Anonymous wrote:West Springfield/Lake Braddock/Robinson pyramids.

Yep. This is where you want to be.

Anonymous wrote:Arlington, especially in the Yorktown pyramid. Amazing resources for kids, close to DC and families that nurture kids in a healthy environment. We do not see the competitiveness that you find nearby.

What a load of sh!t

Arlington, especially in the Yorktown pyramid. Amazing resources for kids, close to DC and families that nurture kids in a healthy environment. We do not see the competitiveness that you find nearby.

I agree on the commute. I work in Old Town and DH in L'Efant. We were former big firm attorneys in DC but are now feds. West Springfield is just a good fit for our lifestyle and commute.

Commute? You can send your child to even the most "competitive" HS in the area and find like minded families. We chose what turned out to be McLean HS for commutes and it was fine. You can chose to opt out of the craziness.

The key is to go in being flexible re: college choice. If you can afford out-of-state options you will be able to ease the pressure on your student no matter which high or higher-pressure NoVa HS they attend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield/Lake Braddock/Robinson pyramids.

Why? Lake Braddock and Robinson are very large secondary schools. Lots of competition going on there, even if there are some other schools with higher test scores.

West Springfield, Lake Braddock, and Robinson are all schools that are basically uniformly middle class/upper middle class. There's a bit of racial/ethnic diversity, but economically the kids are all basically normal kids.

For the secondary schools, the size works in both ways. There's plenty for kids to do and it's big enough that there's no dominant "culture." It's much more kids finding their niches. Academically all three are strong enough schools without TJ craziness (note -- even though all three are close-ish to TJ, very few kids actually go to TJ because they are perfectly happy with their home schools. It's not a pressure cooker area.

It cuts both ways. Kids aren't going to be the tippy top. It's a place where people are fine with their kids going to Tech or JMU or VCU. It's not UVA or die around here (though plenty do attend UVA).

DH works at Lake Braddock, and from what I can tell, the school seems plenty competitive to me.

Anonymous wrote:West Springfield/Lake Braddock/Robinson pyramids.

Why? Lake Braddock and Robinson are very large secondary schools. Lots of competition going on there, even if there are some other schools with higher test scores.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking to move to VA from DC and not exactly sure where to look. I'd like to buy a home in an area that has really good public schools that aren't cutthroat competitive and looking for recommendations. Thanks! Also interested in gifted and talented programs.

Enjoy West Springfield, Robinson and Lake Braddock.

NP; what zip codes would one need to look in for Robinson and Lake Braddock?

Just like every town now offers some travel sports, almost all towns also offer gifted services. That doesn't mean there isn't a good rec program available.

I don't get it. Kids and parents can make school as competitive or uncompetitive as you want. I guarantee at all schools in VA there are high achieving schools and low achieving schools. Don't live in boundary to a magnet gifted program and you'll be fine.

Anonymous wrote:Looking to move to VA from DC and not exactly sure where to look. I'd like to buy a home in an area that has really good public schools that aren't cutthroat competitive and looking for recommendations. Thanks! Also interested in gifted and talented programs.

Enjoy West Springfield, Robinson and Lake Braddock.

West Springfield/Lake Braddock/Robinson pyramids.

Looking to move to VA from DC and not exactly sure where to look. I'd like to buy a home in an area that has really good public schools that aren't cutthroat competitive and looking for recommendations. Thanks! Also interested in gifted and talented programs.