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best neighborhoods for public schools in nova
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Anonymous
| Yeah, I really think a lot of it will depend on how much you can afford and how much how house you want. I would love to live in Great Falls, but we can't afford it, and my DH prefers to be closer to DC so his commute is shorter. We paid almost $600,000 last year for a smallish Cape in N. Arlington. We did it because my DH doesn't want a long commute into DC, we love the neighborhood and Arlington and the schools are good. We were willing to live in a smaller house for those reasons. But if you want more house and don't have unlimited money to spend, that might limit you on what schools you can look at. |
Anonymous
| How about living in Oakton? Oakton HS is supposed to be really good. I don't know about their elemetary or middle schools- can anyone say which ones are the best ones? |
Anonymous
| OP again, this is so valuable. Thank you. I have been thinking about Oakton and Vienna. Aren't these really the same neighborhood? Sorry, I live in DC now and all these VA towns seem the same to me as I drive through. I like that there is a whole foods there. Which town is that nearest to? Are there lots of young families? Any insight into the socioeconomics and diversity of Oakton and/or Vienna? I am looking for DC Palisades feel with diversity and affordable housing. I hope that doesn't sound so weird. |
Anonymous
Diversity poster yet again-
No, that's not weird at all. I think that's what a lot of people are looking for. My opinion, though, is that you're not going to have an easy time finding all of that in one place. Reminds me of a saying a friend told me when I was single -- it's really hard to have a great job, great boyfriend, and great apartment at the same time. |
Anonymous
| I highly recommend the town of Vienna. Excellent schools. |
Anonymous
| There is a Whole Foods in Vienna along with lots of other shops and restaurants along Maple Ave. I like Vienna, but it is definitely suburban living. That is not a bad thing, but I would not say it is very diverse or similar to Palisades. To me, that would be more Arlington or Del Ray (Alexandria). However, as many previous posts have stated, N. Arlington is not affordable for most people and the schools in Alexandria while OK, are not the best. |
Anonymous
|
There is the city of Vienna, and then the larger surrounding "area" of Vienna. The Whole Foods is in Vienna. Oakton is the area on the south side of Vienna. Its not a stand alone city, but I don't think it really matters. From a practical standpoint, Oakton and South Vienna are basically the same area. They're both nice. Oakton tends to be a bit more spread out (some bigger property lots, fewer truly suburban-type neighborhoods). Vienna, or at least the city of Vienna, has a bit more small urban feel... with suburban type neighborhoods.
Both have very good schools. I've heard good things about Oakton Elementary School (ironically, pulls from a mix of "Vienna" and "Oakton" neighborhoods). |
Anonymous
|
Diversity poster here. OP, you might be interested in my neighborhood (Aurora Highlands in South Arlington). It was featured in the Washington Post Real Estate Section in November:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/11/23/ST2007112301106.html?sid=ST2007112301106 |
Anonymous
| How about waples mill es? I am the poster that doesn't care about diversity.. NoVa is diverse- period. I'm not looking for a DC feel (or I'd move to DC). |
Anonymous
Geez. Just stay where you are. We don't need you in our neighborhood. |
Anonymous
|
You can't go wrong with any pyramid in the McLean/Langley HS areas. All are excellent.
If your husband is working in Herndon, I wouldn't recommend Fairfax Station area. He'd have to take 495 to Toll Road...the 495 part would stink. Unless there's some backroads I don't know about. Vienna and Oakton do have some good pyramids. Oakton and Madison are rated quite high. However, I would not recommend Marshall. Check out http://www.greatschools.net/ Great resource. YOu also need to take resale into account. Buying a house in the McLean HS pyramid will sell faster than one in the Herndon HS area. Fact. Herndon area and schools aren't as good and won't continually thrive as well as McLean. Also, if you choose a house in the Langley HS side in Great Falls, make sure you don't buy one RIGHT on the line. If they redistrict (which is a possibliity) than you might get switched to Herndon. I would choose a school for its reputation and all-around strength. I wouldn't choose it on its diversity. Good luck! |
Anonymous
Good grief. |
Anonymous
OK, this is about the third time I have seen on this website that Marshall is not a good school. I am a teacher at Marshall and have been here about 10 years. I guess I wonder why people always say Marshall is bad. Yes, our school is older and has not been renovated (it is scheduled for the next few years), but we have a wonderful Academy with network administration, Chinese, engineering, auto tech, and culinary arts classes that draws students from all over the county. We have an outstanding IB program from which many students graduate with full IB diplomas each year. The school is small so people really get to know their teachers and we get to know many of the students. The school is more diverse than Oakton and Madison, but that is not a bad thing in my opinion. Can someone please tell me why Marshall has such a bad rap and what make Madison and Oakton so much better?? |
Anonymous
| Thanks PP. I would like to know as well since DS1 will be in the Cunningham Park, Thoreau & Marshall pyramid. |
Anonymous
I second that! Poster just seems to say that you don't need to be in any specific neighborhood to get SOME diversity in this area. We live in DC area- not the midwest here! |