Anonymous wrote:Your kids would be better off in Mclean because it's safer, fewer bad influences and the schools are very good. Also, they will be exposed to the better side of life and meet people who may be able to give them a leg up later in life.

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:OP,

You are either going to get "yes move!" advice from people who live in McLean and would never think of setting foot in Alexandria (Ffx Cnty), or you get "no, don't move" from people who have lived in Alexandria and never lived in McLEan.


People root for their own areas. Most people do not have the background knowledge you have about your area. So, any comparison they make is based on incomplete information. They can only say whether they like the area they already know. They cannot accurately compare your area to their own.

I've lived in both and already responded. Yo couldn't pay me to live in Mclean over Old Town. For one, you're married to your car and surrounede by horrific traffic and two, McLean is full of people who think (erroneously) that theyre better than others. Classic new money, classless, tasteless braggarts. But hey, if they like their Tuscan villa off 123, more power to them!

I've lived in both. Here's my response.

I'm sure if you actually live in Old Town, the walkability is great. But for getting to most things in the area, it's hard to beat the McLean location--but you won't be walking. Traffic is horrific everywhere in the Metro area, you won't escape that.

There is new money everywhere, I'd suggest you just make friends with people you like, obviously. Personally I've found it to be worse in Potomac, but that's obviously a matter of opinion. Most people aren't going to be moving next door to Colin Powell, Grant Reid, Wes Bush, etc. Oh, but wait--new money.

You should probably just look at some houses you like in the area, maybe check out the schools, and talk to people IRL. This board has a weird hatred for McLean I've never encountered elsewhere.

That's funny. I've always thought this board had a strange hard-on for McLean.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP,

You are either going to get "yes move!" advice from people who live in McLean and would never think of setting foot in Alexandria (Ffx Cnty), or you get "no, don't move" from people who have lived in Alexandria and never lived in McLEan.


People root for their own areas. Most people do not have the background knowledge you have about your area. So, any comparison they make is based on incomplete information. They can only say whether they like the area they already know. They cannot accurately compare your area to their own.

I've lived in both and already responded. Yo couldn't pay me to live in Mclean over Old Town. For one, you're married to your car and surrounede by horrific traffic and two, McLean is full of people who think (erroneously) that theyre better than others. Classic new money, classless, tasteless braggarts. But hey, if they like their Tuscan villa off 123, more power to them!

I've lived in both. Here's my response.

I'm sure if you actually live in Old Town, the walkability is great. But for getting to most things in the area, it's hard to beat the McLean location--but you won't be walking. Traffic is horrific everywhere in the Metro area, you won't escape that.

There is new money everywhere, I'd suggest you just make friends with people you like, obviously. Personally I've found it to be worse in Potomac, but that's obviously a matter of opinion. Most people aren't going to be moving next door to Colin Powell, Grant Reid, Wes Bush, etc. Oh, but wait--new money.

You should probably just look at some houses you like in the area, maybe check out the schools, and talk to people IRL. This board has a weird hatred for McLean I've never encountered elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote:I live in the Alexandria section of FFX Co and have kids at Edison HS. I didn't see anyone else posting who has first hand experiences with FCPS in the Alexandria section (although I could be wrong since I blew thru the Alex City bashing posts).

In your situation, I would not move. I don't say that to justify the choice we made to stay but because I've been in your shoes and I've been happy with the decision we made to stay. I don't buy into the hysteria some people have about the 'bad schools' in this part of the county. I've seen no evidence of it. Sure, there are problems but there are also problems in the affluent schools. You can get a quality education at any school in FCPS. All the research I've seen doesn't support a conclusion that my kids will suffer from going to these 'less desirable' schools.

My kids went to a Title 1 elementary school. It was fabulous! Yeah, the PTA struggled and couldn't fund the things I'm sure the McLean school PTAs can fund but that's okay. There was enough. Twain MS was great, too. About 1/3 of the kids that went to our ES went to Hayfield. Our kids are still in contact with their friends there and, as much as Hayfield is derided, it seems as good as Twain and Edison. Our neighbors' kids went to Edison have gone to college all over the country. While I don't know anyone who went to an Ivy, I do know neighborhoods kids who went/go to Stanford, Penn State, UVA, William & Mary, etc. We don't know anyone who dropped out and, so far, encountered no significant issues.

So, if it's schools you're worried about, I wouldn't move until you have more concrete data on why it would be in the best interest of your kids. From your posts, I'm not hearing a compelling case. I just hear fear.......

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2853053/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0276562416300038

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Anonymous wrote:If you move to mclean, note that the PTA meetings are held during work hours.

Most people have one spouse that doesn't work, and 99% of the time the spouse is female.

PTA General Membership Langley
Wed, November 15, 9am – 11am

http://www.ptsalangley.org/

this is a board for moms!

Wut?

Is that a bad thing that one spouse doesnt't work? Good for the Langley PTA. Last time I checked, their PTA fund has over 250K

no, but poster should know that. a 2 working couple would not fit in.

Herndon has PTAs at night so all can join.

Langley/Mclean have them during the day so the stay at home mom can go. no one has to work.

sorry, but it's just not true that most families in these schools have SAHMs. there are plenty of two working couples- probably most of them actually. my kids are not at these schools, but we also have PTA meetings in the work day - most people attend and then go into work late that day. in affluent areas many of the parents have flexible jobs where they can show up a bit late once a month.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you move to mclean, note that the PTA meetings are held during work hours.

Most people have one spouse that doesn't work, and 99% of the time the spouse is female.

PTA General Membership Langley
Wed, November 15, 9am – 11am

http://www.ptsalangley.org/

this is a board for moms!

Wut?

Is that a bad thing that one spouse doesnt't work? Good for the Langley PTA. Last time I checked, their PTA fund has over 250K

no, but poster should know that. a 2 working couple would not fit in.

Herndon has PTAs at night so all can join.

Langley/Mclean have them during the day so the stay at home mom can go. no one has to work.

Anonymous wrote:NP here, and some food for thought: Its an unspoken rule amongst VA in-state college admissions that they accept a certain percentage of kids from each high school in the state. If you have a kid at McLean or Langley, the odds of them being in that top percentile are much more difficult than if your kid is at Edison, WestPo or TC Williams. We have decided to give our kid the opportunity to shine and be in the top 10% at Edison/WestPo/TC with our sights set on UVA. The odds of DS getting into the top 10% at Langley or McLean are much lower with all the crazy competition and tiger moms.

Stay put.

Anonymous wrote:NP here, and some food for thought: Its an unspoken rule amongst VA in-state college admissions that they accept a certain percentage of kids from each high school in the state. If you have a kid at McLean or Langley, the odds of them being in that top percentile are much more difficult than if your kid is at Edison, WestPo or TC Williams. We have decided to give our kid the opportunity to shine and be in the top 10% at Edison/WestPo/TC with our sights set on UVA. The odds of DS getting into the top 10% at Langley or McLean are much lower with all the crazy competition and tiger moms.

Stay put.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you move to mclean, note that the PTA meetings are held during work hours.

Most people have one spouse that doesn't work, and 99% of the time the spouse is female.

PTA General Membership Langley
Wed, November 15, 9am – 11am

http://www.ptsalangley.org/

this is a board for moms!

Wut?

Is that a bad thing that one spouse doesnt't work? Good for the Langley PTA. Last time I checked, their PTA fund has over 250K

no, but poster should know that. a 2 working couple would not fit in.

Herndon has PTAs at night so all can join.

Langley/Mclean have them during the day so the stay at home mom can go. no one has to work.

They also have them at night. They mix it up so everyone has a chance to make a few. Not everyone works 9-5 either.

Isn't it funny how one person gives false information, but it plays into a narrative that all Langley/McLean families have one stay at home parent and no one with working parents will fit in...

And then we find out that the initial statement was wrong. gulp. All those stereotypes have to go out the window. So, Langley/McLean parents are a lot like everyone else. Imagine that!