best neighborhoods for public schools in nova

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...

Which school did you end up picking (to buy a house that is in that district)? I'm looking too...

We ended up in the Langley school district. It was that or McLean. We also steered away from Kent Gardens ES because of the size issues (although there are MANY wonderful things about that school). Franklin Sherman, Chesterbrook and Churchill were our top three ES.

which ES will your kids go to? I am also leaning towards Langley.. we'll see how the housing works- I was hoping for a decent backyard- backed to woods- but not going as far as Great falls (route 7 traffic is killer)..

We're walking distance to Churchill ES. We have almost 1/3 of an acre - 4 level split - 4bd/3ba. There are a couple for sale around here for under 750. Not sure if they are 4 or 3 lvl splits, though. Search under Broyhill Langley Estates.

Good luck!

RE: zipcodes
22101 is half McLean HS and half Langley HS. I don't remember the Great Falls zip off the top of my head, but it goes to Langley, as well.

[Anonymous]

Former teacher here--

Test scores and a beautiful buidling mean diddly. What really matters are the teachers and the administration.

All really good test scores tell me is there is a buttload of time spent on test prep. Those skills will take you nowhere in real life.

To really do your homework on a school go and spend a day in various classrooms, talk to the students and the teachers. You cannot just rely on test scores.

[Anonymous]

To really do your homework on a school go and spend a day in various classrooms, talk to the students and the teachers. You cannot just rely on test scores.

Diversity poster here (sorry I'm too boring to come up with another name).

To the former teacher: great post.

Has anyone else seen Season 4 of the HBO show The Wire? I think it's really on point.

[Anonymous]

Former Teacher back again...

Thanks, PP!

What I forgot to add is that no one seems to remember the emotional intelligence part of "education." There is a terrific book by Dr. Daniel Goleman titled "Emotional Intelligence" that every parent should read.

What we as a society fail to recognize is that the most successful people in life are those that are empathetic, kind, socially responsible and can get along with others.

I bet my bottom dollar that Seung Cho the gunman who took the lives of so many at VA Tech scored well on his state tests in high school, his SAT's etc. I am sure he was well prepped. The guy was smart. BUT... I will venture to say that I believe his schools and his teachers failed. No one just snaps and does an unthinkable crime. He was an outcast, felt uncared for, never felt connected to anyone, or important. If he had just one teacher who showed a genuine interest in him maybe the lives of so many would not have been taken.

When I go to choose a school for my children I am going to choose one that believes the social curriculum is JUST as if not more important than the academic curriculum. A good school is one that makes their children feel cared for and safe.

I could care less about how my kids score on tests. I want them to be in at a school that allows them to be creative, learn at their own place, challenges them and ultimately makes them self-reliant learners and good people.

Just had to throw my 2 cents in-- If anyone is wondering I taught at two indpendent schools in the area...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:don't move to Alexandria, at least not where I live, Old Town, elem. school has failed accrediation 6 yrs in a row and the high school, T C Williams has been described to me as "jail or Yale", bc that is were the students in up, no middle of the road. I am looking at Great Falls, the schools there are top notch. (fairfax county, not loudon). good luck

Made me giggle I went to TC- I was more the Yale route.. but I didn;t realize til I left how dangerous the school was. The Ap courses are great and I took a lot of them. Talk about diversity there since caucasians are a minority. I did just fine- but looking back- knowing that a gun or knife was pulled at a school dance wasn't probably the most normal thing.. we were new to the area..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Marshall teacher here again. I really wonder why people think Marshall is dangerous. As I said before, I have been there 10 years and I can probably count on my two hands the number of fights I have seen/heard about here. It is really not dangerous AT ALL. I know in the 90s there were some more issues with fights, etc., but nothing has happened here for a long time. I wonder if the reputation from the 90s has just stuck through the years?

According to the FCPS website, Marshall had 37 fights as recently as 2003-2004. Amazingly it sank to 5 fights in 04-05, and 1 in 05-06.

Now, quite honestly I think a LOT of schools go out of their way to under-report incidents... which leaves me really wondering... has the number of fights REALLY dropped off that much? Or is the school just under-reporting it with everyone else?

[Anonymous]

Oakton is a nice place to live. The elementary school near my parents - Waples Mill ES tests well. People mention Oakton/Vienna but the area near Waples Mill is a little more 'rural' to me. Larger lots, windy streets, etc. if that's what you want. you can find nice large homes on 1/2 acre lots for 600-700K. My biggest complaint about Oakton (and most places outside the beltway) is the stores aren't close enough for my taste, not as many playgrounds except at the schools, and a feeling of isolation. That's why I live in Arlington. A busier and more 'alive' pace.

[Anonymous]

Good point PP. So what is the equivalent Arlington high school to Langley (or better)? What neighborhoods would you have to buy into? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

According to the FCPS website, Marshall had 37 fights as recently as 2003-2004. Amazingly it sank to 5 fights in 04-05, and 1 in 05-06.

Now, quite honestly I think a LOT of schools go out of their way to under-report incidents... which leaves me really wondering... has the number of fights REALLY dropped off that much? Or is the school just under-reporting it with everyone else?

Sigh....Marshall teacher here again. I guess Marshall really can't win despite all my efforts. If people want to think it is a dangerous school and not send their kids here, fine. All I know is that I have been here for 10 years and have never once felt unsafe. I walk the halls, my classroom door is always open, I am here late after school when there are very few people here. The fact is, most schools have fights. The combination of lots of teenagers in a smallish space and hormones is sometimes not a good combination. But I wholeheartedly agree that with the teacher who posted earlier who said that people really need to look beyond all these websites that are reporting statistics and actually go to the school and see it for yourself. Meet the teachers, meet some of the students, meet the administrators. Walk around and see what you think. Statistics are great at giving you a broad overview of a school in a very superficial way - until you actually see it for yourself, there is no way to know what a school is really, truly like.

[Anonymous]

Former Teacher--

I thought your 22:27 post was excellent. Thank you for it. And thanks for bringing up "Emotional Intelligence"--I've always wanted to read that book. You've inspired me to pick it up. Based on your responses, I'm guessing you're a wonderful teacher.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in this area -- in basically the same neighborhood as where my mom lives.....I have seen huge changes in this area -- good and bad in the schools. You really have to do your homework on what's a good fit for your happiness and your child's development. Someone mentioned Waynewood which is great but to me, isn't representative of our culture today -- in that it is 97% white. I really think our kids should be exposed to children of all races and backgrounds but hopefully not at the expense of their own learning and development. Not an easy task.

My son goes to Ft. Hunt elementary and we love it -- he's in 2nd grade there. It's not only a fine arts focus school (affiliation with the Kennedy Center and other culturally rich programs) but it's also a language-immersion (spanish) school. There are several in fairfax county and it's truly amazing to see these little kids learn math and science in a language NOT native to them yet 'get it'. Sure, it's challenging but it can be done and it's proven successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good point PP. So what is the equivalent Arlington high school to Langley (or better)? What neighborhoods would you have to buy into? Thanks.

This would be Yorktown HS, and you'd have to buy into N Arlington in the 22207 zip code, and there may be other zip codes that all feed into it. There's a map on the Arlington County Public Schools website.

[Anonymous]

I think it's hard to predict what the makeup of a school will be in 10-15 years, presuming you have preschoolers now. Pretty much ALL of Arlington Co schools are very very good. I am the earlier Arl poster. I live in the Wash-Lee zone and feel perfectly fine with the education my children will get when they enroll there.

Yorktown HS, FWIW, is one of those schools that is majority white, majority upper middle class. Yes, it tests well, but it doesn't give the diversity many PPs have mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Also, diversity stats are one thing, but I think many people might experience what I did; that while the school itself was diverse, my friends were not very. Many of the groups tended to hang out with their own race or socio-economic status, or most often, class group (AP students all together, etc.) So it's no guarantee that your kid will have a United Nations group of friends.

I agree with this 100%. Even in colleges, regardless of how diverse my campus was, the groups tended to segregate themselves. And, being exposed to diversity is not going to guarantee that a child won't grow up with a sense of entitlement. That comes from home, imo.

As for Oakton, I will preface my comments by saying I do not have a child that attends this HS. However, I have a friend who is a long time employee of Oakton HS. The stories she tells me about the entitlement in that the kids in that institution feel are AMAZING.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in N. Arlington - it was very white/privileged then and it's a bit more mixed but uber-privileged now. When we bought a home in Arlington after we got married, we bought in Central Arlington (near Ballston) in a great neighborhood that was more affordable (7 years ago!)

We ended up in the Barrett-Kenmore-Washington-Lee district and at the time I was thinking, based on my knowledge growing up (and with teachers in my family) that at some point we'd want to move further north when we had school age kids.

Well, I've gotta say, the more I learn about these schools and their current performance, teaching staff, and stude bodies, I'm pretty thrilled to be where we are. We're talking about adding on to our house so we can stay for the long haul.

Barrett is a fantastic school - diverse, great teachers, great principal - and Washington-Lee also has an excellent reputation. Kenmore was completely renovated a few years ago, as was Washington-Lee (and Barrett not long before that). Neither Barrett nor Kenmore has the overcrowding problems that the N. Arlington schools have.

It took me a while to get over the much lower test scores, but once I realized that it was because of the demographics (higher % of kids who speak English as a second language) and not because of the curriculum I'm okay with it.

I'm excited for my daughter to begin kindergarten and am glad she can go to a neighborhood school with her friends (lots of kids in Arlington Forest!)