Anonymous wrote:
What area do these hispanic kids live in? I can't think of any lower income apartments in McLean.

Sherman's lower scores would be especially surprising since I think a few homes along McLean's gold coast feed into Sherman, not to mention a lot of other wealthy areas.

The point was that the parents who send their kids to Sherman don't seem to worry too much if Sherman gets a "7" on Great Schools because there are special education students sent there who tend to score lower on standardized tests.

On the other hand, if Marshall Road also gets a "7" on GreatSchools, or Cunningham Park gets a "5," because there are lower-income kids in condos near the Vienna metro or Hispanic kids in the Cedar/Park apartments, some posters seem to think that's good and sufficient reason to steer people away from those schools in favor of other, "great" schools.

Capiche?

BTW, what and where exactly is McLean's "gold coast"?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good point. The schools are both outstanding with a wealthy student body, are there even any "undesirable" (on the level of Cunningham Park, notice I put undesirable in quotes) schools near those two?

I was also wondering why this is even relevant to the OP's question (and thought the reference to Cunningham Park here was quite gratuitous).

Is the (new) question whether someone who buys in either district is somehow at risk of being redistricted to an "undesirable" school?

The schools that surround Sherman are Chesterbrook, Kent Gardens and Churchill Road - all very good.

The schools that surround Spring Hill are Great Falls, Colvin Run, Westbriar, Westgate, Kent Gardens and Churchill Road - all very good as well.

So the answer to your question is "No."

One irony is that Sherman itself currently only gets a "7" on Great Schools. Presumably, the comparatively high percentage of special education students at Sherman pulls down the standardized test results a bit. People appear to take that into stride, however, and assume that it won't negatively affect the other kids, whereas the presence at a school of some Hispanic students who may not speak English very well seems to be a cause for alarm.

What area do these hispanic kids live in? I can't think of any lower income apartments in McLean.

Sherman's lower scores would be especially surprising since I think a few homes along McLean's gold coast feed into Sherman, not to mention a lot of other wealthy areas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And if it's the French you're looking for, that's Kent Gardens ES anyway.

Seriously, both districts are really good. You ought to just relax, buy the house your family likes best. You can't totally predict the future. This area is full of kids with 140 IQs, your DC will blend right in. (And I mean that in a nice way, not trying to be snarky or anything).

Signed, McLean Mother of 2

Good point. The schools are both outstanding with a wealthy student body, are there even any "undesirable" (on the level of Cunningham Park, notice I put undesirable in quotes) schools near those two?

If you follow Great schools, the lowest ranking would be Lemon Road. Westgate is not at the Cunningham Park "level" but it does feed from Pimmit Hills. I drove on Magarity Rd. a few days ago and saw old dixie flying while perched on someone's garage.

Anonymous wrote:Good to know..but my point still stands. Better to be in a school with GT/Level IV that not

If your DC is not part of the Local Level IV program, maybe not. Resources and focus will be on that program.

Anonymous wrote:Good point. The schools are both outstanding with a wealthy student body, are there even any "undesirable" (on the level of Cunningham Park, notice I put undesirable in quotes) schools near those two?

I was also wondering why this is even relevant to the OP's question (and thought the reference to Cunningham Park here was quite gratuitous).

Is the (new) question whether someone who buys in either district is somehow at risk of being redistricted to an "undesirable" school?

The schools that surround Sherman are Chesterbrook, Kent Gardens and Churchill Road - all very good.

The schools that surround Spring Hill are Great Falls, Colvin Run, Westbriar, Westgate, Kent Gardens and Churchill Road - all very good as well.

So the answer to your question is "No."

One irony is that Sherman itself currently only gets a "7" on Great Schools. Presumably, the comparatively high percentage of special education students at Sherman pulls down the standardized test results a bit. People appear to take that into stride, however, and assume that it won't negatively affect the other kids, whereas the presence at a school of some Hispanic students who may not speak English very well seems to be a cause for alarm.

What the he$$ ??? Is this slam on Cunningham Park week on the VA Public Schools board? That Marshall Road topic was full of it (and full of it too).

Back to the topic at hand, IMHO your kids would be fine at either school pick the best combination for you and your family.

Anonymous wrote:And if it's the French you're looking for, that's Kent Gardens ES anyway.

Seriously, both districts are really good. You ought to just relax, buy the house your family likes best. You can't totally predict the future. This area is full of kids with 140 IQs, your DC will blend right in. (And I mean that in a nice way, not trying to be snarky or anything).

Signed, McLean Mother of 2

Good point. The schools are both outstanding with a wealthy student body, are there even any "undesirable" (on the level of Cunningham Park, notice I put undesirable in quotes) schools near those two?

Some might prefer Sherman's small size over Spring Hill, which has close to 1000 students.

Good to know..but my point still stands. Better to be in a school with GT/Level IV that not

Anonymous wrote:Go to a school which is a AAP/GT center, which is Springhill in this case. You have better resources available and overall environment can be more academic.

Spring Hill is not a GT center. It offers local Level IV services.

Go to a school which is a AAP/GT center, which is Springhill in this case. You have better resources available and overall environment can be more academic.

And if it's the French you're looking for, that's Kent Gardens ES anyway.

Seriously, both districts are really good. You ought to just relax, buy the house your family likes best. You can't totally predict the future. This area is full of kids with 140 IQs, your DC will blend right in. (And I mean that in a nice way, not trying to be snarky or anything).

Signed, McLean Mother of 2

Anonymous wrote:I'm stymied, confused, and desperate for advice. Can someone please advise me about buying in Spring Hill Elementary district or Franklin Sherman district?

We've narrowed our home search to two houses, one in each district. DC tests as having a 140 IQ, and has been in private school with lots of individualized attention up to this point (1st grade). In order to afford a house in these districts, we're giving up private school. DC shows a strong interest in science, and has been taking French for 2 years. We prefer to live in FS district because that house is a much a shorter commute to our DC offices.

That's the background. Which house/school should we choose?

Other questions:

1. The house near Franklin Sherman says that its school are: Sherman, Cooper, Langley. I understand that the majority of students attending FS go to Longfellow/Mclean. Is it possible that DC's path would be altered to go to those schools (which look to be a longer drive in the opposite direction of my commute).

2. What's up with all this GT center stuff? It seems to be in flux and I can't tell what's current informatioin. Should a gifted child who lives near FS be at Churchill. Is it even an option to apply to transfer there after being tested?

Thanks so much in advance!

I can see why you are stymied and confused. You're working yourself up into a lather trying to compare what is really apples to apples.

The first thing is that your child will/may be in a state of shock once he/she gets to public school because gone will be all the individualized attention and pampering that he/she received in private school. The class sizes could easily be double or triple what you are used to. Also, why are you so concerned about the drive distance for you to the school and how it relates to your commute? There is bus service.

If the house says that you are in the Langley district, why are you preoccupied with the possibility that your child may be redistricted to Longfellow/McLean? For your information, Longfellow is an AAP (GT) school and Cooper is not. Longfellow sends 50-60 kids to TJ every year, while you usually count on one hand the number that Cooper sends to TJ. TJ is NoVA's science and technology magnet only school.

Also, Longfellow has a partial French immersion program while Cooper has partial Japanese immersion. If your child gets into AAP, Franklin Sherman feeds into Haycock ES, not Churchill Road. If you want your kid to go to Churchill Road, you'll probably need to transfer, and drive your child and pick up every day. Traditionally, both Haycock ES and Longfellow ES have been the two highest performing GT schools in Fairfax County.

There's not a huge difference between Langley HS and McLean HS except that Langley's SAT scores are slightly higher and there's more wealth at that school and less diversity.

GT doesn't start until 3rd grade in Fairfax County, so your child would be tested in the normal course next year. 140 IQ, believe it or not, is not particularly amazing for the GT ranks -- it's probably about normal, so your child is great and would likely qualify, but would not be particularly exceptional by GT standards -- the real exceptions are the ones who can be that smart and also have an outgoing personality. Having had two kids, what they are interested in during first grade is also not necessarily any indicator of what they are interested in during second grade or beyond. You want to be in the Churchill Road GT program which does feed to Cooper. Thus far, there is bus service to Cooper. Spring Hill is a larger school that can be more difficult to navigate as I understand.

I'm stymied, confused, and desperate for advice. Can someone please advise me about buying in Spring Hill Elementary district or Franklin Sherman district?

We've narrowed our home search to two houses, one in each district. DC tests as having a 140 IQ, and has been in private school with lots of individualized attention up to this point (1st grade). In order to afford a house in these districts, we're giving up private school. DC shows a strong interest in science, and has been taking French for 2 years. We prefer to live in FS district because that house is a much a shorter commute to our DC offices.

That's the background. Which house/school should we choose?

Other questions:

1. The house near Franklin Sherman says that its school are: Sherman, Cooper, Langley. I understand that the majority of students attending FS go to Longfellow/Mclean. Is it possible that DC's path would be altered to go to those schools (which look to be a longer drive in the opposite direction of my commute).

2. What's up with all this GT center stuff? It seems to be in flux and I can't tell what's current informatioin. Should a gifted child who lives near FS be at Churchill. Is it even an option to apply to transfer there after being tested?

Thanks so much in advance!