Great School Pyramid/Family Friendly Neighborhood within 20 minute commute of Reston

[Anonymous]

There are still some 4 bed 2 1/2 bath homes in and just outside the Town of Vienna that are under $700,000. Yes, the OP should look up the boundaries of the schools. I notice the realtors often post the wrong ones for marketing purposes. All of them would be 20 minutes from Reston though and feed into well rated high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are still some 4 bed 2 1/2 bath homes in and just outside the Town of Vienna that are under $700,000. Yes, the OP should look up the boundaries of the schools. I notice the realtors often post the wrong ones for marketing purposes. All of them would be 20 minutes from Reston though and feed into well rated high schools.

I don't believe realtors post incorrect schools in Vienna listings "for marketing purposes." Vienna students attend a lot of different schools and I think realtors occasionally get confused. Also, some real estate sites identify the schools closest to a house, rather than the schools students are assigned to. They are often different in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it is realistic to get from most of Vienna to Reston in 20 min during rush hour.

[Anonymous]

I don't think realtors always get confused. All they have to do is plug in an address to get the school listing. I must have pointed out the wrong school 15 times and never saw a change. Another funny one is "backs to parkland" when they really back to undeveloped land that could be converted to homes at any time. This one I do think is sometimes a mistake.

http://boundary.fcps.edu/boundary/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think realtors always get confused. All they have to do is plug in an address to get the school listing. I must have pointed out the wrong school 15 times and never saw a change. Another funny one is "backs to parkland" when they really back to undeveloped land that could be converted to homes at any time. This one I do think is sometimes a mistake.

http://boundary.fcps.edu/boundary/

I haven't noticed that, but YMMV. I have noticed that realtors highlight if a Vienna house is zoned for Madison, McLean or Langley, but not the other HS.

With a $750K cap, I'd probably look in Oakton anyway. Closer to Reston and more affordable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it is realistic to get from most of Vienna to Reston in 20 min during rush hour.[/quote

Lawyers Road, Hunter Mill Road, etc. Easily done.

[Anonymous]

oakton is a easy commute to Reston. You also get more land, house for your money than you will in Vienna. yes, it is septic but not that bigna deal. We live in the Waples Mill /Franklin/ Oakton pyramid and are quite happy with the schools.

[Anonymous]

You may want to check on the swim clubs to see how long the waitlist is. Many of the ones in Oakton and Vienna have long wait lists although you can get a rental in a year or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, if it's the age-old AAP vs. FUTURA issue for you & your family, please let me tell you that I am very happy that my DC doesn't have to attend a different school now. There is only one other FUTURA student w/him out of a class size of 26. Subject matter is exciting & engaging with committed teachers.
I know your DC is going into K so maybe it's the half-day K issue which is troublesome indeed especially for two-income families.

OP here. Do you mind if I ask what ES your child attends? Sounds great. And yes, I am annoyed by 1/2 day K, but it is not a decision factor.

[Anonymous]

OP again. We'd love to move to Reston but don't hear good things about South Lakes HS or Herndon HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. We'd love to move to Reston but don't hear good things about South Lakes HS or Herndon HS.

South Lakes is underrated and ignorantly trashed by the McLean snobs on this board.

[Anonymous]

OP, in response to your ? my DC attends Horizon ES with FUTURA located at Countryside ES. I am happier with much smaller class sizes than our Fairfax public schools experience. I believe that there is a strong connection between small class sizes and academic success.
As for half-day K, I don't believe that is going to change anytime soon with the high number of students enrolling and lack of classroom space. That is why the local private schools LOVE half-day K so they can make more money with after-K enrichment programs.
Perhaps Loudoun County Schools will pilot an AAP-style center program at some point in the future. Until they stop needing money to build new schools out in Western Loudoun in response to student population growth, gifted education will not be a top priority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are homes in Vienna under $700,000 and all the schools there feed into Madison.

Some feed into Marshall, while others feed into South Lakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again. We'd love to move to Reston but don't hear good things about South Lakes HS or Herndon HS.

South Lakes is underrated and ignorantly trashed by the McLean snobs on this board.

Not true. The people who seem to have a beef w/South Lakes seem to live further west in areas that have been, or could be, redistricted to South Lakes in a boundary study, like Vienna, Oakton and Herndon. No one in McLean is going to get redistricted to South Lakes, and it is not really on their radar screen.

We lived in Vienna (Marshall district) when part of Madison got reassigned to South Lakes, and many people were upset enough that they either moved or pupil placed their kids to Madison for years. But the redistricting in 2008 has added hundreds of students to South Lakes and helped the school's image. We had several friends at Herndon and they were very happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it is realistic to get from most of Vienna to Reston in 20 min during rush hour.

I do this every day...I live in the town of Vienna, and commute to near Reston town center, typically, it takes me 16 minutes. I guess if you are on the far side of maple, it could be more than 20, but only marginally slow. And there is never significant traffic; except for snow or flooding roads, it is never longer than 25 minutes for me. (I am inside the town, right off of lawyers road)