I think any of the Arlington schools would work well, with the possible exception of Randolph, Hoffman-Boston, and Drew -- I haven't heard anything from current parents at those schools on the boards or elsewhere saying good things about them, whereas all other Arlington elementaries have a number of current parents who love them. (Drew has been a terrific school and I expect it to be so again, and would not have hesitated to send my son there a few years ago, but it's having problems at the moment.)

Anonymous wrote:OP, you can find an apartment in Arlington at that price, or possibly a townhouse (fewer of those, but there are some). You'd have a shorter commute and good schools. Or you can go further out than Arlington and rent a house.
In Arlington, for this fall, don't rent in Barcroft school district, because they have a modified school year schedule and they started last week. All the other schools start the day after Labor Day, so if you move by then you'll be OK.

The last few apartments linked below are in the Claremont school district - that's Spanish immersion. They do half the day in Spanish (math, science, and Spanish social studies). Might be a good challenge for your son.

http://hotpads.com/apartments/2501-N-20th-Road-Arlington-VA-22201--2v2s059g7csdv#limit=5&lat=38.89670272376478&lon=-77.09160089492798&zoom=21&previewId=2v2s059g7csdv&previewType=listing&detailsOpen=true&minLat=38.86090065937244&maxLat=38.93130870232197&minLon=-77.19710558652883&maxLon=-76.96261614561087&highPrice=1600&bedrooms=2,3,4,5,6,7,8plus&listingTypes=rental,&propertyTypes=house,divided,condo,townhouse,medium,large,garden,&dupeGrouping=building

http://hotpads.com/rentals/500-S-Courthouse-Road-13-Arlington-VA-22204--4hwsar89a92f9#limit=5&lat=38.86872252333288&lon=-77.08090424537659&zoom=21&previewId=4hwsar89a92f9&previewType=listing&detailsOpen=true&minLat=38.84536425538784&maxLat=38.91578769123637&minLon=-77.18189477920527&maxLon=-76.9474053382873&highPrice=1600&bedrooms=2&listingTypes=rental,&propertyTypes=house,divided,condo,townhouse,medium,large,garden,&dupeGrouping=building

http://hotpads.com/rentals/816-S-Arlington-Mill-Drive-204-Arlington-VA-22204--102hpnsvxhsgx#limit=5&lat=38.86203328783044&lon=-77.11312294006348&zoom=21&previewId=102hpnsvxhsgx&previewType=listing&detailsOpen=true&minLat=38.8255450902907&maxLat=38.895988154735804&minLon=-77.17875123023993&maxLon=-76.94426178932196&highPrice=1600&bedrooms=2&listingTypes=rental,&propertyTypes=house,divided,condo,townhouse,medium,large,garden,&dupeGrouping=building


http://hotpads.com/rentals/5003-S-10th-Street-4-Arlington-VA-22204--3qure4xvwhn1m#limit=5&lat=38.85290166394913&lon=-77.1147939562798&zoom=21&previewId=3qure4xvwhn1m&previewType=listing&detailsOpen=true&minLat=38.81766750933361&maxLat=38.88811837327655&minLon=-77.16105669736868&maxLon=-77.06853121519094&highPrice=1600&bedrooms=2&listingTypes=rental,&propertyTypes=house,divided,condo,townhouse,medium,large,garden,&dupeGrouping=building

http://hotpads.com/apartments/Park-Shirlington-Apartments-Arlington-VA-22206--6ubgg48kehna#limit=5&lat=38.83804042673804&lon=-77.09249138832092&zoom=22&previewId=6ubgg48kehna&previewType=listing&detailsOpen=true&minLat=38.835296575222095&maxLat=38.87052200292161&minLon=-77.14680880308157&maxLon=-77.02956408262258&highPrice=1600&bedrooms=2&listingTypes=rental,&propertyTypes=house,divided,condo,townhouse,medium,large,garden,&dupeGrouping=building

http://hotpads.com/rentals/4600-S-4-Mile-Run-Drive-638-Arlington-VA-22204--35t6yn71r0zff#limit=5&lat=38.853273468422636&lon=-77.10444062948227&zoom=22&previewId=35t6yn71r0zff&previewType=listing&detailsOpen=true&minLat=38.84776722142742&maxLat=38.88298647377089&minLon=-77.13214516639704&maxLon=-77.01490044593805&highPrice=1600&bedrooms=2&listingTypes=rental,&propertyTypes=house,divided,condo,townhouse,medium,large,garden,&dupeGrouping=building

The first apartment linked here is in Taylor district - they are in a "team" with Key Spanish immersion school (Arlington has two Spanish immersion schools, Claremont and Key, which are both excellent). If you're considering that apartment (which would have an easy commute for you), and Spanish immersion appeals to you as a new challenge for your son, call the Key principal and see if you can enroll your son there. It used to be automatic from the Taylor district, but since Arlington schools are experiencing overcrowding now, it's not. But there may be room for him - call her and see. http://www.apsva.us/key (contact info at bottom of page). But since school starts in 3 weeks, I'd do that ASAP as well as pursuing housing ASAP, because housing can go very quickly in Arlington. Keep looking on hotpads and Zillow if places you want to see go fast.

My son started reading at age 3 and I was a little concerned that he would be bored in kindergarten and that might lead him to talking when he shouldn't or otherwise disrupting the class - learning half the day in Spanish was an excellent answer to that issue. Also, Arlington schools are pretty good with differentiation, though more so in first and second and third grades than in kindergarten.

How did OP kid go from being gifted to SN?

Anonymous wrote:I just wanted to add - OP - don't show your child's test scores to his teacher. You will find in Northern Virginia there are a lot of bright kids, and you might not find that yours is at the top of the class....teachers can tell pretty quickly who the advanced kids are without test scores provided by parents. My daughter scored in the 99% on a test this past spring and I'm not showing it to the teacher.

+100 Mine scored 99% across the board in all subjects and that just made the teacher mad. Who knew?

OP Your budget is a real problem as is the distance to the Smithsonian from the better school districts. After school tutoring maybe. My DS learned to read at age 2 and the public school was not very helpful about it. Gifted (really gifted) is considered a "SN" in VA, because that is how they fund the AAP program. ie, providing services to the SN gifted students. So that is confusing.

Mom of a gifted child here: yes, tested gifted on all tests including social. FCPS is VERY slow for a truly gifted child. MD has better schools but it is very expensive (Bethesda) You may need to go private. Senior at TJ now after years of private.

Hi OP,
Just wanted to say that any school in McLean, VA or Janney or Key among the D.C. neighborhood schools should be great for your child. He'll find a lot of advanced and/or gifted kids (NOT the same thing) in those schools who have motivated parents. I'm not really familiar with the charter schools in D.C. but there should also be a lot of those that fit the bill. There are probably a lot of other schools in the area that would also be great but these are the really obvious ones I can think of.
On testing... in case the neuropsych's post was unclear you should know the WJ is an achievement test and at this age parent involvement/teaching/whether the kid went to preschool/etc. really influences the outcome of this test.
The RIAS does measure intellectual ability (IQ) but as the neuropsych pointed out they usually want WISC around here.

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not worried about him being "normal". I want him to enjoy going to school. His scores seemed quite good to the people who assessed him... I don't know anything about the tests and their reliability, and haven't had time to read up on them. (It seems like they make a lot of conclusions based on a couple of hours of testing, of a four-year old!) Woodcock-Johnson III: achievement (99), reading (99), math (98), writing (>99.9), academic knowledge (81). RIAS VIX (99.74), NIX (58), CIX (95). So scores all over the board on the second one.