If you could live anywhere in NoVa....

[Anonymous]

We are in the West Springfield High School district. Great pyramid. Houses are more affordable here than in Great Falls, McLean. All of the high schools in FFX county are ranked in the top 100 nationwide. Talk to people who go to schools you are thinking of putting your kids in to. Don't get too bogged down with test scores. Go to fcps.edu- schools/centers-- profile. It will give all the info you need- free/reduced lunch, scores, demographics, etc. Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You really would rather no trailers but have large classrooms with teachers who are overwhelmed? The ratios are calculated across the entire school, so it rarely requires multiple trailers for each school due to a student drop in class size. According to some parents at Haycock for instance they are fine if classes were in a tent, so I'm not sure the trailer verses classroom is a huge issue at those overcrowded schools. I'm not familiar with high schools to know if the current ratios are fine or not. I only hear complaints at the elementary school level. I think there are just too many children attending specific schools like AAP centers and that is a result of more than class size ratios.

How do you figure that AAP affects it? The school gets a HUGE amount of extra money for AAP. Are there more kids in trailers because there are more kids overall? Yes, but the entire feel of the school is different. The Haycock parents would not be willing to have their kids in classes in a "tent" if AAP were not int he school raising the test scores and contributing to the overall exciting academic atmosphere there. The parents there who wish AAP would go away, might get their wish and ultimately be very disappointed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious. Do the Falls Church city parents like the way the schools are split up with only a couple of grades per school?

Speaking as a parent to a Kindegartner, Yes. I think that only having K and 1st in Mt Daniel is a positive. I like that she is only around little kids for her bus ride and after care. I have a friend who's daughter has picked up so many things from the older kids in after care (not horrible or dangerous, just not things I'd prefer my 5-yo saying or being exposed to).

Thomas Jefferson is being renovated and will expand from 2-4th to 2-5th next year. I think that's a good thing - having 5th graders in The Middle School was not ideal. I think they'll also be moving the 8th graders back to Middle school wih that re-org (also a good thing)

I just hope they'll build a new high school in the new few years, the current one is pretty out-dated..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I just hope they'll build a new high school in the new few years, the current one is pretty out-dated..

All but one of the FCC schools are located in Fairfax County. FCC can't build or rebuild on those sites without the county's permission. Maybe FCC should build vertically within its own borders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mantua Hills

Mantua
Frost
Woodson

That area is very bland and just mediocre. grew up there, no one picks those as their dream , maybe as what they can afford

Well if we are talking about a dream location, then Great Falls a few doors down from L'Auberge. But I have to believe that the OP is interested in schools, primarily. I'll stand by that trio of schools.

A lot of discussion about Falls Church. I believe that Falls Church was incorporated - and collects additional income taxes - primarily to have control over their school system. It has a great reputation because of this but, frankly, the statistics do not show a significant difference between FC schools and some of the other good schools in the area. I'd still take the trio above over the FC pyramid.

We love FC and if we had average kiddos like the OP we probably would have bought there. My understanding is that the schools are very good but because they're small, they don't have the resources to differentiate as well as they can in other parts of NoVA.
Wouldn't be caught dead living in Great Falls (but I think you can't get much under $1M there anyway) because we don't like living in the middle of nowhere.
Our kids have a wide variety of needs (ranging from freaks of nature to average to SN) and we ended up in Mantua and while I agree that most of the houses are humdrum, we love love love the school. We've had kids at a couple of different schools before this and Mantua's been the best at trying their hardest to match each child's needs. On another pratical note, the neighborhood is a nice community (community pool, clubs etc.) and it has great accessibility to Metro, VRE, shopping and activities galore for the kids within a 5-10mn drive.

[Anonymous]

Alexandria or McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. no one has mentioned great falls yet. why?

also, please explain the recent declines in school ratings in Arlington. I was all set on North Arlington then read the school reviews and was totally disappointed. FWIW, not interested in TJ. I have average kiddos - smart but not freaks of nature :O

GF is too far away from everything of interest to me, and I like the independence my son has in Arlington where he can walk to places or ride his bike.

Word of advice (re TJ comment): You want people to give you reasonable answers? Don't insult them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1. We wanted good schools, easy access to shopping, metro, and DC. We weren't scared off by class size. We considered FCC but it was too small of a system and wanted AP not IB for high school. Arlington was too expensive for what you got in housing.

Anonymous wrote:I'd love to live close to the intersection of Haycock and Rt 7, so that I'd be in walking distance to the main strip of businesses on 7 and the WFC metro. The schools would be Haycock/Longfellow/McLean.

What is the zip code for this area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1. We wanted good schools, easy access to shopping, metro, and DC. We weren't scared off by class size. We considered FCC but it was too small of a system and wanted AP not IB for high school. Arlington was too expensive for what you got in housing.

Anonymous wrote:I'd love to live close to the intersection of Haycock and Rt 7, so that I'd be in walking distance to the main strip of businesses on 7 and the WFC metro. The schools would be Haycock/Longfellow/McLean.

What is the zip code for this area?

It could be either 22043 or 22046, since both of those zip codes cover the parts of the Haycock/Longfellow/McLean pyramid that are near the Metro, the Falls Church City shopping and restaurants, and the W&OD trail. Other parts of 22043 are in Pimmit Hills further to the west (with different schools) and most of 22046 is in Falls Church City proper. I agree with the PPs that this is a fantastic area that is quite walkable and near lots of amenities, filled with leafy streets, safe, family friendly, close to two major job centers (Tysons and DC), and convenient to the Metro and major roads and highways (66, the Beltway, 7, 29, etc.). The schools are also some of the best in the area, on both the Fairfax County and the Falls Church City side. It really depends upon whether you want the pros and cons of a small district (Falls Church City) or the pros and cons of a large district (Fairfax County). Good luck!

[Anonymous]

You really would rather no trailers but have large classrooms with teachers who are overwhelmed? The ratios are calculated across the entire school, so it rarely requires multiple trailers for each school due to a student drop in class size. According to some parents at Haycock for instance they are fine if classes were in a tent, so I'm not sure the trailer verses classroom is a huge issue at those overcrowded schools. I'm not familiar with high schools to know if the current ratios are fine or not. I only hear complaints at the elementary school level. I think there are just too many children attending specific schools like AAP centers and that is a result of more than class size ratios.

What is this obession that other posters have with trailers? My daughter just spent her best school year yet in a trailer. She is rising 5th grader at Louise Archer and yes I think that she would be happy there even if they were all in tents.

[Anonymous]

Okay I'll say it. Lyon Village in arlington. Let the bashing begin.

[Anonymous]

No one has mentioned Vienna, so I will just because I think it's better than some of the other places posted. It's a little far from the city to be the perfect spot and it has it's drawbacks, but it has a lot to offer too. Nice small town feel with lots of stuff for families, adults, and retirees. I'm used to up north though where this type of town is everywhere and not just in a couple of spots like Falls Church and Vienna.

[Anonymous]

We live in Great Falls and love it here. Terrible commute to DC but we work in Reston and only have to go to DC once or twice a month. It is quiet, bucolic and we see more deer and foxes than neighbors. There are no sidewalks and nothing is within walking distance and that's just fine. The schools are great and the community is tight knit because we have to work at staying in touch and connected, via play dates, activities etc. If you value privacy then you will love it here. And no, we don't hang out on DCUM where we get insulted occasionally... .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. no one has mentioned great falls yet. why?

also, please explain the recent declines in school ratings in Arlington. I was all set on North Arlington then read the school reviews and was totally disappointed. FWIW, not interested in TJ. I have average kiddos - smart but not freaks of nature :O

GF is too far away from everything of interest to me, and I like the independence my son has in Arlington where he can walk to places or ride his bike.

Word of advice (re TJ comment): You want people to give you reasonable answers? Don't insult them.

Thanks - I already apologized for my super ignorant comment. Also, I appreciate your feedback on GF - my DH will be working in Arlington so I do think the commute would be unfairly long for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay I'll say it. Lyon Village in arlington. Let the bashing begin.

Why bashing? I've heard nice things about LV.