Kid-friendly neighborhood? (Burke, Annandale, Chantilly: houses, neighborhoods, school districts)

[housewatcher]

Hello, I'm looking for a kid-friendly neighborhood (lots of younger kids in the neighborhood, park/playground, pool, excellent elementary school nearby) in Annandale or Fairfax (Woodson pyramid) or Springfield or Burke (WS or Lake Braddock pyramid). My kids are 3 and 5.

Any ideas?

[ejperryman]

HI the Greenbriar neighborhood in Fairfax/Fair Oaks has lots of kids, EXCELLENT elementary schools, parks, pool, etc. within walking distance, lots of parks/playgrounds. GREAT neighborhood!

Within walking distance are three 5-star schools:

Greenbriar West Elementary
Rocky Run MIddle
Chantilly HIGH

[ffxgirly]

In the Fairfax area, Country Club Estates and Middleridge are both great. The elementary schools there are Bonnie Brae and/or Laurel Ridge. Part of the Robinson pyramid.

In Burke, I highly recommend Signal Hill, which is right off of Burke Lake Rd. and Lake Braddock Drive.

[springfieldva]

There are lots of kid friendly areas around Northern Va. In the Woodson pyramid: Canterbury Woods, Red Fox. In the Lake Braddock pyramid: Lake Braddock, Kings Park, Danbury Forest, Rolling Valley, Burke Station (all have community pools/parks). Signal Hill, Southport and Dunleigh are also great, there is no community pool within those neighborhoods but residents are able to join other very close by area pools. West Springfield: Orange Hunt, Cardinal Forest. In the Robinson pyramid: Burke Centre and Kings Park West.

This is by no means a complete list of kid friendly neighborhoods within those pyramids. Just a quick list of what came to mind.

[brucewayne]

Fairfax is nice.

If you are going to pick between WS and Lake Braddock though for your kids, I definitely recommend Lake Braddock.

[sparks5967]

I highly recommend the Keene Mill Station subdivision in West Springfield. We moved here a year ago from South Florida. Hidden Pond Nature Center is at the end of our street with a playground, nature center, tennis and trails galore! Lots of families with children throughout the neighborhood. Our children attend Rolling Valley Elementary and it is an absolutely great school.

Good luck!

[CandCsmom]

Hi, Your post could have been exactly mine! We are looking for the same thing and have two kids age 3 and 5. 5 year old to start kindergarten this year. Currently we are deciding between two houses - and literally only have hours to make a decision as there are people lined up behind us to take either if we don't. Both are in Burke Center. The difference is one is zoned for Fairview and one for Terra Centre elementary schools. The dilemna... and would appreciate any advice or information from someone out there!!... is this: We like the house, street and feel of the neighborhood better of the Terra Centre house but have heard mixed reviews (some very negative) about T.C. It seems most of the negative reviews have been posted since the current principal came in about two years ago. And that, actually, since her arrival, the school has gone through 2 assistant principals and some of the good programs and teachers are changing. Most disturbing, however, if you check the fcps website and click on "profile" and then check "safe and secure", T.C. reported 7 - 7!!! - serious incidents in the last school year. All of the other elementary schools in Fairfax, Burke and Annandale neighborhoods that feed into the Woodson or Robinson elementary school pyramids and some in W.Springfield that we also looked at either had 0 or 1 or maybe 2 lesser incidents in the past three school years of reporting. The fact that T.C. has 7??? just in one year! Now, I have sinced learned that T.C. buses in kids for the ALC program. These are kids with behavioural and disciplinary problems and there is a special program for them at Terra Centre. Supposedly, they are kept completely separate from the main school. However, I wonder if they can be kept truly safely away 100% of the time, and if that is the reason for the high number of serious incidents even if the serious incidents are strictly among the ALC students the proximity to the regular school is very close (if you look up fcps definition of serious incident you will be shocked). So anyway, back to our dilemna... the house in the Fairview section just isn't as great for us and the block doesn't seem to be as many kids or conducive to playing outside (busier through street - the other house is at the end of a culdesac and swarming with little kids). Fairview has an EXCELLENT reputation as well as better scores. The other downside, for us, though, is Fairview is half-day kindgergarten and T.C. is full-day. To us that is a big criteria as we need full-day due to my other son's pre-school location/schedule and for me, my son and I are just ready for full-day. ANYWAY, if anyone has advice... better house in lesser school or lesser house in better school or can put my fears and worries to rest about T.C. please respond! Additionally, we have thought about just "starting over" and focusing more on other neighborhoods in Burke and Fairfax and looking for houses in some of the other great elementary school districts such as Wakefield Forest, Cherry Run, White Oaks, Laurel Ridge, Ravensworth etc. etc. - its just a question of current availability but we need to lock something in now soon for summer move. Also another one we haven't seen any posts about but it seems like a great neighborhood and e.s. is Little Run. Unfortunately the house we were looking at there was snatched up already by someone else. Sorry for the long reply and post but maybe someone can help us both out!

[OrangeFish]

I suggest Wakefield Forest (just north of Canterbury Woods).