Friend moving to NoVA -- help me help her with schools!!!

[Anonymous]

I live in the District. I think this is even more complicated than the District! What are the best districts, schools, feeder patterns? Of course I know this is all subject to personality of kids (hers aren't in school yet -- looking ahead to the future), but just in general what are the no-brainer areas, what are the oh, not so good areas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in the District. I think this is even more complicated than the District! What are the best districts, schools, feeder patterns? Of course I know this is all subject to personality of kids (hers aren't in school yet -- looking ahead to the future), but just in general what are the no-brainer areas, what are the oh, not so good areas?

Indeed. Your friend should post herself and explain what's important to her. Starting yet one more contentious thread about the "best schools" in NoVa is silly.

[Anonymous]

OP here: I have absolutely no desire to start a contentious thread about "best schools." Clearly I know next-to-nothing about schools in VA. My friend asked me to help her, she's not on DCUM, I was just trying to give some general guidance to a friend. People can't state something like, "We love our elementary school, XXX, it feeds into a middle school and a high school with solid test scores?"

I guess VA schools issues are as insane as District schools issues. If you would be willing, anyone, to answer the question about what are some good schools, areas, that would be great. I fear that if I sent my friend to this site, she would never move the NoVA.

[Anonymous]

I'm in Loudoun County. I'm not sure where your friend wants to live, but I've heard that FFx County and Loudoun County are very comparable as far as quality is concerned. You might find smaller classroom sizes in Loudoun though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the best districts, schools, feeder patterns?

It depends on how you define "best."

Excellent school districts (in order based on relative distance from downtown DC) are Arlington, Falls Church City, Fairfax County, Loudoun County. Alexandria is considered a lesser district in general, especially after elementary school. Prince William County is considered lesser than Fairfax County, but there are schools in Prince William that are better than some of the lesser schools in Arlington and Fairfax County.

Good luck to your friend.

[Anonymous]

Your friend may wish to post on the Northern Virginia City-Data forum. The folks over there are a great resource and usually very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Also, have your friend check out the website for the Fairfax County Public Schools. It provides test scores, demographics, etc.

[Anonymous]

A lot depends on how much your friend can spend on her house, or is she renting, where she or DH is commuting to for work, if they want walkability or lots of cul de sacs, if they need to be near public transportation, if they have a child with special needs, etc, etc. Give a list of criteria, and you'll get lots of suggestions and some will be helpful.

[Anonymous]

To your friend: Yes, housing costs are key here. We looked in an "affordable" district (if you can call it that) and zeroed in on the best school triangle within that district. That helped us narrow our search.

Do yourself a favor--unless you are renting, do look ahead to middle and high school. I have friends who are reluctantly uprooting their young teens now, and it's not fun for child or parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To your friend: Yes, housing costs are key here. We looked in an "affordable" district (if you can call it that) and zeroed in on the best school triangle within that district. That helped us narrow our search.

Do yourself a favor--unless you are renting, do look ahead to middle and high school. I have friends who are reluctantly uprooting their young teens now, and it's not fun for child or parent.

Yes, this is particularly a problem in Alexandria City Public Schools.

[Anonymous]

Quick and dirty based on test scores:

In Arlington County - Yorktown HS pyramid
In Falls Church City - All of it
In Fairfax County - Langley HS pyramid, McLean HS pyramid, Woodson HS pyramid, Madison HS pyramid, Oakton HS pyramid, Marshall HS pyramid (pretty much in that order)
In Loudoun County - Stone Bridge HS pyramid
Alexandria City - HS is generally considered not as good as others in area, mostly due to large population of low-income students who feed into it.
Prince William - generally not as well-thought of as Fairfax or Loudoun.

I'm sure that some on here will defend other schools, and I'm not saying I disagree, but based on test scores, these are the school pyramids that stand out. Note that not every elementary or middle school that feeds into these high schools are necessarily "high-performers" but once you narrow it down th a HS pyramid, you usually have only a few schools to look at that feed into them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure that some on here will defend other schools, and I'm not saying I disagree, but based on test scores, these are the school pyramids that stand out.

I agree with the list provided by this poster. Plus there are options for private along the way. We are zoned for Woodson but I will not send my kids there, so we are planning on switching to private once the kids are done at Frost.

[Anonymous]

Lake Braddock, Robinson, and West Springfield are all solid high schools in Fairfax County (although the Marshall / Madison / Woodson crowd doesn't like to admit it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quick and dirty based on test scores:

In Arlington County - Yorktown HS pyramid
In Falls Church City - All of it
In Fairfax County - Langley HS pyramid, McLean HS pyramid, Woodson HS pyramid, Madison HS pyramid, Oakton HS pyramid, Marshall HS pyramid (pretty much in that order)
In Loudoun County - Stone Bridge HS pyramid
Alexandria City - HS is generally considered not as good as others in area, mostly due to large population of low-income students who feed into it.
Prince William - generally not as well-thought of as Fairfax or Loudoun.

I'm sure that some on here will defend other schools, and I'm not saying I disagree, but based on test scores, these are the school pyramids that stand out. Note that not every elementary or middle school that feeds into these high schools are necessarily "high-performers" but once you narrow it down th a HS pyramid, you usually have only a few schools to look at that feed into them.

W-L HS in Arlington is also a very good school - as are the schools that feed into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lake Braddock, Robinson, and West Springfield are all solid high schools in Fairfax County (although the Marshall / Madison / Woodson crowd doesn't like to admit it).

I'm sure the Marshall/Madison/Woodson crowd doesn't really care whether Lake Braddock, Robinson and West Springfield are "solid" high schools. The OP asked for the "best" schools. And I gave her a list of the top 25% in Fairfax County based on test scores. I supposed I could have gone on down the line and listed them all, but then she's not really getting the "best."