Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. no one has mentioned great falls yet. why?

also, please explain the recent declines in school ratings in Arlington. I was all set on North Arlington then read the school reviews and was totally disappointed. FWIW, not interested in TJ. I have average kiddos - smart but not freaks of nature :O

GF is too far away from everything of interest to me, and I like the independence my son has in Arlington where he can walk to places or ride his bike.

Word of advice (re TJ comment): You want people to give you reasonable answers? Don't insult them.

Thanks - I already apologized for my super ignorant comment. Also, I appreciate your feedback on GF - my DH will be working in Arlington so I do think the commute would be unfairly long for him.

Agreed, we are also in Great Falls and love it. Unfortunately the 10% of the residents that are multi-gazillionaires make the news and create the stereotype. GF is full of upper middle class residents just like northern Vienna, Reston, Sterling, FC and Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quite a few Falls Church lovers here. never considered Falls Church. Tell me the pros/cons of FC Please

Pros:
Small and excellent school district. Small class sizes, very good reputation. Many live here specifically for the schools.
Walkable - from many areas you can walk to stuff. Lots of restaurants, live music, parks, W&OD trail, etc (although not charming like some other walkable areas).
Location - My commute from FC is the same as it was from N. Arlington. Right near 66, super close to the beltway, an easy/traffic-less drive to Chain Bridge.
Small town feel - because it's a small area and the small schools, people really seem to know each other. Your child won't get lost in the schools, even High School. You'll bump into people all the time that you know.
Events - they have great events in Cherry Hill Park. Fall festival, summer concerts, summer movies, Memorial Day festivities, Halloween stuff. Again - a small town feel,but the convenience of being close to DC

Cons:
The walkable area isn't cute or quaint.
Many places are about a mile to the metro or more, so you're not right at the metro.
Property taxes - they fund the schools very very well - and we pay for it!! FC taxes are way higher then Arlington.
School sports - because the high school is so small, the sports teams play other high schools very far away (since all the other schools in this area are huge). So away games can be a 2 hour bus ride...

That's all I can think of for now

I don't get the whole FCC thing. Tiny group of homes in the middle of traffic central. Lots of McMansions and "Mine is bigger than yours" mentalities. Too busy for our tastes. (Bren Mar Park ES here, not the best, but far nicer IMHO). Plus the elementary and middle schools in FCC have fallen in their rankings lately.

Anonymous wrote:Live in Reston and love it. With the metro on its way, it'll be even better. Planned communities are great in the sense that they were PLANNED.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quite a few Falls Church lovers here. never considered Falls Church. Tell me the pros/cons of FC Please

Pros:
Small and excellent school district. Small class sizes, very good reputation. Many live here specifically for the schools.
Walkable - from many areas you can walk to stuff. Lots of restaurants, live music, parks, W&OD trail, etc (although not charming like some other walkable areas).
Location - My commute from FC is the same as it was from N. Arlington. Right near 66, super close to the beltway, an easy/traffic-less drive to Chain Bridge.
Small town feel - because it's a small area and the small schools, people really seem to know each other. Your child won't get lost in the schools, even High School. You'll bump into people all the time that you know.
Events - they have great events in Cherry Hill Park. Fall festival, summer concerts, summer movies, Memorial Day festivities, Halloween stuff. Again - a small town feel,but the convenience of being close to DC

Cons:
The walkable area isn't cute or quaint.
Many places are about a mile to the metro or more, so you're not right at the metro.
Property taxes - they fund the schools very very well - and we pay for it!! FC taxes are way higher then Arlington.
School sports - because the high school is so small, the sports teams play other high schools very far away (since all the other schools in this area are huge). So away games can be a 2 hour bus ride...

That's all I can think of for now

Anonymous wrote:I'd look in Cesterbrook/Longfellow/McLean or Springhill/Longfellow(AAP)/Lanley. And I'd read greatschools.com only for entertainment purposes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. no one has mentioned great falls yet. why?

also, please explain the recent declines in school ratings in Arlington. I was all set on North Arlington then read the school reviews and was totally disappointed. FWIW, not interested in TJ. I have average kiddos - smart but not freaks of nature :O

GF is too far away from everything of interest to me, and I like the independence my son has in Arlington where he can walk to places or ride his bike.

Word of advice (re TJ comment): You want people to give you reasonable answers? Don't insult them.

Thanks - I already apologized for my super ignorant comment. Also, I appreciate your feedback on GF - my DH will be working in Arlington so I do think the commute would be unfairly long for him.

Anonymous wrote:
As I said . . .

Anonymous wrote:

Cooper has honors classes that are open to all students, except for math which I believe you have to test into. Some families with AAP center eligible kids elect to stay at Cooper to set them up socially for high school, keeping the same friends/cliques intact. Seriously.

Whatever rocks their boat. Just thought it was strange the way the other post assumed the kids would go from Spring Hill to Longfellow AAP to Langley. Someone has to go to Cooper.

That was my post (suggesting Spring Hill/Longfellow(AAP)/Langley). My kids went to Cooper (nonAAP), took honors classes and survived. I'm just suggesting what I think is a better pyramid (one that includes Longfellow). I don't get the "rocks their boat" comment, but whatever.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get the "rocks their boat" comment, but whatever. [/quote

I assume it was supposed to be "floats their boat."

Rocks your world, floats your boat. My malapropism for the day.

Just meant it's obviously fine if someone wants to keep an AAP kid at his or her base school. What I thought was funny was recommending Longfellow to someone in the Langley district without knowing whether the kids would test into its AAP program.