best neighborhoods for public schools in nova

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks. So, are the schools in N Arlington, Fairfax, or Mclean better? Which town is best to live in plus the best schools?

Is it like I have heard in MoCo where the best elementary is in a different area than the best high school? Anyone know about which is the best gifted and talented programs? I am willing to live further out for the better public schools. Thanks so much.

[Anonymous]

I think it really depends what you are looking for. It is really difficult to say what is "better". N. Arlington has great schools, so does McLean, so does Fairfax. I don't think you can really say that there is one school that are going to be the best of all of them, because it really depends on what YOU think is most important for your child. If you are looking at test scores alone, they all will rank highly. But my personal opinion is that test scores are not the best indicator of the best school. It really depends on your children and what they need. Do you want a smaller or a bigger school? Some of the high schools in Fairfax County are HUGE. Also, what type of neighborhood do you want to live in? Do you want to be further out (Fairfax) or closer in (Arlington)? Do you want more of an urban feel (some neighborhoods in Arlington) or more suburban (McLean) or even somewhat rural (Great Falls, Clifton, etc). You say you want diversity, but there are many different types of diversity throughout N. Virginia. Some schools have large Asian populations (Annandale, McLean, Robinson) and some have higher Hispanic populations (Washington-Lee). Some schools have students from all over (Stuart). Some schools have more diverse populations, but fewer students who get reduced or free lunch. I think this is a really hard question to answer because it is such a personal opinion. I don't think you could go wrong with any of the schools in N. Arlington, McLean, or Fairfax - they are all great and assuming your kids can thrive in a public school environment, they would probably do well at any of them. I would suggest trying to figure out how long you or your husband want your commute to be (assuming you drive into DC) and then go from there. Some places might be eliminated just because of the housing costs or what size house you could get for the money.

[Anonymous]

14:42- not OP here but you seem to know this area pretty well- I live here but we are looking to buy a larger house- any ideas for good schools and lots that have that great falls feeling but close access to toll road? husband works in herndon.. good schools essential

as for fairfax- what neighborhoods in fairfax? which school pyramids?..

thank you

[Anonymous]

14:42 here. I live in Arlington and work in Fairfax Co. so I have some knowledge of areas and schools, but it is by no means comprehensive. The only neighborhoods that I know of that are sort of like Great Falls (i.e. you get some land with your house) are Fairfax Station and Clifton. I know parts of Fairfax Station feed into Fairfax High School which is very good, and I believe people in Clifton go to either Chantilly High or Centreville (not really sure). Again, all of those schools are good. A friend of mine also lives right near Wolf Trap -right off the Toll Road - in Vienna. It is definitely a more suburban feel, but a nice area nonetheless. I believe her kids went to Langley also an excellent school.

[Anonymous]

Fairfax County has a great website describing each school clusters and describing all the different schools in terms of test scores, % of students who receive free lunches, % ESL students etc. I would start there. I'm sure Arlington and Loudon Co

What is the website for this info?

[Anonymous]

Don't forget the Falls Church City public schools - they have an excellent reputation.

[Anonymous]

This is the diversity poster (I forget what time I posted at).

I believe some of the PPs are being unfair to South Arlington.

While it is true that schools in N. Arlington are "better" (in terms of how they're ranked), I think folks are missing the fact that ALL of the Arlington high schools are in the top 1% of the entire nation. Wakefield, the high school for S. Arlington, just got approved for a huge capital improvement project worth millions of dollars. And while the N. Arlington schools are probably very diverse compared to the rest of the nation, I'm guessing they are more racially diverse than socioeconomically diverse.

For me, it's important that my children go to school with children who are on the school lunch program and for whom English isn't their first language. I don't want my kids growing up with a sense of entitlement. Not to say that all kids in N. Arlington have a sense of entitlement, but I personally think that S. Arlington schools will be better in terms of exposing my kids to people from all walks of life. In S. Arlington, for example, there is a Spanish immersion elementary school. I'm really hoping that my kids will have that as an option when they're school age.

Plus, if my kids turn out to be smart and motivated, I'd rather have them be big fish in a small pond, as it were. Easier to get into a good college, in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

If your husband works in Herndon, why not live in Herndon? There are some really nice sections of Herndon and Reston that have a "great Falls" feel. Herndon High is also a good FFX county school. (Biased, I went there!) Oak Hill section of Herndon is very nice. I know they are redistricting over there soon though. Also, parts of Vienna/Oakton has that great falls feel but is closer in to DC and has great schools--madison high is probably the one you want there, but marshall is good too.

Also, diversity stats are one thing, but I think many people might experience what I did; that while the school itself was diverse, my friends were not very. Many of the groups tended to hang out with their own race or socio-economic status, or most often, class group (AP students all together, etc.) So it's no guarantee that your kid will have a United Nations group of friends.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree with the pp and her comment about diversity. I teach ESL at a Fairfax co. high school and our students tend to be very separate from the rest of the student population. It is partially because of how the ESL program is set up, but it is also that they just feel more comfortable being around each other. So, yes, some places might be more diverse, but that doesn't mean that your child will automatically have friends of many different races and backgrounds. That said, it would certainly be a lot easier to find friends of different backgrounds at a more diverse school than one where everyone is very similar. I would also point out, too, that sometimes schools are more diverse in that there are students of different races, but socio-economically, the students all still come from very similar backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

Also, diversity stats are one thing, but I think many people might experience what I did; that while the school itself was diverse, my friends were not very. Many of the groups tended to hang out with their own race or socio-economic status, or most often, class group (AP students all together, etc.) So it's no guarantee that your kid will have a United Nations group of friends.

15:27 poster here. Very good point above -- my own high school was very diverse both racially and socioeconomically, but I just hung out with the kids who were like I was (AP classes, professional parents, basically upper middle class). But even though my classes were filled mostly with Caucasians and Asians, I think it was good for me to be in the same school as nonwhites and less privileged kids -- at least I got to see that there were other types of people in my community and the various groups learned to coexist relatively peacefully.

Tracking, on the other hand, is a whole other issue that I'm hoping we won't debate today. Suffice it to say that I see both sides of the arguments.

[Anonymous]

15:50 poster here- thanks 14:42.. I have been scouring the top hs lists - and i didn't see fairfax so i had been moving away from feeding into there- woodson is def. high up.. herndon with the whole redistricting.. I live Vienna but prefer the nw side.. though anything feeding into langley can't be too bad for sure! Oakton's nice- is the HS good (I think it comes up on the rankings).

Any neighborhood names would be helpful- this is a useful discussion..

[Anonymous]

Anyone know anything about the Westgate, Longfellow and McLean school pyramid

[Anonymous]

If you're looking to get more house for your money, I would suggest Herndon (since your husband works there) in the Oakton HS pyramid. It's supposed to be a great school and prices are down there. There are parts of Fairfax Station that feed into Lake Braddock, also a very good school, but the commute from Herndon will be better and the prices are lower in Herndon.

[Anonymous]

I currently live in Fairfax City, and while I am not an expert by any means, I have spent the last 2 months researching this topic pretty extensively as we prepare to move.

If you're looking to move "for the long haul", I think it makes sense to start by finding a good high school, and then working backwards. McLean, Langley and Yorktown are really good high schools, but I wanted to live a little further out, and I don't like the "Great Falls feel". I was looking for something more suburban. The two highschools in Vienna (James Madison and Oakton) are both also VERY good. Herndon is also a good school. We've settled on Vienna, and I think we'll probably end up in the Madison pyramid. The two jr. highs (Kilmer and Thoreau) are probably the weak link in that pyramid, but I can live with it. I think Jr. Highs are generally tough years, so I'm not sure its any particular shortcoming of the schools.

As for elementary schools, there are 4 in Vienna that have really great reputations: Wolf Trap, Vienna, Louise Archer, and Flint Hill. WT and LA have GT programs. If you're looking for more of the Great Falls feel, northwestern Vienna skirts along southern Great Falls, and has that same feel... and a lot of that area feeds into Wolf Trap. It also has easy access to the Toll Road. Just so you know, if you look on the boundary maps for Wolf Trap, you'll see its divided into two different chunks. The chunk that is further to the NW (closer to Great Falls) has been included in some redistricting plans... that would take it out of the Madison pyramid, and put it into Broad Run (?). So just be aware. The whole issue should be decided by the end of February.

Falls Church High also has a good reputation, and many of the elementary/jr schools are also good in that area.

We're moving primarily because I think Fairfax H.S. does not have a great reputation. Its a fine school (and generally I think better than Annandale and some others) but its just not on par with some of the others being mentioned here.

[Anonymous]

PP here, one more thing. If you want a lot of house, N Arlington isn't the place to be. Very expensive.