Overwhelmed with school options

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP Here - We'd have to be VERY lucky to find a house in Falls Church city for $500k. The cheapest I see right now is $569k. I've heard not such good things about Reston schools, so I think we're looking at Burke, Oakton, Mantua and Springfield.

Thanks!

Look at West Springfield. The neighborhoods that feed into Hunt Valley and Orange Hunt have recently had several three bedrooms single family homes go on the market in the 500 range. Those neighborhoods have excellent schools all the way through and a short, no traffic drive to the Burke VRE. There is also easy access to slug lots, Springfield metro and HOV lanes.

Sadly, for 500K- I think you will be hard pressed to find sanything in Oakton or Mantua. And by Burke- you mean more towards fairfax station- you might find a SFH for 500K. Close to Mantua and in good schools is a house on Guinea Road that is $499K but it is on a busy road. I casually looked at the neighborhoods that feed to Wakefield Chapel, Canterbury Woods, Olde Creek and Little Run (some of the Woodson Pyramid elementary schools) and I don't see a lot of options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reston has some less nice areas, but honestly, the only school people worry about is dogwood due to the county run housing/section 8 in that zone.

I lived in a TH community in north point for 8 years. Off lake Newport drive. Great little neighborhood. There is a single family home community across fairfax county parkway with a Herndon address that tracks to the neighborhood elementary school, Armstrong-that neighborhood is called Stuart ridge. You might still be able to get a detached home under $500k there.

The perceptions of south lakes and Herndon HS are at least 10 years old. Don't believe the rumors. Really.

We live in the Dogwood boundary and were thrilled K-2. We did end up at Sunrise Valley for AAP this year, but were not opposed to staying. If that did not work out. Many who speak poorly of Dogwood have never set foot in the school. The administration is WONDERFUL! Honestly, in your budget, Reston is probably a good bet. We have friends who are very happy with Hunters Woods, Aldrin, Sunrise Valley., Lake Anne, and Forest Edge (Spanish immersion). My oldest has loved Hughes Middle. The Lake Anne, Sunrise Valley and Forest Edge boundaries are probably closest to the Wiehle metro. Reston has a great sense of community, and lots of amenities.

[Anonymous]

West Springfield, Burke or City of Fairfax

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reston has some less nice areas, but honestly, the only school people worry about is dogwood due to the county run housing/section 8 in that zone.

I lived in a TH community in north point for 8 years. Off lake Newport drive. Great little neighborhood. There is a single family home community across fairfax county parkway with a Herndon address that tracks to the neighborhood elementary school, Armstrong-that neighborhood is called Stuart ridge. You might still be able to get a detached home under $500k there.

The perceptions of south lakes and Herndon HS are at least 10 years old. Don't believe the rumors. Really.

We live in the Dogwood boundary and were thrilled K-2. We did end up at Sunrise Valley for AAP this year, but were not opposed to staying. If that did not work out. Many who speak poorly of Dogwood have never set foot in the school. The administration is WONDERFUL! Honestly, in your budget, Reston is probably a good bet. We have friends who are very happy with Hunters Woods, Aldrin, Sunrise Valley., Lake Anne, and Forest Edge (Spanish immersion). My oldest has loved Hughes Middle. The Lake Anne, Sunrise Valley and Forest Edge boundaries are probably closest to the Wiehle metro. Reston has a great sense of community, and lots of amenities.

I was the pp-so happy to finally hear from someone with kids who actually attended Dogwood! I wasn't actually saying it's a bad school-just that people are concerned because of the high poverty rate that is directly related to the housing complex. I've heard the staff is phenomenal.

[Anonymous]

$500K budget? You're going to have to dig to find a place in your target neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP Here - We'd have to be VERY lucky to find a house in Falls Church city for $500k. The cheapest I see right now is $569k. I've heard not such good things about Reston schools, so I think we're looking at Burke, Oakton, Mantua and Springfield.

Thanks!

Look at West Springfield. The neighborhoods that feed into Hunt Valley and Orange Hunt have recently had several three bedrooms single family homes go on the market in the 500 range. Those neighborhoods have excellent schools all the way through and a short, no traffic drive to the Burke VRE. There is also easy access to slug lots, Springfield metro and HOV lanes.

I agree. It's doable in the 22152 zip.

[Anonymous]

Maybe you could find a townhouse in 22031 (FFX) that feeds into Oakton, Fairfax HS or Woodson. I think those options are stronger than Falls church HS. i used to commute to midtown DC from there and it was decent via metro, and not terrible by car.

You could also look in Falls Church off of 29, feeding into McLean or marshall - i've seen townhouses there that might be in that range, and the commute wouldn't be bad.

It'll be tough to get SFH anywhere near DC with very good schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$500K budget? You're going to have to dig to find a place in your target neighborhoods.

22015 is a good option

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a VRE stop near the White House?

Nope.

[Anonymous]

To add to your overwhelming sense - are you wanting to do the immersion lottery?

The immersion kids end up ahead of the AAP kids at 7th grade. Language is a lifelong skill, where as no one cares about AAP in high school (and not too much in middle school where it's called Honors Plus).

So for Burke, be near either Orange Hunt or Laurel Ridge. (don't have to be inbounds, but the bus is nice if you don't need SACC)

[Anonymous]

Check out 22030. Lots of smaller older homes in the 400-500K range that feed in to Fairfax Villa.

[Anonymous]

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/7203-Arthur-Dr-22046/home/9551108

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/7434-Nigh-Rd-22043/home/9473323

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/1867-Griffith-Rd-22043/home/9471487

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Vienna/1536-Northern-Neck-Dr-22182/unit-201/home/9830505

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Vienna/2814-Lafora-Ct-22180/home/9546551