LANGLEY high school pyramid

Where are you commuting to? Do you plan to use any form of public transportation? Depending on your answer, you might also want to consider parts of Arlington and the City of Falls Church. You can find something pretty nice in some North Arlington neighborhoods in that range, for example.

30 miles outside of DC is a LONG commute to DC in traffic - if you're going downtown often, I'd highly recommend trying to buy closer in. The answer would be different if you'll be working in Tysons or Reston.

But scores arent the only indicator. Some schools have higher scores due to an in-house GT program while other schools don't have GT but they have an extensive program for Special Education/Developmental Delay. The school I am currently zoned for has awesome scores but doesn't have a GT program. I also lucked out because I'm in the "average size home" pocket of the zone for my elementary school of Navy. BTW - you can find a good size home in the same district in your price range.

My advice is to narrow it down to one or two high schools. Then only look at the elementary schools that feed those high schools. It will substantially limit your search, but it sounds like you want some narrowing down.

Also start using how much you like or don't like the neighborhoods to eliminate areas.

"Good" elementary schools based on what? Based on test scores? Class size? Ratio of teachers to students?

If you are basing "good" on test scores, it would equate with highest income. For income-based rankings, your could use the risk system that they were going to use for the phased rollout of full day K implementation in reverse.

http://www.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/8GGKCC5131BA/$file/Full%20Day%20Kindergarten%20Implementation%20Options.pdf

So the "best" (using the term loosely) elementary school based on lowest risk (or the school with the students with the best financial means) would be Wolf Trap, then Great Falls, then Colvin Run, the Sangster, etc. Of course those "top" schools would also have the highest class sizes.

Personally I factor in class sizes as well, so I would look for a school closer to the middle of the income pack as the class sizes would likely not be as high.

We just moved to NVA with 2 young kids. They are not yet in school. We were overwhelmed with choices so we did not buy a home.

What are some good school districts in Fairfax County?

Looking to buy a home in the $800k-$1m range. Want a single family house that is on the newer side. Would prefer to be within 30 miles of DC. It's pretty easy to find a list of the best high schools. Trying to narrow it down to good elementary schools.