Anonymous wrote:My son went to Fairhill last year (for 2nd grade) after we moved to the county. We were very happy. Had a wonderful teacher (Ms. Payack), although she has moved on to another school this year. The administration was also perfectly accommodating. We had no issues. My son is now in third grade at Mantua (for the AAP Center), but we would not have minded if he had stayed at Fairhill throughout the rest of elementary school. Good luck with your move and kindergarten.

Thank you so much for posting your experience. This is very helpful.

My son went to Fairhill last year (for 2nd grade) after we moved to the county. We were very happy. Had a wonderful teacher (Ms. Payack), although she has moved on to another school this year. The administration was also perfectly accommodating. We had no issues. My son is now in third grade at Mantua (for the AAP Center), but we would not have minded if he had stayed at Fairhill throughout the rest of elementary school. Good luck with your move and kindergarten.

OP here. Thanks for the input.

We lived in a townhouse (for 12 years) that fed into Fairhill. We ended up moving to Arlington before my daughter entered the school system, partly for commuting reasons (I work in DC) but I would have been comfortable sending my daughter there. My neighbors all sent their kids there and seemed pretty happy with Fairhill. I don't think you can really go wrong with the Fairfax County schools in general.

that is actually a great commuting location - you've got 29, 50, 66 and 495 at your disposal, and you can easily get to DC, all over VA and even to MD pretty easily. Which is why I lived there for 12 years! And now you have a Target.

Ask the parents if they could, would they move their DC to another school. If so, ask why? If not, ask what it is about the school that makes them happy, ask for specifics. I went to private schools as kid and was hesitant of public schools. So, I asked around to parents of kids who ACTUALLY attended our neighborhood public school. I had 1 parent tell me she was unhappy because the school was not providing the level of IEP services to her DC that she wanted. However, aside from that 1 concern, everyone else was really happy with the school. I began asking when DC entered PreK. I will say, no school is perfect, not even Haycock, just check the boards and read. So much of your child's experience depends upon parental involvement. Make time to get into the classroom or make copiea for the teachers or help out in the library. Good luck!

OP here. Thanks for the valuable input.

We are from another country and the school system here is all new to us and not sure how to assess a school.

1. I would try to ask around but not sure what are the specific things I should be looking at. Other than asking if the teachers are good with the students and how well they teach, are there specific things I should be looking for?

2. Is there a big difference between the highly rated schools (haycock, etc) and those that are merely good (like Fairhill)? I would suspect they teach the same syllabus, have pretty much the same set of extra curricular activities, etc so I am not really seeing a big difference between the "top rated" and say the "merely good" schools. Quality of the teachers is an intangible that is very important but I would think they must of roughly comparable quality/ability. I might be completely wrong in my thinking and would really appreciate feedback and thoughts on this topic.

3. My belief is that it is up to the parents and student on how well the student learns as long as the school is moderately good. So as a parent if putting my child in a "merely good" school would prod me (due to guilt?) to be much more proactive and more involved in my kids academics/extra curricular activities, would a "merely good" school be a better option compared to putting my child in a "top rated" school and taking a bit easy?

I am just looking for feedback as I am trying to evaluate schools and do not have much experience. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

Thanks again for all the input.

My DS went there for 3 years. We moved about 2 1/2 years ago. We were very happy with the teachers and admin. The principal retired while we were there and the asst principal was promoted in her place. They also had a full-time AART, Ms. Hickcox, who was excellent. My son's K teacher, Mrs. Lengel, was also wonderful.

Not sure how much has changed in last few years, but we were happy.

Visit the school and see for yourself. My DKs dont go there, but have friends that do and they are quite pleased with the school. Or, ask parents in your maybe TH commuity about the school. When you visit the school, ask any parents you bump ino to. Good luck!

I've only herd good things about the school.

OP here. I also noticed that the school has 30% of its students listed as "Limited English Proficient". I would think this would force teachers to slow down and maybe not able to cover as much. Any thoughts?

Please do provide any thoughts you have.

Could any parents whose children attend Fairhill Elementary School provide feedback on this school? Should I be concerned about their low Math (84) and Science (82) scores?

We are considering moving to this area and are considering a townhouse that falls under Fairhill. Townhouse is ideally situated as far as commute is concerned for both of us. Son would be going to Kindergarten. Really appreciate any comments feedback.

We would likely move in about 5-6 years so Middle/High school rating is not much of a concern.

Thank you.