Lake Braddock, Robinson, Woodson or West Springfield? (Annandale, Fairfax: for sale, apartment)

[julieflutie]

Hello everyone. Have 500K to spend on a single family house. I would like to know which High school you would recommend for my children? I have read a variety of reviews claiming Woodson has cliques, Lake Braddock's administration is terrible, Robinson is too large, and West Springfield is just okay. Don't know what to think with all the information out there. Any input you could give me on these schools would be greatly appreciated!

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by julieflutie

Hello everyone. Have 500K to spend on a single family house. I would like to know which High school you would recommend for my children? I have read a variety of reviews claiming Woodson has cliques, Lake Braddock's administration is terrible, Robinson is too large, and West Springfield is just okay. Don't know what to think with all the information out there. Any input you could give me on these schools would be greatly appreciated!

Other things being equal, Woodson in a heartbeat. It has a smaller enrollment and better test scores than the other schools, and the building renovations (in progress) will be finished soon. It may have cliques, but there are very few public high schools without cliques.

[irisheyes13]

Our son graduated from Robinson and we were very happy with the school. We moved here from an overseas assignment with small DOD schools so the size was a bit intimidating at first but it was an excellent school.

[springfieldva]

All four schools are really quite excellent. Lake Braddock is my own personal favorite, though.

You ought to come and visit the schools. See which one you like best.

[julieflutie]

Thanks everyone - Planning on visiting the end of this month. Sounds like I can't go wrong with any of these schools. Can I really buy a house in the Woodson School District with only 500K? Looks like all the homes are in the 700's and higher. What do you think?

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by julieflutie

Thanks everyone - Planning on visiting the end of this month. Sounds like I can't go wrong with any of these schools. Can I really buy a house in the Woodson School District with only 500K? Looks like all the homes are in the 700's and higher. What do you think?

Woodson is in the 22031 zip code. There don't seem to be too many houses in that zip code available @ 500K or below. If you look in the 20032 zip code, however, there are more houses below 500K available - and keep in mind that this is a buyer's market where there may be "motivated sellers," etc. 22032 feeds into both Woodson and Robinson.

In addition, some of the 22003 area code (Canterbury Woods and Wakefield Forest areas) feeds into Woodson and there are houses for sale below 500K there as well. I think the rest of 22003 feeds into Annandale High. You'd obviously need to check if you're focusing on the Woodson schools.

Good luck.

[goozer]

Your are looking in Fairfax County and it has some of the best public schools in the country. It is crazy, but people look closely at what school they are zoned for (even though they are all good) and the housing prices in that zone reflect the particular demand for a particular school. You could essentially pay $50k more for the same house simply because it is zoned for a perceived "better" school. I say find a house that you like and that won't break your budget, and rest assured that your kids will be going to a very solid public school.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by goozer

Your are looking in Fairfax County and it has some of the best public schools in the country. It is crazy, but people look closely at what school they are zoned for (even though they are all good) and the housing prices in that zone reflect the particular demand for a particular school. You could essentially pay $50k more for the same house simply because it is zoned for a perceived "better" school. I say find a house that you like and that won't break your budget, and rest assured that your kids will be going to a very solid public school.

I think that people seek information on web sites and forums such as this one precisely because they want to make well-informed decisions about relocation based on a combination of "hard data" and anecdotal information that local residents are prepared (or anxious) to share.

Schools in Fairfax County are part of a county-wide system, but they are not all the same, and they are not all good, even though a very high number of them are regularly recognized as among the nation's finest. Some principals are better than others, some teachers are better than others and, yes, some students are higher-performing than others. You can pretend otherwise, but the market won't and doing so can have real consequences for your children's education.

It is not "crazy" for current and prospective residents to try and gain as much information as possible about the strengths and weaknesses of particular schools before deciding where to buy or rent a house or apartment - even though the School Board has very wide discretion to change the school boundaries to accomplish a range of policy and operational goals.

I personally think it would be silly to purchase a house in a particular area solely because the assigned schools are those with the very highest test scores in the county. But that's just a personal opinion and, even so, test scores and school reputations serve as a "proxy" for a wider range of variables that may or may not be important to a particular homebuyer or renter.

I actually think it is incredibly valuable for posters on this board to share positive information about schools that sometimes get slammed on these boards simply because they have test scores that are lower than a neighboring school. But parents who seek out such information are not "crazy" for not buying into the notion that "any Fairfax (or NoVa or DC metropolitan area) school is as good as any other" - instead, they are trying to make sound decisions, and usually succeeding.

[Fairfax Mom]

I think all of those schools are good - from what I have heard. We are in the Robinson pyramid and I do worry because it is huge - I think I would prefer Woodson because it is newly renovated and gets on many lists for one of the best High Schools in the county. I have heard a lot of good things about West Springfrield H.S. and homes are cheaper there.

[claremarie]

Just keep in mind that one of the variables that helps determine a "good" school is the principal, and principals aren't a permanent fixture at any of these schools. Indeed, extremely good principals -- the ones who are able to wring good test scores and graduation rates from lower-income or otherwise challenging student populations -- are in high demand and more likely than others to get moved to another troubled school. So, all other things being equal (which they rarely are), it makes sense to go with the school with the most consistently high-performing student body.