Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 14:12     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes I know that list, George Mason is in Falls Church City and it's the #1 non test in public HS according to US News (and let's be honest, with a 6% acceptance rate! the likelihood of even the most stem-gifted child getting into TJ is pretty slim!)


As a person who bought the FCPS koolaid years ago I would now only consider buying:
1. City of Falls Church
2. a nook of Mclean tucked in a triangle between Langley and Mclean HS over to the north Arlington border. Nice logical elementary school boundaries. Anywhere else to much weirdness potential. Arlington and City of Falls Church are borders so FCPS can't get too frisky with oddities.
3. North Arlington close to Mclean-doubt they'd bus past Yorktown but politically who knows ?


The grass is always greener...

The City of Falls Church koolaid is much, much stronger. It has to be to get people to agree to pay those taxes and feel like it's "so worth it"

Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 13:41     Subject: Re:moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
As a person who drank the Arlington koolaid several years back, I would buy here again in the second. I was very wary of the giant high schools in this area, but we could not be happier with our DC's experience at W-L, even though it is more than 3 times bigger than the high school I attended.


I drank the Arlington koolaid too and feel the same way about our schools--DC goes to Jamestown. We definitely feel as if we lucked out in terms of location, proximity to DC, commute, schools and neighbors. I think Arlington, in general, has some great schools and the school board seems to be trying to deal with issues like overcrowding by building new ones and keeping class size on the lower side.
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 13:31     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So where are the close in small or moderately sized schools with good reputations in NVA located then? All I see is big ones.


There aren't any. AFAIK, the only general admission public high school in Northern Virginia with fewer than 1000 students is George Mason High in FCC.

Alexandria's only public high school is TC Williams. It has a 9th grade campus with 715 students and a 10-12 campus with 2569 students. In Arlington, Wakefield has 1507, Washington-Lee has 2008, and Yorktown has 1766. And Fairfax County's smallest high school is Falls Church HS with 1458.

Fairfax County High School enrollment (2012-2013)
Annandale 2120
Centerville 2178
Chantilly 2354
Edison 1525
Fairfax 2439
Falls Church 1458
Hayfield 1760 (plus co-located middle school = 2417)
Herndon 1985
Lake Braddock 2381 (plus middle = 3106)
Langley 1845
Lee 1619
Madison 1856
Marshall 1535
McLean 1991
Mt Vernon 1657
Oakton 1995
Robinson 2511 (plus middle = 3408)
South County 1862
South Lakes 2056
Stuart 1621
W Potomac 2035
W Springfield 2082
Westfield 2504
Woodson 2041


These numbers are off, whether for 2012-13 or today.

HS Enrollments as of September 2013 can be found at p. 14 of this report: http://www.fcps.edu/it/studentreporting/documents/EthnicRpt13.pdf


Thanks for posting this link of most recent enrollment. The numbers I posted above are straight off the demographic data pages of each of the high schools, so they must have been accurate at some point during 2012-2013. Regardless, the larger point remains: There are no "small" public general high schools in Fairfax County.


You took the general education numbers without also including students receiving English language and special education services. For example, Madison had 1856 general education students in June 2013, but you get to 1987 students if you add the total number of male and female students listed on the demographics page.

As of April 2014, Falls Church, Lee, Edison and Marshall were the four smallest high schools in the county in terms of enrollment (only schools under 1800 students, and Marshall just barely).
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 13:23     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes I know that list, George Mason is in Falls Church City and it's the #1 non test in public HS according to US News (and let's be honest, with a 6% acceptance rate! the likelihood of even the most stem-gifted child getting into TJ is pretty slim!)


As a person who bought the FCPS koolaid years ago I would now only consider buying:
1. City of Falls Church
2. a nook of Mclean tucked in a triangle between Langley and Mclean HS over to the north Arlington border. Nice logical elementary school boundaries. Anywhere else to much weirdness potential. Arlington and City of Falls Church are borders so FCPS can't get too frisky with oddities.
3. North Arlington close to Mclean-doubt they'd bus past Yorktown but politically who knows ?


As a person who drank the Arlington koolaid several years back, I would buy here again in the second. I was very wary of the giant high schools in this area, but we could not be happier with our DC's experience at W-L, even though it is more than 3 times bigger than the high school I attended.
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 13:09     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes I know that list, George Mason is in Falls Church City and it's the #1 non test in public HS according to US News (and let's be honest, with a 6% acceptance rate! the likelihood of even the most stem-gifted child getting into TJ is pretty slim!)


As a person who bought the FCPS koolaid years ago I would now only consider buying:
1. City of Falls Church
2. a nook of Mclean tucked in a triangle between Langley and Mclean HS over to the north Arlington border. Nice logical elementary school boundaries. Anywhere else to much weirdness potential. Arlington and City of Falls Church are borders so FCPS can't get too frisky with oddities.
3. North Arlington close to Mclean-doubt they'd bus past Yorktown but politically who knows ?


We are looking at $1.2. Not finding much in Langley. But for us, spending $1.2 for a small house from the 1970s. No.
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 13:07     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So where are the close in small or moderately sized schools with good reputations in NVA located then? All I see is big ones.


There aren't any. AFAIK, the only general admission public high school in Northern Virginia with fewer than 1000 students is George Mason High in FCC.

Alexandria's only public high school is TC Williams. It has a 9th grade campus with 715 students and a 10-12 campus with 2569 students. In Arlington, Wakefield has 1507, Washington-Lee has 2008, and Yorktown has 1766. And Fairfax County's smallest high school is Falls Church HS with 1458.

Fairfax County High School enrollment (2012-2013)
Annandale 2120
Centerville 2178
Chantilly 2354
Edison 1525
Fairfax 2439
Falls Church 1458
Hayfield 1760 (plus co-located middle school = 2417)
Herndon 1985
Lake Braddock 2381 (plus middle = 3106)
Langley 1845
Lee 1619
Madison 1856
Marshall 1535
McLean 1991
Mt Vernon 1657
Oakton 1995
Robinson 2511 (plus middle = 3408)
South County 1862
South Lakes 2056
Stuart 1621
W Potomac 2035
W Springfield 2082
Westfield 2504
Woodson 2041


These numbers are off, whether for 2012-13 or today.

HS Enrollments as of September 2013 can be found at p. 14 of this report: http://www.fcps.edu/it/studentreporting/documents/EthnicRpt13.pdf


Thanks for posting this link of most recent enrollment. The numbers I posted above are straight off the demographic data pages of each of the high schools, so they must have been accurate at some point during 2012-2013. Regardless, the larger point remains: There are no "small" public general high schools in Fairfax County.
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 13:06     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:FCC: High taxes, overcrowded schools, no room to build bigger schools due to small city size, city council that keeps allowing development but won't fund the schools to keep up, teachers fleeing for higher-paying jobs in Arlington, laughable GT "services," you'll pay $800K for what DCUM calls a shitshack and be considered a "poor", only two kids accepted at TJ per year and really just a handful get into UVA due to school demographics.

- A resident


I can testify to this. Gone are the days of our Mayberry.


You can find a small, older home, but close in $800 does not get you very much. Maybe in a TH.
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 12:53     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So where are the close in small or moderately sized schools with good reputations in NVA located then? All I see is big ones.


There aren't any. AFAIK, the only general admission public high school in Northern Virginia with fewer than 1000 students is George Mason High in FCC.

Alexandria's only public high school is TC Williams. It has a 9th grade campus with 715 students and a 10-12 campus with 2569 students. In Arlington, Wakefield has 1507, Washington-Lee has 2008, and Yorktown has 1766. And Fairfax County's smallest high school is Falls Church HS with 1458.

Fairfax County High School enrollment (2012-2013)
Annandale 2120
Centerville 2178
Chantilly 2354
Edison 1525
Fairfax 2439
Falls Church 1458
Hayfield 1760 (plus co-located middle school = 2417)
Herndon 1985
Lake Braddock 2381 (plus middle = 3106)
Langley 1845
Lee 1619
Madison 1856
Marshall 1535
McLean 1991
Mt Vernon 1657
Oakton 1995
Robinson 2511 (plus middle = 3408)
South County 1862
South Lakes 2056
Stuart 1621
W Potomac 2035
W Springfield 2082
Westfield 2504
Woodson 2041


These numbers are off, whether for 2012-13 or today.

HS Enrollments as of September 2013 can be found at p. 14 of this report: http://www.fcps.edu/it/studentreporting/documents/EthnicRpt13.pdf
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 12:48     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So where are the close in small or moderately sized schools with good reputations in NVA located then? All I see is big ones.


1980


Ha, yes. This. Small schools in NoVA are a thing of the past.
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 12:46     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Anonymous wrote:So where are the close in small or moderately sized schools with good reputations in NVA located then? All I see is big ones.


There aren't any. AFAIK, the only general admission public high school in Northern Virginia with fewer than 1000 students is George Mason High in FCC.

Alexandria's only public high school is TC Williams. It has a 9th grade campus with 715 students and a 10-12 campus with 2569 students. In Arlington, Wakefield has 1507, Washington-Lee has 2008, and Yorktown has 1766. And Fairfax County's smallest high school is Falls Church HS with 1458.

Fairfax County High School enrollment (2012-2013)
Annandale 2120
Centerville 2178
Chantilly 2354
Edison 1525
Fairfax 2439
Falls Church 1458
Hayfield 1760 (plus co-located middle school = 2417)
Herndon 1985
Lake Braddock 2381 (plus middle = 3106)
Langley 1845
Lee 1619
Madison 1856
Marshall 1535
McLean 1991
Mt Vernon 1657
Oakton 1995
Robinson 2511 (plus middle = 3408)
South County 1862
South Lakes 2056
Stuart 1621
W Potomac 2035
W Springfield 2082
Westfield 2504
Woodson 2041
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 12:12     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Anonymous wrote:Yes I know that list, George Mason is in Falls Church City and it's the #1 non test in public HS according to US News (and let's be honest, with a 6% acceptance rate! the likelihood of even the most stem-gifted child getting into TJ is pretty slim!)


As a person who bought the FCPS koolaid years ago I would now only consider buying:
1. City of Falls Church
2. a nook of Mclean tucked in a triangle between Langley and Mclean HS over to the north Arlington border. Nice logical elementary school boundaries. Anywhere else to much weirdness potential. Arlington and City of Falls Church are borders so FCPS can't get too frisky with oddities.
3. North Arlington close to Mclean-doubt they'd bus past Yorktown but politically who knows ?
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 09:30     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
What defines "small" school? That is also a a lot of house for not much money. You aren't going to find 4 bedrooms and 2000 feet for under 800K in Arlington. (or are you open to townhouse - I think you said house - not home)

For that price/size you really are looking at FCPS. West Springfield and South County aren't too large, since they both are High Schools and Middle Schools - not a single Secondary School.
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 09:25     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Westbriar used to be one. Then it got AAP and Tysons.
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 09:21     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
Anonymous wrote:So where are the close in small or moderately sized schools with good reputations in NVA located then? All I see is big ones.


1980
Anonymous
Post 05/14/2014 09:20     Subject: moving to VA for the schools-where would you go?
So where are the close in small or moderately sized schools with good reputations in NVA located then? All I see is big ones.