Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Virginia > Northern Virginia
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-28-2014, 10:53 AM
 
23 posts, read 22,685 times
Reputation: 23

Advertisements

Could anyone please advise where are the absolutely best schools in Arlington, Vienna, maybe Falls Church? Or any other area west of DC, that is not too far from DC (can't tolerate very long commute!).

Ideally, we're looking for a cozy town, rather an upscale one. High rent is not an obstacle. We'd like to relocate and live (rent) in the area to see if this is a place for us, then buy a house.

Thanks!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-28-2014, 11:17 AM
 
Location: Northern Virginia
4,489 posts, read 10,957,626 times
Reputation: 3699
Cozy towns don't really exist in Northern Virginia. Have you visited here? It's textbook suburban sprawl.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-28-2014, 11:31 AM
 
1,624 posts, read 4,873,962 times
Reputation: 1308
Quote:
Originally Posted by VeniceSunrise View Post
Could anyone please advise where are the absolutely best schools in Arlington, Vienna, maybe Falls Church? Or any other area west of DC, that is not too far from DC (can't tolerate very long commute!).

Ideally, we're looking for a cozy town, rather an upscale one. High rent is not an obstacle. We'd like to relocate and live (rent) in the area to see if this is a place for us, then buy a house.

Thanks!
Don't know what you mean by "best," but the schools with the highest test scores for high schools are zoned in Yorktown and HB Woodlawn (a quasi-magnet/alternative secondary school) in Arlington, George Mason H.S. in the City of Falls Church (not Fairfax County), McLean H.S. for areas north of the City of Falls Church with a Falls Church postal address in Fairfax County, Madison High School for the Town of Vienna and Oakton High School for some of those with a Vienna address outside of the Town.

Decent schools with higher percentage of poorer students that are also very good are Washington-Lee H.S. in the central part of Arlington and Marshall H.S., which some students with a Fairfax County, Falls Church or Vienna address are zoned into.

An easy search is look for North Arlington (North of Rt 50), City of Falls Church, or Town of Vienna, as all housing is either zoned in Yorktown/Washington-Lee, George Mason, or Madison. Otherwise, you have to pay very close attention to school zones.

You should know that a lot of the elementary schools that feed into those high schools are jammed to capacity because parents are moving in specifically for schools and some parents aren't happy with the overcrowding and class sizes.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-28-2014, 12:22 PM
 
23 posts, read 22,685 times
Reputation: 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliTerp07 View Post
Cozy towns don't really exist in Northern Virginia. Have you visited here? It's textbook suburban sprawl.
Yes, we've visited Arlington a year ago and liked it. Just don't know much about the city itself, and don't know anyone who lives in the area. I heard Vienna is a good place, but I've never actually visited it. I'm from Europe and I'm used to cozy and peaceful towns that are not too far from a big city. Even though I loved Arlington, it felt a bit too busy and loud.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-28-2014, 12:23 PM
 
23 posts, read 22,685 times
Reputation: 23
Thanks so much for the info, Slim04!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-28-2014, 12:40 PM
 
1,532 posts, read 2,270,211 times
Reputation: 1644
You might find that you will trade too busy/loud for a reasonable commute. Traffic here is legendary. How long of commute do you want? Drive? public transportation?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-28-2014, 12:54 PM
 
Location: Northern Virginia
4,489 posts, read 10,957,626 times
Reputation: 3699
Quote:
Originally Posted by VeniceSunrise View Post
Yes, we've visited Arlington a year ago and liked it. Just don't know much about the city itself, and don't know anyone who lives in the area. I heard Vienna is a good place, but I've never actually visited it. I'm from Europe and I'm used to cozy and peaceful towns that are not too far from a big city. Even though I loved Arlington, it felt a bit too busy and loud.
Vienna's probably as close as you're going to get, but peaceful and cozy are not good acronyms for NoVA...the schools are good (the more you pay for a house, the higher the associated test scores as a broad generalization), but the traffic is awful.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-28-2014, 12:56 PM
 
23 posts, read 22,685 times
Reputation: 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by Middlin View Post
You might find that you will trade too busy/loud for a reasonable commute. Traffic here is legendary. How long of commute do you want? Drive? public transportation?
Around 30 min. wouldn't be too bad, I guess. I prefer driving.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-28-2014, 01:04 PM
 
526 posts, read 902,643 times
Reputation: 632
Where exactly will you be working?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-28-2014, 01:09 PM
 
2,189 posts, read 3,321,694 times
Reputation: 1637
Out of Arlington, Vienna and Falls Church, really the only school in the area that would give me pause is the Steurt(sp?) HS pyramid. Falls Church HS used to have a less than favorable rep but I actually think it's improved a lot. You're splitting hairs trying to figure out which school is "best" out of the rest. They're all really good. If there's one good thing Northern VA is known for it's really good schools. Traffic is putrid though. You're in for a rude awakening if you consider 30 min "not too bad I guess". Most people consider that a fabulous commute around here.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2022 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Virginia > Northern Virginia
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top