Our friends live in a nice middle class townhouse neighborhood next to the golf course that feeds to Terraset-they have 2 dc in the school and are happy with it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If OP is in LCPS with the kids, my apologies.

I say that terraset is a great school with similar numbers. I don't live in Reston, but I would. Many friends do and enjoy the schools. None are in aap and all are white if that matters.

But are they at Terraset, versus Sunrise, Hunters Woods, Aldrin, etc.? That matters.

We live in Terraset boundaries and first of all, PP who called the neighborhood bottom of the barrel, I think you have us confused with Dogwood. It's a great area extending from approximately from the golf course to Lake Thoreau and bounded by South Lakes. We live on Reston National and are so very pleased with Terraset. In addition to the brand new facilities (bond funded reno finishing up now), the teachers and staff are great. Lindsay Trout, the principal, has turned the school around. She hasn't been there more than five years but I'm told that the administration was in disarray before she came on.

She was a master teacher and is a Reston Native and Terraset grad. She is deeply committed to the school and to helping every student succeed. We are actually looking for a new house right now and I refuse to buy outside of the Terraset territory.

Aldrin, Armstrong, hunters woods, and Sunrise are all great schools too. HW has a great rep because of the AAP center. Lake Anne has the terrific Spanish immersion program, and Forest Edge is really well regarded. The biggest reason South Reston schools as well as those around the Lake get a bad rap is because of the number of FARMS kids. Reston was founded on the notion that people from ALL socioeconomic classes could live, work, and play in one community. That was Bob Simon's successful vision. Honestly, if you don't buy into it, I don't think you'll be happy in Reston anyhow. The diversity is wonderful for our daughter -- she really has benefited from both a diverse (racially, socioeconomically, and ethnically) nonprofit daycare and now from Terraset.

Take a look at Terraset and the neighborhood. I think it's worth a hard look. I have been here 12 years and I'm so glad I bought here and so thrilled we are at Terraset.

I have no personal experience with Teraset, but just from their profile I would have some concerns. They have a significant FARM population (35%), but they are not a Title 1 school. That means they have some serious challenges to deal with, but don't have any extra funding, training, or personnel to deal with them, and class sizes are probably as big as in a school with just one or two percent FARM. If it were Title 1, I would say that there would be many benefits, such as smaller class sizes and the best training for teachers, but with their demographic they may be stuck in a situation where they have more problems than they can deal with alone but not enough to get help. I don't know that that is the case, but it is the case in some other fcps schools with that demographic, so I would be cautious. A school visit to the different schools might help you see the differences, if there are any.

You can certainly live in Reston and get a better ES...

I have a FB friend whose kid went to Terraset. She was always raving about the school and the teachers there. They moved and were very sad to leave.

Terraset prepared my DD for Hughes. She had difficulties with reading and writing. The teachers got her feeling confident and ready to move on. She has been in honors classes at Hughes and is doing very well. My DS struggled in 1st - 4th but has now turned the corner in 5th. The Teachers are amazing at Terraset.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If OP is in LCPS with the kids, my apologies.

I say that terraset is a great school with similar numbers. I don't live in Reston, but I would. Many friends do and enjoy the schools. None are in aap and all are white if that matters.

But are they at Terraset, versus Sunrise, Hunters Woods, Aldrin, etc.? That matters.

Terraset, Hughes, south lakes . Upper middle class white family, fwiw.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do your kids go to an out of county school if you live in FCPS?

Not the OP, but read the OP before responding FFS. It's only 2 lines long.

I am replying this is OP. As I stated we are potentially moving into this zone but one item I am taking into consideration is schools as our current school is ranked rather closely but this one appears to be rated a tad worse perhaps.

Anonymous wrote:If OP is in LCPS with the kids, my apologies.

I say that terraset is a great school with similar numbers. I don't live in Reston, but I would. Many friends do and enjoy the schools. None are in aap and all are white if that matters.

But are they at Terraset, versus Sunrise, Hunters Woods, Aldrin, etc.? That matters.

If OP is in LCPS with the kids, my apologies.

I say that terraset is a great school with similar numbers. I don't live in Reston, but I would. Many friends do and enjoy the schools. None are in aap and all are white if that matters.