Experiences with City of Falls Church public schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of the Falls Church City neighborhoods are quite nice. Not a fan of the vertical schools or the density of the development now along Broad Street. It is anything but charming.

My kid never complained and anyone with a disability got an elevator pass. The advantage is the connection between MEH and Meridian. The bands played in the big auditorium and 8th graders got to play high school sports.

Just a note to say that in APS, 8th graders are also allowed to play HS sports (unless it’s a sport that MS has).

Uniquely, Arlington middle schools have their own dedicated auditoria / theaters. Most adjacent school districts have cafetoriums. So drama students get the complete theatre experience within their schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCCPS resident here. I can tell you that if your family is interested in UVA this is a great school. SO many kids got into UVA this year and many had very mid stats, not sure they would have gotten in from FCPS or Arlington. There are 5 AP classes. I think the IB is well run and soon most colleges will accept SL classes for credit not just HL giving it a leg up from AP. It is true that it is socially claustrophobic and if you have a falling out with a friend group it can be very bad-dealing with this now. The upside is that given you cant escape any social drama when you finish the HS you are more aware of social dynamics because the lessons are in your face.

I was intrigued by this claim and the numbers are easily verifiable on line through SCHEV. From what I can see, FCCPS admission rates to UVA as compared to APS are all over the place. Sometimes FC rates are much higher (like in the 40s) and other times they’re on par with APS (in the 30s). This doesn’t really tell you much, though, because the data for Arlington isn’t broken down by high school and many many more students apply to UVA from Arlington than from FC.

The Arlington admit rates being reported are much more consistent than FC, though, and that suggests that the numbers for FC are class-specific - the classes are so small - and don’t mean that going to school there gives you a material advantage.

And Broad Street is a traffic nightmare devoid of much of anything interesting and not exactly my idea of “walkable.”

such a small point, but do really find Broad Street devoid of anything interesting? From the High School to Seven Corners, off the top of my head, here are some interesting places to go and do things:
- Lazy Mike's, locally owned deli & ice cream
- Ellie Bird, nationally recognized amazing restaurant
- a movie theater about to open
- TJ trails, which start at Route 7 and offer a lovely walk through the woods to Oak Street Elementary
- Sweet Frog frozen yogurt shop
- Brewery with lots of outdoor seating
- Harvey's, another locally owned restaurant
- two Japanese restaurants, two Thai restaurants, Irish Pub
- the State Theater, for live shows
- Clare & Don's beach shack, locally owned restaurant with huge outdoor patio
- three grocery stores - Giant, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods
- lovely park near Broadmont

Not sure what interesting things you're looking for in a walkable neighborhood but these seem to fit the bill for me.

And yes the construction is atrocious. Can't wait for it to end.

[Anonymous]

Godfreys-upscale coffee shop

[Anonymous]

Falls Church has Rare Birds Coffee Shop and Northside Social. Lots of indie coffee shops, cafes, and bistros nearby, including the renovated town library, parks, and the historic Falls Church itself.