Thoughts on Fairfax neighborhoods

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do your feathers get ruffled so easily? I am moving from Florida with absolutely zero knowledge of the Fairfax area. Education is a priority for us and I was hoping for some guidance. If you're not interested in helping, that's fine. Snarky remark is not necessary though.

Here is some guidance. FCPS has many great, great schools. From what I gather from FL transplants, FL school system is pretty poor, so anywhere you land here will likely be a great improvement. Your kid will be fine. Might even have a better experience at a regular ol' FCPS than at one of the "best" depending on your kid. Good luck.

Average in FCPS is better than average in Florida, but there are parts of Florida with very good public schools, such as the area near Ponte Vedra Beach.

I agree with the comment that the "best of the best" in FCPS might not be the right fit for some kids. The younger OP's kids are, the less of an issue it would probably be. But it could be stressful to move from schools that weren't particularly rigorous to a Fairfax or Arlington high school where most kids are enrolled in multiple AP or IB courses, are aiming to get into top schools, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Traffic is horrific in thsi area and getting to pentagon city can be tough. N. Arlington would be your best bet

I totally agree. N Arlington is your best bet.

We had the same home budget and ended up buying a home in Alexandria for short commutes to work. We bought a very nice house but have a bit of buyer's remorse due to the poor public schools. We do live close to TJ.

I can tell you that you will get a shack or run down fixer upper in McLean for $1 million.

And I can tell you that this is ridiculous. $1M buys a very nice older home in McLean.

If you really thought $1M in McLean means a shack or run-down fixer upper, you'd think the same thing of a similarly priced house in North Arlington.

That may be true. We ended up buying in Alexandria. Like I said, I have a bit of buyer's remorse.

DH did not like the infill feel of Arlington. If I remember from my home search, $1 million could get you a decent house in Arlington but the house exterior and neighborhood was often ugly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Traffic is horrific in thsi area and getting to pentagon city can be tough. N. Arlington would be your best bet

I totally agree. N Arlington is your best bet.

We had the same home budget and ended up buying a home in Alexandria for short commutes to work. We bought a very nice house but have a bit of buyer's remorse due to the poor public schools. We do live close to TJ.

I can tell you that you will get a shack or run down fixer upper in McLean for $1 million.

And I can tell you that this is ridiculous. $1M buys a very nice older home in McLean.

If you really thought $1M in McLean means a shack or run-down fixer upper, you'd think the same thing of a similarly priced house in North Arlington.

PP here. We did not spend much time looking in Arlington but did spend considerable time looking in McLean and parts of Falls Church that fed into McLean. $1 million does not get you much at all. We have young children and did not want to spend the time and money renovating.

[Anonymous]

OP here. My son will be coming from an academic, private montessori in Florida. I'm not worried about him being able to keep up in Fairfax school. I thought by moving to the area we could reap the benefits of a fantastic public school system and save the money over the years to come. To be honest, I've done my fair share of research and compared the Arlington and Fairfax districts. The impression I'm getting is that Fairfax schools have a slight edge (not trying to stir the pot here). And I can't deny the appeal of the AAP program (although I know there are no guarantees). This thread has offered me some great insight, but I'm feeling a bit discouraged about being able to afford a nice home in the school districts that would be our top choices. I guess I won't know for sure until I explore the area myself with a realtor. Thanks for all the feedback-- It's much appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My son will be coming from an academic, private montessori in Florida. I'm not worried about him being able to keep up in Fairfax school. I thought by moving to the area we could reap the benefits of a fantastic public school system and save the money over the years to come. To be honest, I've done my fair share of research and compared the Arlington and Fairfax districts. The impression I'm getting is that Fairfax schools have a slight edge (not trying to stir the pot here). And I can't deny the appeal of the AAP program (although I know there are no guarantees). This thread has offered me some great insight, but I'm feeling a bit discouraged about being able to afford a nice home in the school districts that would be our top choices. I guess I won't know for sure until I explore the area myself with a realtor. Thanks for all the feedback-- It's much appreciated!

If you haven't seen it before, the Franklymls.com web site is a good search tool - you can look for homes in specific school districts and the information is pretty accurate.

[Anonymous]

You guys are so embarrassing! How come any time anyone posts the current US News rankings without even mentioning Marshall, somebody goes bat$hi# crazy that it must be some crazy Marshall lady? I don't have a dog in this fight (my kids are headed for *gasp* Falls Church HS), but one persons opinion does not invalidate the rankings. They are what they are, and if all of a sudden Langley was ranked above TJ, no one would pass a stone.

The rankings are out there, for all to google. It doesn't seem like the people who support Marshall are crazy, but the anti-Marshall sock puppeter that replies to herself to support herself is off the deep end.

It's a wonder anyone moves here at all after reading all this lunacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton pyramids. Or just go private.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools

The top schools are below with their respetive state rankings

#1 is TJ (you have to test in, it's a magnet)
#3 Marshall
#4 McLean
#5 James W. Robinson Jr. Secondary School
#6 Langley
#7 W.T. Woodson
#8 James Madison High School
#9 Oakton High School
#11 Lake Braddock Secondary School

Hahaha. Crazy Marshall Lady trying to sell her one can of snake oil one more time.

I know, I was thinking the same thing. I have not posted in any other threads, thought I have followed them, on this topic, but, really, Crazy Marshall Lady, you need to put your megaphone down and tone down the boostering. Thx.

New poster here. Ditto on the Marshall HS being talked up by this poster. I would not live in that district. It is mostly apartments, condos and homes surrounding Rt 7, Tysons DMV, and Pimmit Community. No way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton pyramids. Or just go private.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools

The top schools are below with their respetive state rankings

#1 is TJ (you have to test in, it's a magnet)
#3 Marshall
#4 McLean
#5 James W. Robinson Jr. Secondary School
#6 Langley
#7 W.T. Woodson
#8 James Madison High School
#9 Oakton High School
#11 Lake Braddock Secondary School

Hahaha. Crazy Marshall Lady trying to sell her one can of snake oil one more time.

I know, I was thinking the same thing. I have not posted in any other threads, thought I have followed them, on this topic, but, really, Crazy Marshall Lady, you need to put your megaphone down and tone down the boostering. Thx.

New poster here. Ditto on the Marshall HS being talked up by this poster. I would not live in that district. It is mostly apartments, condos and homes surrounding Rt 7, Tysons DMV, and Pimmit Community. No way.

Same poster, guys. Nothing screams sock puppeting like "new poster here..."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pentagon City is a tough commute from much of Fairfax County, even the closer in "good" ones named in the thread. I live in the Marshall district, right by the WFC metro, and it's a good 45 minutes to Pentagon City in rush hour, and I can take 66 HOV. Via metro, now that the blue line sees less service, I would guess it would take at least 30 minutes from WFC to Pentagon City (with the switch at Rosslyn).

I did that commute from WFC metro to King St metro. TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE commute on the metro. Trains constantly breaking down, unable to change from blue to/from orange line... it happens at least once per week. It's a roulette... not knowing which day it will happen. I now drive, on the beltway or GW Parkway... it is still better than the metro.

[Anonymous]

PP here, also want to add that there are lots of crazies from SE on the blue line going into Alexandria in the morning...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley, McLean, Madison, Oakton pyramids. Or just go private.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools

The top schools are below with their respetive state rankings

#1 is TJ (you have to test in, it's a magnet)
#3 Marshall
#4 McLean
#5 James W. Robinson Jr. Secondary School
#6 Langley
#7 W.T. Woodson
#8 James Madison High School
#9 Oakton High School
#11 Lake Braddock Secondary School

Hahaha. Crazy Marshall Lady trying to sell her one can of snake oil one more time.

I know, I was thinking the same thing. I have not posted in any other threads, thought I have followed them, on this topic, but, really, Crazy Marshall Lady, you need to put your megaphone down and tone down the boostering. Thx.

New poster here. Ditto on the Marshall HS being talked up by this poster. I would not live in that district. It is mostly apartments, condos and homes surrounding Rt 7, Tysons DMV, and Pimmit Community. No way.

Same poster, guys. Nothing screams sock puppeting like "new poster here..."

Ummm, wrong. That was my post. I am no sock puppet. It really is ridiculous that Marshall is considered among best in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

OP, welcome (soon) to DC. This thread should give you a nice taste of what we're like.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the Crazies!!! Make sure you start prepping now or your child will be considered stupid. Someone please help them all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys are so embarrassing! How come any time anyone posts the current US News rankings without even mentioning Marshall, somebody goes bat$hi# crazy that it must be some crazy Marshall lady? I don't have a dog in this fight (my kids are headed for *gasp* Falls Church HS), but one persons opinion does not invalidate the rankings. They are what they are, and if all of a sudden Langley was ranked above TJ, no one would pass a stone.

The rankings are out there, for all to google. It doesn't seem like the people who support Marshall are crazy, but the anti-Marshall sock puppeter that replies to herself to support herself is off the deep end.

It's a wonder anyone moves here at all after reading all this lunacy.

+1 these people think that its the 70s and that hells angels live in ph. Someone hasn't left their mclean home in 30 years, I heard there is also a mall and a metro line coming soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys are so embarrassing! How come any time anyone posts the current US News rankings without even mentioning Marshall, somebody goes bat$hi# crazy that it must be some crazy Marshall lady? I don't have a dog in this fight (my kids are headed for *gasp* Falls Church HS), but one persons opinion does not invalidate the rankings. They are what they are, and if all of a sudden Langley was ranked above TJ, no one would pass a stone.

The rankings are out there, for all to google. It doesn't seem like the people who support Marshall are crazy, but the anti-Marshall sock puppeter that replies to herself to support herself is off the deep end.

It's a wonder anyone moves here at all after reading all this lunacy.

Nope. There are multiple posters responding to Crazy Marshall Lady's posts, and you can spot a CML post (such as 20:27) and the sock-puppets that will probably follow from a mile away.

No one else but CML would constantly bring up the US News rankings. FCPS knew they were based on flawed data (in Marshall's case, the incorrect assumption that 99% of Marshall students take one or more IB courses before they graduate) and didn't even bother to put out a press release when they came out, even though most of the top-ranked Virginia schools were from Fairfax County.