Elementary schools in Annandale/Springfield (Fairfax, Laurel: low income, renting, chapel)

[housewatcher]

I'm looking for a home in a relatively close-in community. I have 2 small children and have narrowed the search down somewhat based on what we can afford. I've heard vague anecdotes relating to some schools. Does anyone have information (good or bad) relating to these 3 elementary schools:

1. Ravensworth Elem. (non Spanish immersion)
2. Kings Park/Kings Glen.
3. Columbia Elem.

Specifically, are the children routinely engaged, challenged, and well prepared for middle school/high school, (including advanced HS courses such as AP), etc.?

Are there differentiated services for higher achievers (but not GT -level)? Active PTA?

Any morale issues/concerns among parents/teacers/staff? Do parents have to fight for the kids to get an excellent education at any of the schools?

Thank you in advance.

[Yankeesfan]

Go to FCPS Home Page Redirect Page and look up each school under "Schools and Centers" at the top of the home page. You can get detailed profiles which might answer some of your questions.

[DC Oldtimer]

ALL Fairfax county schools are good. People worry too much over a school system that is second to very few.

The differences between the schools have little to do with the faculty. Some schools have children whose parents are highly educated. Other schools have lots of kids from low income families. That, not the teachers, principals, etc explains the score differences. If you took the kids from the richest elementary school in Fairfax and switched them into one of the schools with mediocre scores, that so-called mediocre school would magically become the most brilliant sought after school in the county.

So the real issue IMO is not the school. It's that the school is a proxy for the neighborhood.

Kings Park is a nice place to live. As for inside the beltway in Annandale, I would not live there if you paid me. Even though there are pockets of million dollar homes there. Too much drug/gang activity.

So my advice goes like this: outside the beltway in Annandale, great. Inside, I would scratch it off the list (Columbia Elem).

P.S. If you can afford Kings Park, I would think you might be able to find something in the Canterbury Woods or Wakefield Forest Elem school areas (e.g something just off Wakefield Chapel Rd such as the Truro, Oak Hill or Canterbury Woods subdivisions.) I'm told both are great schools. Either one would probably be better than the three you name.

[springfieldva]

Your child could get a great education at any one of those schools. But I personally prefer the location of Kings Park/Kings Glen and Canterbury Woods. The neighborhoods down Wakefield Chapel are also very nice but I do think the homes tend to be a bit bigger/more pricey. Much will depend on your price range.

Try visiting the schools. See which one you like best.

[claremarie]

My sister's children went to KP/KG. She wasn't wild about it, in part because of the split campuses for the different grades. She also didn't think that her children were sufficiently challenged -- they qualified for the GT program at the middle school level (which, based on their test scores, would NOT have happened in higher-performing school pyramids), but neither distinguished themselves at Lake Braddock. My sense, from her comments, was that children who were NOT in the GT program were just treading water.

[JEB77]

I think the concerns expressed with respect to Annandale inside-the-beltway are probably overstated. Certainly most of the neighborhoods that have Annandale mailing addresses north of Route 236 and Columbia Pike are peaceful, suburban neighborhoods. I think the part of Annandale that seems to generate the most negative buzz is the portion that is inside the Beltway, south of Route 236 and west of Ravensworth Rd.

[springfieldva]

Originally Posted by claremarie

My sister's children went to KP/KG. She wasn't wild about it, in part because of the split campuses for the different grades. She also didn't think that her children were sufficiently challenged -- they qualified for the GT program at the middle school level (which, based on their test scores, would NOT have happened in higher-performing school pyramids), but neither distinguished themselves at Lake Braddock. My sense, from her comments, was that children who were NOT in the GT program were just treading water.

KP/KG did have some weird years at the height of the housing bubble. A lot of the more affordable neighborhoods had a fair amount of "investor" flipping going on. I think this created some instability in the neighborhoods and it shows up in the school test scores.

Now that the flipping has stopped, test scores seem to be on their way back up. I'm not sure when your sister's children attended KP/KG (it sounds like a while ago) but I've seen more than a few KP/KG grads go on to attend TJ, top universities, etc....

[Fairfax Mom]

I heard Kings Park is good. I think the school is split up - K to 3 in on school - 4 and up in another? It is nice to see the small kids alone with other small kids -

[funfax]

But also kind of pain to have kids split up (different buses and pick up drop off times, not to mention school events, PTA...and they have 1/2 day K, which I prefer as a transition year, but is another schedule complication). Most schools do a good job of giving the kindergarteners extra help/supervision, and usually the grades are physically spread out in different parts of the school.

We used to attend Oak View, which is a fantastic school. They have 1/2 day K but also have a school-based GT center (basically means if your kid qualifies for GT school, you can keep them at their base school with sibs and neighbors, yet they will get the GT curriculum). It does mean that more kids get the GT curriculum, so may not be quite the same level of being challenging? (instead of the top 1% or 5% or 10% or whoever is normally offered GT center school, it's an entire class of kids--so more like 20-25% of kids are getting that. Means that some kids who would be Level III get Level IV services, but there are advantages for the Level IV kids too--not having to switch schools, and yet the teacher doesn't have as wide of a range of ability to accomodate. This helps the other classes focus on appropriate levels of instruction too.

I just really liked the "institutional character" of Oak View. Office staff is exceptionally friendly and helpful, it's a great community there. We had fantastic teachers. People seem to prefer to buy in the Oak View-Woodson area (either Roberts & Braddock, like Hickory Farms and George Mason Forest, or else Fairfax Station, which is down 123 and more $). However, Robinson has IB, which is a great program.

I think people are right though, that Fx Co schools are really so good that you should go based on neighborhood. We are renting now after selling a townhouse, and trying to decide where to buy. Since my kids are in Spanish, we can move anywhere and drive them there, we don't have to live in bounds.

I grew up around her (Laurel Ridge & Robinson), and would agree that Annandale can have some rough parts, but also, particularly along Braddock outside the beltway, has some very quality parts too. People tend not to think as much of Annandale HS as Woodson or Robinson or Lake Braddock. TJ is considered the ultimate (#1 is US News rankings), but is very, very hard to get into--I think even worse than many excellent colleges (a lot of contention about admissions). So it's right there on Braddock, but who knows.

We moved and are now in Laurel Ridge. My daughter is in Spanish partial immersion and my son is in K (full day). The Spanish program is outstanding, and the fluency is so beyond what you typically achieve thorugh high school instruction, even if you are the sharp kid. Such an asset. The immersion kids score tops on SOLs too, so they are not missing content instruction at all. In fact, we tend to learn the content both in English and Spanish.

[OrangeFish]

Originally Posted by JEB77

I think the concerns expressed with respect to Annandale inside-the-beltway are probably overstated. Certainly most of the neighborhoods that have Annandale mailing addresses north of Route 236 and Columbia Pike are peaceful, suburban neighborhoods. I think the part of Annandale that seems to generate the most negative buzz is the portion that is inside the Beltway, south of Route 236 and west of Ravensworth Rd.

One of the best elementary schools in the area, Braddock Elementary, is located in the geographic area you described. The principal has even been nominated for Principal of the Year.