Seeking info source on good NOVA schools
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Anonymous
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We're considering moving to NOVA for the schools, probably no further out than Vienna. Is there a resource to find stats on public schools, such as test scores, SES, etc.?
We want to begin looking at schools, and need info to figure out which ones to look at. Any resources you can point me to to find data? Some things we're interested in: - Strong test scores - High socio economic status for the peer group - Advanced course offerings - Good specials - Strong science program - Variety of sports activities, Girls on the Run, etc. Strong test scores and high SES are our priorities. TIA! |
Anonymous
| This site is full of resources. Everyone wants those things btw. It's a matter of budget. |
Anonymous
| Just remember that "good" and "strong" are relative in Northern Virginia... relative to the rest of Northern Virginia, which is also largely all of those things. |
Anonymous
What is the budget and what are the commutes? If you can afford it, the obvious choices would be Churchill Road or Chesterbrook elementary schools. Churchill Road goes to Cooper MS and Langley HS. Chesterbrook goes to Longfellow MS and McLean HS. |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks for the tips.
So, in DC, we have websites that list all the schools' scores, FARMS rates, etc. Does NOVA have anything like that? Our budget is about $1.5M, but we could go up a little bit if it would get us into a much better school district. We're also fine with a home that's smaller or needs updates to afford a good school district. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Right now, our jobs are in DC and North Arlington. We could probably go out as far as Vienna, but closer is better. |
Anonymous
| Go to McLean, Arlington schools are overcrowded. |
Anonymous
Each school system will have FARMS rates and SOL scores available on their websites, but you'll need to check APS, FCC and FCPS individually to find it. |
Anonymous
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Go to Fairfax. We’re full.
Thanks, Arlington |
Anonymous
For Fairfax County, you have to look school by school. https://www.fcps.edu/schools-centers then choose which school and click to School Profile. |
Anonymous
| N Arlington elementaries - Jamestown, Discovery, Taylor, Nottingham will all meet your requirements. |
Anonymous
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Great Schools is a proxy for test scores, but it also breaks them down by race/SES/disability, etc. So, you can see that if a school is a 7, maybe one group is passing the SOLs at a "10" but another is passing at a "3" .
GreatSchools is based exclusively on SOL pass rates compared to other schools in the same state. So, a GS rating of 7 in DC may not be comparable to a GS rating of 7 in VA or MD. You can get other data by looking at the school profiles on FCPS.edu. GreatSchools provides the big picture, but understand that there are reasons a score might not tell the whole story. For instance, a school that has an AAP center (gifted/talented) tends to have higher scores b/c of the center. But, if you kid isn't in the AAP center, then that composite score may be shielding the "true" score for the part of the school that your kid attends. Likewise, a school may be sort of a magnet for autism or other disabilities and that will tend to bring the overall passrates down -- but it has nothing to do with how your kid is educated if your kid doesn't have autism. (you can see the number of kids with disabilities on the profiles on fcps.edu and then compare with other schools.) Likewise, you will usually find that the 5th grade math score is strangely low. That is b/c the kids in adv. math do not take the 5th grade math SOL (at all). So the only kids taking that test are the ones not in adv. math. There are little variations that can't be assumed just looking at GS. But, if you are looking for high SES, Great Schools ratings are pretty well correlated. I just hope you have plenty of $$ for that house b/c schools in the higher SES zones cost a lot! |
Anonymous
Nottingham and Taylor are currently overcapacity, but Jamestown and Discovery have room. Keep in mind, though, that we're also facing huge overcrowding issues at the middle school level (even with the new middle school, they're projected to be over capacity again by 2020) and at the high school level (with no plan for a fourth comprehensive high school). |
Anonymous
| Most people focus on the high school reputations and figure that the elementary schools are fine if they feed into a solid high school. |
Anonymous
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You have $1.5M to spend on a house. Buy a house in a neighborhood with other $1.5M houses and call it a day. Good lord. Your list is totally obnoxious. ("socioeconomic peer group" -- Just say "brown kids"!!!)
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