Haycock Elementary vs. FCC Schools (Mt. Daniels and Thomas Jefferson)

[Anonymous]

We are looking to buy a house shortly in the Falls Church area and have narrowed it down to these two school pyramids. I'd love to hear from anyone else who made this decision. What are the pros and cons of each school? Is the ability to access AAP within FCPS worthwhile, or is the smaller community you can find in FCC a better choice?

TIA!

[Anonymous]

The main difference comes in HS. Mason HS (Falls Church City) is an IB school and McLean HS (where Haycock feeds) is an AP school. If you are in Haycock's district you can transfer to Marshall if your child wants the IB. There is no AP option for Falls Church City.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking to buy a house shortly in the Falls Church area and have narrowed it down to these two school pyramids. I'd love to hear from anyone else who made this decision. What are the pros and cons of each school? Is the ability to access AAP within FCPS worthwhile, or is the smaller community you can find in FCC a better choice?

TIA!

Pros of Haycock - larger cohort of really smart kids, more STEM-focused activities, feeds into academically stronger middle/high schools (Longfellow/McLean) that offer wider range of courses

Cons of Haycock - non-AAP kids may feel second-rate, Longfellow and McLean are both relatively large schools

Pros of MD/TJ - smaller schools, more nurturing atmosphere, feed into IB high school (George Mason) if you like that

Cons of MD/TJ - may run out of space (didn't get permission to expand MD as much as FCC wanted), kids are in classes with the same group every year, George Mason sports teams only compete against other small schools that aren't in NoVa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are looking to buy a house shortly in the Falls Church area and have narrowed it down to these two school pyramids. I'd love to hear from anyone else who made this decision. What are the pros and cons of each school? Is the ability to access AAP within FCPS worthwhile, or is the smaller community you can find in FCC a better choice?

TIA!

Pros of Haycock - larger cohort of really smart kids, more STEM-focused activities, feeds into academically stronger middle/high schools (Longfellow/McLean) that offer wider range of courses

Cons of Haycock - non-AAP kids may feel second-rate, Longfellow and McLean are both relatively large schools

Pros of MD/TJ - smaller schools, more nurturing atmosphere, feed into IB high school (George Mason) if you like that

Cons of MD/TJ - may run out of space (didn't get permission to expand MD as much as FCC wanted), kids are in classes with the same group every year, George Mason sports teams only compete against other small schools that aren't in NoVa.

Highly debatable, depends on individual teachers.

[Anonymous]

We went through this summer of 2015 - we looked for a house we liked knowing that whichever school we ended up in would be fine. You can't make a bad decision. DS is in K at Haycock and we live about 5 houses outside the FCC line - he's doing really well. If we'd found the house in FCC instead, that would have been great too.

In my experience taxes and house prices are both higher in FCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went through this summer of 2015 - we looked for a house we liked knowing that whichever school we ended up in would be fine. You can't make a bad decision. DS is in K at Haycock and we live about 5 houses outside the FCC line - he's doing really well. If we'd found the house in FCC instead, that would have been great too.

In my experience taxes and house prices are both higher in FCC.

Taxes are higher in FCC.

Over the past year the median sales price for a single-family home in the Haycock district has been $898K vs. $810K in FCC, but an identical house might cost more in FCC. Houses in the county tend to be bigger.

[Anonymous]

Haycock class sizes are much larger. This has been hard some years for my quiet kids. They're K classes were giant and overwhelming for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haycock class sizes are much larger. This has been hard some years for my quiet kids. They're K classes were giant and overwhelming for them.

The difference narrows in the higher ES grades. Last year the average 6th grade class in FCCPS was larger than the average 4-6 class at Haycock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haycock class sizes are much larger. This has been hard some years for my quiet kids. They're K classes were giant and overwhelming for them.

Not always. My DD 1st grade class has 21 kids this year. Kindergarten was bigger, but her teacher told me that the year before they had only 20 kids in the class.

[Anonymous]

NP here - what if you add Shrevewood and Lemon Road to the mix?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here - what if you add Shrevewood and Lemon Road to the mix?

OP said they'd narrowed it down to the two school pyramids she mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here - what if you add Shrevewood and Lemon Road to the mix?

OP said they'd narrowed it down to the two school pyramids she mentioned.

Also if they were going to expand their search to neighboring school districts, Kent gardens and the Arlington elementary schools that feed to Yorktown (Nottingham, Tuckahoe, etc.) would be the natural choices, not Pimmit Hills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here - what if you add Shrevewood and Lemon Road to the mix?

OP said they'd narrowed it down to the two school pyramids she mentioned.

Also if they were going to expand their search to neighboring school districts, Kent gardens and the Arlington elementary schools that feed to Yorktown (Nottingham, Tuckahoe, etc.) would be the natural choices, not Pimmit Hills.

Umm, you do know that Shrevewood and Lemon Road serve many neighborhoods besides Pimmit Hills, yes? Technically, Shrevewood doesn't even serve Pimmit Hills, just the apartments on Pimmit Dr. near the Whole Foods.

To the person interested in Shrevewood and Lemon Road, both schools are good. More diverse than Haycock. Shrevewood is bursting at its seams, but does a good job at fitting everyone into the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here - what if you add Shrevewood and Lemon Road to the mix?

OP said they'd narrowed it down to the two school pyramids she mentioned.

Also if they were going to expand their search to neighboring school districts, Kent gardens and the Arlington elementary schools that feed to Yorktown (Nottingham, Tuckahoe, etc.) would be the natural choices, not Pimmit Hills.

Umm, you do know that Shrevewood and Lemon Road serve many neighborhoods besides Pimmit Hills, yes? Technically, Shrevewood doesn't even serve Pimmit Hills, just the apartments on Pimmit Dr. near the Whole Foods.

To the person interested in Shrevewood and Lemon Road, both schools are good. More diverse than Haycock. Shrevewood is bursting at its seams, but does a good job at fitting everyone into the school.

Lemon Road has some nice areas off Idylwood Road that also feed into Longfellow/McLean (like Haycock).

[Anonymous]

We live in the Haycock district and are very happy with it so far. The K classes are large but there are two teachers in each room so that helps.

Don't underestimate what one of the earlier posters mentioned in regards to sports. Without knowing how old your kids are, if they are competitive and you don't want to travel as much, you'd be better of in Haycock or a county school. For one, Haycock feeds into a larger high school with a larger athlete pool which competes at a higher level than George Mason. Second, all of the opponents McLean would face (at least through regionals) are in the general Northern Virginia area, whereas Mason has to travel long distances even to face district opponents. It's not particularly friendly with commutes. Not to mention if the team advances even to that school size equivalent of regional competition, you may want to prepare to pack up for the Richmond area, Salem, etc.