Thanks so much to those who shared specific schools/zipcodes I should look into!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We won't buy until we're sure we've got it right. Although, for now, on one income, rental needs to be under $2300 so looking for best ES in fairfax or Loudoun on that budget. Once I return to work, I can comfortably say our home-buying budget would likely be in the 700s. It could be higher but that's dependent on too many unknowns right now. I am seeing that many of the McLean and fairfax schools rated at 9 or 10 on great schools seem to dictate rentals in the 3000s which is not possible for us at this time. If I had to narrow down what is most important in school it would be lots of opps for gifted kids, not just a "worksheet" curriculum. And of course top-down great principal and teachers. Good communication with parents. From what I'm gathering, it might be that LCPS excels in trying to bring up the poorer performing students but there don't seem to be many opportunities for the higher achieving or gifted kids. Don't shoot me if you find that totallly off but it's the theory I've started formulating.

I hate to play into the ratings game, but my DS went to Orange Hunt ES, Irving MS, and is now at WSHS. We were very happy with the elementary. It is a larger school, but to us didn't "feel" large. I see it is currently rated an "8". Hunt Valley ES is a 9. Irving is up there too. I think you could find a rental in this area closer to your budget.

+1 - also where are you commuting to? This area I do a 30-40 minute commute to DC via slugging, plus the bus is a back-up. I live in this area and for 3 years was working at Loudoun 1 and had a 1hour 15 minute commute EVERY DAY. Please value your working spouse's travel time.

In FCPS, most AAP center schools have a ranking of 9 and non-AAP schools have a ranking of 8/9. Another important thing to consider is do you want a AAP or a non AAP base school? Both have their pros and cons.

I did a similar comparison 2 years back and finalized a few zipcodes, most of which had great schools. You might want to look into following zips: 22124,20171,20151,22033. Have you seen the Penderbrook Community in Fairfax? It has townhomes in your price range and is zoned for Waples Mill ES, which is awesome. Oakton high is a great school as well. Decent commute from there to most parts of Fairfax and Loudoun.

Anonymous wrote:We won't buy until we're sure we've got it right. Although, for now, on one income, rental needs to be under $2300 so looking for best ES in fairfax or Loudoun on that budget. Once I return to work, I can comfortably say our home-buying budget would likely be in the 700s. It could be higher but that's dependent on too many unknowns right now. I am seeing that many of the McLean and fairfax schools rated at 9 or 10 on great schools seem to dictate rentals in the 3000s which is not possible for us at this time. If I had to narrow down what is most important in school it would be lots of opps for gifted kids, not just a "worksheet" curriculum. And of course top-down great principal and teachers. Good communication with parents. From what I'm gathering, it might be that LCPS excels in trying to bring up the poorer performing students but there don't seem to be many opportunities for the higher achieving or gifted kids. Don't shoot me if you find that totallly off but it's the theory I've started formulating.

I hate to play into the ratings game, but my DS went to Orange Hunt ES, Irving MS, and is now at WSHS. We were very happy with the elementary. It is a larger school, but to us didn't "feel" large. I see it is currently rated an "8". Hunt Valley ES is a 9. Irving is up there too. I think you could find a rental in this area closer to your budget.

Our child is not yet in elementary school, but the friends I know with kids at both Mill Run and Hillside elementary schools in Broadlands (Ashburn, LCPS) are very happy. Townhome rentals here generally start at around 2k. I can't speak to the specifics regarding opportunities for gifted children in LCPS; I went through the full life cycle of LCPS gifted programs 20 years ago but that's not likely helpful. For us, the main disadvantage to LCPS is the lack of full-day kindergarten. And of course, the ultimate criterion for deciding on Loudoun is your potential commute.

Anonymous wrote:We won't buy until we're sure we've got it right. Although, for now, on one income, rental needs to be under $2300 so looking for best ES in fairfax or Loudoun on that budget. Once I return to work, I can comfortably say our home-buying budget would likely be in the 700s. It could be higher but that's dependent on too many unknowns right now. I am seeing that many of the McLean and fairfax schools rated at 9 or 10 on great schools seem to dictate rentals in the 3000s which is not possible for us at this time. If I had to narrow down what is most important in school it would be lots of opps for gifted kids[u], not just a "worksheet" curriculum. And of course top-down great principal and teachers. Good communication with parents. From what I'm gathering, it might be that LCPS excels in trying to bring up the poorer performing students but there don't seem to be many opportunities for the higher achieving or gifted kids. Don't shoot me if you find that totallly off but it's the theory I've started formulating.

Since you have a kindergartener, what if you have a bright kid, but not a gifted kid? What if you find a great school catering to a gifted kid, only to find that she's not catered to as she is bright but not gifted? Aren't you putting the cart way before the horse?

Anonymous wrote:We won't buy until we're sure we've got it right. Although, for now, on one income, rental needs to be under $2300 so looking for best ES in fairfax or Loudoun on that budget. Once I return to work, I can comfortably say our home-buying budget would likely be in the 700s. It could be higher but that's dependent on too many unknowns right now. I am seeing that many of the McLean and fairfax schools rated at 9 or 10 on great schools seem to dictate rentals in the 3000s which is not possible for us at this time. If I had to narrow down what is most important in school it would be lots of opps for gifted kids, not just a "worksheet" curriculum. And of course top-down great principal and teachers. Good communication with parents. From what I'm gathering, it might be that LCPS excels in trying to bring up the poorer performing students but there don't seem to be many opportunities for the higher achieving or gifted kids. Don't shoot me if you find that totallly off but it's the theory I've started formulating.

http://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/1734-Gilson-St-22043/home/9395887

some rentalts are available

If I had a higher budget I was suggest McLean

Certainly not me! It was not part of the original plan but I find the situation with the school that dire.

When are you going back to work? Personally I wouldn't move until you do this -- you don't know where you will get a job, etc. I know you are planning to rent, but it still means moving twice. Who wants to do this? Especially with little kids?

We won't buy until we're sure we've got it right. Although, for now, on one income, rental needs to be under $2300 so looking for best ES in fairfax or Loudoun on that budget. Once I return to work, I can comfortably say our home-buying budget would likely be in the 700s. It could be higher but that's dependent on too many unknowns right now. I am seeing that many of the McLean and fairfax schools rated at 9 or 10 on great schools seem to dictate rentals in the 3000s which is not possible for us at this time. If I had to narrow down what is most important in school it would be lots of opps for gifted kids, not just a "worksheet" curriculum. And of course top-down great principal and teachers. Good communication with parents. From what I'm gathering, it might be that LCPS excels in trying to bring up the poorer performing students but there don't seem to be many opportunities for the higher achieving or gifted kids. Don't shoot me if you find that totallly off but it's the theory I've started formulating.

Op, what's your budget? You are buying a school & commute in this area.

Your experiences would be vastly different in the Culmore area versus Mclean.

Your experiences would be vastly different in Meadowland ES versus Lowes Island ES.

You need to ask very specific questions on this forum to weed out the incendiary trolls.

9:05 thank you. This is great advice. I have been working on narrowing down neighborhoods. And I know this kinda of anecdotal info is highly subjective, though this is site is one facet of the research I am doing. Perhaps, once I narrow some down, I can ask about specific schools (but take it with a grain of salt!)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cooper Middle School was shocking as to what a zoo it was; those little kids had older teenage-like issues. Drugs, alcohol, etc etc etc. And the admin seemed clueless to what was going on...

As you and your kids get older, you realize that not that many people look back too fondly on middle school. It's kind of like they quarantine kids for two or three awkward years to keep them away from the general population.

But since OP is only asking about elementary schools, maybe we should table the parade of MS horrors.

Pp- you are hilarious and wise!

OP, I get that you are trying to pick the best school for your child, but FCPS is a massive system spread over a large geographic area. Factor in LCPS and you're talking about school-hunting over a whole region based on the opinions of strangers here. You might find the ideal school in an area that would create nightmare commutes for you and/or spouse to get to work, and where house prices might be so high that your family sacrifices everything else on the altar of "the perfect school." The best thing you can do is narrow down the search area based on housing, commutes, whatever else you value, and then actually visit schools in person. Make a trip here to do it if you are outside this area--there is nothing like seeing things first-hand.

Every person posting on here is going to have had different and equally valid experiences at various schools. One student's absolutely ideal school experience can be another's horrid experience--so much depends on the kid, the parents' perspectives, teachers that kid has (and within each school there can be great teachers and not so great ones), and so much more. If you've spent much time on DCUM you'll find that there are wildly varying opinions -- you can get a thread bashing a school or program to bits and then other posters will praise the same school or program to the heavens. Not always very useful.

Besides posting here, once you narrow down your search areas, try contacting the PTA or PTO (contacts are usually on the school web site or the PTA will have its own web site). The PTA at what is now our middle school actually held an information and Q&A session for parents who were considering moving to the school from outside the area. I feel sure some elementary PTAs would put you in touch with parents to ask questions about their schools.