Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should ignore the suggestions for West Springfield, Robinson and Lake Braddock. They are huge schools and there is a big focus on sports. An average athlete is not making varsity basketball or baseball teams there, particularly if they haven't grown up in the area, shelled out money for the coaches' summer camps, etc.

Falls Church and Hayfield are better suggestions - you just don't hear about them as often because there are some people in Burke and West Springfield who think the special "niche" for their schools are military families commuting to the Pentagon or Fort Belvoir. But West Springfield, Robinson and Lake Braddock aren't the only schools in the area, and they don't meet your specs at all.

OP, there is a poster who is VERY anti WS and LB for some reason. She posts on other threads and has probably found your thread too. Take her post with a grain of salt.

Those two pyramids are very popular with military families and have a very strong military community. Ask around your base and you will get good suggestions from people who were stationed here before. They might be a good fit for your kids. They might not be. But if you are looking for a community that is skilled at welcoming military kids and helping them adapt, those two pyramids can't be beat. Lake Braddock and Robinson are huge, but there seems to be lots of groups for all kinds of kids to find their niche. WS is one of the smaller high schools in Fairfax County. They are not small, but by fcps standards they are definitely smaller.

We have been stationed in the area several times. The first time we were childless and lives inside the beltway along the Orange line. When we came back with kids, there was no question that the WS/Burke area was at the top of our list. It is really one of the best areas in northern VA for families with kids who want good schools and do not want a pressure cooker environment.

Also, as I posted above, do not leave off those other areas (Hayfield, South County, Robinson, Arlington if you can afford it) The Fort Hunt area of Alexandria is iffy with high school kids as many do private to avoid the high school.

Don't listen to this poster. She is steering you wrong.

Good luck!

I have to say every time I hear about a school that is very pro military I think "very conservative" and "highly mobile". It's a turn off to people who want to stay in the area for a long time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should ignore the suggestions for West Springfield, Robinson and Lake Braddock. They are huge schools and there is a big focus on sports. An average athlete is not making varsity basketball or baseball teams there, particularly if they haven't grown up in the area, shelled out money for the coaches' summer camps, etc.

Falls Church and Hayfield are better suggestions - you just don't hear about them as often because there are some people in Burke and West Springfield who think the special "niche" for their schools are military families commuting to the Pentagon or Fort Belvoir. But West Springfield, Robinson and Lake Braddock aren't the only schools in the area, and they don't meet your specs at all.

OP, there is a poster who is VERY anti WS and LB for some reason. She posts on other threads and has probably found your thread too. Take her post with a grain of salt.

Those two pyramids are very popular with military families and have a very strong military community. Ask around your base and you will get good suggestions from people who were stationed here before. They might be a good fit for your kids. They might not be. But if you are looking for a community that is skilled at welcoming military kids and helping them adapt, those two pyramids can't be beat. Lake Braddock and Robinson are huge, but there seems to be lots of groups for all kinds of kids to find their niche. WS is one of the smaller high schools in Fairfax County. They are not small, but by fcps standards they are definitely smaller.

We have been stationed in the area several times. The first time we were childless and lives inside the beltway along the Orange line. When we came back with kids, there was no question that the WS/Burke area was at the top of our list. It is really one of the best areas in northern VA for families with kids who want good schools and do not want a pressure cooker environment.

Also, as I posted above, do not leave off those other areas (Hayfield, South County, Robinson, Arlington if you can afford it) The Fort Hunt area of Alexandria is iffy with high school kids as many do private to avoid the high school.

Don't listen to this poster. She is steering you wrong.

Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should ignore the suggestions for West Springfield, Robinson and Lake Braddock. They are huge schools and there is a big focus on sports. An average athlete is not making varsity basketball or baseball teams there, particularly if they haven't grown up in the area, shelled out money for the coaches' summer camps, etc.

Falls Church and Hayfield are better suggestions - you just don't hear about them as often because there are some people in Burke and West Springfield who think the special "niche" for their schools are military families commuting to the Pentagon or Fort Belvoir. But West Springfield, Robinson and Lake Braddock aren't the only schools in the area, and they don't meet your specs at all.

OP, there is a poster who is VERY anti WS and LB for some reason. She posts on other threads and has probably found your thread too. Take her post with a grain of salt.

Those two pyramids are very popular with military families and have a very strong military community. Ask around your base and you will get good suggestions from people who were stationed here before. They might be a good fit for your kids. They might not be. But if you are looking for a community that is skilled at welcoming military kids and helping them adapt, those two pyramids can't be beat. Lake Braddock and Robinson are huge, but there seems to be lots of groups for all kinds of kids to find their niche. WS is one of the smaller high schools in Fairfax County. They are not small, but by fcps standards they are definitely smaller.

We have been stationed in the area several times. The first time we were childless and lives inside the beltway along the Orange line. When we came back with kids, there was no question that the WS/Burke area was at the top of our list. It is really one of the best areas in northern VA for families with kids who want good schools and do not want a pressure cooker environment.

Also, as I posted above, do not leave off those other areas (Hayfield, South County, Robinson, Arlington if you can afford it) The Fort Hunt area of Alexandria is iffy with high school kids as many do private to avoid the high school.

Don't listen to this poster. She is steering you wrong.

Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK Langley and McLean are really bad choices for what you described so you probably want to disregard those suggestions entirely.

I have a military teenager who moved a lot. We live around a ton of military teenagers who move a lot.

Burke and West Springfield should be at the top of your list. There are a ton of military kids around and the schools really get their needs because they have so many, not just academic needs like finding ways to make their classes fit VA requirements but also their social needs.

Your kids are beyond elementary age, but an example would be Sangster Elementary having a military families association that sponsors events throughout the year geared towards military families, or Hunt Valley having a principal who was a military brat who does an exceptional job helping military kids transition and adapt. They do veterans day recognitions all the way up to the high school where the kids do a small poster recognizing their military parents, and there are dozens to hundreds of kids with military parents at each of the schools in this area.

There are streets where 1/3 or more of the families have military roots in WS and Burke. There is a lot to be said for moving teenagers to an area where they immediately have a peer group of kids with similar experiences, to schools that understand their needs.

I would say that Hayfield Pyramid, parts of Alexandria and Arlington, South County/Lorton and Robinson pyramid are probably the most similar in that regard and are places where you will find that type of community and support for your kids.

I do not think that a lot of those other areas mentioned are. One, places like McLean are really out of the budget for most military families so they just do not move there. Two, commute to the Pentagon is really easy from places like WS or Burke and there is an established community plus good schools so those areas are just a smarter choice for those military with kids who want to live in VA.

OP again. Do you have any idea what type of initial supports might be in place at those high schools (WS, Burke, Robinson)? My kids are coming from a K-12 with 400 kids so this is a huge change. I've been checking school websites, but of course there is nothing like orientation on there yet.

As far as making varsity, I think they'll be happy to make any team! I will have a a sophomore son( basketball and baseball) and freshman daughter(basketball and volleyball)...If they could just make a team, I think they'd be happy...at least until they were juniors when I think they'd really want to make varsity. Is it unlikely to make JV for average players?

Slowly upping what we're willing to pay and how far a commute is doable.

Anonymous wrote:You should ignore the suggestions for West Springfield, Robinson and Lake Braddock. They are huge schools and there is a big focus on sports. An average athlete is not making varsity basketball or baseball teams there, particularly if they haven't grown up in the area, shelled out money for the coaches' summer camps, etc.

Falls Church and Hayfield are better suggestions - you just don't hear about them as often because there are some people in Burke and West Springfield who think the special "niche" for their schools are military families commuting to the Pentagon or Fort Belvoir. But West Springfield, Robinson and Lake Braddock aren't the only schools in the area, and they don't meet your specs at all.

Anonymous wrote:OK Langley and McLean are really bad choices for what you described so you probably want to disregard those suggestions entirely.

I have a military teenager who moved a lot. We live around a ton of military teenagers who move a lot.

Burke and West Springfield should be at the top of your list. There are a ton of military kids around and the schools really get their needs because they have so many, not just academic needs like finding ways to make their classes fit VA requirements but also their social needs.

Your kids are beyond elementary age, but an example would be Sangster Elementary having a military families association that sponsors events throughout the year geared towards military families, or Hunt Valley having a principal who was a military brat who does an exceptional job helping military kids transition and adapt. They do veterans day recognitions all the way up to the high school where the kids do a small poster recognizing their military parents, and there are dozens to hundreds of kids with military parents at each of the schools in this area.

There are streets where 1/3 or more of the families have military roots in WS and Burke. There is a lot to be said for moving teenagers to an area where they immediately have a peer group of kids with similar experiences, to schools that understand their needs.

I would say that Hayfield Pyramid, parts of Alexandria and Arlington, South County/Lorton and Robinson pyramid are probably the most similar in that regard and are places where you will find that type of community and support for your kids.

I do not think that a lot of those other areas mentioned are. One, places like McLean are really out of the budget for most military families so they just do not move there. Two, commute to the Pentagon is really easy from places like WS or Burke and there is an established community plus good schools so those areas are just a smarter choice for those military with kids who want to live in VA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're moving to the NOVA area. My SO will be at the Pentagon and doesn't want to drive an hour each way, every day. She'll probably be very unhappy if it is much more than 30 minutes each way. Our kids are bright, but not all of them are hard workers. They have moved a lot. I'm not sure the massive high schools are the best fit. Any recommendations for smaller high schools where the environment is not too stressful, yet still challenging enough to get into a decent university? One kid in particular gets anxious when the work piles on, despite usually making all As. It's also important that it's a school where the average hard working athlete can make the basketball and baseball teams? Does this place exist? Budget is about 3000/month for rent, give or take.

For 3k/month rent, you can rent a home in either Mclean or Langley district and send your kids to either Langley or Mclean HS. The environment is only as stressful as you want it to be. Most kids from Langley and Mclean (I am a Langley alum) end up from excellence to decent universities. Langley/Mclean is less than 30 minutes from the Pentagon if you use GW parkway.

If your kids are average hard working athletes, they will make the varsity in both basketball and baseball team at either of these schools because the basketball and baseball teams are just outright BAD. Mclean boys was winless last year in boys basketball and Langley didn't much better either. The baseball team in both of these schools are below average.

If you kids want to join crew, tennis or soccer team at these schools, that's different story. They are so competitive because people in the mclean/langley have resources to send their kids to tennis soccer training outside of what the schools provide.