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Relocating to Virginia - How are schools in Kingstowne, Alexandria?
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Anonymous
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We were very interested in Cameron Station but got turned off by the middle and high schools. Now we are looking into Kingstowne, Alexandria. I just realized that there is Alexandria the city and Alexandria in Fairfax County.
How are Kingstowne schools, specifically elementary schools? We don't need to be in the "best" school district but would like a good school district. My kids are younger but when the time comes, will they be able to test into TJ High School? |
Anonymous
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Will they be able to test into TJ? Who knows? As Fairfax County residents they will be eligible to apply to TJ, if that's what you mean.
One thing you might want to consider with Kingstowne proper is that it's split into two high school pyramids. The north part is zoned for Twain and Edison, and the southern part is zoned for Hayfield Secondary. I'm not sure where the boundary line is. Just according to demographics, I think Hayfield has somewhat fewer free-lunch and ESOL students, if that's a factor for you. The only way to really know is to visit the schools. |
Anonymous
| It's a good school district and you will enjoy Kingstowne. |
Anonymous
Thank you for the feedback. Your wording sounds so politically correct. |
Anonymous
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I have lived in Kingstowne/Island Creek for the past 11 years. I now have a first grader at Island Creek and next year I will have a kindergartener and a 2nd grader.
Here's the scoop: Island Creek has the lowest number of free/reduced lunch kids in all the schools that feed into Hayfield secondary school. We are getting a "new" principal next year b/c our current one is retiring (she was there when the school was built 7 yrs ago). One of the vice principals has been hired to be principal, so they will be getting a new vice principal next year. Seems like most people are happy with the school and happy that the Vice principal was selected (thinking that he will keep things going as they are). I have been happy with the school on the whole, but this side of the county isn't as "intense" as the northwestern side. Franconia had a bad reputation in years past, but they got a new principal a couple of years ago and she seems to have turned things around. They used to have the year round schedule, but now they have a regular calendar and it's not clear if the extra classes are what pulled them up a little or if teaching has improved. They are under pretty major construction right now and it seems the classes are being MAXed out b/c their first grade classes have 28 students while other schools are more in the 22 student range. It may be that they simply don't have the space, but that would concern me for first grade where kids really need individual help with reading. Lane is another large school, similar to Island Creek, but it has more economic diversity. I can't speak too much about it. I've heard people who liked it and people who didn't. Hayfield is both an elementary school and a secondary school (which means 7-12th but they are in separate wings for 7-8-9 and then 10-11-12). I think Hayfield elementary has a decent reputation, similar to Island Creek. Econmically might be slightly lower than Island Creek, but that's just because the houses are older. Definitely a lot of military families in Hayfield, Island Creek and Lane. Hayfield Secondary -- I've had my concerns about this in the past. On SOL's (state tests), white kids do pretty much the same at Hayfield as at any of the more prestigious schools. However, the SAT scores are lower. Hayfield has about 30% free/reduced lunches, so that has an impact on the school. The poorest group of students come from the Lorton area schools. I have discussed Hayfield with several neighbors and most say that you should make sure your Jr. high student takes honors classes and then they will be with the kids who care about school and they are happy with it. However, it is not unusual to hear of people whose kids haven't quite reached Jr. high/HS yet to move out of the area for a "better" school district (West Springfield/Lake Braddock). The Hayfield admin. have told the Island Creek administrators that they can tell which kids went to Island Creek (in a good way). I don't know if this is just chatter or if there is truth to it. Twain -- can't speak to it. Edison -- again, I can't speak to the whole school. It definitely has more of a hispanic influence b/c of the school on the east wing of Franconia (specifically, Rose Hill). Definitely a poorer section. However, I've known several girls who worked at My Gym or babysat for me and they were nice kids who went to Edison. It has the IB program rather than the AP program used at Hayfield. As for TJ, well, even kids from this side of the county can get in and you don't even have to go to an AAP center do it. I know of two kids (offspring of very smart parents) who went to Rose Hill (a low performing ES) and did Hayfield Jr. High and went on to TJ. Our neighbor and five of her friends were on the finalist list for TJ, but she didn't get in. (she is at Hayfield still and is a super nice girl). So, TJ is a possibility. One thing that may be a positive about Hayfield is that since there are fewer top notch kids, the teachers might take more notice of them and therefore maybe the teachers are more willing to work with them or write recs for TJ? Just a possibility. Hope that helps. Which part of Kingstowne/Franconia are you looking at? |
Anonymous
| i work in Kingstowne and really like the area. and always wondered about the schools, so thanks for all of that info. it sounds a lot like annandale/falls church and falls church high school, where i live. |
Anonymous
We are meeting with real estate brokers this weekend. Originally I was trying to concentrate our search on being walking distance to Kingstowne Town Center. I believe most of the homes in this area feed into Edison and not Hayfield. Our kids are not yet in school yet so we care more about elementary school right now. This is the wrong forum but I am having a difficult time finding preschools in Kingstowne. I seem to have 2 options - Chesterbrook and Little Acorn. |
Anonymous
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LOVE Northern Va. Academy at the corner of Beulah and Telegraph. Litle Acorn has a good rep as well. I would steer clear of the Kindercares in the area Chesterbrook. (Chesterbrook seems like it's high end, but it's not. They have been through about 6 directors in the last 4-5 years.... one went out with police.) You will find a good bit of info. on the state dept. of health and social services website http://www.dss.virginia.gov/facility/search/cc.cgi
Just put in the zipcode (22315) and see what the reports say. It's one thing to have a violation for an expired epipen.... it's another thing to have a violation for forgetting a child. Note, that there should be two regular inspections per year. If a facility has a lot more than that each year, there's a problem. If you are looking for parttime preschool, there are lots of churches that have very good programs. One last plug -- the quality and happiness of the staff at NoVa. is noticeably different than the Kindercares/Chesterbrook. |
Anonymous
| We live in the Rose Hill area and are very happy with it. Two of our kids are in the Spanish Immersion program at Rose Hll Elementary, one is not becuase of developmental delays and learning disabilities. RHE is a majority Spanish school and there are number of FARM kids but we feel it's a very good school. People will bash it and talk about how it's an average school but research has clearly documented that the biggest indicator of academic success is the socioeconomic level of the parents and the education of the mother. Every Fairfax County school offers excellent educational opporunitities. Oh - our older two were invited to the G&T program. We declined because we felt Spanish fluency was more important that whatever was offered at the G&T center. They're also provided advanced academic challenges at RHE and we're very happy with the decision. The teachers at RHE are fabulous and we love the diversity (ethnic, racial and socioeconomic). |
Anonymous
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Some food for thought http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/165458.page
"Rich" schools have their own dangers and pitfalls. |
Anonymous
| Re daycares, we were fairly happy with the La Petite Academy on Charles Arrington, near Beulah. |
Anonymous
| I posted about No. Va. Academy, but I forgot about LaPetite. My daughter went there only for the afterschool program, but I thought it was good. (We couldn't get into No. Va. Academy for after school b/c they have a very small program for after school). La Petite was much more under control than Kindercare and my daughter liked it. |
Anonymous
We live in the townhouses in Manchester Lakes--specifically Kings Crossing--and are walking distance to the town center and feed to Lane/Hayfield. There are several townhouses for sale in Kings Crossing. Manchester Lakes is a large Master Association and then has various smaller developments, like Kings Crossing. I don't know whether all of Manchester Lakes feeds into Hayfield. Manchester Boulevard is the main road that splits the two sides of Manchester Lakes. It's possible the other side of Manchester Lakes feeds into Edison. Here is a TH for sale a few houses down from me--right across from the playground. http://www.redfin.com/homes-for-sale#!lat=38.75578248909679&long=-77.14589663727435&market=dc&max_price=400000&min_price=300000&num_baths=2.0&num_beds=3®ion_id=8846®ion_type=2&uipt=3&v=6&zoomLevel=12 I posted before in response to your Cam Station/Ktowne question that we're struggling with whether to move to a better school pyramid, and I admit to being a bit of a "school snob," but we've heard good things about Lane and are comfortable sticking around Kingstowne for early elementary school. We'll see from there. Also, I wish people would not lump all the Kindercares/Chesterbrooks together. The Kindercare on Telegraph Road is fantastic, as I've posted before. I've had a child at the one in Kingstowne and the one on Telegraph and the difference is astounding. Inspection reports are very, very good on Telegraph, although I feel like it's a hidden gem b/c of the Kindercare name (it was previously a family run daycare for close to 30 years before they sold to Kindercare). The family still runs the school though. Good luck in your search this weekend. |
Anonymous
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Sorry, the link doesn't go to that specific house. The first one below does, although I just realized the house is a short sale. Here are a couple others for sale in the development though. Not sure of your price range or size preference, but Manchester Lakes townhomes are not the huge townhouses you will find in Island Creek but they are easily walkable to the town center (and feel bigger than they look). We have 2 kids and have no space issues in ours.
http://www.redfin.com/VA/Alexandria/6007-Kestner-Cir-22315/home/9784185 http://www.redfin.com/VA/Alexandria/6001-Pieco-Ct-22315/home/9784119 http://www.redfin.com/VA/Alexandria/6002-Pieco-Ct-22315/home/9784117 |
Anonymous
| If you're open to in-home providers, the Child Care Network of Kingstowne/Franconia have a directory of all state/county licensed in-home providers who are members of the network. That's how we found our provider who is amazing - much better than the preschool we used go to. |