http://www.fcps.edu/cco/pr/satact/sat2011.pdf

This is the link to the Fairfax county SAT scores.

Going by test scores alone, Woodson is top 5 in Fairfax County and Lake Braddock is number 6 (going by another thread). Looking at that list, West Springfield is a bit further down.

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the poster who said to aim for Woodson, Lake Braddock, or West Springfield for high school. Most of the middle and elementary schools that feed to these are pretty reliable.

I grew up in Springfield and I agree with this. These are all great schools. You don't have to worry about the schools that feed into them either. Safe too.

I agree with the poster who said to aim for Woodson, Lake Braddock, or West Springfield for high school. Most of the middle and elementary schools that feed to these are pretty reliable.

Annandale is an IB school (at least currently) and Woodson is an AP school. Woodson parents blocked an attempted change from AP to IB.

Anonymous wrote:My advice is to start with high school and work from there.

Annandale feeds two high schools: Woodson and Annandale. Annandale is more diverse but Woodson has much much higher test scores.

Springfield has West Springfield, and Lake Braddock. I'm not as familiar with those two schools.

Once you decide on which high school pyramid that will narrow down the list of possible elementary schools and allow you to dig in deeper to those options.

(disclaimer and biases: I moved to get my kids into Wakefield Forest/Frost/Woodson pyramid).

There are also houses with Annandale addresses that feed into Falls Church HS (for example, Camelot) and Stuart HS (for example, Columbia Pines and Sleepy Hollow Woods). There are also houses with Springfield addresses that feed into Annandale HS (for example, North Springfield), Edison HS (for example, Edsall Park, as of this fall) and Lee HS.

The OP can start with high schools, but if you have young kids you might want to focus on the elementary schools first. If kids get off to a good start in elementary school, they likely will find a cohort of high-achieving peers at just about any middle and high school in Fairfax County. I'm sure Woodson is good, but so are plenty of other schools.

Anonymous wrote:Good question to bring out the school snobs on a spring day.

These are the "favored" clusters in Annandale and Springfield, but don't assume your kids also wouldn't do fine in other schools. FCPS operates a county-wide system, and the goal of a lot of the Woodson hype is to maintain the property values of the homes in the Woodson district.

OP didn't ask where her kids would do fine, she asked which schools are "considered the strongest." Are you going to argue that Annandale High School is considered to be stronger than Woodson?

Anonymous wrote:From what I have seen of Annandale, I dont think its a great place for schooling, in general.

That's ridiculous

My advice is to start with high school and work from there.

Here's the fairfax county school profiles that will give you some information on each of the schools.
http://commweb.fcps.edu/schoolprofile/

Annandale feeds two high schools: Woodson and Annandale. Annandale is more diverse but Woodson has much much higher test scores.

Springfield has West Springfield, and Lake Braddock. I'm not as familiar with those two schools.

Once you decide on which high school pyramid that will narrow down the list of possible elementary schools and allow you to dig in deeper to those options.

(disclaimer and biases: I moved to get my kids into Wakefield Forest/Frost/Woodson pyramid).

From what I have seen of Annandale, I dont think its a great place for schooling, in general.

Good question to bring out the school snobs on a spring day.

These are the "favored" clusters in Annandale and Springfield, but don't assume your kids also wouldn't do fine in other schools. FCPS operates a county-wide system, and the goal of a lot of the Woodson hype is to maintain the property values of the homes in the Woodson district.

I agree. In Annandale, you want Frost MS and Woodson HS, in Springfield you want Irving MS and West Springfield HS or Lake Braddock (secondary school with both MS/HS). Most of the elementary schools that feed into these schools are great.

In Annandale: Wakefield Forest or Canterbury Woods ESs, which feed into Frost Middle and Woodson High.

Sangster/Irving/West Springfield

We're relocating from the west coast this summer with three children ranging in ages of kindergarten, elementrary school, and middle school. High School is right around the corner for our eldest. We really like Springfield and Annandale, but could anyone here share insight on which public school clusters (e.g., elem, middle, and high school) are considered the strongest in those towns or point me to some resources that could help me figure it out?

Many thanks in advance!