Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 11:48     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is your budget and where do you need to commute? We live in the Woodson pyramid (between little River and braddock) and there are houses in the 500k range that are close to major roads to DC.


600K max and we want a single family home. I work in Old Town and DH works across the river in Maryland. We don't want to live in PG county, so we are looking for places along the beltway. Hence the Edison, West Potomac, Hayfield, Annadale, Falls Church questions.

We are renting right now and have considered the West of the beltway neighborhoods, but in terms of getting on the beltway, we can't go too far west before running into serious commute issues.


For 600K i would look at marshall high pyramid. If you only have 400k i would look at the above options you listed.


SFHs in Marshall HS district for $600K are crap.


Really these look ok to me, comparable to the homes in the above areas but with usable schools.

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Falls-Church/2006-Dexter-Dr-22043/home/9470876
https://www.redfin.com/VA/Vienna/2649-Bowling-Green-Dr-22180/home/9540791
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 10:58     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
OP, we're looking in that price range too. You can get a SFH in the Woodson or Lake Braddock pyramids for <$600K. It might need a little work but that budget is definitely doable.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 10:30     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is your budget and where do you need to commute? We live in the Woodson pyramid (between little River and braddock) and there are houses in the 500k range that are close to major roads to DC.


600K max and we want a single family home. I work in Old Town and DH works across the river in Maryland. We don't want to live in PG county, so we are looking for places along the beltway. Hence the Edison, West Potomac, Hayfield, Annadale, Falls Church questions.

We are renting right now and have considered the West of the beltway neighborhoods, but in terms of getting on the beltway, we can't go too far west before running into serious commute issues.


I think a great choice would be the Wilton Woods neighborhood that feeds into Clermont/Twain/Edison. There are some nice houses in your price range and it puts you near Alexandria and the Beltway.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 10:17     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
I wonder if you could find anything zoned for Edison/Hayfield? I live in that area but in a TH. The elementaries that feed to Hayfield in the Kingstowne area are very good, it's only the ones in Lorton that are kind of iffy but you wouldn't want to live out that far anyway probably.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 10:17     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is your budget and where do you need to commute? We live in the Woodson pyramid (between little River and braddock) and there are houses in the 500k range that are close to major roads to DC.


600K max and we want a single family home. I work in Old Town and DH works across the river in Maryland. We don't want to live in PG county, so we are looking for places along the beltway. Hence the Edison, West Potomac, Hayfield, Annadale, Falls Church questions.

We are renting right now and have considered the West of the beltway neighborhoods, but in terms of getting on the beltway, we can't go too far west before running into serious commute issues.


For 600K i would look at marshall high pyramid. If you only have 400k i would look at the above options you listed.


SFHs in Marshall HS district for $600K are crap.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 10:15     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is your budget and where do you need to commute? We live in the Woodson pyramid (between little River and braddock) and there are houses in the 500k range that are close to major roads to DC.


600K max and we want a single family home. I work in Old Town and DH works across the river in Maryland. We don't want to live in PG county, so we are looking for places along the beltway. Hence the Edison, West Potomac, Hayfield, Annadale, Falls Church questions.

We are renting right now and have considered the West of the beltway neighborhoods, but in terms of getting on the beltway, we can't go too far west before running into serious commute issues.


Ravensworth or Wakefield Chapel neighborhoods are in your price range and right near Braddock road and the beltway. I think they feed into Lake Braddock HS.


Ravensworth is definitely Lake Braddock. I think Wakefield Chapel is Woodson.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 10:08     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is your budget and where do you need to commute? We live in the Woodson pyramid (between little River and braddock) and there are houses in the 500k range that are close to major roads to DC.


600K max and we want a single family home. I work in Old Town and DH works across the river in Maryland. We don't want to live in PG county, so we are looking for places along the beltway. Hence the Edison, West Potomac, Hayfield, Annadale, Falls Church questions.

We are renting right now and have considered the West of the beltway neighborhoods, but in terms of getting on the beltway, we can't go too far west before running into serious commute issues.


We live off the GW parkway 3 miles south of Old Town and love it here. I don't know about the schools, though, as my child goes to St. Mary's in Old Town but I've heard great things about Waynewood ES. Our summer sitter was accepted into UVA from West Potomac, and that particular year, there were quite a few graduates who were accepted to UVA and William and Mary. I absolutely love our neighborhood and neighbors and not to mention, beautiful!
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 10:07     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is your budget and where do you need to commute? We live in the Woodson pyramid (between little River and braddock) and there are houses in the 500k range that are close to major roads to DC.


600K max and we want a single family home. I work in Old Town and DH works across the river in Maryland. We don't want to live in PG county, so we are looking for places along the beltway. Hence the Edison, West Potomac, Hayfield, Annadale, Falls Church questions.

We are renting right now and have considered the West of the beltway neighborhoods, but in terms of getting on the beltway, we can't go too far west before running into serious commute issues.


For 600K i would look at marshall high pyramid. If you only have 400k i would look at the above options you listed.


OP here. It's too far north. We actually drew a line at the Falls Church pyramid for as far north as we could go without making the commute too long.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 09:59     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is your budget and where do you need to commute? We live in the Woodson pyramid (between little River and braddock) and there are houses in the 500k range that are close to major roads to DC.


600K max and we want a single family home. I work in Old Town and DH works across the river in Maryland. We don't want to live in PG county, so we are looking for places along the beltway. Hence the Edison, West Potomac, Hayfield, Annadale, Falls Church questions.

We are renting right now and have considered the West of the beltway neighborhoods, but in terms of getting on the beltway, we can't go too far west before running into serious commute issues.


For 600K i would look at marshall high pyramid. If you only have 400k i would look at the above options you listed.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 09:58     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is your budget and where do you need to commute? We live in the Woodson pyramid (between little River and braddock) and there are houses in the 500k range that are close to major roads to DC.


600K max and we want a single family home. I work in Old Town and DH works across the river in Maryland. We don't want to live in PG county, so we are looking for places along the beltway. Hence the Edison, West Potomac, Hayfield, Annadale, Falls Church questions.

We are renting right now and have considered the West of the beltway neighborhoods, but in terms of getting on the beltway, we can't go too far west before running into serious commute issues.


Ravensworth or Wakefield Chapel neighborhoods are in your price range and right near Braddock road and the beltway. I think they feed into Lake Braddock HS.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 09:57     Subject: Re:Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:We're also in the Pine Spring - Luther Jackson - Falls Church pyramid. Love Pine Spring so far, the administration is very involved and the teachers DD has had have been great. I've heard good things about Luther Jackson, and as a graduate of FCHS I'm looking forward to sending DD there when it is time. I realize this was a while ago, but my experience at FCHS was that although it was very diverse, there was still plenty of challenge in the GT/AP classes, with a wide variety of options. I was very active in theater, band, chorus, and several sports, which was easy to do because of the size of the school. I do think the real key lies with the administration and teachers at the school, though, and that of course is something that is always subject to change. But I would advise against worrying too much about the quality of the schools based on low SES or high ESL populations. In my experience, you actually get a lot of good stuff from going to a diverse school and it far outweighs the bad. Keep in mind this is Fairfax County and even though some schools within the county might be "better" or "worse" than others, they are all better than the vast majority of schools in the country.

My only concern about FCHS is the state of the physical building, as it is long overdue for renovation.


I don't understand what you mean by good stuff from diversity.

Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 09:55     Subject: Re:Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:We're also in the Pine Spring - Luther Jackson - Falls Church pyramid. Love Pine Spring so far, the administration is very involved and the teachers DD has had have been great. I've heard good things about Luther Jackson, and as a graduate of FCHS I'm looking forward to sending DD there when it is time. I realize this was a while ago, but my experience at FCHS was that although it was very diverse, there was still plenty of challenge in the GT/AP classes, with a wide variety of options. I was very active in theater, band, chorus, and several sports, which was easy to do because of the size of the school. I do think the real key lies with the administration and teachers at the school, though, and that of course is something that is always subject to change. But I would advise against worrying too much about the quality of the schools based on low SES or high ESL populations. In my experience, you actually get a lot of good stuff from going to a diverse school and it far outweighs the bad. Keep in mind this is Fairfax County and even though some schools within the county might be "better" or "worse" than others, they are all better than the vast majority of schools in the country.

My only concern about FCHS is the state of the physical building, as it is long overdue for renovation.


The renovation of FCHS is supposed to start in 2022 and be completed by 2024. If you currently have a child at Pine Spring, you will probably get the worst of it.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 09:42     Subject: Re:Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
We're also in the Pine Spring - Luther Jackson - Falls Church pyramid. Love Pine Spring so far, the administration is very involved and the teachers DD has had have been great. I've heard good things about Luther Jackson, and as a graduate of FCHS I'm looking forward to sending DD there when it is time. I realize this was a while ago, but my experience at FCHS was that although it was very diverse, there was still plenty of challenge in the GT/AP classes, with a wide variety of options. I was very active in theater, band, chorus, and several sports, which was easy to do because of the size of the school. I do think the real key lies with the administration and teachers at the school, though, and that of course is something that is always subject to change. But I would advise against worrying too much about the quality of the schools based on low SES or high ESL populations. In my experience, you actually get a lot of good stuff from going to a diverse school and it far outweighs the bad. Keep in mind this is Fairfax County and even though some schools within the county might be "better" or "worse" than others, they are all better than the vast majority of schools in the country.

My only concern about FCHS is the state of the physical building, as it is long overdue for renovation.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 09:41     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is your budget and where do you need to commute? We live in the Woodson pyramid (between little River and braddock) and there are houses in the 500k range that are close to major roads to DC.


600K max and we want a single family home. I work in Old Town and DH works across the river in Maryland. We don't want to live in PG county, so we are looking for places along the beltway. Hence the Edison, West Potomac, Hayfield, Annadale, Falls Church questions.

We are renting right now and have considered the West of the beltway neighborhoods, but in terms of getting on the beltway, we can't go too far west before running into serious commute issues.


You should be looking in North Springfield. Easy access to the beltway. Schools are NS elementary or Bren Mar elementary, Poe or Holmes and Edison or Annandale depending on where you are in 22151. Houses are under 500k but they sell within 5 days, sometimes faster, so you have to be on top of it.


Both North Springfield and Bren Mar feed into Holmes, not Poe. That's a good thing, as Holmes is considered the better school.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2016 09:35     Subject: Let's talk about the lower performing schools in FFX
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What is your budget and where do you need to commute? We live in the Woodson pyramid (between little River and braddock) and there are houses in the 500k range that are close to major roads to DC.


600K max and we want a single family home. I work in Old Town and DH works across the river in Maryland. We don't want to live in PG county, so we are looking for places along the beltway. Hence the Edison, West Potomac, Hayfield, Annadale, Falls Church questions.

We are renting right now and have considered the West of the beltway neighborhoods, but in terms of getting on the beltway, we can't go too far west before running into serious commute issues.


You should be looking in North Springfield. Easy access to the beltway. Schools are NS elementary or Bren Mar elementary, Poe or Holmes and Edison or Annandale depending on where you are in 22151. Houses are under 500k but they sell within 5 days, sometimes faster, so you have to be on top of it.