Reply to Guide to pyramids in FCPS / APS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hi all,

We are strongly considering moving to either N. Arlington or McLean in the next year to 18 months and have a 3 year-old DD.  Is there a good guide to the various ES/MS pyramids in APS and FCPS that we should consult?  We are fortunate to be able to afford to choose where we end up, but it is hard to really understand the considerations involved.  For high school, Langley and McLean seem like great options, though Yorktown would probably be OK too.  I know AAP, etc., options can be controversial, but availability/quality of those programs is a consideration for us as well.  Just trying to narrow our housing search to a few specific geographic areas based on school choice if we can.  Ease of commute to/from DC would be a secondary factor, though important, so I had been thinking Langley pyramids would be preferred to McLean, but I like that McLean has more diversity, etc.

Thanks![/quote]

In FCPS, the two most useful resources I can think of are the following;

* The FCPS collection of maps that show the school boundaries, available at https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/planning-future/maps

* FCPS's latest Capital Improvement Plan, which contains information on schools, enrollment projections, and various feeder patterns, available at https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/facilities-planning-future/capital-improvement-program

For example, at pp. 88-91 of the FY 2018-22 CIP, there are some good maps and tables that show how the elementary schools align with the middle and high school boundaries, how the middle school boundaries align with the high school boundaries, and which elementary and middle schools are "split feeders" that send students to multiple schools at the next level.  This information is often more useful than information about "pyramids," which is a term that FCPS uses primarily for internal administrative purposes, but won't necessarily tell you about the school assignments.  For example, there are currently two elementary schools in the Annandale HS pyramid that don't send any students to Annandale (Bren Mar Park and Mason Crest), and there are elementary schools in the Langley "pyramid" (Colvin Run and Spring Hill) where some of the students go on to attend McLean rather than Langley, and vice versa (Franklin Sherman).

You won't go wrong with either of the Langley or McLean pyramids.  Langley usually has the highest test scores in FCPS after TJHSST, but McLean is right behind it and has more diversity and neighborhoods close to DC and Orange/Silver Line stations.    
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