Tips for moving to NoVa for the schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The commute from Vienna Station to DC is 30 minutes, 45 if you need to go deeper in DC. It's easy and you always get a seat. Driving is a different story, but if you live close to the train station there is no need to ever drive. Its been great - we are DC transplants ourselves.

You have to add on the time it takes to get to the station, park, walk to the platform, wait for the train, and walk from the station in DC to your office. It adds up. Commuted from Vienna to DC for years and it was almost never 30 minutes and often over an hour. You do not want to do this if you have other options.

NP. Yes, that 30 minutes is a laboratory conditions, no-wait unicorn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did the move from DC to Arlington nine years ago for schools We and many of our neighbors withdrew our kids from Arlington public schools during the pandemic. We put our kids in a parochial school and will never return to APS. Our children were good students but have done better at this school. APS might restore itself but the pandemic revealed its many issues.

Yep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The commute from Vienna Station to DC is 30 minutes, 45 if you need to go deeper in DC. It's easy and you always get a seat. Driving is a different story, but if you live close to the train station there is no need to ever drive. Its been great - we are DC transplants ourselves.

You have to add on the time it takes to get to the station, park, walk to the platform, wait for the train, and walk from the station in DC to your office. It adds up. Commuted from Vienna to DC for years and it was almost never 30 minutes and often over an hour. You do not want to do this if you have other options.

NP. Yes, that 30 minutes is a laboratory conditions, no-wait unicorn.

Or, stated differently, the experience of the 2% of Vienna residents living in THs adjacent to the Vienna Metro and not representative of the other 98% of the people with Vienna addresses. Vienna has a lot of good things going for it, but good commutes to DC aren’t among them.

[Anonymous]

Like dc,.arlington and Fairfax schools are county based. Pyramids and school assignments can shift. And with a focus on equity I bet arlington may go to a lotto option for all high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like dc,.arlington and Fairfax schools are county based. Pyramids and school assignments can shift. And with a focus on equity I bet arlington may go to a lotto option for all high schools.

I don’t think this is realistic. Too much money involved/people who have “bought into” certain neighborhoods will revolt. I can see them wanting to do it, but I can’t imagine it would ever happen.

That said- I unfortunately don’t think I would recommend moving to Arlington for the schools anyway. I may change my mind, but currently regretting our choices

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like dc,.arlington and Fairfax schools are county based. Pyramids and school assignments can shift. And with a focus on equity I bet arlington may go to a lotto option for all high schools.

The APS school board for many years has been the most protective of the areas feeding into Washington-Liberty, so it would be a big change for them to focus on equity as opposed to talk about it.

[Anonymous]

Stay away from McLean HS. It is already overcrowded and the school rating is much worse than Langley HS. Langley HS is a much newer school snd a lot better in academic than McLean HS.

[Anonymous]

Save the moving money and put it into private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stay away from McLean HS. It is already overcrowded and the school rating is much worse than Langley HS. Langley HS is a much newer school snd a lot better in academic than McLean HS.

Hardly. I just read that McLean has more National Merit Semifinalists in the Class of 2022 than any other high school in NoVa besides TJ, including Langley.

My guess is that you have experience with neither school and just like to stir the pot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stay away from McLean HS. It is already overcrowded and the school rating is much worse than Langley HS. Langley HS is a much newer school snd a lot better in academic than McLean HS.

Hardly. I just read that McLean has more National Merit Semifinalists in the Class of 2022 than any other high school in NoVa besides TJ, including Langley.

My guess is that you have experience with neither school and just like to stir the pot.

My daughter just graduated from McLean HS and she is now at UVA. My son is currently a junior at McLean HS so I know what I am taking about you fool.

McLean and Langley HS used to be about 100th in the ranking. Langley is currently ranked at 99th while McLean is currently ranked at 200th, according to my son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stay away from McLean HS. It is already overcrowded and the school rating is much worse than Langley HS. Langley HS is a much newer school snd a lot better in academic than McLean HS.

Hardly. I just read that McLean has more National Merit Semifinalists in the Class of 2022 than any other high school in NoVa besides TJ, including Langley.

My guess is that you have experience with neither school and just like to stir the pot.

My daughter just graduated from McLean HS and she is now at UVA. My son is currently a junior at McLean HS so I know what I am taking about you fool.

McLean and Langley HS used to be about 100th in the ranking. Langley is currently ranked at 99th while McLean is currently ranked at 200th, according to my son.

You're a frequent troll on these forums and not even very good at it. The odds that someone is going to come on here and trash McLean HS when their kid just got into UVA are slim to none.

US News ranks Langley and McLean ##2 and 3 high schools in the state, behind only TJ, and ## 154 and 160 in their national rankings (with many of the higher ranked schools nationally charter schools with selective admissions and small enrollments).

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/rankings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The commute from Vienna Station to DC is 30 minutes, 45 if you need to go deeper in DC. It's easy and you always get a seat. Driving is a different story, but if you live close to the train station there is no need to ever drive. Its been great - we are DC transplants ourselves.

You have to add on the time it takes to get to the station, park, walk to the platform, wait for the train, and walk from the station in DC to your office. It adds up. Commuted from Vienna to DC for years and it was almost never 30 minutes and often over an hour. You do not want to do this if you have other options.

NP. Yes, that 30 minutes is a laboratory conditions, no-wait unicorn.

Or, stated differently, the experience of the 2% of Vienna residents living in THs adjacent to the Vienna Metro and not representative of the other 98% of the people with Vienna addresses. Vienna has a lot of good things going for it, but good commutes to DC aren’t among them.

DP. I'm one of that 2%. Those TH neighborhoods near the metro are gems, in my opinion. Great commute options, big parks nearby, downtown Vienna is only a few minutes away, much more affordable per sq ft than anything else in the area... and to OP's question, good public school pyramids like Thoreau/Madison. I get why people would go for a big SFH elsewhere, but those tend to be twice as expensive and don't necessarily have the same amenities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The commute from Vienna Station to DC is 30 minutes, 45 if you need to go deeper in DC. It's easy and you always get a seat. Driving is a different story, but if you live close to the train station there is no need to ever drive. Its been great - we are DC transplants ourselves.

And another 30 minutes spent on the front and back end. Best case scenario is an hour door to door. Hard pass.

Plus, you are in suburbia hell in Vienna.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The commute from Vienna Station to DC is 30 minutes, 45 if you need to go deeper in DC. It's easy and you always get a seat. Driving is a different story, but if you live close to the train station there is no need to ever drive. Its been great - we are DC transplants ourselves.

And another 30 minutes spent on the front and back end. Best case scenario is an hour door to door. Hard pass.

Plus, you are in suburbia hell in Vienna.

If PP lives close the station like she said, then there is no extra 30 minutes on the front and back end. If you're driving into downtown DC from Falls Church or northern McLean, you've got both traffic and parking to worry about. No thanks, metro any day for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The commute from Vienna Station to DC is 30 minutes, 45 if you need to go deeper in DC. It's easy and you always get a seat. Driving is a different story, but if you live close to the train station there is no need to ever drive. Its been great - we are DC transplants ourselves.

And another 30 minutes spent on the front and back end. Best case scenario is an hour door to door. Hard pass.

Plus, you are in suburbia hell in Vienna.

If PP lives close the station like she said, then there is no extra 30 minutes on the front and back end. If you're driving into downtown DC from Falls Church or northern McLean, you've got both traffic and parking to worry about. No thanks, metro any day for me.

DP. I don't doubt the commute can be less than an hour depending on the proximity to the Vienna metro, or close to an hour or more in some cases.

But the shortest commute to DC from Vienna puts you in a townhouse with lots of stairs and not much of a yard. Falls Church and McLean have neighborhoods with both single-family houses and townhouses that are a short drive to Metro stations and a shorter drive to DC than from Vienna.