Anonymous wrote:As someone with 3 kids in ACPS and just spent a year in his in laws basement in Mclean while having a huge addition added to our Alexandria home, theres no way it will work. You'll hate your life in 2 weeks.

I don’t think that’s what OP had in mind.

As someone with 3 kids in ACPS and just spent a year in his in laws basement in Mclean while having a huge addition added to our Alexandria home, theres no way it will work. You'll hate your life in 2 weeks.

Anonymous wrote:Tysons go to Marshall HS

Right now Tysons splits about 55% to Marshall and 45% to McLean. With an upcoming boundary change that’s likely to pass it will still be about 55% to Marshall, but more like 30% to Langley and 15% to McLean.

Langley has a cachet among some families, especially Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants, that Marshall and McLean, with their greater racial and economic diversity, lack. It’s going to be interesting to see how many legitimately move into the Tysons area for cheaper access to Langley, or try to do something like OP is positing.

Anonymous wrote:Public schools suck. The expectations are so low. If you have the money, send them to a private school.

Not talking about the top private schools, but most of the kids I know that go to private school are kids that had behavior issues in public school.

Tysons go to Marshall HS

Public schools suck. The expectations are so low. If you have the money, send them to a private school.

Growing up I recall a guy who rented a two bedroom apartment above pizza place in town. He pull up in Mercedes everyday, his kids got picked up at bus in front, he ran his business I think law or accounting out of apt, kids come back on bus he drive them home.

He had that place as legal residence.

Anonymous wrote:I would think listing a 1-bedroom condo as the primary address for a family of 5 would be something that AI could easily flag.

It would if FCPS actually bothered to do residency checks. They don't, so OP could easily get away with this plan.
That said, the commute would indeed be brutal especially if the three kids aren't at the same schools. Even with a flexible WFH job you'd need to plan for probably 3 hours in the car every day during rush hour.

Rent if your budget is so small. That one million should earn enough in dividends to pay for rent for 3-bedroom.
It's possible that there are no 3-bedroom condo, apartment or townhouse anywhere near that school as it seems special.
Keep the commute under 10 minutes.
Nobody wants the condo from you later.

You could get caught, you’d have to tell your kids to lie about where they live, and the commute would be miserable.

Why not just buy a smaller, old house in McLean or a townhome?

Anonymous wrote:but the commutes ....

You could totally do this but the daily drives would be brutal. Plus depending on the start times- it could really suck

Anonymous wrote:What about a townhouse in the pyramid instead. I think you could do what you suggest but you would need to live there during the week to make it work. Maybe find two units next to each other and combine them.

This. you can find plenty of townhomes in this price range in the district. There are many townhome communities in conveniently located neighborhoods zoned for McLean or Langley (more for Mclean I believe) with townhomes of various sizes and levels of luxury and prices. for a 3 bedr TH you could find those under 1 mil.

Also you could rent an older home or a townhome for much much cheaper than price of ownership in the area, but it would be an older home. You could find remodeled ones that are livable even if basic looking. This way you could just own your permanent home and rent a place for less than tuition of 1 kid. Or you could even rent your place out and move to a rental in a school district.

All in all, living most of the time in your nice home so far away is not going to work for the reasons people listed already: commute will be horrendous, this area won't be served by school buses, so you won't be able to rely on your kids getting home on their own (which is super nice), activities with be a PITA, as are friendships. Also, there is a danger that you may get followed and figured out that you do not live at your investment property in the district, in which case your kids will be kicked out.

Anonymous wrote:We’ve known a family who rented an apartment in one FCPS HS’ zoned area. I think only the mom and DC lived there during the week. It was also closer for some of DCs sports stuff too.

If they lived there during the week then it was their primary residence and if anyone were to follow them from the school to see where kids went after school (this does happen), they would see them going to that residence. As long as kids reside there during the week, it's their address.

If you want to live in a different house outside of the school district and never or rarely use the condo during the school week then you could get followed and get in trouble. I know somebody who almost got expelled and then had to prove they lived in the district, because the kid stayed with grandparents outside of the school district too often when parents traveled even though parents lived in the district. I don't know much of the story and how specifically this "following the kid" takes place, it sounds a bit invasive, but apparently this happens.