Info on Falls Church and Annandale elementary schools

[Anonymous]

Belevedere is a school in transition right now. The principal is retiring at the end of this month, and a search for a new principal is in the early stages. The boundary will probably be changed due to the Lacey Elementary redistricting. Who knows what it will look like in 5 years when OP's child starts school?

The AAP kids raise Belevedere's test scores because most of them score pass advanced on the SOLs. It would probably be ranked lower if it included only the in-boundary, non-AAP kids. Even some of the top-ranked schools on that list might fall a few places, because most of them have AAP Centers. OP should use that list cautiously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
LOL! An essay defending your triangle. Not surprised.

And why not? Might not the OP find it helpful to know her other options? People over-hype the tiny City of Falls Church to no end.

I agree. It's helpful to have real life feedback on schools other than the ones in the wealthiest areas.

There are plenty of good schools in the non-wealthy areas. They include the Town of Vienna, parts of Centreville (Greenbriar West es-Rachel Carson MS), Burke/West Springfield, and Fairfax (Woodson HS).

You don't want to move to an area knowing that you are sensitive to the education issue and knowing that you will be propping up your defenses about the schools.

I've learned long ago that you don't take chances with education. I'm sure some things in Annandale are fine, and there are transition areas that could turn out well, but education is one thing you don't gamble on.

As the investor Peter Lynch once said, "buy what you know."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Belevedere is a school in transition right now. The principal is retiring at the end of this month, and a search for a new principal is in the early stages. The boundary will probably be changed due to the Lacey Elementary redistricting. Who knows what it will look like in 5 years when OP's child starts school?

The AAP kids raise Belevedere's test scores because most of them score pass advanced on the SOLs. It would probably be ranked lower if it included only the in-boundary, non-AAP kids. Even some of the top-ranked schools on that list might fall a few places, because most of them have AAP Centers. OP should use that list cautiously.

Thanks!

I also heard that Sleepy Hollow's boundaries likely will be changed after the redistricting to include more of the lower-income kids in apartments near Seven Corners currently assigned to Beech Tree or Glen Forest ES, which may turn Sleepy Hollow into a Title I school. Some believe that Tom Davis had some role in shaping Sleepy Hollow's boundaries when he lived in the area.

[Anonymous]

And apparently YOU are afraid of what you don't know. You do not know Annandale and generalize on the basis of your pro-McLean prejudice. You repeatedly bash Annandale area schools, and you are wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
LOL! An essay defending your triangle. Not surprised.

And why not? Might not the OP find it helpful to know her other options? People over-hype the tiny City of Falls Church to no end.

I agree. It's helpful to have real life feedback on schools other than the ones in the wealthiest areas.

There are plenty of good schools in the non-wealthy areas. They include the Town of Vienna, parts of Centreville (Greenbriar West es-Rachel Carson MS), Burke/West Springfield, and Fairfax (Woodson HS).

You don't want to move to an area knowing that you are sensitive to the education issue and knowing that you will be propping up your defenses about the schools.

I've learned long ago that you don't take chances with education. I'm sure some things in Annandale are fine, and there are transition areas that could turn out well, but education is one thing you don't gamble on.

As the investor Peter Lynch once said, "buy what you know."

You've probably managed to offend everyone - by telling a bunch of people in up-scale communities that they live in "non-wealthy areas" and by suggesting to everyone else that their schools are sub-par because some ESOL students attend them.

It tends to diminish your credibility a bit when it comes to the quality of local schools. By the way, Carson isn't in Centreville and students from Greenbriar West go to Rocky Run MS, not Carson MS. But I digress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And apparently YOU are afraid of what you don't know. You do not know Annandale and generalize on the basis of your pro-McLean prejudice. You repeatedly bash Annandale area schools, and you are wrong.

I do know Annandale. What's your prejudice against McLean?

Take a poll with parents and ask them whether they'd pick McLean or Annandale. That will be your reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
LOL! An essay defending your triangle. Not surprised.

And why not? Might not the OP find it helpful to know her other options? People over-hype the tiny City of Falls Church to no end.

I agree. It's helpful to have real life feedback on schools other than the ones in the wealthiest areas.

There are plenty of good schools in the non-wealthy areas. They include the Town of Vienna, parts of Centreville (Greenbriar West es-Rachel Carson MS), Burke/West Springfield, and Fairfax (Woodson HS).

You don't want to move to an area knowing that you are sensitive to the education issue and knowing that you will be propping up your defenses about the schools.

I've learned long ago that you don't take chances with education. I'm sure some things in Annandale are fine, and there are transition areas that could turn out well, but education is one thing you don't gamble on.

As the investor Peter Lynch once said, "buy what you know."

You've probably managed to offend everyone - by telling a bunch of people in up-scale communities that they live in "non-wealthy areas" and by suggesting to everyone else that their schools are sub-par because some ESOL students attend them.

It tends to diminish your credibility a bit when it comes to the quality of local schools. By the way, Carson isn't in Centreville and students from Greenbriar West go to Rocky Run MS, not Carson MS. But I digress.

When did the Town of Vienna, Centreville, or Fairfax become upscale? Is the median home price in those areas above 1 mil like in Great Falls? Is the median income above $180k like in McLean? Go look at the stats.

Rocky Run is another fine school in the Chantilly/Centreville area. Nevertheless, plenty of fine schools in non traditionally wealthy areas, but I digress.

http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/cs_compare/va/?level=m&area=c&county=Fairfax&sortby=stars_newrating&showall=1&tab=over

[Anonymous]

Goodness -- it appears that Denton from city-data/Neen from Fairfax Underground is now hanging out on DCUM. Oh.What.Joy

[Anonymous]

For reasonable prices in FC I would go with the Marshall HS pyramid. Shrevewood, Westgate, Lemon Road, Freedom Hill, have good reputations and Kilmer and Marshall have far superior reputations compared to Stuart and Falls Church High.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Goodness -- it appears that Denton from city-data/Neen from Fairfax Underground is now hanging out on DCUM. Oh.What.Joy

They're one and the same? Neen hasn't been on FFXU since the South Lakes redistricting turned all the kids on Madison Island into gangsters.

I thought the principal at Graham Road was doing good things (at least from other posters on FFXU).

OP:
1. What is your price cap (renting or owning)?
1a. I'm guessing you haven't the patience to wait out a short sale or foreclosure (the latter can be smoother than the former, which only works if the bank really wants to sell the place and the listing agent/your agent know what they're doing.)
1b. Are you OK with a fixer-upper that you can stay in while work gets done or can you wait 1-3 months to modernize an otherwise OK house (e.g. put more outlets in, a dishwasher in, etc., but no huge work like gutting rooms, expansion, etc.)
2. What sort of commute do you want? I'm assuming you want a shorter commute, since you're talking about Falls Church and Annandale, and therefore western PWC (avoid eastern PWC, it has all the problems of Annandale/southern Falls Church and none of the convenience), Loudoun, and Stafford are out of the question.
3. What are your desires regarding lot size, bedrooms, etc.?

I am seeing, for $350-$400k, single family homes, albeit 1950s and 1960s vintage homes, with 3+ bedrooms and on 0.20+ acre lots, in Pimmit Hills that are zoned to (good ES)/Kilmer/Marshall. That is a good pyramid, maybe not as fashionable as (ES)/Thoreau/Madison or (ES)/Longfellow/McLean, but available to you.

If you're OK with a townhouse or a condo, then your options increase. Ditto if your price cap if $500k.

With that said ... why on Earth would someone with kids, who plans to attend public schools, not want to live in the best school zone possible, or go in fully aware of the (potential) risks of sending their kids to a school with high(er) percentages of ESOL or free/reduced lunch students?

I'd like to think folks here don't think "McLean/Langley, Madison *sigh* if I must, then utter hell on earth" ... that's as wrong as "All FCPS schools are created equal and you're a snob if you think any of them are better!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Goodness -- it appears that Denton from city-data/Neen from Fairfax Underground is now hanging out on DCUM. Oh.What.Joy

I don't think she's posted on this DCUM thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For reasonable prices in FC I would go with the Marshall HS pyramid. Shrevewood, Westgate, Lemon Road, Freedom Hill, have good reputations and Kilmer and Marshall have far superior reputations compared to Stuart and Falls Church High.

OK - one thing to recognize, however, is that most Kilmer and Marshall students live in Vienna/Dunn Loring (outside-the-Beltway), not Falls Church. Shrevewood ES does have a nice range of SFHs, fairly similar to what you'd find in the Haycock ES district, which feeds to Longfellow/McLean. Westgate and Lemon Road split between McLean and Marshall, and the houses in the Marshall district are older properties in Pimmit Hills. The students with Falls Church addresses who attend Freedom Hill live in either apartments or townhouses close to Marshall HS, with most of the school's students again living in Vienna.

As a result, if one is simply looking for a nice inside-the-Beltway neighborhood in Falls Church for elementary school, I wouldn't rule out areas in the Stuart or Falls Church HS districts. The Sleepy Hollow/Lake Barcroft area feeds into Stuart and is really nice. There are also nice houses in the Holmes Run and Pine Springs areas that feed into Falls Church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With that said ... why on Earth would someone with kids, who plans to attend public schools, not want to live in the best school zone possible, or go in fully aware of the (potential) risks of sending their kids to a school with high(er) percentages of ESOL or free/reduced lunch students?

Well sure, but there's not exactly a 100% consensus as to what may be "the best school zone possible." The schools with the lowest percentages of ESOL and FRR students have their own issues that parents and students have to navigate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a result, if one is simply looking for a nice inside-the-Beltway neighborhood in Falls Church for elementary school, I wouldn't rule out areas in the Stuart or Falls Church HS districts. The Sleepy Hollow/Lake Barcroft area feeds into Stuart and is really nice. There are also nice houses in the Holmes Run and Pine Springs areas that feed into Falls Church.

Not a bad idea, actually, and Stuart and Falls Church are not *terrible* high schools by any stretch of the imagination. If DC went to a solid ES, there's plenty of opportunity to be had at Stuart and Falls Church.

On the other hand, houses in Lake Barcroft are going for 600k for fixer-uppers. If you can afford that, I'd be looking at McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With that said ... why on Earth would someone with kids, who plans to attend public schools, not want to live in the best school zone possible, or go in fully aware of the (potential) risks of sending their kids to a school with high(er) percentages of ESOL or free/reduced lunch students?

We all don't define "the best school zone possible" that same way. I am highly educated and want the same for my kids but we are an African American family and I have no interest in sending my child to a school in McLean where there are only a handful of black kids. We are looking for school districts that are both very good (not necessarily the highest test scores, but certainly very good) and diverse. We can afford to live in McLean and Vienna but choose not too. For us, West Springfield area is probably going to be where we end up.