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Hello, all. We are still undecided about a move, but as our kids' happiness is our priority, I'm already trying to narrow school options to make a house-scouting visit easier. It's overwhelming. Do you know if there's an educational consultant who can help me with this? I would happily pay someone for a couple of hours to talk to my family and help identify the best pyramid for us. I see people who do this for area private schools, but one of the pros we see about NoVa is the quality public options. I want someone who knows the Arlington and Falls Church areas well. Thank you!
JEB77 would be a great advisor for school information, but he has not been posting here lately. Where are you, JEB77?
Most people will understand the feeling of being overwhelmed by the different school systems in northern Virginia. Hope you find a location that works well for your family.
Hello, all. We are still undecided about a move, but as our kids' happiness is our priority, I'm already trying to narrow school options to make a house-scouting visit easier. It's overwhelming. Do you know if there's an educational consultant who can help me with this? I would happily pay someone for a couple of hours to talk to my family and help identify the best pyramid for us. I see people who do this for area private schools, but one of the pros we see about NoVa is the quality public options. I want someone who knows the Arlington and Falls Church areas well. Thank you!
You would be wasting your money. The number of schools in nova is just too large - no one person can know all of them intimately enough to help you choose one that is just right for you. In any event, unlike private schools, all public schools in nova are run by the counties or on occasion a city, and then by the state. Therefore, in terms of curriculum, they are all pretty much the same. Likewise, the school philosophies are all pretty much the same, at least in theory. That leaves only two major differences - first, the demographics of the student body, and second, a general atmosphere, mostly based on the personalities of the staff and administrators. The first is public information. Since staff and administration turn over quite often, and school boundaries change, no one can even guarantee that a school won't be a completely different place in a year or two.
Therefore, perhaps you should just find some places you want to live first, and then make sure the schools are good. In Fairfax and Arlington the information is easily available online - demographics, test scores, etc. Then visit the schools in person to make sure.
If you want to know about specific schools, you should try asking here.
JEB77 would be a great advisor for school information, but he has not been posting here lately. Where are you, JEB77?
Most people will understand the feeling of being overwhelmed by the different school systems in northern Virginia. Hope you find a location that works well for your family.
I'm happy to answer any questions that I can - though I definitely agree with Marie5v's comments.
If the OP does a search of the NoVa forum, she'll find quite a few posts about the Falls Church schools. The primary topics are usually (1) the difference between the schools in the tiny, but affluent, City of Falls Church, which has its own, small school system, and the schools in the parts of Fairfax County with Falls Church mailing addresses and (2) the differences among the schools in the parts of Fairfax County with Falls Church mailing addresses, since these communities range from affluent areas near McLean (for example, the Haycock and Shrevewood ES districts) to areas with fairly high poverty levels (for example, the Graham Road and Glen Forest ES districts).
Thanks, yes, I've seen all of that about Falls Church City vs the Fairfax-County Falls Church. So far I like the sounds of Falls Church City.
For what it's worth: My kids are identified as gifted, which seems to be the case with many (most?) area children. I take all of that with a grain of salt, and my wish there is that my kids maintain their love of learning and not get bored, or on the other hand overwhelmed.
Our number one priority is for them to be well-adjusted and kind. I figure the rest will fall into place. (That said, I am fairly traditional in terms of discipline and education.) My concern with certain high-achieving Fairfax Co schools is the social environment; some sound like pressure cookers with a lot of materialistic, clique-ish kids. I do not want to insert them in an elitist environment.
They are in IB elementary school now, so I'd love to find IB tracks. In Arlington, would that be Ashlawn on up to W-L? And in Falls Church City, it appears at least Mason offers IB, but elementary grades? I guess my wish list is thus: IB the whole way if possible (it is fantastic!), not elitist, and strong gifted program (by that I mean a program that actually understands what "gifted" means and does not just throw extra and more-difficult work at them).
Finally, I've posted before about wanting to find a community that has some age and charm. I realize I can't ask for the moon, because our budget is up to 850K. But selfishly, if I could find a little bit of character, I would be happier. I do love Alexandria City but have middle school concerns.
I have noticed a lot of you are Vienna fans, and you make it sound appealing, so I'm open to that area, too. Just don't know anything about the schools there yet or where I might find older homes in Vienna.
Thanks, yes, I've seen all of that about Falls Church City vs the Fairfax-County Falls Church. So far I like the sounds of Falls Church City.
For what it's worth: My kids are identified as gifted, which seems to be the case with many (most?) area children. I take all of that with a grain of salt, and my wish there is that my kids maintain their love of learning and not get bored, or on the other hand overwhelmed.
Our number one priority is for them to be well-adjusted and kind. I figure the rest will fall into place. (That said, I am fairly traditional in terms of discipline and education.) My concern with certain high-achieving Fairfax Co schools is the social environment; some sound like pressure cookers with a lot of materialistic, clique-ish kids. I do not want to insert them in an elitist environment.
They are in IB elementary school now, so I'd love to find IB tracks. In Arlington, would that be Ashlawn on up to W-L? And in Falls Church City, it appears at least Mason offers IB, but elementary grades? I guess my wish list is thus: IB the whole way if possible (it is fantastic!), not elitist, and strong gifted program (by that I mean a program that actually understands what "gifted" means and does not just throw extra and more-difficult work at them).
Finally, I've posted before about wanting to find a community that has some age and charm. I realize I can't ask for the moon, because our budget is up to 850K. But selfishly, if I could find a little bit of character, I would be happier. I do love Alexandria City but have middle school concerns.
I have noticed a lot of you are Vienna fans, and you make it sound appealing, so I'm open to that area, too. Just don't know anything about the schools there yet or where I might find older homes in Vienna.
Thanks -- I hope the additional detail helps.
This is kind of a quick data dump, so I may get a few things wrong, but hope it helps:
First, there are a lot of IB high schools in the area, but not so many elementary and middle schools offering the PYP and MYP programs. From doing a quick check, it appears that, in addition to George Mason at the HS level, Mary Ellen Henderson MS in the City of Falls Church offers the MYP IB program; did not see any indication that the elementary schools do, but am not sure.
In Arlington, Washington-Lee HS has the IB HS program. It appears that Jefferson MS (which feeds into W-L, I assume) is the only MS that offers the MYP IB program. Not sure about the elementary schools - did see one elementary school in Arlington (Randolph, which serves primarily a low-income area) that has the PYP program, but that was all a quick search revealed. Others may have more information about the Arlington schools.
In the portion of Fairfax County with Falls Church addresses, both Marshall and Stuart HS have IB programs. The feeder middle schools into Marshall (Kilmer and Thoreau) do not have the MYP IB program. The feeder middle school into Stuart HS (Glasgow MS, in Alexandria) does have a MYP IB program. I think Marshall has the highest number of students who actually get IB diplomas of any school in NoVa, or at least it did at one point, but that may have changed.
In terms of social environments, I'd say that the schools in the City of Falls Church and the North Arlington neighborhoods that feed into Yorktown are pretty similar to the schools in McLean and Vienna. There are lots of affluent kids, or kids from affluent families, but there certainly kids from less monied families, as well as plenty of people who make good salaries who know they are lucky and try to raise their kids with some measure of humility. The schools in Langley HS pyramid have the reputation for being the most "materialistic," but that observation is based on the uniformly high income levels of the neighboorhoods that feed into the schools in the Langley pyramid. I don't really think of FCPS schools as "pressure-cooker" schools; expectations for students are high, but they tend to find their own niche. W-L and its feeders serve a more economically diverse student body than schools like George Mason (in Falls Church), Yorktown (in Arlington) or Madison (in Vienna), but there are plenty of expensive neighborhoods in Arlington assigned to W-L.
Town of Vienna has a lot of older homes, good schools and a greater sense of community than exists in many parts of unincorporated Fairfax County. The assigned schools are AP schools, not IB schools, though some Town of Vienna students "pupil place" into the IB program at Marshall HS. There are plenty of houses under $850K there, though the housing stock there tends either to be older homes under $650-700K and new houses for $1 million or more (in other words, compared to the surrounding suburbs outside the Town of Vienna, there tends not to be a lot for sale between $650-700K and $1 million).
Maybe just talking to the local school districts about what programs individual schools have will help. While you won't be a subjective opinion like "this school is nice" "this school is bad" information from the school district you'd at least know who has the programs that your children are used to and who doesn't.
Vienna is great but most of the houses there were built in the 60s and 70s. At the same time I think its a great place to raise kids, quaint Americana. So you'd probably want to just stay inside Beltway for charming older homes.
If you're looking for charm and good character in the $850K range. I'd recommend north Arlington. Clarendon or Westover are the neighborhoods that spring to mind. Although you might be at the bottom of the market in Clarendon. I really like Westover and think it'd be a good place to raise kids. I believe Arlington does have an IB type of school.
Randolph Elem in S. Arlington has IB, but it does not feed into W-L for high school. I always thought it was odd for the county to establish the IB elementary program at a school not in the W-L pyramid (and very far from W-L, so boundaries, if redrawn, will likely never include Randolph). So I do not recommend looking at the Randolph Elem-area. And with the increasing school population at all the schools (N Arlington, in particular), transfers into W-L from out of bounds are already restricted. Yorktown and Wakefield are currently the only high schools that still allow transfers based on the open enrollment policy, but by the time your kids are in high school that may change.
So for an IB track from at least jr high I recommend looking at houses in Ashton Heights and Lyon Park. They feed into TJ Middle School, which is becoming increasingly popular, both because of the IB program and the number of families with kids in Arlington Heights, Ashton Heights, and Lyon Park. But only Ashton Heights and Lyon Park feed into W-L. Long Branch, the neighborhood elementary school is also very popular.
Most W-L students in North Arlington come through Swanson Middle School, and so most W-L pyramids include Swanson. The elementary schools would include McKinley, Taylor, Ashlawn, Science Focus, Glebe, et al. Boundary maps are fairly easy to locate on the Arlington Schools' website. The neighborhoods in the Taylor/Swanson/W-L pyramid are priciest. While homes in the Barrett/Swanson/ (or Kenmore)/W-L pyramid, are somewhat more reasonable.
At 850K you should be able to find a home in most N Arlington neighborhoods that feed into W-L, but on the smaller side (i.e. 3 bedrooms/maybe 4 and a small lot). Based on your preferences, I would seriously look at Ashton Heights and Lyon Park, which are also arguably two of the most attractive neighborhoods in Arlington. Most homes date from the 1910s --> early 40s and include a mix of craftsmans, "colonials," dutch colonials, and a few tudor revivals. There are still quite a few Sears catalog homes. The shops/cafes in Clarendon and Metro (Va Square or Clarendon stations) are within walking distance. The area around Clarendon is your classic turn-of-the-century streetcar suburb.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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It might be helpful to say where you are moving from, also. You might actually find someone on here who can make some comparisons to where you currently live. Also, it might give us some perspective on whether certain areas will seem snobbish to you. (i.e. if you come from some high-income areas in NJ, you might not find anything here to be pressure cooker or cliquish. On the other hand, if you come from small farmtown Nebraska, everything here might seem snobbish to you.)
Also, where are your jobs? That might help us lead you in the right direction, too. And then you can narrow it down from there.
For what it's worth: My kids are identified as gifted, which seems to be the case with many (most?) area children. I take all of that with a grain of salt, and my wish there is that my kids maintain their love of learning and not get bored, or on the other hand overwhelmed.
Our number one priority is for them to be well-adjusted and kind. I figure the rest will fall into place. (That said, I am fairly traditional in terms of discipline and education.) My concern with certain high-achieving Fairfax Co schools is the social environment; some sound like pressure cookers with a lot of materialistic, clique-ish kids. I do not want to insert them in an elitist environment.
Some additional thoughts after reading your post again:
Right now, in Arlington, Science Focus Elementary is the most hyped-up school. It won the prestigious "Intel School of Distinction award" in 2010, and whenever a house goes for sale in the part of the Lyon Village neighborhood zoned to Science Focus, it is quickly snapped up. You might find a home in your range in Lyon Village, but most go for well over a million. Still the neighborhood is worth a look as it meets your criteria for an older, charming neighborhood close to amenities with good schools and an IB high school (W-L). The neighborhood is one of the Clarendon-area neighborhoods popular with families and it is within walking distance to W-L. It's worth noting that depending on where you live in the neighborhood, the pyramid is either Sci-Focus-->Swanson-->W-L or Taylor Elem-->Swanson-->W-L. Taylor is one of the least diverse Arlington schools: almost exclusively upper middle class white, while Science focus has greater ethnic and socio-economic diversity. Swanson like the other county middle schools, has an excellent gifted program, with separate classes for some subjects.
Having grown up in N Arlington, I'd say the upper-middle class W-L and Yorktown kids were not all that different, although Yorktown had more "obscenely" wealthy kids. In high school I recall that there were kids whose parents would buy them new luxury cars, while others drove used civics, and there were many others who had no car at all. There was really no competition, and overall very few materialistic kids. Everyone kind of got along. In terms of academics there was a healthy level of competition (not cutthroat at all).
JEB77 made good points about the socio-economic diversity of Arlington's schools (W-L more than Yorktown) and this helps to counteract the development of an exclusively wealthy/materialistic/whatever school. Also, the high school students come from various middle schools (i.e. not a single school) which may also help to counteract the development of exclusive cliques.
Because of the proximity to DC, some prominent families in political circles have also sent their kids to Arlington's public schools. Colin Powell's kids went to W-L, for example. Many Arlington families work for government agencies and the foreign service, while others are lawyers and lobbyists, so most families are very well educated. And overall, they have high expectations for the local schools. But there also isn't much of a "tiger mom" culture, at least not in the extreme sense (constant tutoring/no free time, etc). So your kids should not "feel overwhelmed" and pressured to keep up with his/her friends.
Arlington still has a few "crunchy" neighborhoods as well, and in parts a fairly funky/unconventional vibe. It's no Takoma Park, MD however, and it's certainly not "Berkeley of the East" or "Portland of the East" even if local politicians and others sometimes make those comparisons. Arlington's neighborhoods are fairly traditional, with neighborhood parades, etc, and there is a healthy mix of political viewpoints on just about every block.
As in my previous post, I highly recommend Ashton Heights and Lyon Park based on what you wrote. Or if Science Focus Elementary jibes with your interests, that is another good option. Overall, there are many good schools in the areas you are looking into, so it may come down to the neighborhood and housing prices.
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