School district Burke, va or Lorton,va (Springfield, West Springfield: house, buy)

[midwestgrrlpj]

Any opinions on which school district is better Burke,VA or Lorton,VA?

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by midwestgrrlpj

Any opinions on which school district is better Burke,VA or Lorton,VA?

Well, they are both in the same school district: Fairfax County.

As for high schools, Lorton is predominantly going to feed into South County High School, while Burke could feed into Robinson, West Springfield, and South County too.

Burke has a higher income level than Lorton, ergo, high schools in that area are probably going to *perform* better with test scores.

[JD984]

Better's in the eye of the beholder. Burke and Lorton schools are part of the same county-wide system (Fairfax County Public Schools).

Burke's most rapid growth was in the 1970s and 1980s, so the schools in that part of the county tend to be a bit older than those in Lorton, which has seen more recent population growth (after the DC Corrections facility at Lorton was closed). Burke is also slightly more affluent than Lorton, and the test scores of the Burke-area schools tend to be higher than those in the Lorton area, if that matters to you.

On the other hand, Lorton has some of the county's newest schools, and a new middle school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2012. There was a fair amount of discussion as to whether this school is really needed, but it's well on its way to completion now.

[midwestgrrlpj]

Very true it is a matter of opinion. Is there a site where I can check school test scores - going to have 2 kids in public school systems for next 10-13 years so gotta choose house carefully.

[statecollege]

No significant difference. I would buy the home you most like in either district your top priority.

[jillabean]

Originally Posted by midwestgrrlpj

Very true it is a matter of opinion. Is there a site where I can check school test scores - going to have 2 kids in public school systems for next 10-13 years so gotta choose house carefully.

I am with you there (I am house hunting and looking at schools too since I have a daughter in elementary school), but overall Fairfax County schools are great schools. I don't think you can really "go wrong" with either Burke or Lorton. In fact, they are two places I am looking as well. It's like trying to decide between a BMW or a Mercedes (and not wanting to get the "worst" car).

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Check out the statistics but I think Burke is the better area and schools

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by midwestgrrlpj

Very true it is a matter of opinion. Is there a site where I can check school test scores - going to have 2 kids in public school systems for next 10-13 years so gotta choose house carefully.

Go to the FCPS site and search the schools. You can find out a lot of information, including test scores, by looking at each school's profile.

Fairfax County Public Schools - Schools and Centers Directory

[marie5v]

Originally Posted by statecollege

No significant difference. I would buy the home you most like in either district your top priority.

Then definitely check the demographics, test scores, etc. at fcps.edu. However, Burke and Lorton are not school districts. They are both in Fairfax County, which is the school district. You have to see what school exactly your kids would go to and then check out that school. Depending on the schools involved, there could be significant differences.

[shamrock847]

When we looked at this a couple of years ago, the Burke schools we looked at were clearly stronger than the ones in Lorton we were considering, across all grade levels. The FCPS site has a lot of good data on the schools.

After talking to other parents over the last couple years, it seems the "reputation" of schools in Burke tends to be good, while the Lorton schools are perceived as not as good as the ones in some other parts of the county.

That doesn't mean the Lorton area schools might not be fine for your family. After reading the data on FCPS and any other school reviews you might find, if you still aren't sure you could always arrange to visit the schools you are considering.