Moving to DC or Arlington Area - Which Elementary Public School Do You Recommend?

[Anonymous]

The best school system in the DC area is in Falls Church City. People from outside the district pay to get in. Small class sizes and good performance. While most of FCC is about 10 minutes farther from DC than Arlington, there are parts near the East Falls Church metro (eg Broadmont) that are as close as some parts of Arlington but with better schools and bigger lots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3k won’t get you much so I suspect you’ll be north of 4K and the next decision you need to make is how surrounded by poverty you and your fam feel comfortable being. The nice areas of DC or Arlington that are nice that won’t go very far, you can find mixed areas but they will be situationally very specific or luck with the lottery on how you experiencing it.

+1. OP will have sticker shock. Forget about 3 or 4k to rent a house in good school pyramid in the city. 5k is probably the floor and up.

And to rent a house in boundary for the coveted DC public schools in upper NW you are looking at 6-7K per month. Apartments are less though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does it have to be a house? Because you can certainly rent a nice 2 bedroom apartment within that budget in bounds for a good school. Cleveland Park, Cathedral Heights, Glover Park, Van Ness, to name a few.

They used to be nice for their price point in those neighborhoods. Never know who your neighbor might be in those buildings anymore. Buildings turn the corner (in the wrong direction) quickly now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it have to be a house? Because you can certainly rent a nice 2 bedroom apartment within that budget in bounds for a good school. Cleveland Park, Cathedral Heights, Glover Park, Van Ness, to name a few.

They used to be nice for their price point in those neighborhoods. Never know who your neighbor might be in those buildings anymore. Buildings turn the corner (in the wrong direction) quickly now.

Do not think you can move into a NW DC apartment for access to decent schools and be safe. . Those days are over.

[Anonymous]

Hey OP Welcome to DC! We moved about a year ago from another East Coast city but originally from the Midwest so I understand the sticker shock.

My advice is if you want to live in DC proper, start researching (and visiting if possible!) the neighborhoods. Without knowing what you want specifically, it’s hard to make a granular recommendation but - for the most part - people tend to recommend NW DC for the best combination of transit, schools, safety and amenities.

Also, despite what some here have said, it IS possible to find a rental in some of the nicer NW neighborhoods like Glover Park and Cleveland Park within your budget provided you have an ok tolerance for an older row home or a smaller 2bd apartment. It’s much harder if you have pets, as many landlords don’t like to rent homes to people with pets. The larger buildings will generally add a fee.

To help narrow down your neighborhood options, consider your tolerance for commuting and how far you want to be from public transit, if applicable. DC is pretty well-connected but some areas like Georgetown, Foxhall etc don’t have metro access which can be a deal breaker for some.

Also how walkable do you want your neighborhood to be? Some neighborhoods have a much more dense, urban vibe than others (DuPont Circle vs Woodley Park or AU Park). If that’s important to you, it can help you narrow your options down. Generally the further North/West you go, the more suburban and less walkable the city becomes, albeit with retaining metro/bus access into Downtown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it have to be a house? Because you can certainly rent a nice 2 bedroom apartment within that budget in bounds for a good school. Cleveland Park, Cathedral Heights, Glover Park, Van Ness, to name a few.

They used to be nice for their price point in those neighborhoods. Never know who your neighbor might be in those buildings anymore. Buildings turn the corner (in the wrong direction) quickly now.

Do not think you can move into a NW DC apartment for access to decent schools and be safe. . Those days are over.

Not really - an older rowhome in Foxhall, Glover Park or Cleveland Park can be had for 3-5k/mo. Luxury no, but safe and decent schools, yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it have to be a house? Because you can certainly rent a nice 2 bedroom apartment within that budget in bounds for a good school. Cleveland Park, Cathedral Heights, Glover Park, Van Ness, to name a few.

They used to be nice for their price point in those neighborhoods. Never know who your neighbor might be in those buildings anymore. Buildings turn the corner (in the wrong direction) quickly now.

Do not think you can move into a NW DC apartment for access to decent schools and be safe. . Those days are over.

Not really - an older rowhome in Foxhall, Glover Park or Cleveland Park can be had for 3-5k/mo. Luxury no, but safe and decent schools, yes.

Yes. Rowhome. Not an apartment.

[Anonymous]

If you are Trumpy you probably won’t feel comfortable in DC or Arlington. Maybe try McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest. Even the lowest ranked elementary schools in Arlington are better than virtually all of the DC publics. The few DC publics that can compete are all located in extremely expensive neighborhoods. Then once you hit middle and high school the Arlington schools are better across the board.

For DC Metro area (DC/MD/VA) HS, Arlington makes it's first appearance at #19 on the list below, DC high schools at #2, 3 & 16. Fairfax and Montgomery county schools take many of the top 20 spots.
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/rankings/washington-dc-47900

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Alexandria, VA, Fairfax County Public Schools
#1 in Washington, DC Metro Area Rankings
#14 in National Rankings

School Without Walls High School
Washington, DC, District of Columbia Public Schools
#2 in Washington, DC Metro Area Rankings
#68 in National Rankings

Benjamin Banneker Academy High School
Washington, DC, District of Columbia Public Schools
#3 in Washington, DC Metro Area Rankings
#96 in National Rankings

Walt Whitman High School
Bethesda, MD, Montgomery County Public Schools
#4 in Washington, DC Metro Area Rankings
#139 in National Rankings

Langley High School
Mclean, VA, Fairfax County Public Schools
#5 in Washington, DC Metro Area Rankings
#148 in National Rankings

Poolesville High School
Poolesville, MD, Montgomery County Public Schools
#6 in Washington, DC Metro Area Rankings
#172 in National Rankings

Yorktown High School
Arlington, VA, Arlington County Public Schools
#19 in Washington, DC Metro Area Rankings
#581 in National Rankings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with some of the posters saying you can't find anything in that price range. I live in north Arlington in a good school district and you can find a rental for $4K. It won't be a new build, but a 1940s 3 bed/2 bath cape cod or Colonial. Here's the first listing I found: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/5100-10th-St-N-22205/home/11235974

The schools are Cardinal, Swanson, and W&L, which is a good pyramid

it’s ok for the price point. But Arlington is good by DC standards but way behind Fairfax options. Most people who prioritize schools and neighborhoods pick McLean or Bethesda when moving to the DC area. Arlington is like the urban compromise. Yorktown is ok but you’re basically in McLean at that point but paying for all of south arlington’s struggles

Not in our experience. We bailed on Fairfax after elementary for a S Arlington middle school. In Fairfax, there were 30-32 kids and a single teacher in our children's elementary school classes, and more than 600 kids in a ridiculously crowded school. Our kid failed to test into all-GT Fairfax 4th and 5th grade programming at the end of 3rd grade by one or two points. He was bored in the upper elementary grades Things have been better for us in a S Arlington middle school where no class had more than two dozen kids, and English classes had no more than 18 students. The math he's taken in MS has been just advanced as it would have been on the GT track in Fairfax (6th grade algebra). South Arlington's "struggles" haven't been much of an issue for us, not with intensified science, English and social students in the middle schools for 7th and 8th grades, fairly advanced foreign language (not just for beginners) and two years+ accelerated math.

[Anonymous]

We were quite happy at Elsie Whitlow Stokes (Brookland) for elementary school and at DC International School for middle school (and ultimately high school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with some of the posters saying you can't find anything in that price range. I live in north Arlington in a good school district and you can find a rental for $4K. It won't be a new build, but a 1940s 3 bed/2 bath cape cod or Colonial. Here's the first listing I found: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/5100-10th-St-N-22205/home/11235974

The schools are Cardinal, Swanson, and W&L, which is a good pyramid

it’s ok for the price point. But Arlington is good by DC standards but way behind Fairfax options. Most people who prioritize schools and neighborhoods pick McLean or Bethesda when moving to the DC area. Arlington is like the urban compromise. Yorktown is ok but you’re basically in McLean at that point but paying for all of south arlington’s struggles

Not in our experience. We bailed on Fairfax after elementary for a S Arlington middle school. In Fairfax, there were 30-32 kids and a single teacher in our children's elementary school classes, and more than 600 kids in a ridiculously crowded school. Our kid failed to test into all-GT Fairfax 4th and 5th grade programming at the end of 3rd grade by one or two points. He was bored in the upper elementary grades Things have been better for us in a S Arlington middle school where no class had more than two dozen kids, and English classes had no more than 18 students. The math he's taken in MS has been just advanced as it would have been on the GT track in Fairfax (6th grade algebra). South Arlington's "struggles" haven't been much of an issue for us, not with intensified science, English and social students in the middle schools for 7th and 8th grades, fairly advanced foreign language (not just for beginners) and two years+ accelerated math.

I would be willing to wager schools had nothing to do with your reason for moving and your “experience” is really just a rationalization to convince yourselves that it’s better for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with some of the posters saying you can't find anything in that price range. I live in north Arlington in a good school district and you can find a rental for $4K. It won't be a new build, but a 1940s 3 bed/2 bath cape cod or Colonial. Here's the first listing I found: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/5100-10th-St-N-22205/home/11235974

The schools are Cardinal, Swanson, and W&L, which is a good pyramid

it’s ok for the price point. But Arlington is good by DC standards but way behind Fairfax options. Most people who prioritize schools and neighborhoods pick McLean or Bethesda when moving to the DC area. Arlington is like the urban compromise. Yorktown is ok but you’re basically in McLean at that point but paying for all of south arlington’s struggles

Not in our experience. We bailed on Fairfax after elementary for a S Arlington middle school. In Fairfax, there were 30-32 kids and a single teacher in our children's elementary school classes, and more than 600 kids in a ridiculously crowded school. Our kid failed to test into all-GT Fairfax 4th and 5th grade programming at the end of 3rd grade by one or two points. He was bored in the upper elementary grades Things have been better for us in a S Arlington middle school where no class had more than two dozen kids, and English classes had no more than 18 students. The math he's taken in MS has been just advanced as it would have been on the GT track in Fairfax (6th grade algebra). South Arlington's "struggles" haven't been much of an issue for us, not with intensified science, English and social students in the middle schools for 7th and 8th grades, fairly advanced foreign language (not just for beginners) and two years+ accelerated math.

I would be willing to wager schools had nothing to do with your reason for moving and your “experience” is really just a rationalization to convince yourselves that it’s better for your kid.

I am not the prior poster and have no dog in this fight - but ugh. People are so unnecessarily mean. This comment added absolutely nothing except to bring down another person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For DC, my advice would be to start by researching which rentals/property feed to either Deal Middle School or Hardy Middle School. Even if your kids are not MS aged, this will point you to the neighborhoods with a guaranteed right of attendance at a decent middle. There are differences for each of the elementary schools that feed to these schools (and you can search this site for threads on all of them), but this will give you a starting point to research rental prices in DC neighborhoods with schools posting reasonable test results. If those are in your range, you could come back and research more specific schools. Otherwise, you will be playing the school lotto game and you may be happier just settling for something a little further out in VA or MD. Good luck.

This is good advice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with some of the posters saying you can't find anything in that price range. I live in north Arlington in a good school district and you can find a rental for $4K. It won't be a new build, but a 1940s 3 bed/2 bath cape cod or Colonial. Here's the first listing I found: https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/5100-10th-St-N-22205/home/11235974

The schools are Cardinal, Swanson, and W&L, which is a good pyramid

it’s ok for the price point. But Arlington is good by DC standards but way behind Fairfax options. Most people who prioritize schools and neighborhoods pick McLean or Bethesda when moving to the DC area. Arlington is like the urban compromise. Yorktown is ok but you’re basically in McLean at that point but paying for all of south arlington’s struggles

Not in our experience. We bailed on Fairfax after elementary for a S Arlington middle school. In Fairfax, there were 30-32 kids and a single teacher in our children's elementary school classes, and more than 600 kids in a ridiculously crowded school. Our kid failed to test into all-GT Fairfax 4th and 5th grade programming at the end of 3rd grade by one or two points. He was bored in the upper elementary grades Things have been better for us in a S Arlington middle school where no class had more than two dozen kids, and English classes had no more than 18 students. The math he's taken in MS has been just advanced as it would have been on the GT track in Fairfax (6th grade algebra). South Arlington's "struggles" haven't been much of an issue for us, not with intensified science, English and social students in the middle schools for 7th and 8th grades, fairly advanced foreign language (not just for beginners) and two years+ accelerated math.

I would be willing to wager schools had nothing to do with your reason for moving and your “experience” is really just a rationalization to convince yourselves that it’s better for your kid.

I am not the prior poster and have no dog in this fight - but ugh. People are so unnecessarily mean. This comment added absolutely nothing except to bring down another person.

That’s why people love to come on here- to be anonymous so they can use other people as their punching bags.