Falls Church, Alexandria or Arlington Schools?

[Anonymous]

I'd even argue the SFH areas of the Stuart and Falls Church zones are perfectly safe, although there may be an issue with the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a reason you're not looking into the Falls Church part of Fairfax County? The area around the West Falls Church metro has great schools. (Falls Church, 22043)
There are some enclaves of brand new homes going in right now along Shreve Rd.

Here's a link to one...
http://www.skhomes.com/communities/Falls%20Place/
(The street and surrounding neighborhood that this enclave is on is absolutely full of kids. If I had it to do all over again, it is the kind of neighborhood I would have wanted. )

Much of this 22043 is either zoned for Shrevewood Elementary/Kilmer Middle/Marshall High
or
Haycock Elementary/Longfellow Middle/McLean High
I have had kids at both Shrevewood and Haycock and I would highly recommend both.
Shrevewood has a new principal who is absolutely wonderful and is very community oriented.

For some reason, I thought the Fairfax County Falls Church was not good. Maybe I was misinformed. I was told there are some sketchy parts of Falls Church.

When we first started the house search (just 1 week ago), we put in Falls Church on realtor.com and found several wonderful homes. I was disappointed when I found out they were on the wrong side of Falls Church. Perhaps I should investigate Falls Church further.

Falls Church (City or Fairfax) seems ideal when looking at a map.

The western part of Falls Church is wonderful, it's the eastern part of Falls Church that is sketchy. Anything that feeds into Marshall or McLean High school is in the good part

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd even argue the SFH areas of the Stuart and Falls Church zones are perfectly safe, although there may be an issue with the schools.

I would agree with this as well. I also think the schools are fine *if* you have a child who is motivated and takes honors/IB/AP classes. This is confirmed by my co-worker whose daughter will go to Falls Church HS next fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd even argue the SFH areas of the Stuart and Falls Church zones are perfectly safe, although there may be an issue with the schools.

I would agree with this as well. I also think the schools are fine *if* you have a child who is motivated and takes honors/IB/AP classes. This is confirmed by my co-worker whose daughter will go to Falls Church HS next fall.

Another voice in agreement. I have several friends in the Lake Barcroft area that sing the praises of the schools for their kids (including the mom of a Glasgow MS GT Center to JEB Stuart graduate who is now at UVA).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The western part of Falls Church is wonderful, it's the eastern part of Falls Church that is sketchy. Anything that feeds into Marshall or McLean High school is in the good part

gives me chills to see both schools in the same sentence.

what about G Mason?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The western part of Falls Church is wonderful, it's the eastern part of Falls Church that is sketchy. Anything that feeds into Marshall or McLean High school is in the good part

gives me chills to see both schools in the same sentence.

what about G Mason?

Then get a sweater.

Marshall's been in the top quarter of FCPS high schools for the better part of the past decade. Test scores are higher than at schools like Robinson, Lake Braddock, Chantilly, West Springfield or Washington-Lee, or any school in Loudoun County. It's getting a major renovation that should be finished by 2014.

Mason has an excellent record. The rub is that City of Falls Church is very small and at any given time there may not be very much on the market that's appealing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The western part of Falls Church is wonderful, it's the eastern part of Falls Church that is sketchy. Anything that feeds into Marshall or McLean High school is in the good part

gives me chills to see both schools in the same sentence.

what about G Mason?

After doing preliminary research, we decided to focus on Falls Church, Vienna and McLean. I originally thought we would be completely priced out of McLean. I realized that there are some decent townhouses that feed into McLean and Langley High. I can give up a larger lot for good schools. I do still prefer a newer home.

What is the area around Tysons Corner? Is that considered Vienna or McLean?

Our plan is to buy a house for $800k-$1 million now. Then hopefully we can upgrade to a nicer home in the same school district in the future. Would LOVE to tear down and build my dream house one day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The western part of Falls Church is wonderful, it's the eastern part of Falls Church that is sketchy. Anything that feeds into Marshall or McLean High school is in the good part

gives me chills to see both schools in the same sentence.

what about G Mason?

Then get a sweater.

Marshall's been in the top quarter of FCPS high schools for the better part of the past decade. Test scores are higher than at schools like Robinson, Lake Braddock, Chantilly, West Springfield or Washington-Lee, or any school in Loudoun County. It's getting a major renovation that should be finished by 2014.

Mason has an excellent record. The rub is that City of Falls Church is very small and at any given time there may not be very much on the market that's appealing.

I am not having any luck finding a house in our price range that feeds into G Mason. I am finding Falls Church homes that feed into McLean though.

If people could share some qualitative information on G Mason, McLean and Langley High, I would appreciate it. What are some of the positives and negatives?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The western part of Falls Church is wonderful, it's the eastern part of Falls Church that is sketchy. Anything that feeds into Marshall or McLean High school is in the good part

gives me chills to see both schools in the same sentence.

what about G Mason?

After doing preliminary research, we decided to focus on Falls Church, Vienna and McLean. I originally thought we would be completely priced out of McLean. I realized that there are some decent townhouses that feed into McLean and Langley High. I can give up a larger lot for good schools. I do still prefer a newer home.

What is the area around Tysons Corner? Is that considered Vienna or McLean?

Our plan is to buy a house for $800k-$1 million now. Then hopefully we can upgrade to a nicer home in the same school district in the future. Would LOVE to tear down and build my dream house one day.

Tyson's corner is 22182 zip code but 22182 can be far out west on route 7 to wolftrap area. If you are buying a townhouse you can get it in mclean with a budget of 700-800k. I was thinking you wanted a single family home but if you are open to townhouses you can pretty much have any area for that price range.

I did want a single family home. Being in a good school district is important to us. If it came down to it, I would choose a nice new townhouse over an older home with large yard.

We started off the search with Falls Church, Alexandria and Arlington. We decided that as much as we love the location of Alexandria, we were not happy with the public schools. We like the schools of Arlington but do not like the older homes. Now we will focus on newer homes in Falls Church, Vienna and McLean in our price range. We are open to townhouses and single family homes. Of course we prefer the single family home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We started off the search with Falls Church, Alexandria and Arlington. We decided that as much as we love the location of Alexandria, we were not happy with the public schools. We like the schools of Arlington but do not like the older homes. Now we will focus on newer homes in Falls Church, Vienna and McLean in our price range. We are open to townhouses and single family homes. Of course we prefer the single family home.

Good luck. Narrowing your options will make the search easier, and you should find some new homes in you price range in those areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd even argue the SFH areas of the Stuart and Falls Church zones are perfectly safe, although there may be an issue with the schools.

I would agree with this as well. I also think the schools are fine *if* you have a child who is motivated and takes honors/IB/AP classes. This is confirmed by my co-worker whose daughter will go to Falls Church HS next fall.

Now that's a big "if" and if the kid is Hispanic or Black, that might throw another wrinkle entirely in planning. But last I checked, MS-13 ain't recruiting Anglos.

I'll understand if someone wouldn't want to go to Wakefield, Stuart, Falls Church, or the various FCPS Route 1 schools.

But I'm going to stand by my assertion that the SFH areas of Falls Church are safe.

For $1 million, you can buy a 1/4 acre lot in Vienna and put up a $400-500k new home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:true pimmit is definetly up and coming but everything is getting torn down as seen from those pics and it is the exact schools the "better" neighborhoods use.

Those home all look great, you will find alot of snobby people on this message board that think homes need to look small and craftsman or be a tiny bethesda bungalo. The pictured homes are mcmansionisy which i think are beautiful.

We live in Pimmit Hills in an expanded home. Here is the skinny on PH:

Pros:

Great location, my commute to Foggy Bottom is 30 mins via I-66
Silver line metro coming in 2013 - will be walkable
Future Tysons development
Great schools - Westgate or Lemon Road/Kilmer/Marshall
Old trees, lots of parks, sidewalks
One of the few inside-the-Beltway neighborhoods with big lots, I'm talking .3 acres
Up and coming through younger families expanding or building new homes
Brand new homes can be had for $700K or so

Cons:

Many original small homes with blue-collar residents
Doesn't have a look of uniform affluence - smaller homes/chainlink fences can be next to a rebuilt beautiful home
Diverse - this can be a pro or a con depending on how you feel

Falls Church City is also very nice, affluent, walkable, close to DC and has great schools. Houses there are in high demand and go quickly. McLean is also great but parts of it are far out and very suburban. McLean schools are excellent. Vienna is also a good option, with what I hear is a good feeling of community, great schools and amenities. We considered Vienna originally but refused to move that far out. My DH drew a line at WFC. So you have lots of options depending on your priorities. We picked Pimmit Hills because we couldn't afford Falls Church City or N. Arilngton, and didn't want to be as far out as Vienna. I choose to believe that the neighborhood can only improve with all the future development plans, schools are great, it's quiet and peaceful and there are lots of young families.

[Anonymous]

I saw some nice Falls Church homes this past summer that fed into McLean high. We ended up buying closer-in (North Arlington) because I work in DC and the commute wouldn't have improved for me. (we moved from Dunn Loring area.) I've never heard anything bad about McLean high - it's been near the top of the rankings (by test score) of the Fairfax high schools for years now. You can get a bit more for your money in that area than in Falls Church City proper. (there, i looked at very teeny older homes in the $550+ range - not better than North Arlington.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The western part of Falls Church is wonderful, it's the eastern part of Falls Church that is sketchy. Anything that feeds into Marshall or McLean High school is in the good part

gives me chills to see both schools in the same sentence.

what about G Mason?

After doing preliminary research, we decided to focus on Falls Church, Vienna and McLean. I originally thought we would be completely priced out of McLean. I realized that there are some decent townhouses that feed into McLean and Langley High. I can give up a larger lot for good schools. I do still prefer a newer home.

What is the area around Tysons Corner? Is that considered Vienna or McLean?

Our plan is to buy a house for $800k-$1 million now. Then hopefully we can upgrade to a nicer home in the same school district in the future. Would LOVE to tear down and build my dream house one day.

Part of Tysons is considered Vienna (22182 zip code), and part is considered McLean (22102 zip code).

For what you've described, I'd either look in Vienna (Madison HS district) or McLean (McLean HS district). In Vienna, there are homes in the Madison district outside the Town (22181 and 22182 zip codes) in the $800-$1 million range, and then you could buy a cheaper older home in the Town of Vienna (22180 zip code), build your dream home, and stay in the Madison district. Same thing in parts of 22101 in McLean that feed into McLean HS, though it would be a bit more expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am not having any luck finding a house in our price range that feeds into G Mason. I am finding Falls Church homes that feed into McLean though.

If people could share some qualitative information on G Mason, McLean and Langley High, I would appreciate it. What are some of the positives and negatives?

I've got kids at McLean HS. It's pretty good - many classes and student activities to choose from, lots of communication from administrators and teachers, kids seem to have a lot of school spirit. Test scores are usually #3 in the county, behind TJ and Langley. It's a bit more diverse than George Mason or Langley, since there are a few lower-income apartment complexes near Lee Highway that feed into McLean. I don't think it's a bad thing for kids to realize not everyone lives in a SFH or comes from wealth. The negatives are pretty much what you'd expect - there are some disaffected kids and some students have money to spend on booze and drugs.

The main things I can say about Mason and Langley in comparison is that Mason is much smaller and has the IB program, and Langley has very few lower-income students. Apart from a few townhouse complexes north of Route 123, Langley draws entirely from expensive neighborhoods of single-family homes, most of which are in McLean or Great Falls.