Anonymous
Post 01/24/2024 18:46     Subject: Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
We're in the FCCPS boundaries and my child has mostly non-white friends. I think the stats are deceptive in many of his friends are half white so I assume some identify as white and others don't.

Our townhouse has a walk score of 93. I can walk in less than 10 min to multiple parks, restaurants, bars, FedEx, CVS, 2 Starbucks, Harris Teeter, 2 breweries, 2 barber shops, dry cleaning, kids indoor play spaces and I'm probably forgetting ones! It's an awesome place to live.
Anonymous
Post 01/24/2024 18:36     Subject: Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
Anonymous wrote:To add to the above info, Meridian HS, the school for Falls Church City is the smallest high school in Northern Virginia. So if you want to save some money, the public schools from middle through high school are very small.

The only smaller public school is HB Woodlawn in Arlington (grades 6-12 and about 70 students a grade), but entry is by lottery only, and the waitlist is hundreds of students long.


I live in Arlington so no firsthand experience, but I’ve heard FCC schools referred to as basically a “public private.” But you pay tuition in the form of housing and property taxes. Which is why posters are saying to give the public schools a glance if you’re considering living there, but otherwise don’t pay the premium only to go with Catholic school.

I think a lot of the kids at St. James come from surrounding areas where the public schools aren’t as highly rated as opposed to within FCC but that is totally my anecdotal knowledge. Perhaps someone whose kids attend there could say otherwise.
Anonymous
Post 01/24/2024 18:27     Subject: Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
To add to the above info, Meridian HS, the school for Falls Church City is the smallest high school in Northern Virginia. So if you want to save some money, the public schools from middle through high school are very small.

The only smaller public school is HB Woodlawn in Arlington (grades 6-12 and about 70 students a grade), but entry is by lottery only, and the waitlist is hundreds of students long.
Anonymous
Post 01/24/2024 16:23     Subject: Re:Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I live in Falls Church City and love it. Our small public schools are great and we have a ton of state department and foreign kids, so even though it's small, there's a decent amount of kids moving in and out so new kids don't feel way out of place, IMO.

While the city is 67% white I bet the schools are less so.

I don't know that I would live here without attending the public schools, though. It's expensive - both in terms of taxes and what you pay for housing - due to the excellent public schools. I also think community tends to revolve around the public schools so I think it would be hard to meet people if your kids are in private. If I were sending my kids to private school I wouldn't want to pay the surcharge to live somewhere with excellent public schools.


OP here. Thank you. The main reason I was gearing towards private is the small size. Coming from a very different culture I feel this would be a better environment where they will be given focus by the teachers and sheltered from some problems brought about by a large student population. Looking at Mary Ellen Henderson, it seem to be relatively small compared to other middle schools in the area. Would you say because of this, the school would exhibit some of the traits of a private school in terms of positives brought ab out by small size?


Mary Ellen Henderson was great for my kids. Call the school and ask to talk with someone about the community. Ask to be connected to someone on the PTA. Check out Welcoming Falls Church (http://welcomingfallschurch.org/) - I think that organization is a good testament to the vibe of the current FCC community. Lots of involvement and support from city council and school board leaders, secondary school students, retirees, etc. It's been a great way for me to meet people I didn't know, and I've lived here for 12 years!
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2024 22:02     Subject: Re:Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
Anonymous wrote:I live in Falls Church City and love it. Our small public schools are great and we have a ton of state department and foreign kids, so even though it's small, there's a decent amount of kids moving in and out so new kids don't feel way out of place, IMO.

While the city is 67% white I bet the schools are less so.

I don't know that I would live here without attending the public schools, though. It's expensive - both in terms of taxes and what you pay for housing - due to the excellent public schools. I also think community tends to revolve around the public schools so I think it would be hard to meet people if your kids are in private. If I were sending my kids to private school I wouldn't want to pay the surcharge to live somewhere with excellent public schools.


OP here. Thank you. The main reason I was gearing towards private is the small size. Coming from a very different culture I feel this would be a better environment where they will be given focus by the teachers and sheltered from some problems brought about by a large student population. Looking at Mary Ellen Henderson, it seem to be relatively small compared to other middle schools in the area. Would you say because of this, the school would exhibit some of the traits of a private school in terms of positives brought ab out by small size?
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2024 11:16     Subject: Re:Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
I hate when people hop on a thread and then instead of answering suggest something completely different, but what about Old Town? We live there and most of our neighbors send their kids to parochial or private schools. Very walkable and right off the Mount Vernon trail for easy biking to DC. St. Mary's is right in Old Town but there are many others nearby if the school doesn't have to be walkable (St. Rita's, Blessed Sacrament, St. Louis, and the Arlington parochial schools). Rents would be within your range as well.

The big drawback to Old Town, at least according to DCUM, is the schools, but if you're not planning to use the public schools then it seems to check all of your other boxes.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2024 11:11     Subject: Re:Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I live in Falls Church City and love it. Our small public schools are great and we have a ton of state department and foreign kids, so even though it's small, there's a decent amount of kids moving in and out so new kids don't feel way out of place, IMO.

While the city is 67% white I bet the schools are less so.

I don't know that I would live here without attending the public schools, though. It's expensive - both in terms of taxes and what you pay for housing - due to the excellent public schools. I also think community tends to revolve around the public schools so I think it would be hard to meet people if your kids are in private. If I were sending my kids to private school I wouldn't want to pay the surcharge to live somewhere with excellent public schools.


That's a narrow perspective. The nicest places in both DC and the suburbs have "good schools" but also high percentages of families sending their kids to privates. People pay a premium for more than the public schools.

Not that the FCCPS schools are any better than schools in nearby parts of Arlington and Fairfax...

I'll add that Arlington and Bethesda also have lots of State Dept, World Bank, and other international families, so it's not specific to FCC
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2024 11:02     Subject: Re:Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
Anonymous wrote:I live in Falls Church City and love it. Our small public schools are great and we have a ton of state department and foreign kids, so even though it's small, there's a decent amount of kids moving in and out so new kids don't feel way out of place, IMO.

While the city is 67% white I bet the schools are less so.

I don't know that I would live here without attending the public schools, though. It's expensive - both in terms of taxes and what you pay for housing - due to the excellent public schools. I also think community tends to revolve around the public schools so I think it would be hard to meet people if your kids are in private. If I were sending my kids to private school I wouldn't want to pay the surcharge to live somewhere with excellent public schools.


That's a narrow perspective. The nicest places in both DC and the suburbs have "good schools" but also high percentages of families sending their kids to privates. People pay a premium for more than the public schools.

Not that the FCCPS schools are any better than schools in nearby parts of Arlington and Fairfax...
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2024 10:30     Subject: Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
Anonymous wrote:You can rent in Bluemont or Dominion Hills and send your kids to St Ann’s or rent in Cherrydale or Waverly Hills and send your kids to St Agnes. All neighborhoods are fairly central to Arlington - close to the metro for you and kids can hang out in Ballston or Westover.

This is the answer for Arlington. Nice, walkable neighborhoods. Close to the metro. Close to activities. I'd choose either of these options over FCC, which is farther out, has less metro access and more traffic.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2024 08:46     Subject: Re:Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
I live in Falls Church City and love it. Our small public schools are great and we have a ton of state department and foreign kids, so even though it's small, there's a decent amount of kids moving in and out so new kids don't feel way out of place, IMO.

While the city is 67% white I bet the schools are less so.

I don't know that I would live here without attending the public schools, though. It's expensive - both in terms of taxes and what you pay for housing - due to the excellent public schools. I also think community tends to revolve around the public schools so I think it would be hard to meet people if your kids are in private. If I were sending my kids to private school I wouldn't want to pay the surcharge to live somewhere with excellent public schools.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2024 07:24     Subject: Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
Falls Church City has a nice farmers market, a tiny public school system that is largely segregated by design, and a small number of Catholics. If that appeals to you, go for it. Otherwise there are areas in both Bethesda and Arlington that would likely be more appealing.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2024 06:52     Subject: Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
I agree with checking out Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School. Do note for some parochial schools, the majority of a graduating class in any given year may go to the local public high school. For various reasons, including convenience, loyalty to the neighborhood public high school, distance to a Catholic HS, friends, sports, academic programs, etc.

If you’re not okay with that, you may want a parochial school where the majority go to the local Catholic high schools.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2024 05:33     Subject: Re:Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
Anonymous wrote:I would reconsider downtown Bethesda. Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School seems like a nice place (we see the kids when dropping our kids off at BCC high school). We also know families happy at Little Flower and St. John's for high school.


+1. That’s a much better option.
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2024 00:57     Subject: Re:Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
Anonymous wrote:

Also, many people are serious bikers and commute to work in DC by bike.


I was hoping to be able to do this too at least 1-2x a week, but according to google it will take 50 mins and 9.2 miles one way via the Crescent Trail from Downtown Bethesda. How many days a year can I do this without needing a shower when I get to work?
Anonymous
Post 01/23/2024 00:54     Subject: Re:Am I understanding Falls Church City right?
Anonymous wrote:I would reconsider downtown Bethesda. Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School seems like a nice place (we see the kids when dropping our kids off at BCC high school). We also know families happy at Little Flower and St. John's for high school.


OP here. Thank you. I was (is) considering Our Lady of Lourdes but the feedback from DCUM is kind of a letdown. I know I should take it with a grain of salt, but don't know how much salt I should apply. Also looking at Little Flower. Would you say I can get a house that is fairly walkable to it and bikeable to Bethesda downtown or to run errands?

Is this a different St. Johns than the one in DC? Couldn't find it.