Reston vs. Herndon (Arlington, Oakton, Fairfax: middle-class, find a job, elementary school)

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by restonornot

Can anyone weigh in on the best schools in Reston? I've been reading about the worst...what about the best performing elem., middle, and high?

You can google to get the specifics pretty easily, but basically the South Lakes school pyramid went through a merger about two year ago and went down hill in a big way. Basically you want to get into the Oakton Pyramid. Problem is that it's very expensive. You can go farther north and get into the better Langley Pyramid, but that's expensive too. There are some neighborhoods tucked away on the outer borders of Langley that are affordable to people who aren't rich. Many Retonites tried to move into Oakton after the merger, driving the prices up. Most of Reston proper doesn't really have a very good system any more.

[DennyCrane]

Originally Posted by Caladium

It's not smart to just arrive in Virginia and look for a job. There are jobs here but if you don't already have a network of friends here it may take you a long time to find one.

Yes, Northern Virginia has a relatively healthy job market right now. But most of those jobs are in the high tech industry.

What if you do work in the tech field and don't have kids? Do you still think it would be a bad idea to move to VA without a job? And since this is a thread about Reston, do you think Reston is good for a single 30something person without kids who works in IT? I only ask because I know a lot of tech jobs are out by Herndon/Reston. If it weren't for that, I'm not sure Reston would be such a great place and that I'd be better off looking closer in.

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

What if you do work in the tech field and don't have kids? Do you still think it would be a bad idea to move to VA without a job? And since this is a thread about Reston, do you think Reston is good for a single 30something person without kids who works in IT? I only ask because I know a lot of tech jobs are out by Herndon/Reston. If it weren't for that, I'm not sure Reston would be such a great place and that I'd be better off looking closer in.

I know folks in high tech who are being offered half what they made. Others w/o jobs at all. I have to agree with Caladium about the network of friends. It's hard to find a job here even if you know people. An inside recommendation isn't even enough any more.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

What if you do work in the tech field and don't have kids? Do you still think it would be a bad idea to move to VA without a job? And since this is a thread about Reston, do you think Reston is good for a single 30something person without kids who works in IT? I only ask because I know a lot of tech jobs are out by Herndon/Reston. If it weren't for that, I'm not sure Reston would be such a great place and that I'd be better off looking closer in.

Reston isn't really a great place for young singles. It's a great place if you're looking to raise children due to the low crime, plentiful parks, and generally good schools. It's a great place if you're an aging hippie who moved to Reston in the 1970s and want to die here. Speaking from my own perspective as a single young professional who works nearer to the District I still don't see what the "allure" is about Reston for someone like me.

If I were you I'd consider Arlington, which shouldn't be a terrible reverse-commute via I-66 to the toll road back to Reston/Herndon if you should snag an IT position out here in the Dulles Tech Corridor. If I remember correctly 70% of the people in Arlington are single, so your odds of finding a prospective mate would be much better (I believe only like 50% of the households in Reston are singles, but I'll double-check).

Reston is a very "family-oriented" area, which explains its high housing prices for an outer suburb. If you're not "family-oriented", then financially it seems like a waste of money.

[DennyCrane]

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

If I were you I'd consider Arlington, which shouldn't be a terrible reverse-commute via I-66 to the toll road back to Reston/Herndon if you should snag an IT position out here in the Dulles Tech Corridor. If I remember correctly 70% of the people in Arlington are single, so your odds of finding a prospective mate would be much better (I believe only like 50% of the households in Reston are singles, but I'll double-check).

Reston is a very "family-oriented" area, which explains its high housing prices for an outer suburb. If you're not "family-oriented", then financially it seems like a waste of money.

Problem is I don't think I'd ever be able to afford Arlington. And if IT salaries aren't as good as they used to be, then I definitely won't be able to afford Arlington. Also, I've heard people say the reverse-commute out to Dulles isn't any better than the commute in to DC. Not sure how true that is though.

[FairfaxGuy73]

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

Problem is I don't think I'd ever be able to afford Arlington. And if IT salaries aren't as good as they used to be, then I definitely won't be able to afford Arlington. Also, I've heard people say the reverse-commute out to Dulles isn't any better than the commute in to DC. Not sure how true that is though.

You can choose to live in something smaller like a condo or townhouse. It's really just a choice that you have to make. In many parts of Arlington you can walk to bars and it's filled with young people. Just a great place to meet people, etc. The suburban isolation in the exburbs is stifling. You'll see yourself hovering around the fountain at Reston Town Center wishing that you were in DC where there is a whole city of places to go. Personally, I wouldn't waste the early years of my life in Reston. You will never know what you're missing.

[novajs]

Originally Posted by FairfaxGuy73

You can google to get the specifics pretty easily, but basically the South Lakes school pyramid went through a merger about two year ago and went down hill in a big way. Basically you want to get into the Oakton Pyramid. Problem is that it's very expensive. You can go farther north and get into the better Langley Pyramid, but that's expensive too. There are some neighborhoods tucked away on the outer borders of Langley that are affordable to people who aren't rich. Many Retonites tried to move into Oakton after the merger, driving the prices up. Most of Reston proper doesn't really have a very good system any more.

This is not true. The redistricting was done to draw more upper middle class students from Herndon and Vienna to South Lakes High and Langston Hughes Middle School. The test scores actually went up at South Lakes High after the redistricting. It can only go up even more after the grandfathered in kids to Oakton phased out. Reston stayed intact in the redistricting so it doesn't make any sense that "many Retonites tried to move into Oakton after the merger, driving the prices up."

[Denton56]

I wouldn't count on kids from Oakton driving up scores at South Lakes. It still has the IB program which most parents do not want. May Oakton and Vienna parents are opting for pupil placement or private schools.

I agree with FairfaxGuy, most of Reston schools are not good. I would recommend downtown Reston to a single person, but I would not recommend Reston to a family because of the schools. Most people I know in Reston are either single, near the Town Center, or families with kids in private schools. Not that there's anything wrong with that............

[JD984]

If you put Hughes and South Lakes in just about any other school district in the country, people would sing their praises far more often.

The South Lakes redistricting only went into effect in the fall of 2008. It's completely wrong to suggest, as did FairfaxGuy, that the school then "went down hill in a big way." It's also probably premature to talk or guess about the impact of the redistricting on the test scores. SAT scores for post-redistricting South Lakes won't be disclosed until after the Class of 2012 has graduated. It is already the case that the test scores at some of the county's IB schools - including South Lakes - are higher than those at some AP schools.

However, it is clear is that there are more students at South Lakes than before, the percentage of White students at the school (a specific goal of the redistricting) has increased, and that some of the families who didn't want to be at South Lakes - either because of the IB program or for other reasons - moved or found other ways to keep their students at their old schools. Some of the families who moved felt strongly enough about it that they were prepared to sell their homes at big losses to move back into the Westfield, Oakton or Madison HS districts.

[novajs]

Originally Posted by JEB77

If you put Hughes and South Lakes in just about any other school district in the country, people would sing their praises far more often.

The South Lakes redistricting only went into effect in the fall of 2008. It's completely wrong to suggest, as did FairfaxGuy, that the school then "went down hill in a big way." It's also probably premature to talk or guess about the impact of the redistricting on the test scores. SAT scores for post-redistricting South Lakes won't be disclosed until after the Class of 2012 has graduated. It is already the case that the test scores at some of the county's IB schools - including South Lakes - are higher than those at some AP schools.

However, it is clear is that there are more students at South Lakes than before, the percentage of White students at the school (a specific goal of the redistricting) has increased, and that some of the families who didn't want to be at South Lakes - either because of the IB program or for other reasons - moved or found other ways to keep their students at their old schools. Some of the families who moved felt strongly enough about it that they were prepared to sell their homes at big losses to move back into the Westfield, Oakton or Madison HS districts.

I disagree. The redistricted kids are from Madison, Oakton and Westfields, all of which have higher scores than South Lakes. It's reasonable to speculate the newcomers will raise the test scores up a little. Not everybody can afford private school. South Lakes are going to get some of those students. It's all about the students. If you put South Lakes in Great falls/Mclean with the same principal, teachers, and IB curriculum, I bet you they would be the best high school in no time.