Moving to NOVA- HELP!! (Arlington, Burke: real estate, apartments, chapel)

[JAAB]

My husband and I are planning to relocate to NOVA this year. We currently live in Montgomery County. We want a Single Family home. Our current budget is $500k and below. But the school system must be exemplary. We'd also like a walkable and safe community (of course). I have been looking at the zip 22032, the home I like is boundaried for Bonnie Brae ES -it's such a big school. And the test scores seem to be lower than others close by. Can anyone help me identify other great communities that have good schools near this zip (no further than Oakton). Also, your opinion of Bonnie Brea is appreciated. Since we don't have children yet, I know that there is a possiblity of the boundaries changing. But we'll cross that bridge... We will commute to Arlington. Thank you NOVA EXPERTS!!

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by JAAB

My husband and I are planning to relocate to NOVA this year. We currently live in Montgomery County. We want a Single Family home. Our current budget is $500k and below. But the school system must be exemplary. We'd also like a walkable and safe community (of course). I have been looking at the zip 22032, the home I like is boundaried for Bonnie Brae ES -it's such a big school. And the test scores seem to be lower than others close by. Can anyone help me identify other great communities that have good schools near this zip (no further than Oakton). Also, your opinion of Bonnie Brea is appreciated. Since we don't have children yet, I know that there is a possiblity of the boundaries changing. But we'll cross that bridge... We will commute to Arlington. Thank you NOVA EXPERTS!!

You may want to check out the thread on "Woodson, Robinson, Lake Braddock, West Springfield" - the poster on that thread also was looking for advice on houses @ $500K in the Fairfax/Burke areas. I gave her suggestions on other zip codes where the neighborhoods feed into Woodson High and houses are available for less than $500K.

I don't know much about Bonnie Brae. If you're concerned about the test scores, you can look for houses in 22032 that feed into Laurel Ridge Elementary instead. As far as I can tell, the differences in test scores seem to track the demographics (Bonnie Brae has a slightly higher percentage of ESL and lower-income students). It doesn't mean Bonnie Brae's a bad school, and both Bonnie Brae and Laurel Ridge feed into Robinson.

Another area that I often recommend to posters looking for good schools in neighborhoods where houses can be found for $500K or less is Dunn Loring Woods in Vienna. The zip code is 22180 and the local schools - all good - are Stenwood/Thoreau/Marshall. It's near the Dunn Loring metro station and the drive to Arlington is shorter from Dunn Loring than it will be from Fairfax.

For $500K, you'd have a lot more choices if you expanded your search to include areas a bit further out, such as Chantilly.

[Fairfax Mom]

Bonnie Brae is a small school compared to most others in the area.

[JAAB]

I didn't realize that Fairfax Mom. I saw a few other ES that had lower enrollment numbers. And so the research continues...I am certainly looking into the other areas JEB77. I appreciate your response

[DC Oldtimer]

Two things.

First, the discussion on the best school pyramids here may interest you:

*ttp://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/68637.html,page=all [replace the asterisk with an h]


Second, there are numerous communities in the area behind Annandale Community College where you can now get a home in your price range. On the west side of Wakefield Chapel the kids go to Woodson.

Another suggestion would be to go over to Debbie Dogrul's website. This is the real estate agent who does the most business in the area. See what she has in the Annandale Fairfax area that is in your price range.

www.dialdebbie.com

[car54]

I drove a bus out of Bonnie Brae for 3 years, and Bonnie Brae is a pretty good size school by my unscientific standards.

To wit: Twelve (reg-ed) buses serve Bonnie Brae, which is more than Laurel Ridge, Fairview, Terra Centre, or Clifton. Oakview has the same, or close to the same number of buses.

I sure wouldn't hesitate to send a kid to BB....the principal is great....as are the teachers I have met (lots).

It's those apartments on Burke Commons that pull the scores down a bit. But what elementary school has ZERO po' folks within it's boundaries? Probably Clifton....but you won't find anything down there for 500K.....