Another option would be to buy in a neighborhood with one of the better S Arlington schools. I hear good things about Abingdon and Oakridge, for example.

Anonymous wrote:Why not just buy in lower McLean and send your kids to FCPS? Schools there are good and you're practically in Arlington.

What area is "lower McLean"? How would I find homes in that area? Is there a specific pyramid I could search on Redfin? What is the lower range for SFH's there?

Why not just buy in lower McLean and send your kids to FCPS? Schools there are good and you're practically in Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we're West End. We were at two different privates (the second, very well known), and were disappointed by literally everything from academics (this region simply does not have tremendous private schools) to plain ol' nastiness. We enrolled DC in an ACPS public, and we were astounded. It was terrific. We've stayed in ACPS and DC is now at TC. Doing ACPS without support isn't something we'd recommend, but if your DC is capable and doesn't need a great deal of academic support in order to perform well, consider your ACPS options.

That's interesting. Can you elaborate?

This is 20:59. We were astounded to learn that all but two of the NOVA privates actually use the regular VA state curriculum as their own, but don't even comprehensively test on it. One school was a "progressive" program -- in math, the kids in an early year were taught only addition and multiplication, because the teacher thought subtraction and especially division were just too hard (said they would "pick that up"). Essentially all projects were group projects, so we saw middle-schoolers struggling with very-first-time individual tests and reports. The school was really a recreational project for stay-at-home parents; essentially, their version of a private club. The stay-at-home parents used to just show up in classrooms and "help," meaning actually yeah and try to critique students. Valueless and quite invasive.

Anonymous wrote:OP, we're West End. We were at two different privates (the second, very well known), and were disappointed by literally everything from academics (this region simply does not have tremendous private schools) to plain ol' nastiness. We enrolled DC in an ACPS public, and we were astounded. It was terrific. We've stayed in ACPS and DC is now at TC. Doing ACPS without support isn't something we'd recommend, but if your DC is capable and doesn't need a great deal of academic support in order to perform well, consider your ACPS options.

That's interesting. Can you elaborate?

OP, we're West End. We were at two different privates (the second, very well known), and were disappointed by literally everything from academics (this region simply does not have tremendous private schools) to plain ol' nastiness. We enrolled DC in an ACPS public, and we were astounded. It was terrific. We've stayed in ACPS and DC is now at TC. Doing ACPS without support isn't something we'd recommend, but if your DC is capable and doesn't need a great deal of academic support in order to perform well, consider your ACPS options.

Don't forget OP. You must pay attention to the housing market & interest rates. Saying this because I used to live the eastern part of FFX - when we decided to move for better schools, the market tanked (in 2006-08). It was awful. Our house depreciated fast and we had to sit & wait for several years before we were able to get out.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am in a school in South Arlington that is a 5 on GS. I never even consulted great school. I picked our current school by word of mouth and by visiting the school.

Op here, and we're much lower than a 5! The schools in our pyramid are 2-3. Our ES is a 3, middle and high are both 2.

You have plenty of time until around third grade to move. Take some time and save up. You could buy something in North Arlington or Lower McLean, both of which have good schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, the confirmation bias commenter makes one of the best points I've ever read on DCUM.

In response to the original question, I would just offer this: You have time if your kids aren't even in school yet. Kindergarten is Kindergarten and the difference between and ACPS school and most others is going to be pretty small in the early grades.

Also, the hair-splitting about the quality of schools in Alexandria City (our previous home) and Alexandria/Fairfax County (where we now live) needs to be viewed with some perspective. You can get an excellent education in either system. The Fairfax County schools, as a whole, are excellent, though the east part of the county is much more diverse, with more low-income/free lunch/English language learner students. That's just a fact of living in the more urbanized eastern section of the county, which I personally prefer for lots of reason.

I've had kids in both the Alexandria and Fairfax systems and in private school as well, and it comes down to this: You pick the schools that are right for your kids.

When I moved to Ffx county, it was with an eye toward better schools over the years. Well, then I decided private school was going to be the better fit for my oldest, who went private from 3rd to 8th grade. We could have waited, in other words. My middle child has done great in public schools all through the years and is thriving at Mark Twain, and my oldest is now at Edison for HS. But my youngest is still in private school in 4th grade because it is what's right for him. He will move to Twain in 7th grade in all likelihood.

I guess the bottom line from me would be: Don't panic. Don't rush. If you like where you live, give the early years a try at your local school, because you might be pleasantly surprised.

And keep that confirmation bias thing in mind, while also screening out snarky comments about seeking advice online. There is nothing wrong with asking questions here, and nobody with a brain thinks you want strangers you talk to online to make your decisions for you. That's just the trolls talking.

I think that might be your own confirmation bias showing.

You're confirming your own bias that pp is committing confirmation bias.

There does seem to be a particular species of ACPS booster who, never having experienced anything else, still declares their happiness with their decision to remain. It's far more interesting to hear from people who experienced multiple systems.

Anonymous wrote:Actually, the confirmation bias commenter makes one of the best points I've ever read on DCUM.

In response to the original question, I would just offer this: You have time if your kids aren't even in school yet. Kindergarten is Kindergarten and the difference between and ACPS school and most others is going to be pretty small in the early grades.

Also, the hair-splitting about the quality of schools in Alexandria City (our previous home) and Alexandria/Fairfax County (where we now live) needs to be viewed with some perspective. You can get an excellent education in either system. The Fairfax County schools, as a whole, are excellent, though the east part of the county is much more diverse, with more low-income/free lunch/English language learner students. That's just a fact of living in the more urbanized eastern section of the county, which I personally prefer for lots of reason.

I've had kids in both the Alexandria and Fairfax systems and in private school as well, and it comes down to this: You pick the schools that are right for your kids.

When I moved to Ffx county, it was with an eye toward better schools over the years. Well, then I decided private school was going to be the better fit for my oldest, who went private from 3rd to 8th grade. We could have waited, in other words. My middle child has done great in public schools all through the years and is thriving at Mark Twain, and my oldest is now at Edison for HS. But my youngest is still in private school in 4th grade because it is what's right for him. He will move to Twain in 7th grade in all likelihood.

I guess the bottom line from me would be: Don't panic. Don't rush. If you like where you live, give the early years a try at your local school, because you might be pleasantly surprised.

And keep that confirmation bias thing in mind, while also screening out snarky comments about seeking advice online. There is nothing wrong with asking questions here, and nobody with a brain thinks you want strangers you talk to online to make your decisions for you. That's just the trolls talking.

I think that might be your own confirmation bias showing.

Actually, the confirmation bias commenter makes one of the best points I've ever read on DCUM.

In response to the original question, I would just offer this: You have time if your kids aren't even in school yet. Kindergarten is Kindergarten and the difference between and ACPS school and most others is going to be pretty small in the early grades.

Also, the hair-splitting about the quality of schools in Alexandria City (our previous home) and Alexandria/Fairfax County (where we now live) needs to be viewed with some perspective. You can get an excellent education in either system. The Fairfax County schools, as a whole, are excellent, though the east part of the county is much more diverse, with more low-income/free lunch/English language learner students. That's just a fact of living in the more urbanized eastern section of the county, which I personally prefer for lots of reason.

I've had kids in both the Alexandria and Fairfax systems and in private school as well, and it comes down to this: You pick the schools that are right for your kids.

When I moved to Ffx county, it was with an eye toward better schools over the years. Well, then I decided private school was going to be the better fit for my oldest, who went private from 3rd to 8th grade. We could have waited, in other words. My middle child has done great in public schools all through the years and is thriving at Mark Twain, and my oldest is now at Edison for HS. But my youngest is still in private school in 4th grade because it is what's right for him. He will move to Twain in 7th grade in all likelihood.

I guess the bottom line from me would be: Don't panic. Don't rush. If you like where you live, give the early years a try at your local school, because you might be pleasantly surprised.

And keep that confirmation bias thing in mind, while also screening out snarky comments about seeking advice online. There is nothing wrong with asking questions here, and nobody with a brain thinks you want strangers you talk to online to make your decisions for you. That's just the trolls talking.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, the people who tough it out in ACPS and profess happiness about their decision to stay have some confirmation bias and have never experienced anything else.

We were you, OP. Moved to Arlington in second graded for the same reasons (although we were in an East End school). It was absolutely shocking how much better the schools are, up and down the line in terms of programming, classroom environment, amenities, etc.

That's the thing, everyone whos happy has confirmation bias. Those who stay and are happy, confirmation bias. Those who go and are happy, confirmation bias. We don't have magical machines that allow people to do one path, rewind, then take the other path and therefore have full information to compare which was "better", factoring in all of the variables. I'm glad you're happy with your choice, PP, but that doesn't mean that someone who made the opposite choice is wrong or wouldn't be happy too.

Except the PP in this scenario DID experience ACPS and then another school system. She can fairly compare the two school systems. So your point doesn't completely make sense to me. No, she can't compare the experience of 2nd grade in both places, 3rd grade at both, etc. simultaneously. But discounting her point of view entirely doesn't really make sense either.

FYI - the City is putting up a large building of affordable housing in the coming months in the West End nearly the Seminary town homes over near Beauregard.