Temporary Assignment (Arlington, Alexandria, McLean: for sale, apartment complexes, rent)

[ajzjmsmom]

My hubby has the opportunity for a 1 to 2 yr detail in DC and I need some input. We will be in corporate housing for the whole time and wanted to see which of these areas would be good school wise for my kids. We have the options of Alexandria, Ballston, Clarendon, Crystal City, Fairfax, Herndon, Pentagon City, Rossyln, Springfield and Vienna. Alot will depend on what is available when the detail begins so not all may be an option for us. Hubby will be using the metro to get to work and will be working at either the Ronald Reagan building or the capital. We will have a child in elementary, one is middle and one in high school. Any input would be great appreciated. I won't know anything else until probably the first or second week of June.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by ajzjmsmom

My hubby has the opportunity for a 1 to 2 yr detail in DC and I need some input. We will be in corporate housing for the whole time and wanted to see which of these areas would be good school wise for my kids. We have the options of Alexandria, Ballston, Clarendon, Crystal City, Fairfax, Herndon, Pentagon City, Rossyln, Springfield and Vienna. Alot will depend on what is available when the detail begins so not all may be an option for us. Hubby will be using the metro to get to work and will be working at either the Ronald Reagan building or the capital. We will have a child in elementary, one is middle and one in high school. Any input would be great appreciated. I won't know anything else until probably the first or second week of June.

I'd pick Vienna first, Fairfax (depending on triangle, it may be a tie with Vienna), and then Springfield (depending on triangle, may bump Fairfax).

[Fern435]

It's safe to say that many homeowners on here will chime in with Vienna.

Maybe Tone should rename this the "Vienna Forum--Vienna Recommended In Every Thread."

(We rent here in northern Virginia.)

[normie]

LOL, yup, Fern predicted it: of those choices I'm another one who'd go with Vienna.

[JEB77]

Vienna is great and also convenient to two Metro stations. But I'd also strongly consider Arlington. Arlington is closer to DC than most of the other places you mentioned and the schools around the Ballston and Clarendon areas are good as well. You won't have as much space as further out in Fairfax, but your husband will have a shorter commute, and that might be an important consideration if you're moving all the way across the country and will have kids in three different schools. You do want to check the specific neighborhoods around Ballston and Clarendon - some are primarily apartment complexes filled with younger adults, but there are also neighborhoods like Lyon Village full of SFHs with families and kids.

[ajzjmsmom]

Thanks for everyones input, we will have to be in something that is furnished as this is only a temporary assignment and our furniture stays here in NM. We definately want hubby to be close to the metro station. When we were here before he walked to the Pentagon City stop. Just needed some more input to make sure we settle where the kids will be okay in school.

[CaseyMac]

Vienna all the way....with the exception of North Arlington because it is just as good as Vienna and closer to DC. Look at zips 22201, 22203 (usually), 22205, 22207 (yeah!) and 22213.

You'll notice there is a lot of Vienna and Arlington pride here. You just can't beat these two places when you're sitting in some areas of Northern Virginia going, how could I live here???

James Madison HS is the one for Vienna and Yorktown or Washington-Lee are the ones for Arlington. James Madison and Yorktown are very suburban and W-L has a little more of an urban element to it. Not major, but it is present.

Good luck to you.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by CaseyMac

Vienna all the way....with the exception of North Arlington because it is just as good as Vienna and closer to DC. Look at zips 22201, 22203 (usually), 22205, 22207 (yeah!) and 22213.

You'll notice there is a lot of Vienna and Arlington pride here. You just can't beat these two places when you're sitting in some areas of Northern Virginia going, how could I live here???

James Madison HS is the one for Vienna and Yorktown or Washington-Lee are the ones for Arlington. James Madison and Yorktown are very suburban and W-L has a little more of an urban element to it. Not major, but it is present.

Good luck to you.

Students in the town of Vienna attend Madison. Students in Fairfax County with Vienna mailing addresses attend a bunch of different high schools - including Langley, McLean, Madison, Marshall, Oakton, and South Lakes. They are all part of the county system and all very good by state and national standards.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Students in the town of Vienna attend Madison. Students in Fairfax County with Vienna mailing addresses attend a bunch of different high schools - including Langley, McLean, Madison, Marshall, Oakton, and South Lakes. They are all part of the county system and all very good by state and national standards.

I don' t think any kids with a Vienna mailing address attend Langley.

There's a small pocket of homes near the intersection of Leesburg Pike and DTR that are within the McLean HS zone though.

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by live_strong28

I don' t think any kids with a Vienna mailing address attend Langley.

There's a small pocket of homes near the intersection of Leesburg Pike and DTR that are within the McLean HS zone though.

Here's one example of a house in Vienna zoned to Langley:

FX7016307 on FranklyMLS.com 10249 LEESBURG PIKE, VIENNA VA for $1,399,000 in COLVINS FOREST Home For Sale

I would say that there are a "small pocket of homes" south of Leesburg Pike in Vienna (county, not town) that are within the Langley zone, and a half-dozen neighborhoods in Vienna in the McLean district. The largest such neighborhood is Shouse Village but there are others (Wolftrap Run, Wolftrap Meadows, etc.).

But your confusion is understandible. If you were just looking at the map, you'd assume most of these neighborhoods south of Route 7 would be zoned to Marshall or South Lakes, and that part of the Langley attendance district north of Route 123 should be zoned to McLean. I note this with some trepidation, because I'm really not advocating for a redistricting (they are typically not handled well by the School Board, and lead to big fights over distinctions that probably aren't all that significant).