Ashburn Elementary Schools? (Independence, Madison: 2014, credit, new house)

[westbound2]

Hi, we are looking to buy a house in Ashburn but dont know many people in the area and are not very familiar with the elementary schools, other than what is on greatschools.org and schooldigger.com

Would love to hear your thoughts on the different Ashburn schools - are any better / not as good as the others? For example, Ashburn Elementary seems to not be rated as highly as the others, so am wondering if we should avoid that, or if in Ashburn they're all good, just some are better than others?

Curious about both 1) our children actually attending the school as they get older, and 2) affect on resale value.

Thank you very much for your thoughts!

[VAviaCA]

For elementary schools, I really don't think the differences are that drastic. We live in Ashburn and are very happy with our elementary school (Sanders Corner). I know families that go to Ashburn Elementary and they are happy as well. Many house hunters look more at the ultimate high school vs the elementary or middle school.

One of the things that is worth investigating & considering is that the county is building new schools in the area. And with each new school, they often redraw the lines for attendance. So one year you're in one 'pyramid' and the next you're slated to go to a different middle or high school (or even switching elementary schools, although I believe often they let kids "grandfather through"). It would be worth checking out the LCPS site and looking at their proposals as you're checking out houses/neighborhoods. I believe this is especially true in Brambleton and Broadlands, as those areas are building up a lot with new houses.

[RecessionCasualty]

^^^ I think VAviaCA is spot on

[cdmurphy]

Nothing is guaranteed when it comes to LCPS school boundaries. Better to choose a house and community you love - none of the schools are bad. My kids have been at Legacy ES for five years, and we love it. I am a Girl Scout leader, and I've had girls in my troop from Legacy, Creighton's Corner, Madison's Trust, Moorefield Station, Mill Run, and Sycolin Creek - all the schools seem pretty good. My only real complaint about Legacy is that it continues to be one of the most overcapacity schools in the district, but this doesn't seem to be as much of a problem in the Ashburn planning district (20147) as it is in the Dulles North planning district (20148). Worst case scenario - you can apply for special permission to attend a different school if it isn't overcapacity (unfortunately, most of the schools in the Dulles North planning district are at or over capacity).

If you want to look at pure data, check out the LCPS School Profiles site (choose specific school on "School" tab) and the VDOE School Quality Profiles.

As VAviaCA said, looking at high school clusters can be helpful. However, a new high school (Independence HS) will be opening in Brambleton in fall 2019, so the maps and feeders will be shifting again:

Ashburn HS attendance zones effective 2018-2019
Dulles North and Dulles South HS attendance zones 2019-2020

ES attendance zone maps
MS attendance zone maps
HS attendance zone maps

Also, there are a lot of "split feeds", so look at the cluster list too. And, to further complicate matters, ES-31 (still unnamed) is planned to open in 2019 on Belmont Ridge Rd. near Broadlands, and ES-23 is planned to open in Arcola Center in 2021, so boundaries in Dulles North (and possibly also in Ashburn and Dulles South) will change again. If you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of attendance projections and whatnot, check out the Capital Improvement Plan, starting at page 127 for the Ashburn planning district, which is immediately followed by the Dulles North planning district.

[westbound2]

Thanks everyone - this is very helpful! I knew about one or two changes in LCPS coming, but not nearly as many as has been mentioned above - will check all this out...thanks!