Which school pyramids are considered "desirable" in Fairfax County? (Arlington: sale, rent)

[tankdude]

Originally Posted by JEB77

As a practical matter, there are some guarantees moving forward. For example, there is zero chance that anyone in the town of Vienna will be rezoned out of Madison, zero chance that anyone in the Chesterbrook district will be rezoned out of McLean, and zero chance that anyone in the Stenwood district will be rezoned out of Marshall. You really can't say the same about the area you recommended or the various McLean "attendance islands."

If you had paid any attention to the redistricting last year, you would know that there were quite a few homeowners who told the School Board they specifically moved to houses in Madison Island and Fox Mill for the then-assigned schools - Madison and Oakton - and shouldn't be rezoned to South Lakes. The School Board was, shall we say, not moved by those arguments, and the current Board has two more years to run its course.

Sorry, but as I said earlier, I suggested a home development based on current conditions and current schools. My advice and suggestions don't come with guarantees or warranties.

Anyone buying a house or taking advice off the internet is taking a gamble where they themselves have to figure out whether it's a smart decision for them. This type of information off the internet requires due diligence by the reader because a lot of it is either unconfirmed or unsubstantiated, such as yours.

[rarebucky]

Tysons Chase is all custom homes as well, you know. It's the one thing my wife really loves about the complex.

[DunnLauren]

Rarebucky: We are also toying with the idea of buying a new home in Vienna or McLean, and I recently looked at the development near Haycock Rd.

There are four lots with two model homes built. The house on the corner is a pretty Craftsman and seems to be reasonably priced at around $1.4 million. The other model home at the end of the cul-de-sac was smaller and not very distinctive. I've seen similar houses all over the area. The yards still have a lot of tall trees and have an older feeling even though the houses are brand new. We really liked that. There are also schools close by. We do want a larger lot, so we've crossed this off our list, but overall it seemed like a safe, "family friendly" area.

Good luck with your search! By the way, we live in the Stenwood-Thoreau-Marshall pyramid now. Even though we are looking to move now for personal reasons, we are very happy with Stenwood and have heard ONLY good things about Thoreau and Marshall from our neighbors with older children.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by tankdude

Sorry, but as I said earlier, I suggested a home development based on current conditions and current schools. My advice and suggestions don't come with guarantees or warranties.

Even so, prospective buyers often also care what the neighborhoods will look like, or the school boundaries may be, in the future.

Originally Posted by tankdude

Anyone buying a house or taking advice off the internet is taking a gamble where they themselves have to figure out whether it's a smart decision for them.

It's tough to follow your syntax here, but otherwise this is stating the obvious.

Originally Posted by tankdude

This type of information off the internet requires due diligence by the reader because a lot of it is either unconfirmed or unsubstantiated, such as yours.

Of course, why simply conclude a post when one, such as you yourself, can finish it off with an insult?

To recap, though, a poster asked a question about the Marshall pyramid as he was considering a Tysons Chase house. Rather than wait for others to respond who actually had first-hand experience with that pyramid, as a student, parent, teacher and/or alumnus of the school, you quickly jumped in to reiterate that Marshall would not be one of your preferred choices. You then went on in a subsequent post to characterize Tysons Chase, which feeds into Marshall, as a development of "cookie cutter McMansions." I'm sure those kind words about the other poster's good taste made him feel great, particularly after he'd noted that it was a development that he and wife were seriously considering (though not by any means wedded to). Maybe this was all done to bait me, for previously having had the temerity to suggest that, in 2008 or 2009, Marshall could be mentioned in the same breath as Madison in light of their comparable SAT scores, similar recognition as "Silver Medal" schools by US News & World Report, and other factors, but you've surely managed to offend several other posters in the process. Kudos!

Your comment that my posts are "unconfirmed or unsubstantiated" presumably refers to the observation that West Falls Church neighborhoods that currently feed into McLean potentially could be redistricted to Falls Church or Marshall. Since I expressly noted at the time that I was neither predicting nor advocating for that result, I think the observation was appropriately caveated - and that I am just as entitled as you are to express a personal opinion without always providing a litany of secondary sources.

In any event, my own concern about that neighborhood - if I were seeking to live in an area that almost surely would remain in the McLean district - is based on the following:

1. Langley High is expected to be significantly overcrowded in the future - see current CIP.

2. Falls Church High is expected to remain significantly undercapacity in the future - see current CIP.

3. McLean High shares borders with both Langley and Falls Church - see boundary maps.

4. McLean's current boundaries are, by any objective standard, among the most convoluted of any county high school, with several "attendance islands." The neighborhood in question is close to, though not part of, one of these "islands." See boundary maps.

5. The School Board has, on a number of occasions, suggested that it anticipates a county-wide "capacity" study over the coming year - which many view as a potential prelude to a county-wide redistricting. See School Board minutes and presentations.

6. The fact that the neighborhood is close to Longfellow, McLean's primary middle feeder school, does not foreclose its being redistricted out of the McLean district. Thoreau is Madison's primary feeder middle school, but the neighborhood in which Thoreau sits attends Marshall, not Madison. See boundary maps.

7. Jane Strauss, the Dranesville School Board member, previously has gone along with proposals to redistrict Dranesville residents to other schools over their objection. Specifically, Strauss voted in favor of sending Dranesville students living in the "Madison Island" area from Madison to South Lakes. See minutes of School Board meeting approving the South Lakes redistricting. If Phil Niedzielski-Eichner, the Providence School Board member, and Strauss agree a redistricting involving McLean and Falls Church (or, for that matter, Marshall) makes sense, it will likely happen, at least if the Board continues to operate as it has in the past. If they don't agree, it won't.

In total, those factors would give me pause if I were considering the "Enclave" development and wanted to be sure I'd remain in the McLean district. You may assess these same factors differently, or not at all. Your choice.

I'd also avoid that area for entirely unrelated reasons - the population density on Haycock Road near the West Falls Church metro station is just too high for my tastes. If I wanted to live in an area with so many apartments and townhouses close by, I'd live in DC, not Falls Church. Again, purely a personal opinion.

[sweetpotater58]

First, note this, every school in Fairfax County is above the Virginia state average for test scores so that settled, now we go to the pyramids, I saw a lot of good schools not listed, and one being bashed that is good. I have lived in the region long enough and know people all over the county, and hear feedback from them about schools over the years. I will not bash any school pyramid, since some people in those areas cannot afford to live elsewhere, but their school is still above state average. So here are the one's I recommend, first the one being bashed-South Lakes-this school is fine, my niece(now a teacher) and her husband(now a successful lawyer) both graduated from this school and I know it still to be a fine place for learning. Robinson, not mentioned while Lake Braddock was, this is funny since Robinson is a fantastic school with an IB program, Lake Braddock is a good high school, but it is no better than Robinson. West Springfield is an older, but still wonderful school which has produced top quality students for over 40 years, I have many friend's whose children attend here. Westfields, Centreville, Woodson, Edison, Madison, and Mclean are all great high schools as well. Langley gets mentioned alot, but should you not be in a high income bracket, your child could suffer in other ways trying to keep up with some of the rich offspring there. As for Stuart and Annandale, I know they have had some issues, but not due to a lack of good teaching. I know several teachers at Falls Church and that school may have some issues as well, but the teachers are good.
I do not know enough about RT One area schools. If it were myself choosing a school for children, I would likely go with the Woodson, Lake Braddock, Robinson, West Springfield, high schools, the neighbors hoods are a nice mix economically with mostly middle class folks of varying cultural backgrounds-and safe neighborhoods to boot.

[tankdude]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Even so, prospective buyers often also care what the neighborhoods will look like, or the school boundaries may be, in the future.

If you're so insecure about Marshall that you have to defend it everytime the school is mentioned, then why did you buy into the Marshall district? That's why you overhype this trending of SATs of Marshall over Madison without looking at the fine details. These details show that whites, asians, low income, handicap, and ESOL students at Madison are trending up and are doing better than the same demographics at Marshall.

Maybe you were hoping that down the line, the boundaries would be redrawn where your neighborhood school would become Langley or TJ would become a neighborhood school and be in your boundary.

Anything's possible based on your outlook.

Originally Posted by JEB77

It's tough to follow your syntax here, but otherwise this is stating the obvious.

Something you're all too familiar with.

Originally Posted by JEB77

Of course, why simply conclude a post when one, such as you yourself, can finish it off with an insult?

To recap, though, a poster asked a question about the Marshall pyramid as he was considering a Tysons Chase house. Rather than wait for others to respond who actually had first-hand experience with that pyramid, as a student, parent, teacher and/or alumnus of the school, you quickly jumped in to reiterate that Marshall would not be one of your preferred choices. You then went on in a subsequent post to characterize Tysons Chase, which feeds into Marshall, as a development of "cookie cutter McMansions." I'm sure those kind words about the other poster's good taste made him feel great, particularly after he'd noted that it was a development that he and wife were seriously considering (though not by any means wedded to). Maybe this was all done to bait me, for previously having had the temerity to suggest that, in 2008 or 2009, Marshall could be mentioned in the same breath as Madison in light of their comparable SAT scores, similar recognition as "Silver Medal" schools by US News & World Report, and other factors, but you've surely managed to offend several other posters in the process. Kudos!

Your comment that my posts are "unconfirmed or unsubstantiated" presumably refers to the observation that West Falls Church neighborhoods that currently feed into McLean potentially could be redistricted to Falls Church or Marshall. Since I expressly noted at the time that I was neither predicting nor advocating for that result, I think the observation was appropriately caveated - and that I am just as entitled as you are to express a personal opinion without always providing a litany of secondary sources.

In any event, my own concern about that neighborhood - if I were seeking to live in an area that almost surely would remain in the McLean district - is based on the following:

1. Langley High is expected to be significantly overcrowded in the future - see current CIP.

2. Falls Church High is expected to remain significantly undercapacity in the future - see current CIP.

3. McLean High shares borders with both Langley and Falls Church - see boundary maps.

4. McLean's current boundaries are, by any objective standard, among the most convoluted of any county high school, with several "attendance islands." The neighborhood in question is close to, though not part of, one of these "islands." See boundary maps.

5. The School Board has, on a number of occasions, suggested that it anticipates a county-wide "capacity" study over the coming year - which many view as a potential prelude to a county-wide redistricting. See School Board minutes and presentations.

6. The fact that the neighborhood is close to Longfellow, McLean's primary middle feeder school, does not foreclose its being redistricted out of the McLean district. Thoreau is Madison's primary feeder middle school, but the neighborhood in which Thoreau sits attends Marshall, not Madison. See boundary maps.

7. Jane Strauss, the Dranesville School Board member, previously has gone along with proposals to redistrict Dranesville residents to other schools over their objection. Specifically, Strauss voted in favor of sending Dranesville students living in the "Madison Island" area from Madison to South Lakes. See minutes of School Board meeting approving the South Lakes redistricting. If Phil Niedzielski-Eichner, the Providence School Board member, and Strauss agree a redistricting involving McLean and Falls Church (or, for that matter, Marshall) makes sense, it will likely happen, at least if the Board continues to operate as it has in the past. If they don't agree, it won't.

In total, those factors would give me pause if I were considering the "Enclave" development and wanted to be sure I'd remain in the McLean district. You may assess these same factors differently, or not at all. Your choice.

I'd also avoid that area for entirely unrelated reasons - the population density on Haycock Road near the West Falls Church metro station is just too high for my tastes. If I wanted to live in an area with so many apartments and townhouses close by, I'd live in DC, not Falls Church. Again, purely a personal opinion.

If the boundaries were to be redrawn, it would definitely make sense to send kids on the west side of Leesburg Pike around Shreve Road and those homes off Idylwood Road which are currently McLean HS, but instead to Marshall. That is what would make sense. Maybe, go as far as the Dulles Toll Road or even Great Falls to which Idylwood becomes Kirby. That would still eliminate the Enclave of McLean since it's on the East side of Great Falls. Include also the Pimmit area and even the area on the West side of Leesburg Pike but North of the Toll Road. That area north of Tysons could easily become South Lakes or Marshall.

Even if McLean were to be redistricted to Marshall for the Enclave, the Haycock-Longfellow combo is still stronger than the Freedom Hill-Kilmer combo.

In conclusion, anything is possible, but what makes sense is what I pointed out in the above 2 paragraphs.

BTW, the population density around Vienna/Dunn Loring near Tysons Chase is ridiculous also, with the number of apartments, townhomes, and the long strip of real estate offices and hotels and Subway along Gallows. Then there's the huge Navy Federal Credit union and office buildings smack in the middle of a residential area on Electric Avenue. I sure as heck wouldn't want to live near there.

What makes even more sense is to buy a home that's already in the McLean HS disctrict with the slim possibility that it may be redistricted to Marshall in the future, rather than buying a home that's currently Marshall and will remain Marshall, like Tysons Chase.

[Denton56]

Jeb,
Your latest long post was terrific. I wanted to give you another positive rating, but they won't let me, they say I need to 'spread it around'. In any event, you have presented a lot of excellent information.

You are so knowledgeable on school issues. I am wondering how. Are you on any of the school board or superintendent's committees? Just curious. Wondering if I know you.

[Blanca29]

All this info is overwhelming! Anyone from Vienna sending their kids to private schools (Sidwell, St Albans, Madera)? I attended private school (European HS, college and graduate school in US) and don't remember my parents having to deal with these issues - moving, school boundaries etc.

[rarebucky]

At the end of the day, my question is very simple - if you had $1.3-$1.4 mm to put down on a new house in McLean/Vienna, what new development would you consider the safest to buy in right now taking all factors into account (schools, neighborhood, house size, acreage, commute to DC)?

[tankdude]

Originally Posted by rarebucky

At the end of the day, my question is very simple - if you had $1.3-$1.4 mm to put down on a new house in McLean/Vienna, what new development would you consider the safest to buy in right now taking all factors into account (schools, neighborhood, house size, acreage, commute to DC)?

At the price range of $1.3-1.4 mil, you won't find anything new in central McLean whether you are targeting McLean HS or Langley HS, with zero chance of being redistricted. You would have to consider the "dreaded outskirts of McLean that border on the dreaded Falls Church" that sends their kids to McLean Schools and might possibly send their kids to Marshall HS, although not likely.

You remarked that you will be working in DC, so McLean/Falls Church is a better bet as you will be able to walk or bike or drive from the "Enclave of McLean" to West Falls Church Metro if necessary, or take an easier drive into DC via the many arteries. If you moved to Tyson's Chase, to get to Vienna or Dunn Loring Metro would be more difficult since walking is not an option and parking gets filled up early.

The only practical way for you to get on I66 to get to DC from Tysons chase is to get on the Beltway and either exit onto I66 or GW Parkway. Or, you can drive "across and through Vienna" and enter I66 on Nutley. Or you can drive down Leesburg Pike and enter I66 after passing through the entrance ramp onto the beltway. Or, you can head north on Leesburg Pike, pay a toll onto the Toll Road, and then get on the beltway. None of these options are ideal at all during rush hour.

Also, Francis Young has been crossed off your list as too far from DC, so that's not being considered.

Too bad you didn't decide on buying about 1 year earlier. Otherwise, this community, although postal wise still in Falls Church with McLean Schools, would have been pretty good. Although lots are not large, many back to woods.

I think they only have 1 site remaining available, and it may be a townhouse.

Stockwell Manor by Camberley Homes

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