Possible move to Arlington; how do the elementary schools work?

[Anonymous]

I may be accepting a job offer soon in Arlington. My son is going into first grade and in our area, you go to the neighborhood school. If we were to move to Arlington, would I be able to get him into a non-neighborhood school by lottery even though he isn't going into K? I'm a bit confused about how the process works. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

A lot of the neighborhood schools are good enough that you wouldn't even need to consider doing the lottery. do you know what areas you're considering yet? Frankly, there were only a few neighborhood schools we didn't even consider, and a couple of those were farther out than I wanted to live anyway.

http://www.arlington.k12.va.us/page/1100

If you're considering spanish immersion, you have two choices: Key or Claremont, depending on your neighborhood school. (Click on the individual schools on the above link and choose registration procedures.) There are magnets like Science Focus, Drew and Arlington Traditional. (do the same thing.)

If you choose an immersion program for elementary school, you should know that the only secondary immersion schools are Gunston and Wakefield.

[Anonymous]

Thanks PP. We are looking at a condo in Park Springs which is right off Columbia Pike. I am still trying to figure out what our local school would be if we moved there.

[Anonymous]

I just looked up those condos. It says your secondary schools are Kenmore and Washington-Lee, so your elementary might be Carlin Springs (which currently feeds into those two schools) or it might be Campbell. I'd be uncomfortable with CS, myself - it's only 4% caucasian, which would have made my daughter a minority in a big way. It's also 81% FARMS eligible kids, so not a lot of money there. Your immersion school for CS would be Claremont. I haven't been able to find much info on Campbell, though it's more diverse and not as poor, and has very low student-teacher ratios. (which could signal that until recently, it was a failing school.)

Personally, if I were buying in South Arlington, I'd probably try to find something that fed into Longbranch, Patrick Henry or maybe Barcroft. Barcroft is also pretty poor, but a friend of mine taught there and the principal is supposed to be awesome. They have a year-round schedule, though, which means that their off-schedule vacations could be tough to plan stuff around. Longbranch feeds into W-L; the other two feed into Wakefield. I'd also consider Abingdon (Fairlington, "The Arlington", etc.) and Oakridge, which are in 22206. And there seem to be a few condos in north arlington in your range, though just watch for high condo fees. (though park spring's is not low either.)

good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks! So many choices make it harder to nail down something. The rents are super high in Arlington compared to where we are coming from. Anything else besides Craigslist that might be helpful for a potential renter? My budget for rent would be $1500-$1700 tops. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just looked up those condos. It says your secondary schools are Kenmore and Washington-Lee, so your elementary might be Carlin Springs (which currently feeds into those two schools) or it might be Campbell. I'd be uncomfortable with CS, myself - it's only 4% caucasian, which would have made my daughter a minority in a big way. It's also 81% FARMS eligible kids, so not a lot of money there. Your immersion school for CS would be Claremont. I haven't been able to find much info on Campbell, though it's more diverse and not as poor, and has very low student-teacher ratios. (which could signal that until recently, it was a failing school.)

Personally, if I were buying in South Arlington, I'd probably try to find something that fed into Longbranch, Patrick Henry or maybe Barcroft. Barcroft is also pretty poor, but a friend of mine taught there and the principal is supposed to be awesome. They have a year-round schedule, though, which means that their off-schedule vacations could be tough to plan stuff around. Longbranch feeds into W-L; the other two feed into Wakefield. I'd also consider Abingdon (Fairlington, "The Arlington", etc.) and Oakridge, which are in 22206. And there seem to be a few condos in north arlington in your range, though just watch for high condo fees. (though park spring's is not low either.)

good luck!

If you are looking at the Glencarlyn area in South Arlington, the other elementary school option is Campbell, which is more balanced and has a large middle class; so Carlin Springs is not the only option. Note that with the overcrowding in the N Arlington Secondary schools like Washington-Lee, I suspect that many of the S Arlington neighborhoods zoned to W-L in the mid-90s will return to Wakefield, which is the closer school. So don't count on the neighborhood school pyramids in S Arlington staying the same.

Only a very small portion of S Arlington feeds into Long Branch. It is an area of apartments near the eastern part of Columbia Pike. As someone else mentioned, Fairlington is a good option, but it's a shame many students transfer out of the neighborhood for high school. S Arlington will have a new high school soon, and I suspect more S Arlington students will stick with their neighborhood schools.

There are a number of condos you should look into which are just north of 50 and within walking distance of Long Branch. There are also reasonably priced condos off of Lee Hwy just north of Lyon Village, and another cluster of affordable condos in Lee Heights along Lee Highway. The elementary school for those neighborhoods would be Taylor. Another idea is to look at the condos in/near Buckingham (just south of Ballston), which has become a fairly nice area after nearly a decade of gentrification. The elementary school is Barrett, which is a very popular school in nearby Arlington Forest. These are popular neighborhood school pyramids with most students staying together through secondary school (generally Swanson->W-L).

[Anonymous]

In the neighborhoods mentioned above, there are also apartments with more reasonable rents than those closer to Metro.

And Westover Village (just west of Ballston) has a collection of decently maintained apartments.

check out apartmentratings dot com for some honest reviews before you rent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks! So many choices make it harder to nail down something. The rents are super high in Arlington compared to where we are coming from. Anything else besides Craigslist that might be helpful for a potential renter? My budget for rent would be $1500-$1700 tops. Thanks!

You could rent a 1BD for that. A 2BD in a sketchy area.

You are better off moving to Fairfax county where you could rent a house for that price and not have to really worry about schools.

[Anonymous]

Fairfax County is huge and can be hit or miss as well when it comes to finding a quality apartment or home to rent. There are options for reasonable rents in decent buildings in Arlington. Just don't expect to be within a half mile of Metro.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I don't need to be near the Metro as I have a car but I don't want to have a long commute and I've heard the schools in Arlington are very good. Thanks so much for suggestions on where to look. It is hard to do from afar and when you don't know the area too well.

[Anonymous]

We live in S Arlington right of Columbia Park very close to Park Spring. We really like the neighborhood. Good playground and being right next to the park is great. Our DS is still in preschool but when he hits Kindergarten, I would have no problem sending him to Campbell or Claremont (immersion). Not sure I would send him to Carlin Springs, when the other two schools seem to be better choices.

[Anonymous]

The Westover apts would be a good place to look - people pay a lot of money to buy in that neighborhood, and the schools are very good. It's close-in Arlington. Also yes, definitely look at the area around Ballston called Buckingham. It's considered "emerging" but it really isn't - it's already pretty nice. My friends' kids are very happy at Barrett elementary. (I used to live in that area and have my daughter in preschool in Ballston.)

I'd stick to Arlington if you can find something. We just moved from FFX to ARL mainly for commuting reasons.

[Anonymous]

I live in Arlington and my daughter goes to school here. Where you would live would obviously depend on where your job is. Here in Arlington, you will quickly notice that access to the metro is important, even if you have a car. Parking is a pain in the butt so make sure you calculate the 150-200 dollars a month for parking and add that to your salary request. It's the only reason I take the metro since my company doesn't pay for parking and they have none. Depending on where in Arlington your job is, you can also look at rentals in Alexandria and you would still have a good commute. For example, if your work is in Crystal City, leaving somewhere off Route 1, Potomac Yards, Old Town won't be a bad choice. As others have said, most schools in Arlington are awesome. Fairfax county also has great schools, with the exception of some specific areas. For $1500-1700, are you looking for a 1 or 2 bedroom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Arlington and my daughter goes to school here. Where you would live would obviously depend on where your job is. Here in Arlington, you will quickly notice that access to the metro is important, even if you have a car. Parking is a pain in the butt so make sure you calculate the 150-200 dollars a month for parking and add that to your salary request. It's the only reason I take the metro since my company doesn't pay for parking and they have none. Depending on where in Arlington your job is, you can also look at rentals in Alexandria and you would still have a good commute. For example, if your work is in Crystal City, leaving somewhere off Route 1, Potomac Yards, Old Town won't be a bad choice. As others have said, most schools in Arlington are awesome. Fairfax county also has great schools, with the exception of some specific areas. For $1500-1700, are you looking for a 1 or 2 bedroom?

Actually Old Town is an awful choice because that is City of Alexandria - and the schools are pretty bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I may be accepting a job offer soon in Arlington. My son is going into first grade and in our area, you go to the neighborhood school. If we were to move to Arlington, would I be able to get him into a non-neighborhood school by lottery even though he isn't going into K? I'm a bit confused about how the process works. Thanks!

One thing not already mentioned is that the lottery for this school year already happened (deadline is April 15th every year), so I do believe if you apply for a non-neighborhood school at this point you will be placed at the end of the waitlist for that school. You may get in, but you would need to contact the school you are interested in to inquire about the wait list. With the recent overcrowding, I'd be very surprised if any school does not have a wait list. You will definitely want your neighborhood school to be a good option.

I think the list of areas to look from pp are good.