South Lakes is may be more socioeconomically diverse when compared with Madison, Langley, etc., but it’s not a poor school as some people have insinuated. It is easily majority (over 50%) middle and upper middle class. Reston is by and large an affluent suburb that was designed in the 60s to specifically provide all types of housing. In fact, single family homes on the water can be assessed in the millions.

Roughly half of the FCPS high schools have poverty rates higher or much higher than South Lakes. South Lakes is a solid school.

South Lake and Reston is more economically diverse than Madison and Oakton.

Reston is designed to be a mixed urban/suburban area. It has apartments, townhomes and single family homes. There are low income immigrants, mixed with middle class and upper middle class families in the neighborhood.

Oakton is mainly single family home, maybe a few townhomes near I-66. Madison is mainly VIenna single family home. Their students are from middle to upper middle class.

Academically, Oakton/Madison's student performance is higher than South Lake.

OP I agree with the other poster that budget is going to be big factor here, both for renting and if you eventually plan to buy.

The poster who told you to avoid Reston and Herndon at all costs is probably racist and rich. You can ignore them, their perspective will be skewed compared to the rest of us who are middle class and don’t mind having some diversity around us.

I have a 12th grader and a rising 9th grader at South Lakes High School. South Lakes only gets lower Greatschools score because Reston has families at all levels of income. It is not that the teachers or education are not as good as anywhere else in FCPS. There are amazing teachers there, in fact, who have made a real difference in my child’s life.

I don’t have firsthand experience with the other schools you listed, but I will say that South Lakes is on average a little less competitive than say Madison, therefore easier to make sports teams, and also lots of opportunities at SLHS for kids who are more artsy to get involved with activities.

We don’t live very close to the school so my kids are not walkers. That said, the neighborhoods are walkable and bikeable and there are a lot of things for teens to do. My kids ride their bikes to the pool and to meet up with friends. My older kid sometimes walks over to the South Lakes village center after school with friends. If I had the budget, I would love to have one of those townhouses on the lake there and kayak every day.

IMO Lake Anne has a little bit of an older people’s vibe.

Reston Town Center has a lot of things to do, but my main gripe with actually living there would be that unless I had tons of disposable income to spend on shops and restaurants all the time, it would not be that fun. Better to keep that as a “sometimes” destination than actually live there.

The area south of Lake Anne and east of RTC around Hidden Creek golf course is pretty nice though, very walkable and a nice vibe.

We live in 20171 outside of Reston. So even though my kids go to South Lakes, we do not pay Reston Association dues and our neighborhood is a bit quieter and spread out but still great for walking and biking.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding Vienna, the town itself is very walkable. It’s not the prettiest town, but has a healthy commercial heart, with a town green and some historic structures. Madison HS is walkable to much of the town.

Here’s some more Herndon and Reston info: I believe the northern part of Reston above Baron Cameron Ave is currently zoned to Herndon HS. But all the school zones may change later this year. The current school rezoning proposals are featured on the FCPS boundary review website. Note that these are just proposals:
https://www.fcpsboundaryreview.org/

Herndon town guide:
https://www.funinfairfaxva.com/things-to-do-in-herndon-virginia/

Reston Lake Anne guide:
https://www.funinfairfaxva.com/visit-lake-anne-reston-virginia/

Reston guide:
https://www.funinfairfaxva.com/top-10-things-to-do-reston-virginia/

I know people say Vienna is very walkable but I don't find it very pleasant and Maple Ave is a nightmare during the morning and evening commutes.

If you just want a quiet walk to school, you can find that with most schools by buying a house near the school and walking on neighborhood roads. That's plenty walkable for me, but DCUM will pan it because you can't walk to shopping so it's not "walkable."
But if you can walk to shopping then DCUM pans it because it's not a nice walk, it has traffic and noise and parking lots attached to the shopping - just like every walkable urban center does.

OP, I think Reston is lovely and walkable and I'd live there if my commute allowed. Vienna is also walkable, but expensive and and less artsy. You can get a nice house with a safe quiet walk to Oakton HS and metro, but not walk to both HS and shoping unless you really like to walk. All are good schools, all are large enough your kid will find similar peers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm beginning to think OP is a troll. Too many twists and turns to the story.

No, I am OP. Twists and turns? I am not obliged to tell you every personal detail. we have to rent for a while. McLean and Langley are super expensive. But I read that Langley and Mclean is super highly rated and competetive. my question is, does that leave no room for regular kids?

There are some regular kids at both and extreme wealth at both too. More money more problems. This is why we picked Vienna and Madison over those two schools. It’s still plenty but not as extreme and we are not in the upper income limits of those schools.

Langley is very spread out. I would not pick it just for that.

Langley is spread out and not very walkable. The high school itself does not have walkable shops or restaurants and has had recent pedestrian accidents. McLean HS is more walkable, but the high school is situated in the middle of neighborhoods, and the shops are a hike. Both schools are more “pressure cookers” for high achieving students, but average students do very well too.

What you’ve described, you should really be looking at Meridian HS in the City of Falls Church. It’s a separate school system from FCPS. It’s an IB school, but checks every other box.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm beginning to think OP is a troll. Too many twists and turns to the story.

No, I am OP. Twists and turns? I am not obliged to tell you every personal detail. we have to rent for a while. McLean and Langley are super expensive. But I read that Langley and Mclean is super highly rated and competetive. my question is, does that leave no room for regular kids?

They're highly rated because they don't have poor kids. Your regular kid will do fine there.

Anonymous wrote:I'm beginning to think OP is a troll. Too many twists and turns to the story.

No, I am OP. Twists and turns? I am not obliged to tell you every personal detail. we have to rent for a while. McLean and Langley are super expensive. But I read that Langley and Mclean is super highly rated and competetive. my question is, does that leave no room for regular kids?

I'm beginning to think OP is a troll. Too many twists and turns to the story.

This is OP- we will be renting for a year or less- other than the houses being super expensive, what about McLean or Langley as high schools, and how do they compare to Marshall, Madison, Oakton, South lakes? Will a middling student survive? They are neighborhood schools, right, they are forced to teach all the kids in the enighborhood, even with iep's? or is the pressure so intense from what I read, that it is a non-starter for us?

South Lakes is ghetto.

This handy map shows all the trails and amenities in Reston. Via Reston.org: https://www.reston.org/DocumentCenter/View/417/RA-Map-PDF

Looking on homes dot com, there are three homes for sale located between South Lakes HS and the South Lakes Village Center: One townhome and two single family homes.

All walkable to school and shopping: Safeway, Starbucks, lakeside cafes, restaurants, a drug store, and numerous pathways.

I would easily pick South Lakes over anything zoned to Marshall. Marshall is just some random neighborhoods in Falls Church, Tysons, and Vienna, none of which are very walkable. Reston is a real community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I visited Lake Anna today and the farmers mart and drove into south Lake HS parking lot. how does the traffic work there with the middle school? I assume the drop off and pick up times are a lot different because they are using the same little road in and out, and do the buses go out that same road or out some other road? There is a new Whole Foods about to open. The Reston town center itself was nice with the restaurants and shops... All those kids who live there go to South Lake and some go to Herndon? I did not see a lot of single family homes but stayed on the main roads and saw a lot of townhomes and apartments. Then we drove out to Vienna and it seemed like a bunch of gummed up traffic on that Maple street that would be a pain during the week... or is it just like that because of fourth of july weekend?

No agenda here...

????
I am OP and I don't have an agenda. I don't live in NoVa and this is all new to me and I have been plunged into it in the last two weeks due to a family matter. I want daughter to be able to walk safely around the school and neighborhood and have places to go shopping for groceries that is pleasant and be in a school where she won't drown socially or academically. No agenda other than that. The road going into South Lakes seems like a pinch point because the middle school uses the same small road. Am I wrong?

NP - if you want walkable and a town, Madison is the clear winner. My kids go there and kids come and go to the restaurants from school into town easily.

My kids are different academically and they each found their place. It can seem like everyone is taking AP courses but there are kids who don’t take any honors or AP classes and don’t drown academically. I had one who went there.

It is very sports focused. Teams are hard to make. Marching band and theater are also popular. If your kid wants to pick up a new sport and doesn’t have experience it will be impossible at Madison, that’s a negative.

If OP can afford to live in Vienna. OP, what is your home budget, that is going to be the big decider here.