Wife is looking for a home in northern virginia with good high schools (Reston: real estate, houses)

[midlifeman]

Okay,

Here is the skinny. Wife wants to move out beyond the beltway to get a bigger house, but wants a good high school for the kids to grow up into. I would love to hear your definition of a good school. I'm looking at the US News report but I'm not sure if we should use this as our only basis when deciding on a school. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

[PolandSprings]

You can't go wrong with most of the schools in the area. Looks at the reports, check great schools, read reviews, talk to people with kids in the schools. Then pick one that you are comfortable with.

Most of the schools in the area are good, especially compared to other parts of the country.

[LynchburgLover]

"Outside the Beltway" is a huge area. Maybe you could narrow a bit i.e., Loudoun, Prince William. Or a general area -- Reston, Leesburg, Haymarket. Also, how about a maximum price. No point in telling you that Langley High School is THE best if you can't afford McLean or Great Falls. A few years ago, Clarke County High School was very high on the US News list but that won't work if you're working on Capital Hill.

Good luck.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by midlifeman

Okay,

Here is the skinny. Wife wants to move out beyond the beltway to get a bigger house, but wants a good high school for the kids to grow up into. I would love to hear your definition of a good school. I'm looking at the US News report but I'm not sure if we should use this as our only basis when deciding on a school. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

So you're staying put?

[spleuchan]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

So you're staying put?

That actually sounds like me like he is definitely moving. Wives usually get their way in housing decisions.

[Carlingtonian]

This may help.

[midlifeman]

It will probably be fairfax or loundon county. What say ye?

[kww]

cant go wrong with either.. there really is no wrong answer if those are your two choices, imo

[michgc]

Originally Posted by midlifeman

It will probably be fairfax or loundon county. What say ye?

What is your approximate budget? As others have said, the area outside the beltway - even limiting it to Fairfax and Loudoun counties - is a big area with dozens of high schools. Knowing your budget and what you want for that budget, as well as where you work, will give us more information to give you better suggestions.

[airjay75]

I have been doing a lot of research on this recently with regards to Fairfax county, primarily because I am looking to buy my first house. While I don't have kids yet, I have been interested how different school pyramids in Fairfax county are viewed by others and, in particular, how it will potentially affect real estate values.

For what I have been able to make out, there are generally two schools of thought when it comes to Fairfax county public schools.

One, the entire school district is one of the best in the country, and you can't go wrong with any of them. While you will find some of the schools to have different socioeconomic and demographic makeup, the curriculum by and large will be the same at all of the schools and any student that wants to do well will do well.

The other school of thought is that while Fairfax county schools as a whole are great, some are much better than others and some should be avoided if possible. The primary way people measure this is through test scores. You can see average SAT scores for each high school in Fairfax county on the school district's website, and you will see that there is a wide range. Of course, those are just the averages for each school, but it can tell you some things about each particular school. In general, I would say the schools with the lower scores tend to have a larger population of low-income and minority populations than the schools with the higher test scores. For example, I have recently been looking at homes in the Springfield area, and houses in certain neighborhoods are part of the West Springfield HS pyramid (one of the better scoring high schools) while houses in other neighborhoods are part of the Lee HS pyramid (one of the lowest scoring high schools). And, perhaps not unsurprisingly, I have noticed that houses in the West Springfield HS pyramid tend to have higher list prices - I would say that similar homes in similar condition might fetch a 10- 15% premium. The houses in the West Springfield HS pyramid also seem to sell faster than those in the Lee HS pyramids. This leads me to conclude that a significant number of people really do perceive some significant differences between different high schools.

It sounds like your kids are not yet in high school, so another thing to keep in mind is that schools can be redistricted and so if you buy on the basis of being in one particular high school pyramid now, that may not be the same one your kids will attend when they get to high school.

Hope those are some helpful thoughts for you to consider. Personally, I can tell you that I have chosen not to get too stressed about it. I am actually putting in an offer in a neighborhood that is zoned for Lee HS and I couldn't be more excited about it. That said, I don't have kids yet, so I am probably putting less emphasis on the schools than you might in your situation.