Alexandria Schooling Question. (Burke, McLean, Springfield: low income, section 8, crime)

[cnparda]

Good morning all, I recently put a bid on a great house in Mt. Vernon Manor. Having a 12, 11, and 2 year old schooling was important to us so we wanted Fairfax county schools. Looking at the stats though, it appears that Twain Middle School and Mt. Vernon High School have some violence issues and some less then stellar scores.
Can anyone comment on Twain or Mt. Vernon high? Are there better schools in Alexandria, West Springfield...? Any help on schools in the area would be greatly appreciated. Here is our stats: 600K or less for a house, commute to Bolling AFB, 3 kids, wife is a Physical Therapist so she can find work anywhere in the area.

[dullnboring]

Mount Vernon High School is generally regarded as the worst high school in Fairfax County. Keep in mind though that is a bit of a skewed assessment however as Fairfax County schools in general are above and beyond the national average. In turn, Mount Vernon is not a horrible inner city school by any means but it is I would say on nationwide scale a markedly (but not exceptionally) below average. Schools in general in this area, the "Alexandria portion" of Fairfax County are among the lowest-performing in Northern Virginia for a variety of reasons. Namely, there is a much larger lower-income population in this area than other parts of Northern Virginia, so that carries with it a lot of the expected problems. With that said, I generally believe that provided a child isn't going to school at a horrible inner city school (which MV isn't) and their school has opportunities for success (which MV does), academically-inclined children will flourish in any environment you put them in.

I would say that T.C. Williams, the only public high school in the city of Alexandria, is a better choice (more academic options, better scores), as is virtually any other high school in Fairfax County. Since you explicitly mentioned West Springfield, it definitely has better schools than those in the Route 1 Corridor of the county, and the schools also outperform those in the city of Alexandria, and you should be able to purchase a single family home (maybe not a new one) for less than 600K.

While I would recommend elsewhere over Mount Vernon, I'm sure things will work out fine sending your children to Mount Vernon. Our state's former (hallelujah!) Senator George Allen sent his kids to school there when he had the means to send his kids anywhere he chose.

[The Dissenter]

As a graduate of TC Williams and someone who goes to college with kids from Mt. Vernon, Hayfield, West Potomac, and Edison i have to say i have fewer problems with college work than my fake Alexandria classmates. TC has an unfair reputation of being bad b/c we are the only HS in Alexandria City and have to take the hoodrats kids with the yuppies kids. I strongly believe that TC has a leg up on most of the schools in most parts of Virginia in total opportunity and is running near the front of the pack with all the NoVA schools despite not having the most impressive test scores. 600k may buy you a great townhome or a small home inside the city limits. I really think if you can afford it then its worth it to get into Alexandria city schools over Fairfax Co. ALexandria schools.

[cnparda]

Thank you for your responses. Since I don't want to lose my 5k deposit I will do a wait and see. If the inspection poses a problem I will opt out of the house and try for Burke or West Springfield. Alexandria was enticing to me because of the shorter commute time, but schooling is obviously more important. Burke has great schools but the houses were very small for the money.

[5stones]

as with all of this area...there's a reason that the realestate along rt 1 is cheaper than other areas. The schools aren't as good and crime is higher. Take this with a grain of salt......If it's priced too good to be true there's a re reason. Like the prime location of 7 corners too bad too!

Burke has great schools but the houses were very small for the money.

Yes...it's more desirable.

And you have also closed the barn doors after the horses have gotten out...asking about what the area is like AFTER making a bid on a place. Life lesson learned.

As DnB said...is it inner city bad, NO. it's just not up with the top Fairfax county schools. A mistake many make moving here...Just because the county as whole has EXCELLENT schools doesn't mean each and every one is excellent. The area encompassing the greater DC area is HUGE, we have low income, we have section 8 housing, we have crime, we have illegal immigrants etc...

But with that... I agree whole heartedly with this statement...

academically-inclined children will flourish in any environment you put them in.

it's often the C -D+ students that often suffer...they get overlooked the overachivers will always be so. The extreme learning problems will be helped with govt $$$ etc..

[claremarie]

Mount Vernon has an International Baccalaurate program, which is wonderful for high-achieving motivated students. Fairfax County generally puts these programs in schools with struggling populations (there are none in the richest schools), but they create a "school-within-a-school" for good students that tends to insulate them from the problem kids. If you have real high-achieving students, consider that their chances of admission to selective schools, and even to the flagship state university schools, is actually higher coming from a school like MV than from the science magnet high school or schools like McLean, Madison, and Langley, which are filled with affluent and well-prepared Ivy League wannabes.
But, in general, the other posters are correct to point out that MV does not have a stellar reputation.

[cnparda]

Thank you all for your help. I did get out my contract in Alexandria, apparently VA just passed a law that said based upon the home inspection I can opt out of the contract without giving a reason. In my case however, I had numerous reasons so it was a blessing. Radon levels were through the roof and the guy who owned the house did lots of unapproved home work which led to the house being deemed unsafe and a structural engineer would have to be called in.

The owner was a govie civilian and the house was purchased from him by the gov so he could move. The agency that owned it played hardball with the price of the house so now after all the inspection stuff they have to disclose to the next potential homeowners based upon my inspection. I bid on a house in Burke Center and it was accepted so if all goes well with the home inspection I will move in a month. BTW, houses in Fairfax are selling really well now that school is around the corner. Most of the houses I liked at offers on them within a week or two of listing. My house was listed for 3 days. Thanks... Dan

[5stones]

I think you will be very happy in Burke. Good Luck!

[diciembre232000]

Hi. I'm a teacher and have an offer from Loudoun County Public School. I'm looking for a good and cheap place to move near Leesburg . I'm really confuse about the moving and if I'm making a good election. If some of you are from that area please tell me. They offer 49,000 a year. But I have a job in Puerto Rico for about 7 years. . It pays only a half but I thing cost of life a taxes are bigger in Va .In VA the job offers are for every year. I have listen about a December list but don't know what is it. Please answer soon because I have to decide. Thank for all the information you can provide.

[csread]

Two good websites for checking out schools, including parent rankings of them: greatschools.net and schoolmatters.com There are many fine schools in the Northern Virginia area, and even the ones that may not rank as high looking at the numbers still turn out very successful and motivated young adults who go on to college and careers despite what high school they went to. Having grown up in a small rural southern town in Virginia, I find it fairly puzzling that so much emphasis is put on the schools. My friends and I have gone on to have terrific and fulfilling careers despite our small town education. There are very few magic bullets in life, and what school you go to certainly isn't one either.