That budget was our budget and unfortunately almost impossible now in Mantua, or hardly anything in Woodson for a SFH. Last 2 months increased prices around here by 100k or more
We're in Kings Park West and love it. Laurel Ridge is absolutely fantastic, and most anything in Robinson HS pyramid or Lake Braddock or W Springfield. I haven't heard of a single bad elementary around these.
I'd broaden the search to include those. Anything in 22032, 22015, 22152, parts of 22153, and parts of Fairfax Station. Even those are hard this spring at your price point
Listing prices don't mean a thing right now. Look at sold prices in the last month. Good luck!

Mantua Elementary has a strong PTA and good school community. Your pyramid is Frost and Woodson - both strong schools. They are re-doing Frost now and renovation should be complete in 1 year or two. The neighborhood has the cross-country trail running through it, a good pool club/swim team. You're 10-12 minutes to the Vienna metro and about 10 minutes to Mosaic. It's about a 7 minute drive to 495. It's very common to see people out walking or biking in the neighborhood, chatting, etc. It's a big neighborhood, but definitely has a strong community vibe. The neighborhood FB page is actually fairly active and helps keep the neighborhood connected. We lived in another part of Fairfax for 10 years and barely knew our neighbors. Here people stop to chat and/or help each other out.

Anonymous wrote:OP if you are looking at AAP for your younger kids, there is something to be said for buying in the less competitive Woodson pyramid schools (Olde Creek, Little Run, and even part of area zoned for Fairfax Villa ES).

FCPS this year moved to a new AAP approach where it is easier to get in from schools with fewer top performers. Kids now compete with classmates at their own schools for AAP slots, rather than across the district or their high school pyramid. Standards vary based on your base elementary school.

People absolutely rave about the Rutherford community, which is zoned for Little Run. Lots of fun social activities and far more affordable than Mantua for a SFH.

Not quite accurate. FCPS moved to a system where the in-pool test scores are set by the top 10% at each school. The number is going to be different based on the top 10% at each school, which does vary normally for a variety of reasons. Center schools are likely to have higher test scores, because families that are interested in AAP move to the Center School so their kid won't have to change schools.

Mind you, this is only for the kids who are deemed to be in-pool. Any parent can refer their child for AAP so if you want your kid to be considered, they will be considered. Most of the kids in AAP, even before the in-pool change that occurred this year, were parent referred. The parent referral numbers have always been quite a bit larger then the in-pool numbers.

OP if you are looking at AAP for your younger kids, there is something to be said for buying in the less competitive Woodson pyramid schools (Olde Creek, Little Run, and even part of area zoned for Fairfax Villa ES).

FCPS this year moved to a new AAP approach where it is easier to get in from schools with fewer top performers. Kids now compete with classmates at their own schools for AAP slots, rather than across the district or their high school pyramid. Standards vary based on your base elementary school.

People absolutely rave about the Rutherford community, which is zoned for Little Run. Lots of fun social activities and far more affordable than Mantua for a SFH.

OP here, thank you so much everyone, we will do some additional research into these areas and schools (it's mid-February, I already feel like we've missed the boat on house hunting, it's crazy)! I really appreciate everyone's input!

DP- we did not have a good experience at Olde Creek and it was worse for our SNs kid. It is really a mixed bag of teachers and if there is any reading issues- run far away from this school. We got to switch to another school in the pyramid and it has been so different and so much better.

Moved to Mantua from Olde Creeke. Love love love Mantua for the large community (all 4 of my kids have found their niche and everyone has been so welcoming since we moved in 4 years ago). It’s not that we didn’t like Olde Creek but it never felt much like a community for us. Mantua just had more to offer for us. Our kids are in AAP BUT we know and are friends with plenty of non-AAP kid families.

Only caveat is there are no sidewalks in a lot of the community. That is biggest negative I see - otherwise, hands down it is the best neighborhood we’ve lived in and don’t plan to move.

I second what an above poster said— look at Kings Park West and other neighborhoods that feed into Laurel Ridge and Oak View. It is just across Braddock from the Woodson schools (we are zoned Robinson but in our KPW adjacent neighborhood, we are actually closer to Woodson)! You could also find schools in regular Kings Park that feed into Kings Park/Kings Glen/Lake Braddock…I know lots of people happy with that neighborhood as well and it would be in your budget.