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vienna public schools
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Anonymous
| Hi all I am considering moving out to Vienna. Currently DH and I are living in a condo in DC with two DCs ages 3 and 9 months. How are the public elementary, MS and HSs in Vienna? I guess we are most concerned with elementary. |
Anonymous
| The schools in Vienna are excellent. Students who live in the Town feed into Madison High School. Some outside the town limits feed into Madison as well as Marshall HS, Oakton, and I believe McLean (if you live near Wolf Trap). All are good high schools. The middle school in Town is Thoreau which has a great repuation. Others feed into Kilmer which is also very good. People living near Wolf Trap feed into one of the McLean middle schools which is good. The elementary schools mostly all have a good reputation. If you go by test scores, Flint Hill and Louise Archer score very well. Louise Archer has the GT program at their school, so that probably boosts their reputation. Wolf Trap, Vienna Elementary, and Colvin Run (also has GT Center) all have very good reputations. Stenwood is good; Marshall Road is good. Cunningham Park and Freedom Hill don't have as high of test scores as the others but most people I know who go there like them, and it is probably a reflection of some lower income children or those who don't speak English as a first language who attend rather than poor teaching. I honestly don't think you will do wrong at any of the schools. None of them have poor reputations. |
Anonymous
| I agree with the PP. We have a child at Flint Hill ES and we've been very happy. |
Anonymous
|
Almost all of the schools that serve Vienna students are considered very good, but you do need to check the specific address, because the only generalization that is accurate is that all students in the Town of Vienna attend Madison High School. Otherwise, your child's school assignment depends on the specific address.
The elementary schools that serve students with Vienna addresses include Louise Archer, Vienna, Flint Hill, Colvin Run, Cunningham Park, Marshall Road, Mosby Woods, Wolftrap, Westbriar, Freedom Hill, Sunrise Valley and Forest Edge. The schools that students in the Town of Vienna attend include Archer, Vienna, Cunningham Park, Marshall Road, Wolftrap, Westbriar and Freedom Hill. Students who live in the county with Vienna addresses may attend these schools or the others. Students with Vienna addresses may attend Thoreau, Kilmer, Longfellow, Cooper, Jackson or Hughes Middle School. Students who live in the Town of Vienna attend either Thoreau or Kilmer. Students who live in the county may attend these schools or the others, depending on where they live. Finally, students with Vienna addresses may attend Madison, Marshall, McLean, South Lakes, Oakton, Langley or Falls Church High Schools. As noted, everyone in the Town is assigned to Madison High, regardless of whether they attended Thoreau or Kilmer Middle School. The next largest group of Vienna students attends Marshall High in Falls Church. Other students who live in the county and have Vienna addresses may be assigned to McLean (some students in 22182), South Lakes (other students in 22182), Oakton (some students in 22181), Langley (a handful of students in 22182) or Falls Church (a handful of students in 22180). In terms of recognition, Langley, McLean, Madison, Marshall and Oakton tend to receive more accolades (higher SAT scores, more National Merit semi-finalists and higher rankings by US News, Newsweek and Greatschools) than either South Lakes or Falls Church. |
Anonymous
| In addition to the above list, students with a Vienna address can also attend Stenwood Elementary School. |
Anonymous
| That's right - Stenwood serves students from both Vienna (county, not Town) and Dunn Loring. Stenwood students go on to either Thoreau or Kilmer Middle, and then to Marshall High. |
Anonymous
|
People disagree as to how much significance to place on Greatschools rankings (which are based on test scores and probably reflect the demographics more than the quality of teaching at a particular school), but here are the current rankings for the elementary schools that Vienna students attend:
Louise Archer - 10 [has a GT/AAP center] Colvin Run - 9 Flint Hill - 9 Vienna - 9 Westbriar - 9 Wolftrap - 9 Fairhill - 8 Forest Edge - 8 Mosby Woods - 8 Stenwood - 8 Sunrise Valley - 8 Marshall Road - 7 Cunningham Park - 6 Freedom Hill - 6 |
Anonymous
Forgot to note that Mosby Woods has a GT center as well - revised. |
Anonymous
11:47 here - We live in the Town and our child attends Flint Hill. |
Anonymous
11:47 here - We live in the Town and our child attends Flint Hill. Revised again. I'm thinking you live near Malcolm Road in the NW corner of the Town. A small number of students in that area are zoned to Flint Hill. Guess it underscores how someone seeking confirmation of the school assignments should check the address in the FCPS boundary locator. The only generalization that really holds is that all students who live in the Town are assigned to Madison HS. |
Anonymous
Colvin Run has a GT/AAP center, too.
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Anonymous
| Forest Edge and Sunrise Valley are also GT/AAP Center schools. |
Anonymous
| Freedom Hill also has a community-based level 4 advanced academics program (aka G&T). We're in Town of Vienna. The Great Schools rankings are a little junky. Make your on opinion by visiting the school and talking to the principals and teachers. We found Freedom Hill exceptionally diverse and welcoming with our two children starting this year in K and 3rd. You might as well be going to an international school with all the cultures represented. |
Anonymous
|
I agree the GreatSchools rankings are a little junky, and it's also the case that they bounce around from year to year. From a directional point of view, they probably do make clear what many people know or sense already - which is that there are some schools (whether we're talking about Vienna or Fairfax County or NoVa as a whole) that generally draw from more affluent demographics than others, and that the test scores usually reflect this. In the case of the ES that Vienna students attend, it's actually notable than none of these schools is lower than a "6," when "5" presumably is considered "average" under the GS system. That's why you'll generally hear people in Vienna say that you won't go wrong with any of these schools, and that if you are interested in the area you should probably find a few places that you like and then check out the local schools by visiting them and speaking with parents.
The flip-side of all this is that, if people don't have access to the relevant data or ratings, they may simply make decisions based on rumor and innuendo - so a neighborhood will get crossed off their list because so-and-so crinkled their nose or made a disparaging comment when a particular school was mentioned. I'd rather share the objective data, and let people take it from there, than pretend that everyone approaches a buying or renting decision knows all the information that is now available. Good luck! |