Best elementary schools in Fairfax

[Anonymous]

This is so dependent on what you consider to be a good school. What do you want out of your elementary school OP?

My kids are at a high rated school with high test scores. Its also a bit of a pressure cooker. Not sure I would have chose this school had I realized that years ago. But we love our house and neighborhood so won’t move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is terrible but the truth is to buy into a school with a low FARMS rate. School performance and SES are highly correlated.

Great Schools rating and FARMS are correlated, but whether that impacts a particular student is questionable.

Our ES is a 3 because of Great Schools' equity score. But if you give it any more than a passing glance, you see that white and asian kids are testing at a 9/10 rate and hispanic kids are 1/10. So, if you are not an English learner, the school is working out very well for you.

[Anonymous]

First figure out commutes and possible commutes should your job location change. An additional 15 minutes makes a bigger difference than many perceived differences between ES.

Figure out your budget.

Overlay best commutes with affordable houses and then look at the possible elementary schools in your target areas. Then, come back here with your narrowed down areas and people will help you.




This is quite possibly the worst advice I have read on this forum. Commute time, unless unreasonable, isn’t a factor for most people and pales in comparison to school quality.

That person would have you live super close to the worst school districts in the county.

Disagree. The person who wrote this must not have a very long commute or realize how long some commutes are? Do you really want to be at least an hour away from your child in an emergency?

[Anonymous]

The commute thing would be a priority thing for me. Long commute time is exhausting when you’re trying to raise a family. Look at the VA Dept of Education website for individual school profiles and you can see test scores and other information.

[Anonymous]

I'd focus on low FARMS and commute. From there, I'd look for neighborhoods that will grow with your DC, meaning playgrounds now and walkable to a pool or shopping center for when they're older. A lot of people seem to only think about the neighborhood from the perspective of young kids, but it's so nice that my DCs can walk places, either with friends or to run errands for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First figure out commutes and possible commutes should your job location change. An additional 15 minutes makes a bigger difference than many perceived differences between ES.

Figure out your budget.

Overlay best commutes with affordable houses and then look at the possible elementary schools in your target areas. Then, come back here with your narrowed down areas and people will help you.

This is quite possibly the worst advice I have read on this forum. Commute time, unless unreasonable, isn’t a factor for most people and pales in comparison to school quality.

That person would have you live super close to the worst school districts in the county.

Hard disagree. Don't know whether this person doesn't commute/teleworks/I'd a dtay at home parent....but commutes are a very real struggle and can be VERY different depending on where you live. Fairfax County is huge. Less time on the road = more time with kids. There are good schools in all corner of the county - west springfield, Langley, etc etc etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

First figure out commutes and possible commutes should your job location change. An additional 15 minutes makes a bigger difference than many perceived differences between ES.

Figure out your budget.

Overlay best commutes with affordable houses and then look at the possible elementary schools in your target areas. Then, come back here with your narrowed down areas and people will help you.




This is quite possibly the worst advice I have read on this forum. Commute time, unless unreasonable, isn’t a factor for most people and pales in comparison to school quality.

That person would have you live super close to the worst school districts in the county.

Disagree. The person who wrote this must not have a very long commute or realize how long some commutes are? Do you really want to be at least an hour away from your child in an emergency?

My commute is an hour on average each way, but I get to telework.

I have no objection to considering commute, but imo the tail wags the dog when you choose a school based solely on commute. Frankly, different people feel differently about how close you need to be to a school, but to choose with that as sole criteria is lunacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is terrible but the truth is to buy into a school with a low FARMS rate. School performance and SES are highly correlated.

Great Schools rating and FARMS are correlated, but whether that impacts a particular student is questionable.

Our ES is a 3 because of Great Schools' equity score. But if you give it any more than a passing glance, you see that white and asian kids are testing at a 9/10 rate and hispanic kids are 1/10. So, if you are not an English learner, the school is working out very well for you.

Meh. I was talking to a mom new to our school this year. She said at the old school, there would be a new kid once a month or so who didn't speak any English and took up all the teacher's time.. The effect was the whole class suffered. She was thrilled to move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd focus on low FARMS and commute. From there, I'd look for neighborhoods that will grow with your DC, meaning playgrounds now and walkable to a pool or shopping center for when they're older. A lot of people seem to only think about the neighborhood from the perspective of young kids, but it's so nice that my DCs can walk places, either with friends or to run errands for me.

Great advice.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think anyone here has suggested or is suggesting that the op not do their homework. Buying at the edge or border of a school districts always been risky, and now it will be more so. Buy solidly within the school district, within walking distance of the schools you want your children to attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is terrible but the truth is to buy into a school with a low FARMS rate. School performance and SES are highly correlated.

Test performance and SES are highly correlated. School performance (how well a school does at educating students, how much your student learns and grows year over year) isn't really correlated in the same way, nor well-measured by things like Great Schools or Niche ratings or the Governor's new ratings, etc... they're basically just telling you how wealthy the student body is, but not much about how well the school does its job of educating those students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is terrible but the truth is to buy into a school with a low FARMS rate. School performance and SES are highly correlated.

Test performance and SES are highly correlated. School performance (how well a school does at educating students, how much your student learns and grows year over year) isn't really correlated in the same way, nor well-measured by things like Great Schools or Niche ratings or the Governor's new ratings, etc... they're basically just telling you how wealthy the student body is, but not much about how well the school does its job of educating those students.

The curriculum is mostly the same from school to school. The variation comes from what is done or not done at home in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is terrible but the truth is to buy into a school with a low FARMS rate. School performance and SES are highly correlated.

Test performance and SES are highly correlated. School performance (how well a school does at educating students, how much your student learns and grows year over year) isn't really correlated in the same way, nor well-measured by things like Great Schools or Niche ratings or the Governor's new ratings, etc... they're basically just telling you how wealthy the student body is, but not much about how well the school does its job of educating those students.

The curriculum is mostly the same from school to school. The variation comes from what is done or not done at home in my opinion.

The school board believes that poor performers learn by being adjacent to a few more higher SES classmates. That’s the only way to bring those students up in their mind, no matter the cost to the high SES students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To identify the top elementary schools (in terms of test scores), look at the top rated high schools and work your way backward. Most schools are the top schools because of their demographics and parental involvement, which extends from elementary to high school. Alternatively, look at the middle schools that send the most kids to TJJHST and work your way backward.

Ignore the nonsense from posters complaining about the FCPS school boundary redistricting. The County is working to implement more cost efficient boundaries and many on the fringes aren’t happy about it. Buy a home within walking distance of its assigned elementary school and you’ve got nothing to worry about.

To identityn

Are you serious? She wants to go to a good school. Good schools are being targeted. Don’t listen to this poster, your kids’ education likely depends on you ignoring her.

Be careful too, there are a lot of school board supporters on DCUM. If you care about good schools, run, and don’t look back - we were in your shoes a few years ago. And people constantly bark in the other boundary thread that we should have done our homework.

Consider this your notice. Do your homework.

You people never stop. It’s always something. A kids educational trajectory has more to do with the parents than anything else. FCPS was more highly rated because of demographics. Now there are a lot less middle class people. If you can find a school with a cohort of peers who are academically oriented, your kids will be okay. Peers and parents have a lot more influence on my kids’ outcomes than the School Board.
There is no grand conspiracy; school boundaries change. You aren’t guaranteed a particular school when you buy a house.

Is it peers, or peers and parents? Two very different contradictory statements and have major implications for what school you go to.

Seems like you people need to get your story straight. 🙄

[Anonymous]

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.