relative pros and cons of mclean area elementary schools

[Anonymous]

McLean is a wealthy area, you've got to try and fail there with regard to the public schools.

Price, house/lot size, commute time, time spent as a family, and the neighbors you have to deal with are going to matter way way way way more than if you go to Kent Gardens or Churchill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean is a wealthy area, you've got to try and fail there with regard to the public schools.

Price, house/lot size, commute time, time spent as a family, and the neighbors you have to deal with are going to matter way way way way more than if you go to Kent Gardens or Churchill.

For better or worse, the Churchill Road area feels a lot more wealthy than the Kent Gardens area.

[Anonymous]

You can still look in 22102 as well. Spring Hill does have a lot of kids, but we never really felt that it was as big as the numbers said it was.

We had kids there for two years and are currently overseas. Our kids are in an international school now and it reminds me in many ways of the international flavor we found at Spring Hill.

We'll be moving back to NoVa either next year or the year after and will be looking to go back to Spring Hill, with Churchill as a close second choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can still look in 22102 as well. Spring Hill does have a lot of kids, but we never really felt that it was as big as the numbers said it was.

We had kids there for two years and are currently overseas. Our kids are in an international school now and it reminds me in many ways of the international flavor we found at Spring Hill.

We'll be moving back to NoVa either next year or the year after and will be looking to go back to Spring Hill, with Churchill as a close second choice.

If you want to be in McLean, and close to DC, you probably want to be in 22101, not 22102.

[Anonymous]

Can the PP who mentioned "snooty" elaborate? Who is snooty, the kids, parents, or teachers?

[Anonymous]

I am the one who mentioned snooty, because, as I said, I have read it on another thread here. Here is the thread: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/92854.page#742579

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McLean is a wealthy area, you've got to try and fail there with regard to the public schools.

Price, house/lot size, commute time, time spent as a family, and the neighbors you have to deal with are going to matter way way way way more than if you go to Kent Gardens or Churchill.

For better or worse, the Churchill Road area feels a lot more wealthy than the Kent Gardens area.

And the Spring Hill area feels a lot more wealthy than Churchill Road. So what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
And the Spring Hill area feels a lot more wealthy than Churchill Road. So what?

Actually, it doesn't.

It only matters to the extent that people give an overseas poster a false impression that McLean is uniformly swanky. The Kent Gardens area isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And the Spring Hill area feels a lot more wealthy than Churchill Road. So what?

Actually, it doesn't.

It only matters to the extent that people give an overseas poster a false impression that McLean is uniformly swanky. The Kent Gardens area isn't.

Just about every SFH in 22101 is over $600,000. Some houses may need more TLC than others.

My point was that all the schools are very good and that other factors (house/lot size/condition, neighbors, and commute) will matter much more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And the Spring Hill area feels a lot more wealthy than Churchill Road. So what?

Actually, it doesn't.

It only matters to the extent that people give an overseas poster a false impression that McLean is uniformly swanky. The Kent Gardens area isn't.

The Kent Gardens area is not swanky and neither is the Chesterbrook or Churchill areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Chesterbrook and Churchill Road areas include some of McLean's best known and most prestigious neighborhoods, such as Franklin Park (Chesterbrook) and Langley Forest (Churchill Road). The Kent Gardens area doesn't have similar neighborhoods, with the possible exception of the Evans Farm complex, which is too new and shiny to have the same appeal. Most of the least expensive properties in McLean are in the Kent Gardens area. That doesn't mean Kent Gardens is a bad school. It does mean that someone who wants to live in one of the upscale sections of McLean might want to look elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Chesterbrook and Churchill Road areas include some of McLean's best known and most prestigious neighborhoods, such as Franklin Park (Chesterbrook) and Langley Forest (Churchill Road). The Kent Gardens area doesn't have similar neighborhoods, with the possible exception of the Evans Farm complex, which is too new and shiny to have the same appeal. Most of the least expensive properties in McLean are in the Kent Gardens area. That doesn't mean Kent Gardens is a bad school. It does mean that someone who wants to live in one of the upscale sections of McLean might want to look elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Chesterbrook and Churchill Road areas include some of McLean's best known and most prestigious neighborhoods, such as Franklin Park (Chesterbrook) and Langley Forest (Churchill Road). The Kent Gardens area doesn't have similar neighborhoods, with the possible exception of the Evans Farm complex, which is too new and shiny to have the same appeal. Most of the least expensive properties in McLean are in the Kent Gardens area. That doesn't mean Kent Gardens is a bad school. It does mean that someone who wants to live in one of the upscale sections of McLean might want to look elsewhere.

Prestigious?

Yeah, in their own minds, because no one else cares!

Clue yourself in that the entire boundary of Chesterbrook ES doesn't consist of homes found in Franklin Park nor does the entire boundary of Churchill Road consist of homes found in Langley Forest.

In fact, take a drive down Churchill Road heading to the school and you'll find the same looking houses that you'll find driving to Kent Gardens....and guess what, the same kids living on Churchill Road in those little old shacks are the same kids going to the same school as those living in self anointed prestigious Langley Forest. Guess what, you'll find some of the same little old shacks in the Chesterbrook boundary too.

Whoopee!

[Anonymous]

Glad to see my previous point is being confirmed -- no one's arguing about whether the schools are good -- because everyone agrees they are.

Now we're arguing about how much worse a $750,000 house is than a $1.5 million house.

"Downscale" for McLean is upscale for just about anywhere else in the county.

OP, worry more about house/lot size/condition, neighbors, and the commute you will have. The differences between the elementary schools in 22101 are simply not that great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
"Downscale" for McLean is upscale for just about anywhere else in the county.

Totally false, but believe it if you wish.