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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
Moving to get good, but not "best" public schools (currently in private) - where to go?
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Anonymous
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I am wondering as well. We live right next to Mantua and DH commutes into the city on 50. Leaving at 8 he gets in by 8:45.
Afternoons are harder though. |
Anonymous
| I wonder if you are describing a summer commute. A typical post-Labor Day commute from Fairfax Circle to downtown DC takes more than 45 minutes. |
Anonymous
Well, I don't know what to say. We live in our house year round.  Of course there are those days when it is much longer than 45 minutes, but most days, DH drops kid off at school SACC at 7:50 and is on highway 50 at 8.
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Anonymous
ITA with this post. We've lived here for ten years and DH has had the same commute for those ten years and it's been "60 - 70 minutes long" maybe seven times during that decade. |
Anonymous
| 16:57 are you serious? Is there something I'm missing? Decent, somewhat updated (note: I did not say renovated) houses in Vienna are NOT to be found for under $600K unless you don't need a garage and don't mind puke-green 1970s carpet. Look at what's out there now and have a good laugh. One we saw near the downtown for $650K (in Archer ES district) doesn't have a garage and looks like a step up from a double-wide. We have been looking for months and are going to give up on Vienna this weekend if we can't find anything. |
Anonymous
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I live in Vienna, in a house that is probably worth between 550 and 600....it is an 1800 sq foot (finished) split level house with out a garage, four bdr, 2 1/2 baths....not the greatest house in the world, but thtere is a great sense of community, no hoa, great schools (lousie archer, thorou, Madison), moderate commute (35 min to Rosslyn), and on metro....
I would rather have the moderate commute and a smaller house than a bigger house in chantilly or Burke |
Anonymous
| stay away from the intense federal employees and the jews -- did you really say/imply that?? |
Anonymous
gee, if I had to choose....which would be worse? can the poster please provide her(?) nice neighborhood Church of the Open Heart? |
Anonymous
| so, 08:11, where what say you? |
Anonymous
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I would look in south arlington--especially the neighborhoods
btw route 50 and Columbia Pike. |
Anonymous
| Here is a nice one (http://www.redfin.com/VA/Fairfax/3517-Barkley-Dr-22031/home/9616135) in the Woodson pyramid and the "intense" Mantua ES that is apparently plagued by high achievers with certain jobs and religious beliefs. It is about a 45 minute commute to DC with traffic and close enough to the Vienna Metro to do the metro instead. |
Anonymous
Agree about the nice house -- and just love your post! |
Anonymous
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The OP asked about nice areas where the schools are "less intense." If Mantua fits that bill, perhaps the OP should also check out the Whitman and Churchill districts over in Bethesda.
Just wait a few weeks and see how people who live in Mantua steer people away from other areas in Annandale and Fairfax where there are more minorities and the test scores aren't as high. Guess they are just being helpful, not intense, when they do so. |
Anonymous
Some of us were responding to the rather discriminatory remarks of a previous poster. It is quite a leap to throw out an accusation of "discrimination" at these responses. Quite the opposite is intended, at least from my own posts regarding Mantua. None of these posts re Mantua have implied that other schools in the general area are poor choices. Admittedly, Mantua is likely one of the less demographically diverse schools in Fairfax, a county that boasts many good schools. We actually looked at a number of lovely subdivisions in Annandale and Fairfax - many good houses near good schools that I would have been happy to have my daughter attend. We ended up in Mantua for a number of reasons, including the schools, the commute, the property itself (including architectural design) and the surrounding area - the best match we could find given our personal priorities and wish list. It was the best match for us. No intensity intended - the OP asked opinions about neighborhoods based on their needs/desires and a few of us thought that Mantua would be a good choice given the house prices and schools. We all do what we think is in the best interests of our families within the resource and other constraints that we face. If it does not float your boat, no problem. |
Anonymous
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Earlier poster here. I drop my daughter off at daycare near 495/Gallows and drive in, usually around 7:30/7:45. It has never taken me less than 55 minutes, ever. I've tried 50, I've tried 29, I've tried 495 to 395. I commute to 7th & E NW. maybe I'm doing it wrong? summer commute is a bit shorter, especially on fridays. I keep really precise records of how long the commute takes because I'm trying to decide if I should permanently switch to driving from metro. The best way I've found in the evening is 395/495 for some reason. It's literally 30 minutes faster than metro unless 395 is unusually backed up.
When I was child-less, I could leave the house at 6:30 a.m. and be at my office gym by 7:10. It never took longer than 37 minutes. |