Happier After Move Away from FCPS/Fairfax County?

[Anonymous]

We moved to another part of Virginia entirely, not NOVA. It's been fantastic as far as education! Leaps above FCPS. Nice teachers, and our kids are happier, too. They have friends now, too. They started to smile again after we left FCPS, which was very hard on them. The bullying, the social and financial stratification (rich kids vs. poor kids), the overcrowded classrooms, etc. FCPS is coasting on fumes from the 1990s. It isn't that anymore.

[Anonymous]

Another poster. We were a west springfield family. Live in Texas now.

The sports down here are great. I will say it is nice to have a pool at school instead of having the kids swim at Audrey Moore. The swimmers and divers aren't as great -- the DC area swim coaching is better. Football and basketball are great too.

Academics are very weak. My kids all cleared into advanced math and coursework and like the PP they were not remarkable AAP students. They are at the top of their classes without much effort, which is nice because they train a ton. UT Austin isn't promised, but we have the money to send them out of state back east. There are very few AP classes and the language classes are just Spanish and French (one kid wanted to do German and that was a no-go, which was a bummer since he was in immersion).

The property taxes in Texas are AWFUL. I cannot overstate how much I hate the property taxes. They are very, very high. Public services are very weak. There's no Audrey Moore, we pay for a swim/tennis/golf club. We pay way more than we did in Virginia when you combine income tax and property tax/car tax. The utilities are also incredibly expensive and we have reliability (Power) issues I never had in Springfield.

The houses are nicer, we have a pool and I work but not a crazy job (mostly to pay taxes and save for out of state college) because DH makes good money. But all in, the grass isn't greener. It's just different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved to another part of Virginia entirely, not NOVA. It's been fantastic as far as education! Leaps above FCPS. Nice teachers, and our kids are happier, too. They have friends now, too. They started to smile again after we left FCPS, which was very hard on them. The bullying, the social and financial stratification (rich kids vs. poor kids), the overcrowded classrooms, etc. FCPS is coasting on fumes from the 1990s. It isn't that anymore.

Could you share which part of VA? Richmond area? Tidewater area? Closer to Harrisonburg/Blacksburg?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking for anecdotes from people who moved out of Fairfax County specifically to avoid FCPS and the politics of FCPS. Increasingly, I find myself despondent about living in this county with its wretchedly bad county government and schools system, and thinking we'd be happier elsewhere.

Or is every school system/School Board as bad (incompetent, hypocritical, etc.) as the Fairfax County School Board? Comparisons with other specific jurisdictions would be most welcome.

Sounds like Alabama or Louisiana may be more to your liking.

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine moved her kids down to the Raleigh NC area when her kids (2 girls) were in middle school. They LOVED having the year-round school, and she says it was nicer to have a "less competitive" environment. But... she does say that the schools/teachers/programs are not as good as FCPS in that they are less rigorous and less in depth, and they have fewer elective choices and fewer challenging peers. Her girls were at the very top of their classes in HS and ended up at T10 universities. Both have claimed to be underprepared for the rigors of college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A friend of mine moved her kids down to the Raleigh NC area when her kids (2 girls) were in middle school. They LOVED having the year-round school, and she says it was nicer to have a "less competitive" environment. But... she does say that the schools/teachers/programs are not as good as FCPS in that they are less rigorous and less in depth, and they have fewer elective choices and fewer challenging peers. Her girls were at the very top of their classes in HS and ended up at T10 universities. Both have claimed to be underprepared for the rigors of college.

One of my daughter’s friends moved to NC because of her parents’ job, and she’s unhappy there. She was an excellent student here, and has a very small peer group there. She does not think the education she’s receiving is preparing her adequately for college. She went to a very diverse school here and the one she currently attends is not, and while she is one of those kids that normally makes friends easily and is well liked by everyone, she has had a really tough time making friends. She’s a really good musician and their music program is not comparable. The list goes on and on.

[Anonymous]

It all depends on where one moves. It could be better, about the same, or worse.

[Anonymous]

We moved from FCPS out of state and are much happier now. For my family, the biggest difference is that we went from having no school choice to a rather large array of options, including open enrollment public schools, gifted magnet schools, charter schools, and affordable private schools. In FCPS, if you don't like your zoned school, you're kind of stuck. Private schools are way too expensive, and there aren't any other options.

[Anonymous]

NJ schools are excellent as are public schools along the Main Line outside of Philly, especially Lower Merion. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

West Springfield Poster who moved to Texas, thank you for your interesting post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking for anecdotes from people who moved out of Fairfax County specifically to avoid FCPS and the politics of FCPS. Increasingly, I find myself despondent about living in this county with its wretchedly bad county government and schools system, and thinking we'd be happier elsewhere.

Or is every school system/School Board as bad (incompetent, hypocritical, etc.) as the Fairfax County School Board? Comparisons with other specific jurisdictions would be most welcome.

I feel like you haven't lived in a lot of places if you are despondent about living in one of the richest counties in the US, with its historically good school system filled with educators with masters and PhDs.

Of course, it's not perfect, but nothing is.

You sound like someone who will be continually disappointed no matter where you go.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking for anecdotes from people who moved out of Fairfax County specifically to avoid FCPS and the politics of FCPS. Increasingly, I find myself despondent about living in this county with its wretchedly bad county government and schools system, and thinking we'd be happier elsewhere.

Or is every school system/School Board as bad (incompetent, hypocritical, etc.) as the Fairfax County School Board? Comparisons with other specific jurisdictions would be most welcome.

I feel like you haven't lived in a lot of places if you are despondent about living in one of the richest counties in the US, with its historically good school system filled with educators with masters and PhDs.

Of course, it's not perfect, but nothing is.

You sound like someone who will be continually disappointed no matter where you go.

+1

You sound like someone who can't handle the idea that others might be happier outside Fairfax. Lame.

[Anonymous]

Everywhere we looked, East coast - near cities, we saw that the school systems that seemed on par or better than FCPS had tax rates that were at least double. You get what you pay for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another poster. We were a west springfield family. Live in Texas now.

The sports down here are great. I will say it is nice to have a pool at school instead of having the kids swim at Audrey Moore. The swimmers and divers aren't as great -- the DC area swim coaching is better. Football and basketball are great too.

Academics are very weak. My kids all cleared into advanced math and coursework and like the PP they were not remarkable AAP students. They are at the top of their classes without much effort, which is nice because they train a ton. UT Austin isn't promised, but we have the money to send them out of state back east. There are very few AP classes and the language classes are just Spanish and French (one kid wanted to do German and that was a no-go, which was a bummer since he was in immersion).

The property taxes in Texas are AWFUL. I cannot overstate how much I hate the property taxes. They are very, very high. Public services are very weak. There's no Audrey Moore, we pay for a swim/tennis/golf club. We pay way more than we did in Virginia when you combine income tax and property tax/car tax. The utilities are also incredibly expensive and we have reliability (Power) issues I never had in Springfield.

The houses are nicer, we have a pool and I work but not a crazy job (mostly to pay taxes and save for out of state college) because DH makes good money. But all in, the grass isn't greener. It's just different.

Girl stop being reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NJ schools are excellent as are public schools along the Main Line outside of Philly, especially Lower Merion. Good luck.

There are excellent school systems in NJ, and not so good ones too. My nephew (brother lives in Northern NJ) has always attended private schools because their publics are awful. Hell, even his private high school is not as rigorous as my daughter’s mediocre public in FCPS. She’s a grade lower than him, and what she’s being taught and the work product expectations exceed his.

Also, their tax rates are much higher than ours.