NoVa Sweetspot? (Arlington, Oakton, Jefferson: houses, neighborhoods, to buy)

[mandapanda1]

Hi, my family is considering a move to NoVa in the next year or so and I’m having trouble getting a lock on the public education system. We have family in Silver Spring but taxes/schools seem to be better overall in NoVa so we are looking there. My spouse and I are in construction/nursing so I’m hopeful we can work close to where we live instead of vice versa

I know the prevailing opinion is that Fairfax/Arlington county have great schools but when you look closely there appears to be wide variation. Further, our housing budget is in the mid 500’s. It seems like homes zoned for the best schools are 650k and up. We are basically looking for a neighborhood comparable to the four corners area (woodmoor) in SS (cute brick houses with smaller lots, close to metro) but with better schools. Not really interested in the new growth areas. I’ve checked into Falls Church, Vienna, Mclean and Arlington and the school situation in all those places is spotty (I’m getting my info from schoolmatters.com and schooldigger).

Is this an accurate assessment of northern Virginia? With a 500-550 budget are we essentially priced out of the good school districts? Are there other towns or specific neighborhoods we should investigate? We have three young children, and to me there is no point in plunking down half a million bucks unless I can provide my kids with a great education.
Thank you in advance!

[MacUser85]

I'm a bit out of touch with prices now, but I'm just going to list some of our best public schools and see if you can piece this in somehow:

Arlington:
Yorktown HS and all schools in zips 22205, 22207, 22201, 22213

Falls Church:
City of Falls Church zip 22046 is great. Falls Church HS in 22042 is good. Probably want to avoid JEB Stuart due to gang issues

Vienna:
James Madison HS is great, great, great! Flint Hill ES, Thoreau MS. Zips 22180, 22181, 22182 (182 is very expensive though)

If the schools mean a lot to you, see if you can downsize in terms of house. Look for a 3 BR 2.5 BA home in an Arlington neighborhood like Dominion Hills off Wilson Blvd (zip 22205) or off Carlin Springs Road north of Route 50 in zip 22203.

Best of luck!

[car54]

Check out Fairfax County's own Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST).

TJ is widely considered to be the best high school in the U-S-A.

And the best part is it doesn't matter where you live! TJ accepts students from the entire region....Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties. TJ only accepts the best of the best though....but if your kids are young, you have plenty of time to prepare them for the entrance examination.

My son went to TJ in the late '80s and on to MIT. I used to love the cocktail party chatter about school issues....when someone asks where your kids go and you reply TJ.....you'll get an "Oh" and the subject usually changes abruptly (unless they are also a TJ parent!). Or some will say, "My child was accepted to TJ but he/she decided not to go". YEAH RIGHT! LOL

As a TJ parent, you will be in a VERY exclusive club.

On another note, it is very risky to buy a house solely on the basis of school boundaries....FCPS does regular "redistrictings". The latest one took hundreds of kids out of well-regarded Oakton and Westfield high schools and put them in low-rated South Lakes High. The parents were/are LIVID and now since their lawsuit has failed, they are facing paying private school tuition or trying to sell their houses in an awful market.

If you want a specific school, buy a house as close to that school as possible...across the street is best!

[Denton56]

Look for houses in Vienna that feed to Thoreau Middle school and Madison high school. Good elementary schools are Louise Archer, Vienna elementary, Marshall Road, and Wolftrap. Most of the less expensive homes would be in Louise Archer, Vienna, Marshall Road, and Cunningham Park.

[Denton56]

I have to disagree about Falls Church high school. It is not a well regarded school and its population is dropping. I would avoid that school.

The high school in the city of Falls Church, George Mason high school, is well regarded as are the other schools in the city of Falls Church.

I am a TJ and Madison Mom and I like both, very much. Stick with Vienna!

[mandapanda1]

These are very helpful replies and will help direct our search- thank you!

[chrisherbert]

W-L in Arlington is a very good high school, probably better than Yorktown. It serves the North Arlington neighborhoods that Yorktown does not (22203, etc).

And really, Wakefield isn't so bad either. It's only a "bad" school relative to Yorktown and W&L. It's in the top 200 public schools in the US.

There's also HB Woodlawn, which is a magnet school that accepts students from all over the county. It is ranked higher than any other Arlington high school.

[Yankeesfan]

You can go to FCPS Home Page Redirect Page and look at the very detailed specific profile for each school. There's a locator where you enter the address of the house you're looking at and it will tell you which schools you would be zoned for.

[DFinnerty]

Fairfax County is the place to be for education and for housing. Your price range should be more than adequate given the current market.

Daniel

[NOVA.123]

Originally Posted by car54

Or some will say, "My child was accepted to TJ but he/she decided not to go". YEAH RIGHT! LOL

Well, my nephew was accepted at this school and chose not to go. So your YEAH RIGHT, is YEAH WRONG.

He was an extremely intelligent child but did not want to leave his friends that he had grown up with and continued to stay at his current public school and is doing quite well in life and making a very good living. He graduated from Harvard and didn't have to go to TJ to achieve that.