Advice on where to buy - Reston, Fairfax, Vienna, Oakton

[Anonymous]

We moved recently to NoVA and are currently renting, but looking at areas to buy next year. We have 2 kids, rising 3rd and 5th graders this year, so schools are very important. Our budget is around 800k. We have been looking at areas zoned for Oakton, Madison and South Lakes high schools. We really like the Reston area, but I was wondering why South Lakes doesn't seem to have as great a rep or scores as the other 2. Any thoughts on South Lakes? Also, wondering about the IB vs AP choice. My older DS is definitely more STEM oriented, so we aren't quite sure if IB is the right program for him. Does anyone have inputs on IB vs AP for STEM?

[Anonymous]

The topic of South Lakes has been discussed ad nauseum. The search feature is your friend.

[Anonymous]

Oakton seems like the best bet with your budget. You can visit Reston but avoid IB and its pitfalls.

[Anonymous]

Oakton is a great place to live. Schools are great, large lots, close to everything (besides D.C). The only drawback is that if you are looking for a town center, Oakton doesnt really have that. we found that all of the other pros outweighed having a local sports association, etc.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. OP here. Oakton seems to have a rather large boundary, all the way to some areas of Herndon. Also, I read somewhere that there is a new HS planned somewhere in that area in the next few years, that might affect Oakton boundaries. Which parts of the Oakton boundary would be "safe" so our assignment wouldn't change, if we were to go Oakton?

[Anonymous]

When we were house hunting I really liked the Franklin Farm neighborhood (zoned for Oak Hill ES and Oakton HS I think). The houses were out of our price range but right in yours.

I would send my kids to South Lakes and I like the neighborhood feel of Reston, with all the Reston-specific amenities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I was wondering why South Lakes doesn't seem to have as great a rep or scores as the other 2.

It has more low-income students, that's all.
Without going into the whole AP/IB debate - high ability students are usually tracked separately and are just as successful as their counterparts in "better" schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. OP here. Oakton seems to have a rather large boundary, all the way to some areas of Herndon. Also, I read somewhere that there is a new HS planned somewhere in that area in the next few years, that might affect Oakton boundaries. Which parts of the Oakton boundary would be "safe" so our assignment wouldn't change, if we were to go Oakton?

Just from looking at the current boundaries and knowing of the future plans, it seems like areas west of West Ox Road would be the most likely to be affected by a future redistricting.

Oakton gets redistricted more than any other school - it's a function of Madison, Oakton, Fairfax and Woodson all being close to one another, combined with the fact that all of Fairfax City has to go to Fairfax HS and all of the Town of Vienna goes to Madison (although there's no legal requirement that it do so, and part of the Town used to go to Oakton). As a result, Oakton has a large, narrrow east-west boundary.

[Anonymous]

We really like the neighborhood feel of Reston too - the amenities, the town center and everything. Our only hesitation comes from South Lakes - we aren't really sure IB is a good fit for especially our older DS, who isn't that much into writing at all, and is much more STEM focused. I feel like the choices that AP offers might be better for him.

The Franklin farm area zoned for Oakton HS seems to be quite far out, and I wonder if it will remain zoned for Oakton by the time our kids get to HS. Any other areas in Vienna/Oakton/Fairfax that might be within our range, zoned for Oakton?

[Anonymous]

I'd look at Chantilly High School as it has a STEM Program.

http://www.fcps.edu/ChantillyHS/departments/academy.html

[Anonymous]

I think the Franklin Farm neighborhood is right next to Reston. I wouldn't consider it really any further out.

[Anonymous]

Just live close to Oakton HS, otherwise who knows what the new HS boundary will be. Madison is good too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the Franklin Farm neighborhood is right next to Reston. I wouldn't consider it really any further out.

I think she means it's unlikely to stay zoned for Oakton.

[Anonymous]

South Lakes has come a long way in the last few years. They adjusted the boundaries to get more white kids in and spent a ton of money. It's actually pretty good now, though the reputation still has not caught up. The IB thing is still not popular with the citizens but you can pupil place for AP if you want. if you pupil place for AP you go to the nearest AP school so factor that in if you want to add that option.

[Anonymous]

There are no guarantees with HS boundaries. I have a friend whose house was redistricted from Oakton to South Lakes, and he claims that changed reduced his housing value by 20K. I do know the ES can make a huge difference in prices.

When we were looking (1999), we saw a house that looked great: 5 BR colonial in Reston for only 250K. In great shape. I asked our real estate agent why so cheap, an she said, look at the ES performance. It fed into Dogwood. Back then, in any other Reston ES, that house would have been 300 - 350K.

We ended up living in an older, 1965 split level in Vienna. Feeds into Louise Archer, Thoreau and Madison.

Honestly, while my child will go to Madison in another year, I do not see much difference between Madison, Oakton, South Lakes, Woodson, and Marshall. South Lakes looks weaker, but it is because Reston has a signifiant portion of low income housing.

I would be more concerned with Middle Schools, as that is usually when kids go wrong.