Neighborhoods around Carson Middle School vs. Longfellow Middle School
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Anonymous
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I live in Southern CA and plan to move to Fairfax county for the schools next summer. My two daughters are 6 and 8 and they are currently at least 2 grades to 4 grades ahead of their peers depending on the subjects. They love learning and may not be the best test takers (too small to decide and I don't prep them for tests). I think TJ High School might be a good fit and I want to move to a neighborhood that would maximize their chances of getting in. I am zeroing into Carson Middle School and Longfellow Middle School for their high acceptance rate. My brother who only moved there a year ago cautioned me with the gang activities around Herndon. I am looking for a safe, family-oriented neighborhood where I can get a 2500sf home for $700k-800k. Carson vs. Longfellow neighborhoods? Pros and Cons? It's a big decision for us so any opinion, info, or advice is appreciated.
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Anonymous
| Look in Chantilly Highlands / Franklin Farm communities. Strong elementary, feeds Franklin MS or Carson then TJ or Chantilly. Other options are Greenbrier neighborhoods feeding Rocky Run ms then TJ or Chantilly HS. If you need to live closer to Dc due to commute then Navy ES, Carson MS then Oakton HS living east of fairfax county parkway / west ox rd but prices may be outside your budget there. |
Anonymous
| TJ is a crap shoot. The main advantage of Longfellow over Carson is that it feeds into a better high school - McLean. But it is more expensive and you might need to consider a townhouse rather than a single-family home. |
Anonymous
| What will be the commutes? |
Anonymous
Bwahahahaha!!!!! 1. TJ, you'll have better luck buying a scratch off. 2. Hon, you are not getting ANY home that big anywhere near Longfellow I know weed is legal in CA, but when fantasizing about TJ and large homes inside the beltway in Virginia, you just need to put the pipe down. |
Anonymous
Hahaha, right? Therr is exactly one home mapped to Longfellow that matches that criteria. It's been on the market awhile. Probably had mold or something horrendous. That's tear down price for McLean. |
Anonymous
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You can find a 2500 sq ft house near Longfellow for 800k. They won’t be the nicest houses but they do exist. Here is one
https://www.redfin.com/VA/McLean/1819-Deer-Dr-22101/home/9476024?utm_source=ios_share&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=copy_link&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=link |
Anonymous
| Focus on neighborhoods anywhere in McLean that will give your children access to either McLean HS or Langley HS. Presuming the odds are very high they won't get into TJ, you'll still get an excellent education. The socio-economic make-up of both schools will stay high there for years to come. Check out these neighborhoods: The Hamlet, Greenway Heights, The Hunt, Timberly and Timberly South. These are all excellent neighborhoods with 1960's/1970's colonials and ramblers that have been renovated, updated and are still close to or slightly above the $1mill price point. The also offer excellent access to Tyson's, Bethesda, and DC. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| Most of Franklin Farm feeds to Carson MS and has exactly what you’re looking for in terms of size/budget. It’s a great neighborhood which means things don’t come up for sale often and tend to go quickly. The address is technically Herndon but not the part of town where the gang activity is. But as PPs have mentioned where you will work is a big factor. If you need to get into DC every day McLean is a much better option. |
Anonymous
A similar McLean neighborhood that feeds into Longfellow is Potomac Hills. The specific neighborhoods mentioned in this post all feed into Cooper MS. |
Anonymous
| Oakton, Madison and Fairfax are all rated 7 on great schools.org. Around here, that’s almost the highest the scores will go. You can find a good house comparable to California in any of those school districts/pyramids. That would be your best plan. Fairfax and Madison are slightly more diverse than Oakton if that matters to you. If you want to go to TJ your child needs scores. It doesn’t matter which middle school they go to. |
Anonymous
Unless they are rated higher, of course (there are eight middle schools in FCPS rated 8-10, and eight high schools rated 8-10). And as OP has figured out, a handful of the middle schools are definitely the primary feeders to TJHSST. |
Anonymous
About half of Franklin Farm is zoned for Carson; the other half is zoned for Franklin MS, which is also an outstanding school. Any homes with a Franklin Farm Road address OR that are off Dower House, Pond Crest, Willow Glen, and Tuckaway are zoned for Carson MS. Homes off Nestlewood, Wrenn House, Old Dairy, Dairy Lou, Thorngate, Tranquility, and Wellhouse are zoned for Franklin MS. Currently, Franklin- zoned students in AAP have the option of attending Franklin or Carson, though that could (possibly?) change in the future. The parts of Herndon (also called Oak Hill) that we're discussing have a 20171 address. The part your relative was describing is 20170. |
Anonymous
If you care about Great Schools ratings: Carson MS = 7/10 Cooper MS = 10/10 Franklin MS = 9/10 Longfellow MS = 9/10 Rocky Run MS = 9/10 Chantilly HS = 8/10 Langley HS = 9/10 McLean HS = 8/10 Oakton HS = 7/10 TJHSST = 10/10 |
Anonymous
Madison is not more diverse than Oakton. Oakton is more diverse than Madison. Fairfax is more diverse than both Madison and Oakton. The top TJ middle school feeders are Carson, Longfellow and Rocky Run. |