schools to determine the best FCPS HS pyramids for his large family. Dad was proudly Jesuit-educated from elementary to masters and only briefly considered Catholic schools. He determined the area parochial schools were inferior to FCPS.

How the tide has turned. DH and I are FCPS alumni and so also educated DC in FCPS. We have seen firsthand how our schools have declined precipitously.

If we had to do all over, we’d have gone private.

Sounds like the Public School Dismantlers are here in full-force. Keep chipping away at public school so they can get vouchers for private & religious schools. If they can take down Fairfax, the floodgates will open. We are in very sad times right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I could do it all over again, I'd get a much cheaper home and save my money for private school. I don't think anything in FCPS is very good.

Pains me to say this, but long, long ago my late father scrimped, saved, researched and even visited schools to determine the best FCPS HS pyramids for his large family. Dad was proudly Jesuit-educated from elementary to masters and only briefly considered Catholic schools. He determined the area parochial schools were inferior to FCPS.

How the tide has turned. DH and I are FCPS alumni and so also educated DC in FCPS. We have seen firsthand how our schools have declined precipitously.

If we had to do all over, we’d have gone private.

Sounds like the Public School Dismantlers are here in full-force. Keep chipping away at public school so they can get vouchers for private & religious schools. If they can take down Fairfax, the floodgates will open. We are in very sad times right now.

The most vocal anti-FCPS Republican on local social media sends her kid(s) to O’Connell yet spends much of her time attacking FCPS. Guess she wants a voucher or maybe a shout-out from Youngkin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The LBSS and West Springfield pyramids are both strong and the Burke/West Springfield area is an excellent place to live - good commutes, strong community, easy access to amenities. We're at Sangster and it's fantastic.

Horrific experience at Sangster. Multiple incidents. We left to go private school. We will never return to FCPS. I regret buying in the Sangster/LB zone.

What does this mean, for example...?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi moms! Looking for some advice on how to identify houses with the best access to schools.

We have a young infant and are looking to move houses within Fairfax soon to have more space as our LO grows up. So far, I have been looking at school rankings on Great Schools through Redfin to determine if the house is in a “good school neighborhood” for elementary schools or not - is that the best approach? What are some of the best elementary schools in Fairfax?

Absolutely any advice on this would be super helpful! First time mom here and feeling a bit overwhelmed with what seems like a very big decision!

Thanks so much in advance!

Gross post.
You know it’s basically any school that feeds to Langley HS or McLean HS.
Wolf Trap ES is also fine if you don’t mind the vienna bubble but youlll want to research whether your kid will go to Madison HS or Marshall HS from there. (Madison is an AP school, as are Langley and McLean. Marshall is an IB school)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d buy a house you can afford, in a neighborhood you like, with a commute you can manage and send your kid to Catholic school. Stay away from the FCPS nonsense.

We were lucky to be in a great FCPS elementary, but if I had to do it all over again, this is absolutely what I would do. And we are not Catholic. But Catholic schools are excellent, time tested, and not affected by the kind of crap coming out of Gatehouse.

There is a misconception that Catholic schools are "excellent" especially by comparison to FCPS schools, but it depends on what your definition of "excellent" is. Are they "excellent" at weeding out kids with special needs? Sure - often times, they do not provide the depth and breadth of special needs services to students so those parents send their special needs kids to public schools to get those services. Are they "excellent" at assigning lots of busy work to give parents the impression that their students are always busy, churn out a ton of work product and are buried under homework which must mean that they are learning more than the kids in public school. Yep, sure do. Are they "excellent" because their student bodies are predominantly made up of a homogeneous pool of MC-UMC families with active parents who work together as a community to prioritize compliance instead of free-thinking? Yes again. Catholic schools are excellent at keeping MC-UMC predominantly white, similarly thinking families together to learn without the "distraction" of poor students, special needs students, LGBTQ students, and students whose families have different (read: more leftist) world views. Is that "excellent?" Apparently large swaths of families think so.

But the actual level of instruction provided at each grade level is often times not as high as what one would receive in the public school system. In our FCPS pyramid, there is a very large and active K-8
Catholic school. The parents are extremely vocal about the exceptional quality of education they are paying for. Then they send their kids to the local public high school after they graduate from the Catholic school and realize that their kids have not been offered the advanced math options that FCPS offers in 5th-8th, or foreign language options in 7th/8th, and many of those kids are competent in Honors classes but fail to excel in AP classes where critical thinking is emphasized over rote memorization and regurgitation. Then the public school kids start running circles around them in the classroom.

We switched from FCPS to a Catholic school. It is a night and day difference. The Catholic school is 100% better. My kid is taking math an entire grade ahead. Advanced math in FCPS was a joke. Kid was totally bored. You have no idea what you are talking about.

So you kid coming from FCPS placed a grade ahead in math at a catholic school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are the best elementary schools in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) with their respective key statistics and average SOL scores for each:

Sangster Elementary
Enrollment: 899
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 4.0%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Wolftrap Elementary
Enrollment: 550
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.6
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.7%
Average SOL Score: 91%

Haycock Elementary
Enrollment: 829
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 4.2%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Colvin Run Elementary
Enrollment: 766
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.7
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.1%
Average SOL Score: 92%

Churchill Road Elementary
Enrollment: 600
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.7
Economically Disadvantaged: 3.0%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Forestville Elementary
Enrollment: 580
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.1
Economically Disadvantaged: 5.7%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Navy Elementary
Enrollment: 851
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 7.9%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Spring Hill Elementary
Enrollment: 948
Student-Teacher Ratio: 18.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 11.5%
Average SOL Score: 87%

Kent Gardens Elementary
Enrollment: 1,006
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 4.1%
Average SOL Score: 91%

Wakefield Forest Elementary
Enrollment: 648
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.8
Economically Disadvantaged: 7.9%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Waynewood Elementary
Enrollment: 726
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.0
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.8%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Poplar Tree Elementary
Enrollment: 721
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.4%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Chesterbrook Elementary
Enrollment: 537
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 2.6%
Average SOL Score: 92%

Westbriar Elementary
Enrollment: 847
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.6
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.4%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Flint Hill Elementary
Enrollment: 608
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.0
Economically Disadvantaged: 8.6%
Average SOL Score: 87%

Silverbrook Elementary
Enrollment: 814
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.8
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.2%
Average SOL Score: 89%

Great Falls Elementary
Enrollment: 517
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.6
Economically Disadvantaged: 5.4%
Average SOL Score: 91%

Canterbury Woods Elementary
Enrollment: 796
Student-Teacher Ratio: 16.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 14.4%
Average SOL Score: 86%

Vienna Elementary
Enrollment: 377
Student-Teacher Ratio: 13.3
Economically Disadvantaged: 5.3%
Average SOL Score: 93%

Cherry Run Elementary
Enrollment: 461
Student-Teacher Ratio: 13.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 6.1%
Average SOL Score: 90%

Stenwood Elementary
Enrollment: 539
Student-Teacher Ratio: 13.9
Economically Disadvantaged: 10.9%
Average SOL Score: 87%

Hunt Valley Elementary
Enrollment: 747
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.2
Economically Disadvantaged: 11.0%
Average SOL Score: 86%

Willow Springs Elementary
Enrollment: 859
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 14.2%
Average SOL Score: 85%

Keene Mill Elementary
Enrollment: 801
Student-Teacher Ratio: 17.4
Economically Disadvantaged: 19.9%
Average SOL Score: 84%

Oak Hill Elementary
Enrollment: 657
Student-Teacher Ratio: 14.5
Economically Disadvantaged: 8.4%
Average SOL Score: 88%

Fox Mill Elementary
Enrollment: 645
Student-Teacher Ratio: 15.0
Economically Disadvantaged: 9.3%
Average SOL Score: 89%

The best??? All you’ve done is prove that children who come from upper middle class home where parents are college educated will score well on standardized tests. Doesn’t say a word about the learning experiences of the students. The kids at these schools would score exactly the same if they were placed in a Title 1 school.

You raise an important issue about the influence of socioeconomic status on education. However, the assertion that students would perform the same in Title 1 schools as in more affluent schools overlooks key challenges. Title 1 schools, which serve higher percentages of low-income families, often face additional hurdles such as higher student-to-teacher ratios and limited resources, which can impact the focus on and quality of education. Additionally, these schools frequently address more non-academic issues related to poverty, which can detract from learning. Research shows that poverty correlates with lower academic achievement due to factors like increased stress and reduced access to learning materials. Therefore, the environment and resources of a school significantly influence student performance.

Maybe trying learning about Title 1 before writing such drivel. The point of Title 1 is to provide funding for ADDITIONAL staffing and resources. Ask any teacher in FCPS who's worked in a Title 1 school versus a non-Title 1 school. Smaller classes, more content coaches, better technology, you name it. The families of the kids who are not in poverty realize what a prize they have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I could do it all over again, I'd get a much cheaper home and save my money for private school. I don't think anything in FCPS is very good.

Pains me to say this, but long, long ago my late father scrimped, saved, researched and even visited schools to determine the best FCPS HS pyramids for his large family. Dad was proudly Jesuit-educated from elementary to masters and only briefly considered Catholic schools. He determined the area parochial schools were inferior to FCPS.

How the tide has turned. DH and I are FCPS alumni and so also educated DC in FCPS. We have seen firsthand how our schools have declined precipitously.

If we had to do all over, we’d have gone private.

How do you think O'Connell test scores compare to Langley?