Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sangster is actually very laid back. What you mentioned is not an accurate assessment of the schools or the families. It is a really cool school with a great personality. The families are just involved enough: very few parents causing drama or living through their kids, and there is never a shortage of volunteers, tons of activities, and lots of kind and fun families who look out for each other. They have a very active military spouses groups that supports the PTA, sponsors events like the veterans day ceremony, and does outreach by briniging in wounded warriors to school events like field day and providing meals and support for deployed families.

The families are great...typical of most of the neighborhokds in the area.

Our daughter went through Sangster and we loved it. She is a high school senior now but when she was at Sangster it was in no way laid back. Lots of very involved, Type A, well educated parents both working professionals and stay at home parents. Fantastic staff, PTA, and families but Hunt Valley, Orange Hunt, and Cherry Run were definitely more laid back.

Anonymous wrote:Sangster is actually very laid back. What you mentioned is not an accurate assessment of the schools or the families. It is a really cool school with a great personality. The families are just involved enough: very few parents causing drama or living through their kids, and there is never a shortage of volunteers, tons of activities, and lots of kind and fun families who look out for each other. They have a very active military spouses groups that supports the PTA, sponsors events like the veterans day ceremony, and does outreach by briniging in wounded warriors to school events like field day and providing meals and support for deployed families.

The families are great...typical of most of the neighborhokds in the area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burke is very family friendly but not walkable. Vienna is more walkable and the commute to work in Burke would be easy. however, there are long waiting lists to join the pools in Vienna.

Define: "easy commute." I can't imagine getting from Vienna to Burke in less than twenty minutes, but perhaps you know of a transportation method or driving route that I haven't discovered yet.

20 minute commute in the DC area would be considered an easy commute.

Pickett or Prosperity would get you from Vienna to Burke probably in 30-45 minutes in rush hour.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burke would be a great fit. I live right on the border west Springfield/Burke, and there are always lots of dads at the bus stop in the afternoon. Maybe they all flex, but there are definitely involved father's around. Our pool is welcoming and accepting new members, kids ride their bikes around the streets (no through traffic in our neighborhood, it's a closed loop), and a nice mix of families and retirees.

Houses are in the $5-600s though, so you may be underwhelmed.

OP here. Thank you (and many others) for your helpful contributions of information. My wife and I do like some of the $5-600K Split levels and other 70s era home models. We are especially attracted to smaller homes that are built with quality materials (brick, copper pipes, hardwood, etc.) in neighborhoods such as Kings Park. Part of our challenge in selecting a modest home/neighborhood significantly below our budget is that my wife went to straight ivy leagues through Medical School and Residency, and she doesn't want to be too embarassed when we invite her wealthier friends over for a visit. At the same time, she is a West Springfield Elementary graduate and I went to JMU. Is your pool Fox Hunt or Orange Hunt?

Adding the names of specific elementary schools and swim clubs to these posts is more useful than recommending all of Burke and West Springfield. From Great Schools' reviews, Bonnie Brae appears to be having conflicts between two different demographic groups, whereas Sangster might be too "competing with the Jones" and materialistic for our tastes. Being around a high percentage of other Moms and Dads, regardless of employment status, who commit lots of time towards thoughtfully raising their children is what's most important to us in selecting our final home.

Why are you down on either of these? If her friends would become judgmental about your home than I don't see how they wouldn't be judgmental about her husband staying home while she works. Seems like something that judgmental people could really be snotty about.

OP here, again. I want to publicly apologize for sounding so critical of two of the schools we are actually seriously considering. As I have not ever visited these schools, I understand that my initial impressions could likely be completely wrong. Online review pages tend to attract people with the worst experiences, so I'm certain I've gotten somewhat skewed advice at Great Schools.com. That's why it's been informative to hear new perspectives, here. Thank you, and others.

As for the valid inquiry as to how our friends re-act to our career choices, so far I've been a part-time Ph.D. student while caring for our kids, so most of her friends tend to think of me as an equal, even though I spend a lot more time child-raising. For the most part, we can care less what other people think (our current starter home is in a low SES area with murders nearby), but we also don't want to feel that we worked super hard to get where we are financially and then settled for less than what might make us the most happy.

Towards that end, thanks for helping us find our bliss!

How do you know what her friends think? Maybe you are hot and her colleagues will think you are a trophy husband.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burke would be a great fit. I live right on the border west Springfield/Burke, and there are always lots of dads at the bus stop in the afternoon. Maybe they all flex, but there are definitely involved father's around. Our pool is welcoming and accepting new members, kids ride their bikes around the streets (no through traffic in our neighborhood, it's a closed loop), and a nice mix of families and retirees.

Houses are in the $5-600s though, so you may be underwhelmed.

OP here. Thank you (and many others) for your helpful contributions of information. My wife and I do like some of the $5-600K Split levels and other 70s era home models. We are especially attracted to smaller homes that are built with quality materials (brick, copper pipes, hardwood, etc.) in neighborhoods such as Kings Park. Part of our challenge in selecting a modest home/neighborhood significantly below our budget is that my wife went to straight ivy leagues through Medical School and Residency, and she doesn't want to be too embarassed when we invite her wealthier friends over for a visit. At the same time, she is a West Springfield Elementary graduate and I went to JMU. Is your pool Fox Hunt or Orange Hunt?

Adding the names of specific elementary schools and swim clubs to these posts is more useful than recommending all of Burke and West Springfield. From Great Schools' reviews, Bonnie Brae appears to be having conflicts between two different demographic groups, whereas Sangster might be too "competing with the Jones" and materialistic for our tastes. Being around a high percentage of other Moms and Dads, regardless of employment status, who commit lots of time towards thoughtfully raising their children is what's most important to us in selecting our final home.

Why are you down on either of these? If her friends would become judgmental about your home than I don't see how they wouldn't be judgmental about her husband staying home while she works. Seems like something that judgmental people could really be snotty about.

OP here, again. I want to publicly apologize for sounding so critical of two of the schools we are actually seriously considering. As I have not ever visited these schools, I understand that my initial impressions could likely be completely wrong. Online review pages tend to attract people with the worst experiences, so I'm certain I've gotten somewhat skewed advice at Great Schools.com. That's why it's been informative to hear new perspectives, here. Thank you, and others.

As for the valid inquiry as to how our friends re-act to our career choices, so far I've been a part-time Ph.D. student while caring for our kids, so most of her friends tend to think of me as an equal, even though I spend a lot more time child-raising. For the most part, we can care less what other people think (our current starter home is in a low SES area with murders nearby), but we also don't want to feel that we worked super hard to get where we are financially and then settled for less than what might make us the most happy.

Towards that end, thanks for helping us find our bliss!

How do you know what her friends think? Maybe you are hot and her colleagues will think you are a trophy husband.

Anonymous wrote:My dh is a SAHD, and we used to live in Falls Church. He found Falls Church and Arlington much more friendly to SAHD's. We moved out to Herndon for my job, and it is terrible for SAHD's. Very isolating. If we could move, I think Arlington or DC is the best because there are more SAHD's there than further out in the burbs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burke would be a great fit. I live right on the border west Springfield/Burke, and there are always lots of dads at the bus stop in the afternoon. Maybe they all flex, but there are definitely involved father's around. Our pool is welcoming and accepting new members, kids ride their bikes around the streets (no through traffic in our neighborhood, it's a closed loop), and a nice mix of families and retirees.

Houses are in the $5-600s though, so you may be underwhelmed.

OP here. Thank you (and many others) for your helpful contributions of information. My wife and I do like some of the $5-600K Split levels and other 70s era home models. We are especially attracted to smaller homes that are built with quality materials (brick, copper pipes, hardwood, etc.) in neighborhoods such as Kings Park. Part of our challenge in selecting a modest home/neighborhood significantly below our budget is that my wife went to straight ivy leagues through Medical School and Residency, and she doesn't want to be too embarassed when we invite her wealthier friends over for a visit. At the same time, she is a West Springfield Elementary graduate and I went to JMU. Is your pool Fox Hunt or Orange Hunt?

Adding the names of specific elementary schools and swim clubs to these posts is more useful than recommending all of Burke and West Springfield. From Great Schools' reviews, Bonnie Brae appears to be having conflicts between two different demographic groups, whereas Sangster might be too "competing with the Jones" and materialistic for our tastes. Being around a high percentage of other Moms and Dads, regardless of employment status, who commit lots of time towards thoughtfully raising their children is what's most important to us in selecting our final home.

Anonymous wrote:For 7-800K you can into Fairfax Station (some Robinson, some Woodson), but you get more land. Burke Center (large Burke HOA/development) has single family homes in the 5-700K range. They have 4-5 pools that you get with one membership. I've heard the swim team is good (It is at the pool by the Burke VRE so it might be harder to walk to). Burke has a couple of playgroups-divided into north and south. I never did this since I did Rec Center classes and My Gym. All FFX county schools are good and your top 4 are the best. With a 2 yo those top 4 might change by the time you get to HS! Robinson and Lake Braddock have flipped in my 8 years here. I live in Burke (Signal Hill but on edge of Springfield, Annandale). Burke is a sleepy town (no bars, indoor shopping centers, etc) it was designed this way---less traffic besides locals. I am 20 min to EVERYWHERE (not during rush hour obviously). I can be at the National Mall in 20 min in front of the Air and Space, Tyson's, Potomac Mills, Alexandria, etc. My key in location was my PROXIMITY to 495. It can take an additional 20 min to get down Braddock road with traffic. My first summer I went to a different park every week and we never finished. I am still finding new parks 8 yrs later. Tons of trails too. The best park is Clemyjontri in McLean. There is a nature center called Hidden Pond- it would be cool to live by there-probably West Springfield HS. Check out Burke Lake and Lake Accotink- some houses back up here. I have a river in my back yard so it is amazing. My kids spend hours there. There are a few dads in our My Gym class and at preschool drop off, but I do think they are more work from home or flex hours. Check out Middleridge subdivision (probably 6-700K) feeds into Robinson. Also I am an Interior Designer and I've had lawyer two clients in Crosspointe, Lorton, South County HS. I think this HS is really moving up. Some one once told me to look at the cars in the HS parking lot and these kids have nice cars, ha/ha.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burke would be a great fit. I live right on the border west Springfield/Burke, and there are always lots of dads at the bus stop in the afternoon. Maybe they all flex, but there are definitely involved father's around. Our pool is welcoming and accepting new members, kids ride their bikes around the streets (no through traffic in our neighborhood, it's a closed loop), and a nice mix of families and retirees.

Houses are in the $5-600s though, so you may be underwhelmed.

OP here. Thank you (and many others) for your helpful contributions of information. My wife and I do like some of the $5-600K Split levels and other 70s era home models. We are especially attracted to smaller homes that are built with quality materials (brick, copper pipes, hardwood, etc.) in neighborhoods such as Kings Park. Part of our challenge in selecting a modest home/neighborhood significantly below our budget is that my wife went to straight ivy leagues through Medical School and Residency, and she doesn't want to be too embarassed when we invite her wealthier friends over for a visit. At the same time, she is a West Springfield Elementary graduate and I went to JMU. Is your pool Fox Hunt or Orange Hunt?

Adding the names of specific elementary schools and swim clubs to these posts is more useful than recommending all of Burke and West Springfield. From Great Schools' reviews, Bonnie Brae appears to be having conflicts between two different demographic groups, whereas Sangster might be too "competing with the Jones" and materialistic for our tastes. Being around a high percentage of other Moms and Dads, regardless of employment status, who commit lots of time towards thoughtfully raising their children is what's most important to us in selecting our final home.

Why are you down on either of these? If her friends would become judgmental about your home than I don't see how they wouldn't be judgmental about her husband staying home while she works. Seems like something that judgmental people could really be snotty about.

OP here, again. I want to publicly apologize for sounding so critical of two of the schools we are actually seriously considering. As I have not ever visited these schools, I understand that my initial impressions could likely be completely wrong. Online review pages tend to attract people with the worst experiences, so I'm certain I've gotten somewhat skewed advice at Great Schools.com. That's why it's been informative to hear new perspectives, here. Thank you, and others.

As for the valid inquiry as to how our friends re-act to our career choices, so far I've been a part-time Ph.D. student while caring for our kids, so most of her friends tend to think of me as an equal, even though I spend a lot more time child-raising. For the most part, we can care less what other people think (our current starter home is in a low SES area with murders nearby), but we also don't want to feel that we worked super hard to get where we are financially and then settled for less than what might make us the most happy.

Towards that end, thanks for helping us find our bliss!

How do you know what her friends think? Maybe you are hot and her colleagues will think you are a trophy husband.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burke would be a great fit. I live right on the border west Springfield/Burke, and there are always lots of dads at the bus stop in the afternoon. Maybe they all flex, but there are definitely involved father's around. Our pool is welcoming and accepting new members, kids ride their bikes around the streets (no through traffic in our neighborhood, it's a closed loop), and a nice mix of families and retirees.

Houses are in the $5-600s though, so you may be underwhelmed.

OP here. Thank you (and many others) for your helpful contributions of information. My wife and I do like some of the $5-600K Split levels and other 70s era home models. We are especially attracted to smaller homes that are built with quality materials (brick, copper pipes, hardwood, etc.) in neighborhoods such as Kings Park. Part of our challenge in selecting a modest home/neighborhood significantly below our budget is that my wife went to straight ivy leagues through Medical School and Residency, and she doesn't want to be too embarassed when we invite her wealthier friends over for a visit. At the same time, she is a West Springfield Elementary graduate and I went to JMU. Is your pool Fox Hunt or Orange Hunt?

Adding the names of specific elementary schools and swim clubs to these posts is more useful than recommending all of Burke and West Springfield. From Great Schools' reviews, Bonnie Brae appears to be having conflicts between two different demographic groups, whereas Sangster might be too "competing with the Jones" and materialistic for our tastes. Being around a high percentage of other Moms and Dads, regardless of employment status, who commit lots of time towards thoughtfully raising their children is what's most important to us in selecting our final home.

Why are you down on either of these? If her friends would become judgmental about your home than I don't see how they wouldn't be judgmental about her husband staying home while she works. Seems like something that judgmental people could really be snotty about.

OP here, again. I want to publicly apologize for sounding so critical of two of the schools we are actually seriously considering. As I have not ever visited these schools, I understand that my initial impressions could likely be completely wrong. Online review pages tend to attract people with the worst experiences, so I'm certain I've gotten somewhat skewed advice at Great Schools.com. That's why it's been informative to hear new perspectives, here. Thank you, and others.

As for the valid inquiry as to how our friends re-act to our career choices, so far I've been a part-time Ph.D. student while caring for our kids, so most of her friends tend to think of me as an equal, even though I spend a lot more time child-raising. For the most part, we can care less what other people think (our current starter home is in a low SES area with murders nearby), but we also don't want to feel that we worked super hard to get where we are financially and then settled for less than what might make us the most happy.

Towards that end, thanks for helping us find our bliss!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Burke would be a great fit. I live right on the border west Springfield/Burke, and there are always lots of dads at the bus stop in the afternoon. Maybe they all flex, but there are definitely involved father's around. Our pool is welcoming and accepting new members, kids ride their bikes around the streets (no through traffic in our neighborhood, it's a closed loop), and a nice mix of families and retirees.

Houses are in the $5-600s though, so you may be underwhelmed.

OP here. Thank you (and many others) for your helpful contributions of information. My wife and I do like some of the $5-600K Split levels and other 70s era home models. We are especially attracted to smaller homes that are built with quality materials (brick, copper pipes, hardwood, etc.) in neighborhoods such as Kings Park. Part of our challenge in selecting a modest home/neighborhood significantly below our budget is that my wife went to straight ivy leagues through Medical School and Residency, and she doesn't want to be too embarassed when we invite her wealthier friends over for a visit. At the same time, she is a West Springfield Elementary graduate and I went to JMU. Is your pool Fox Hunt or Orange Hunt?

Adding the names of specific elementary schools and swim clubs to these posts is more useful than recommending all of Burke and West Springfield. From Great Schools' reviews, Bonnie Brae appears to be having conflicts between two different demographic groups, whereas Sangster might be too "competing with the Jones" and materialistic for our tastes. Being around a high percentage of other Moms and Dads, regardless of employment status, who commit lots of time towards thoughtfully raising their children is what's most important to us in selecting our final home.

How about something like this?

http://franklymls.com/FX8392858

That's great. My wife and I actually have that house on our list of houses that we would like to see in person, if they're still available when we next travel to the area. I love the location with the elementary school behind the backyard, and the swim club right across the street. The inside looks nicely updated with quality materials, and the outside has a brick foundation, at least. I think the reason, I didn't say that our full range of price possibilities is $400,000 to $1.1 million is because two days ago, we were considering narrowing our search to the Frost/Woodson pyramid and the houses near swim clubs we liked in that area tended to run $700K to $800K. Now, Burke and West Springfield are starting to sound more attractive again. Please keep the knowledge and experiences coming! Thanks.