Leesburg Schools and GS ratings?? (Arlington, Alexandria: rent, neighborhoods, buy)

[ISOnewplace]

I've read many of the posts on this blog with regard to the great schools in Loudoun County. I just searched the Great Schools website and was surprised to see that most of the elementary schools in Leesburg were rated an 8 out of 10 (one 9 and 7). I'm in Miami now (hopefullly not for long) where the schools are notoriously bad and many of the elemantry schools are 9 or 10. Can someone please give me some insight on Leesburg schools. I am hoping to move back there soon. What is the best elementary school and feeder pattern for Leesburg. I know this is subjective but I am intersted in opinions. Thank you.

[tennisplyr]

our child went to school in leesburg. not the best experience and loudoun county has a lot of budget cuts for 2009-2010. if you are moving up here, head for fairfax county.

[Denton56]

Oh, I don't think I would advise anyone to move to Fairfax for the schools because there are so many bad schools. You really need to be careful in Fairfax. Unless you can afford to live in McLean (and be choosy even there), Great Falls, or parts of Vienna and Oakton, you are not likely to be in a good school.

Check the state website for more information on schools:
VDOE :: School Report Card

You might find that overall, there are higher scores, and fewer problems, in Loudoun county schools than in Fairfax county schools. Although there will always be individual children who have a bad experience in any particular school.

[ISOnewplace]

Okay...so now I am really confused. I thought that Loudoun County and Fairfax schools are supposed to be the best in the nation (generally speaking). I have read outstanding things about the education system in Northern Virginia on this blog. Is it changing? What's so bad about Loudoun County schools? Can you give me some examples? Is this ALL Loudoun County or just some schools? Thank you!

[Ashburnite]

The public schools in both Loudoun and Fairfax counties generally rate very well in comparison with the national average. Still, within each area and district some schools are better than others. It's true that for the 2009-10 school year Loudoun schools have made some big cuts, but that will change as the economy improves - no area is immune to that.

Loudoun county continues to grow and as it does it puts pressure on the school district to find classrooms for the kids (Loudoun has a lot of families with children!). This year there was some controversy as the district tried to find ways to decide which neighborhoods went to which schools. New schools are built as the county grows but it sometimes means that if you live in one of the newer communities your child may change schools several times over the years as the population increases and boundaries change. That's part of living in a new community: generally if you're in a more established community you aren't affected as much, although the high school boundaries have been adjusted some as well.

So as boundary changes have been discussed, some people objected to the particular school the changes place their children in. As I said, some schools have better reputations than others. However, it isn't just the reputation of the school that some people object to; unfortunately some people in the newer communities don't want their children going to school with the kids from the older, poorer communities in the area.

As with any area, there are good schools and bad schools, good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods, but generally speaking the schools in Loudoun and Fairfax counties are very good. Many people moving here rent for a while before they buy to give them some time to get to know the areas and decide what is best for them.

Good luck!

[mac10]

Originally Posted by Denton56

Oh, I don't think I would advise anyone to move to Fairfax for the schools because there are so many bad schools. You really need to be careful in Fairfax. Unless you can afford to live in McLean (and be choosy even there), Great Falls, or parts of Vienna and Oakton, you are not likely to be in a good school.

Absolutely true. You can't move into Fairfax County and assume your kids will be going to a great school. We moved into a new development in Fairfax County years ago only to learn it was one of the worst ranking schools in the County. We no longer live in Fairfax County.

The top schools in Fairfax County are very good.

[slim04]

Originally Posted by ISOnewplace

Okay...so now I am really confused. I thought that Loudoun County and Fairfax schools are supposed to be the best in the nation (generally speaking). I have read outstanding things about the education system in Northern Virginia on this blog. Is it changing? What's so bad about Loudoun County schools? Can you give me some examples? Is this ALL Loudoun County or just some schools? Thank you!

I can only speak for Fairfax County, but on average the public schools in Fairfax County score much higher than those nationwide.

The best schools, which are almost all in very wealthy areas, score extremely high and are among the best in the nation. The worst schools, mostly in southern Fairfax County and areas with lots of high density housing, score around the nationwide average.

So the worst schools in Fairfax County aren't bad, just merely average. It's just the best schools in Fairfax Country are so good, it makes them look terrible in comparison. But if you compare the worst schools in Fairfax County to the average schools of DC, Alexandria, PG County, and PW County, they are higher then those, often quite significantly.

[ISOnewplace]

Thank you all for your insight. It is very helpful. We left Arlington about 5 years ago for Miami (job position). Don't even get me started on the schools here. I imagine that any NOVA shool would be a better than any public option here. Still, it is one of our primary reasons for moving back so we might as well choose the best we can. One poster mentioned quite a few changes in Loudoun County. Which elementary school, in your opinion, would be the best academically and most stable in terms of boundaries and MS/HS feeder pattern. We are likely to be living/working in the town of Leesburg.

Please keep the comments coming!

[Ashburnite]

The schools around Leesburg are the ones that some people are complaining about. For example, some people in the Lansdowne community are upset that their children would go to the same high school as the children from the less affluent areas in Leesburg. I'm sure not everyone in Lansdowne feels that way, but that's where some of the complaints I heard about came from. Elementary and middle schools are still fairly community based but the high schools feed from a larger area. The "good" high schools in the eastern Loudoun area are considered to be Stone Bridge, Briar Woods, and Broad Run.

I think you may have seen the rankings on the Greatschools.com website, but here's a link anyway.
Schools in Loudoun County Public Schools | GreatSchools

I really can't say with any expertise exactly which elementary schools have the most stable boundaries but the ones in Ashburn Village and Ashburn Farm might be pretty stable since the communities are about 15-20 years old. Schools in the newer areas like Brambleton, Lansdowne, and the communities surrounding Leesburg might have more changes over the years since they are newer and still growing. The community of Broadlands is a little newer than Ashburn Farm & Ashburn Village but still old enough that they might not change as much.

I live in Ashburn, not Leesburg, so I don't have much info about the schools in that area.

[Denton56]

The good news is that growth in Loudoun has virtually stopped over the last couple of years, so school boundaries souldn't be changing that much except for the areas where new schools are under construction or in the pipeline.

I would definitely choose to live in the Leesburg area if that's where your jobs are. Or you might even think of going west of Loudoun to Hamilton or Purcellville, both lovely, small, towns, with excellent schools.