Public Schools in Nova

[Anonymous]

We currently live in Alexandria and the closest public high school to our home is Edison. We have not been very pleased with this prospect for our growing boys. We are new to northern virginia and we would be willing to move (when the market improves) to where the best public high school districts are. Can anyone weigh in on where the best public schools are in NOVA? Some have mentioned Burke, but that is all I have heard so far. Others have told us to move to Maryland and try the Potomac area as the best district around. We would prefer staying in Va for a variety of reasons, but have no idea where to look. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. We are trying to avoid the gangs that seem to be prevalent around where we live.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

This has been discussed many, many times on this site, but I will bite. In general, all of the schools in Fairfax County and Arlington are excellent. I am sure even Edison is a great school, but as a Fairfax County teacher I know that has some more issues than some other schools in the area. My personal recommendation would be to move further north and/or west in Fairfax or Arlington. So the high schools like Langley, McLean, Marshall, Madison, Oakton, Yorktown (Arlington), Washington and Lee (Arlington), George Mason (Falls Church City) Woodson, and Robinson are all great schools. These are the schools I am more familiar with and there are probably others I am not mentioning. Of course there are differences in all of these schools, too. Some are bigger (Robinson) and some are smaller (Marshall). Some have IB and some have AP. Some are more diverse and some are not. Those are things you would have to decide are mosst important to you and your family. In general, though, you cannot go wrong with FCPS or Arlington schools. Of course, it also depends on what you can afford in a house, too. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I think you ought to step back and consider exactly what it is about Edison that gives you pause. If you have heard there is gang activity at that school, do you have reason to believe your children would be particularly susceptible to joining a gang themselves or being harassed? The odds that most students at Edison would have a gang-related problem is about as high as the odds that they'd be harassed by a rich white jock if they attended Langley or Madison.