Best elementary schools in Fairfax county?

[Anonymous]

check out greatschools.com to get the % of free/reduced price lunch kids, the racial makeup (if that matters), and the SOL test scores.

also, if you want to be ultra-safe, then check fcps.edu for a zone map to find out if you live near a bad school's zone.

Schools that get a 1, 2, or 3 from greatschools:
Mount Vernon Woods
Rose Hill
Bucknell
Washington Mill
Annandale Terrace
Hybla Valley
Woodley Hills
Glen Forest
McNair
Beech Tree

McLean has no bad schools. I'd be more worried about getting an "all upper-middle class, all the time" perspective than about getting a bad education or even worse not being safe there.

Good luck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should go around and look for yourself as well. What someone else may think ii "great" may be a nightmare to you. I was HORRIFIED at how overcrowded these schools are! We are actually moving out of FFC because of the overcrowding problem. They have large classrooms. Our child was about to start highschool and they have a 25-30 student per classroom. That is way too high for me! I think 'best" should be in what you are looking for with your child and their education. I haven't been too impressed since moving here. I don't see the extra money we pay to live here is worth it. This is just my two cents, so take it for what it is worth. I think the only way to know for sure is to personally visit some schools, look at the classrooms, ask them any specific questions that you have, etc.

Good luck!

Gee, even 25 years ago, the class sizes were 25-30 where I went to high school on the West Coast. Where did you go to school?

[Anonymous]

We recently bought a house in Vienna and we were told that the following elementary schools in Vienna are GREAT:

Stenwood
Vienna
Westbriar
Louise Archer

While I agree that Farifax county has some great schools, i wouldn't say that all the schools in Fairfax county are good. When we were looking, the houses zoned in good schools were definately much more expensive zoned for not so great schools in Fairfax county.

[Anonymous]

My son goes to Churchill Rd. in McLean and we love it. Very active PTA and a great teacher for this past year. Rater first in the county and second in the state for test scores for elementary schools. However, it is true that Fairfax County school classes are large in the schools that have high achievement scores. Were I looking for a new house, I would take a serious look at Arlington County as I believe they have more control over their schools than Fairfax, which is more dependent on state funding. However, we are still very happy with Churchill Road overall.

[Anonymous]

I second the post on Churchill Road School. Having seen the schools in McLean (and the kids from the schools, what they learn, etc.), I personally think it is the best public ES in McLean. I cannot speak to schools in the rest of FFX County, but McLean is reputed to have the best overall ES in FFX County. That said, the big classes were not the thing for one of my children, so we've moved that child to private.

[Anonymous]

We recently bought a house in Vienna and we were told that the following elementary schools in Vienna are GREAT:

Stenwood
Vienna
Westbriar
Louise Archer

While I agree that Farifax county has some great schools, i wouldn't say that all the schools in Fairfax county are good. When we were looking, the houses zoned in good schools were definately much more expensive zoned for not so great schools in Fairfax county.

Told by whom? I'd say that in Vienna, Wolftrap and Flint Hill are certainly more highly regarded than Stenwood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We recently bought a house in Vienna and we were told that the following elementary schools in Vienna are GREAT:

Stenwood
Vienna
Westbriar
Louise Archer

While I agree that Farifax county has some great schools, i wouldn't say that all the schools in Fairfax county are good. When we were looking, the houses zoned in good schools were definately much more expensive zoned for not so great schools in Fairfax county.

Told by whom? I'd say that in Vienna, Wolftrap and Flint Hill are certainly more highly regarded than Stenwood.

I agree with you. Plus I'd say that Wolftrap and Flint Hill are more highly regarded than Vienna, too.

[Anonymous]

Crestwood Elementary ... has two thirds of its kids on free or reduced lunch, has one third of its kids failing SOLs, has half of its kids barely proficient in speaking English, ... possibly the nicest kids in the world but not exactly the school I would seek out all else being equal. Resources are going to be needed to help struggling kids keep up ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We recently bought a house in Vienna and we were told that the following elementary schools in Vienna are GREAT:

Stenwood
Vienna
Westbriar
Louise Archer

While I agree that Farifax county has some great schools, i wouldn't say that all the schools in Fairfax county are good. When we were looking, the houses zoned in good schools were definately much more expensive zoned for not so great schools in Fairfax county.

Told by whom? I'd say that in Vienna, Wolftrap and Flint Hill are certainly more highly regarded than Stenwood.

It's possible, of course, that the poster had just looked at houses in those school districts, and had only sought information about those schools. Why read more into a post than what may have been intended? Late summer boredom?

[Anonymous]

It's possible, of course, that the poster had just looked at houses in those school districts, and had only sought information about those schools. Why read more into a post than what may have been intended? Late summer boredom?

Yes, that's possible. But those schools are not geographically close to one another in Vienna. Vienna ES and Louise Archer are both within the town limits but on opposite sides of Rt 123, Westbriar is over near Tysons & Westwood Country Club, and Stenwood is the completely opposite direction, near Dunn Loring & Merrifield. Also, Louise Archer has a small and oddly-shaped boundary, so most people looking in that area would also end up looking within Flint Hill's boundary. To limit your search in that way, you would have to specifically focus only on those 4 schools. In other words, you'd chose those schools first and then look at houses within the boundaries; not look for homes in a particular part of Vienna and then research those 4 schools.

So your interpretation is possible, but it's also very logical to infer from the way the post is written that poster looked at homes throughout Vienna but was told those 4 schools were among the best schools. My response was not snarky or motivated by "late summer boredom." It was just pointing out that those are in no way the top 4 schools in Vienna.

In any event, the OP asked about the best schools in the county. A list of Vienna schools that includes Stenwood and omits Wolftrap and Flint Hill is not giving an accurate response to the OP's question.

[Anonymous]

Wolftrap and Flinthill has local level IV service, Stenwood does not. Stenwood Children who are qualified for GT are transferred to Louis Archer. That is possibly why Wolftrap and Flinthill are considered better than Stenwood. But generally, Stenwood is a very good school, nothing less than any of its neighborhood schools.

[Anonymous]

Wolftrap and Flinthill has local level IV service, Stenwood does not. Stenwood Children who are qualified for GT are transferred to Louis Archer. That is possibly why Wolftrap and Flinthill are considered better than Stenwood. But generally, Stenwood is a very good school, nothing less than any of its neighborhood schools.

That's not entirely accurate. Kids from all 3 of those schools can choose to attend the AAP Center if they are found eligible. No one is "transferred" in the sense that the school is sending them to the Center; it's a voluntary decision on the parents' part. Some Center-eligible kids choose to remain in their base school. They usually end up in the LLIV class if there is one - there is one at Wolf Trap & Flint Hill but not at Stenwood. There are also kids who were found ineligible for the Center but eligible for LLIV services in those classes.

Not bashing Stenwood but offering clarification about the AAP/ LLIV issues in the previous post.

[Anonymous]

Iowa...

[Anonymous]

we are zoned for Terra Centre in Burke, and I've only heard good things about it.

[Anonymous]

there is definitely a myth about 'all the schools in Fairfax County' are great. I have been shocked at some of the school reports and visiting the schools. Overcrowded, major violence in elementary school, the average kid getting lost because of students being behind in english, major discipline problems and I even saw a teacher teaching longitude and latitude incorrectly! We are looking to move and there are many neighborhoods we are crossing off the list because the schools are what I consider subpar. Definitely investigate the schools before you decide on a house or you could be paying $30k+ a year for private school.