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.
We are considering moving from a nice house close to the city (but in a not so great school district) to Willowsford - the Ashburn/Grant or Grange section. We have one child and I stay home right now. We've stayed in this area because I haven't yet decided whether I'll go back to work- which is close to the city as well. Now we are trying for baby number two and I find myself wanting to stay home for the long term if that happens and maybe do some part time work out of the home. I feel that with all the logistics of drop offs and pick ups and my husband's job which requires frequent travel- this would be the best for our family. If we stay in our current home it would be a huge stretch to pay for private school on top of our already expensive mortgage. We also have very few kids and SAHMs in our neighborhood and not much of a yard. I am excited about the idea of moving to a better school system and a house in Willowsford where we could have a yard - and on the high end would the price would probably be 500k less than we have now.
I have some questions though for those of you that are more familiar with the area.
- My husband works in Herndon (downtown area) and tolls are paid by his company. How will that commute be? Do any of the roads get very backed up- I think he'd leave after 8 am.
- I realize that the schools are in a state of flux and could be restructured . My son will start Kindergarten in 2016. For Willowsford does anyone have an idea of what I could expect then? Will it stay Creighton's Corner Elementary? What happens when schools are at capacity? Is it a lottery system to see who gets the spots? Once a child starts at one school will he likely stay there throughout or at least stay with the same group of kids from his neighborhood?
- Any chance of full day Kindergarten by 2016?
- Middle school and High school are not anytime soon for us. Right now they are zoned for Aldie which seems far. Any insight on whether new MS and HS would serve Willowsford on the Ashburn side?
- has anyone else moved from close in? I'm pretty used to being able to drive to anything in a few minutes and I am trying to realistically picture the day to day. How far would things like the grocery store, library, coffee shop, target, etc be?
Oh and I should have mentioned we are waiting a few years before doing anything. Just exploring right now. At the soonest we'd put our current house on the market Spring 2016. I'm thinking we can see the Willowsford community grow some in the meantime and find if it is a good fit for us.
Is this near Brambleton? I know a new high school is opening next fall that is not far away. I know, because we are in its new zone. My kids are staying in the old school though. That is high school. Not sure what they do at lower grades.
A commute to Herndon would be fairly easy from there. If his company pays the tolls it would be even easier.
There's plenty of stores in the area. You won't have to drive far to most things, but probably further than you did in the city.
I have some questions though for those of you that are more familiar with the area.
- My husband works in Herndon (downtown area) and tolls are paid by his company. How will that commute be? Do any of the roads get very backed up- I think he'd leave after 8 am.
- I realize that the schools are in a state of flux and could be restructured . My son will start Kindergarten in 2016. For Willowsford does anyone have an idea of what I could expect then? Will it stay Creighton's Corner Elementary? What happens when schools are at capacity? Is it a lottery system to see who gets the spots? Once a child starts at one school will he likely stay there throughout or at least stay with the same group of kids from his neighborhood?
- Any chance of full day Kindergarten by 2016?
- Middle school and High school are not anytime soon for us. Right now they are zoned for Aldie which seems far. Any insight on whether new MS and HS would serve Willowsford on the Ashburn side?
- has anyone else moved from close in? I'm pretty used to being able to drive to anything in a few minutes and I am trying to realistically picture the day to day. How far would things like the grocery store, library, coffee shop, target, etc be?
Oh and I should have mentioned we are waiting a few years before doing anything. Just exploring right now. At the soonest we'd put our current house on the market Spring 2016. I'm thinking we can see the Willowsford community grow some in the meantime and find if it is a good fit for us.
I live in Brambleton; my husband works in Herndon; my kids are in kindergarten at Legacy ES.
- It takes my husband about 15 minutes to get to his office (on Sunrise Valley, near Herndon-Monroe Park and Ride). He leaves well after morning rush, though.
- You cannot base any decision on the schools, especially since Willowsford is a by-right community and did not proffer any school sites. After the most recent elementary rezoning which took effect this year, Creighton's Corner is predicted to be overcapacity again in fall of 2015. The next elementary school to be built per the Capital Improvement Plan is ES-27 (site TBD), scheduled to open in fall of 2016. Brambleton proffered a third elementary site and that should be what is used for this school; if so, it will be closer to Willowsford and that is probably where you will be rezoned.
Here is what can happen when the schools are overcapacity. In 2012-2013, Legacy was overcapacity, so kids were overflowed to Creighton's Corner, but then CC filled up, so kids were overflowed to Rosa Lee Carter in Loudoun Valley Estates.
For kindergarten registration, it is first come, first served. Last spring, I showed up at 6:30 a.m. to register my kids at Legacy and people had been camping out since 4 a.m. (Legacy was left overcapacity after the elementary redistricting.) I had line numbers 115 and 116 (I have twins), and there are only 150 spots (3 morning classes, 3 afternoon classes). Creighton's Corner overall is undercapacity, but they filled all their kindergarten spots and had to add another class so their kids didn't overflow again.
The real problem is first grade. So many people put their kids in private full-day kindergarten, and those kids come back into the system the following year. If you don't go to kindergarten at your assigned school, you lose your priority for first grade - meaning, there is a chance, if your school is overcapacity, that you won't get a spot. (Right now, Legacy has 149 kindergarteners [6 classes] and 191 first-graders [7 classes]; Creighton's Corner has 147 kindergarteners [6 classes] and 165 first-graders [6 classes].)
- Full-day kindergarten is only available in "high-risk" populations, which are essentially in the handful of Title I schools. I don't think it will be system-wide by 2016. However, Middleburg Elementary is in the middle of converting to a charter school with full-day kindergarten, and that won't be too terribly far from you in Willowsford. I don't know what the timeline is for the conversion.
- A few things will impact your middle and high school zoning. First of all, Willowsford is currently in a "split feed"; kids go to Creightons Corner, then move to Mercer MS and John Champe HS. In the latest middle/high school rezoning, the school board has attempted to move to a straight feeder system. Willowsford will likely attend middle and high school north of Route 50, once MS-9 opens (fall 2017, site TBD) and HS-11 opens (fall 2020, site TBD). Brambleton is working through a complicated rezoning and has purchased land including the current site of Layng's Flower Farm, on Evergreen Mills close to Willowsford, and is attempting to proffer it as a joint MS/HS site to share fields with the Hanson Regional Park currently under development. Sounds great, but the county is reluctant. The school board has recently asked (again) for permission to consider the purchase of land off Red Hill Road (west of Evergreen Mills) as a possible site for MS-9/HS-11. Either way, those schools will be built and they will be closer to Willowsford than Mercer/Champe; plus the school board has also shown that they prefer to use major roads as "natural" boundaries, and they don't like busing kids way down and across Route 50.
- You will be only 5 minutes or so from Brambleton Town Center, which has Harris Teeter, Caribou Coffee, Subway, etc. as well as a movie theater, restaurants, gym, toy store, dry cleaners, etc. You will be about 5-10 minutes from Stone Ridge (the closest library is there, Gum Spring) and South Riding. Arcola Center and Dulles Landing are both under development nearby - with all the big box stores (Target, Walmart, etc.) - but these are running a few years behind because of the recession. I would expect to see some of it open by the time you are ready to move.
Sorry for the essay - I have friends moving to Willowsford soon and so I had most of this already "written" in my head from discussions with them. One cool thing about Willowsford is its farm. This will be their second year selling CSA shares and having a farm stand.
We're in Brambleton too, have two little ones, one in kindergarten and one in pre-school. I commute to Tysons Corner. We love it here! I echo the others on the schools. It's a little bit of rotating bingo at the moment while the county catches up to the boom going on here. But they're new facilities and top notch for public.
My comments here are on Willowsford. Nice development, but heard a few comments about the HOA requirements recently from our patio installer that I'd be aware of before buying in there. $125 fee just to apply for approval to do something to your house (deck, patio, certain landscaping, etc.), and that doesn't mean they'll approve your request. If they deny your request, it's another $125 to apply again. That's crazy, but not the craziest - you spend $700k for a new home, and they don't give you landscaping? We heard the HOA requires you to landscape your yard in a certain way with certain trees and bushes beyond your purchase of the home. Now, I know Loudoun requires a certain amount of specific trees and shrubs to be planted for these new neighborhoods to help keep the ecological peace, as part of issuing the building permits to the developer. But this is the first time I've ever heard of a developer passing that responsibility on to the customer as a "requirement" for buying the home. I know why they're doing it though - because at the end of the project, the county will come back through and tell the developer to replace any of the trees planted during the development that did not "take" and have either died or diseased as a part of the bond release process. Willowsford is essentially putting the home owner on the hook for this. If you don't do it, then I suspect a fine will be issued to you from the HOA that would probably cover the cost of renewing the bond.
I've also heard the HOA monthly fees are $175 and doesn't include cable tv. Understand, those HOA fees are almost certain to go up as more homes are built and more services are needed to support the neighborhood. The developer is likely in complete control of the HOA until the last home is sold. Some developers run the HOA like an additional profit center during construction. It's my understanding that NV today is basically the leftovers of another developer that didn't survive the downturn, and that developer had a bad reputation for stuff like this.
Not trying to scare you away from Willowsford, but would certainly read the fine print and ask a lot of questions about the HOA before buying there. Granted, I heard this second-hand and don't know this to be factual, but I'd make sure. Some of the HOA fees out here are ridiculous.
Cdmurphy- thank you so much for the information! It is so extremely helpful- you have no idea. It has been very hard to find info and catch up with all of the changes going on. Thanks for taking the time...
And a question about the HOA fees does anyone know what that covers?
First off, life will be different in spring 2016 than it is today. Two kids, their needs will change, real estate market will change, etc. If you want to move, move, if you want to stay put, stay put and go private.
Secondly, there's very few schools in Loudoun County that are high-poverty, the way some schools in inner Fairfax/South Arlington/Alexandria City are.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Btingle76
I have some questions though for those of you that are more familiar with the area.
- My husband works in Herndon (downtown area) and tolls are paid by his company. How will that commute be? Do any of the roads get very backed up- I think he'd leave after 8 am.
- I realize that the schools are in a state of flux and could be restructured . My son will start Kindergarten in 2016. For Willowsford does anyone have an idea of what I could expect then? Will it stay Creighton's Corner Elementary? What happens when schools are at capacity? Is it a lottery system to see who gets the spots? Once a child starts at one school will he likely stay there throughout or at least stay with the same group of kids from his neighborhood?
- Any chance of full day Kindergarten by 2016?
- Middle school and High school are not anytime soon for us. Right now they are zoned for Aldie which seems far. Any insight on whether new MS and HS would serve Willowsford on the Ashburn side?
- has anyone else moved from close in? I'm pretty used to being able to drive to anything in a few minutes and I am trying to realistically picture the day to day. How far would things like the grocery store, library, coffee shop, target, etc be?
1) If your husband's company pay the Greenway tolls, you're golden. The Greenway isn't bad at all, and the terrible traffic on 267 is the mile or so before the toll plaza. It should be under 30 minutes.
2) When schools are at capacity, my understanding is that it's first come, first served. Kids that register later in the queue will go to wherever there's space -- albeit on LCPS's dime and using an LCPS bus. I am not aware of any really schools in Loudoun I'd be hesitant about other than some of Park View's feeder elementaries. I think the goal is to try and get kids back to the "home" schools as soon as possible.
3) I wouldn't count on full-day kindergarten by fall 2016. Not with all the schools going up left and right, and the Loudoun Academy of Science eventually getting put on the building queue. On the other hand, the Board of Supervisors might be open to a bond referendum to have full-day kindergarten.
From my reading, there will be Rock Ridge High School opening to the east of Brambleton, near Rosa Lee Carter ES. But, it seems from a look at this map, you will still go to John Champe HS. I wouldn't worry much as it's just the other side of 50, not far at all.
In 2019-20, there's supposed to be HS-11 to serve the Dulles North planning area (which includes Willowsford as best as I can tell) -- but that is not even funded yet in the CIP, much less with a site located, etc. I suspect it will end up being further west, out around Stone Spring and 50 (there's a hospital going up there, and Arcola Center is going up there as well.)
5) I've found that stores are just less crowded out here. There's several stores going up along Route 50 to join the ones already there, and there's Brambleton. During the day, traffic to say Leesburg or middle and north Ashburn is non-existent.
Willowsford Farm is a residential-only community as best I can tell (I'm surprised they didn't try to build a Middleburg-style "village center" in any of the areas). So be careful -- if you're used to being able to walk places, you might want to consider either Brambleton, Lansdowne, anything going up around Metro, or even areas in/around downtown Leesburg. The latter has the advantage of not having an HOA, and the trashiest display is our Santa Claus in a 5' helicoper.
Willowsford would be a HUGE departure from what you're doing -- the other areas I mention are more "urban" suburbs.
Thank you for the information. I realize it will be very different from where we live now. I figure if we're not going to live close in then we will take advantage of what moving out further affords is and have a large-ish lot. Most of the other developments in Ashburn do not have lots as large as Willowsford. I also prefer some of the house styles they are building. We have several friends in ashburn and leesburg and have spent quite a bit of them there so we are somewhat familiar.
For kindergarten, I am not too concerned about the half day, just curious. Do most parents that choose private kindergarten do so because of work schedules? Are there still plenty of children that do half day without an enrichment program. I am thinking it would be a good transition from part time preschool which he is in now.
If you are thinking of moving to Loudoun County, the school system in general. Along with Fairfax, Loudoun has some of the highest ranked schools in the nation.
Make sure, when you do your home search, not to limit yourself to just Willowsford. There are many communities in Ashburn and Leesburg right off of Route 267 (Greenway). Some that come to mind with larger lots are Briarfield Estates and "The Glen" section of Loudoun Valley; both in Ashburn. There is SO much to do in Loudoun County. You can be in Maryland, West Virginia, or DC all in under 45 minutes.
Most residents in Loudoun County use the public school system for Kindergarten. I, myself, am hoping for full day kindergarten. LCPS also has an afterschool CASA program for a fee. Most daycares in the area also hold kindergarten enrichment programs for a few hours after/or before the morning and afternoon sessions let out/start.
Oh, and if we are selling you on the suburbs...Loudoun County will feel less and less like suburbs as One Loudoun is built up, the new baseball statium opens...and of course as the Silver Line Metro Project is FINALLY completed near the end of this decade. The Silver Line will go two stops into Ashburn!
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.
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.
