Schools + New to the Area = Confused (Arlington, Alexandria: middle-class, apartments, renting)

[chicagotodc]

I'm moving to DC at the end of the month (yay!), and will be crashing in for a bit while I house hunt. One of the key things I'm looking for is "good schools" (daughter is 1 year old, but I'm looking for a 10+ year home) , which is of course, subjective. I'll be working in Tysons so need to stay within some semi-reasonable distance to that, and would prefer to stay within some reasonable distance of DC as well.

The obvious choice appears to be Mclean (I keep hearing thats 'the' area for schools), but certain areas of Falls Church are apparently OK too (but apparently not Falls Church City? I've seen quite conflicting comments on this). If I've understood things correctly, anything that DOESNT feed into Fairfax county public schools would be ok (although again, I've seen conflicting statements on that)? Other areas such as Arlington, Dunn Loring, Pimmit Hills, Vienna? Sigh, too many options!

Lost and confused. Is there a website that shows school boundaries clearly or which school districts are actually good?

[michgc]

Falls Church City has its own school district and it is well regarded. Other school districts in the area are Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Alexandria, and Prince William. Fall Church City is a very small district with only one high school. Alexandria also only has one high school within its district. Arlington is a bit bigger with three high schools in its district. Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William are all much bigger with many high schools (about 30 in Fairfax) in their respecitve districts.

Again, Falls Church City schools have a good repuation. There are places to live that have a Falls Church address that ARE NOT in Falls Church City, though. Instead, they are in the Fairfax County School District. Some of these addresses feed into schools with a better reputation such as Langley High School, McLean High School, and Marshall High School (higher test scores, wealthier students) than other schools (such as Falls Church High school which generally has lower test scores and more lower income students in its population). The Vienna area schools (again part of the Fairfax County School District) are good (Madison and Oakton and Marshall - the latter which is in Falls Church but some houses with Vienna addresses feed into it). I'm not as familiar with Arlington, but I know that Yorktown has the highest test scores. Clear as mud?

[MishaMacDowell]

I used the neighborhoodscout.com website to get information on neighborhoods. Nothing beats it and you can input your old neighborhood in another state and it will give you local comps.

[heatherm941]

The other criteria you need to know is how long of a commute you can deal with and your price range. Are you traveling to work during the typical am and pm rush times? This affects all commutes even short distances. Price levels vary by area. Vienna is nice and close to Tysons Corners. Reston, Oakton are a little further. Mclean is the most expensive for small old homes. If I had to do it again, I would look at Vienna.

Best of Luck

[claremarie]

In general, the schools with the highest test scores are found in the most affluent communities. If that's what you mean by "good schools," then just follow the money. Schools with lower test scores in the areas you are considering will serve a community that includes some older garden apartments, affordable townhouses, and tiny slab houses along with the upper middle-class subdivisions. The City of Falls Church has high test scores because it draws from several square miles of mostly middle and upper-middle class neighborhoods, with virtually no poor students (no really rich ones either, FWIW).

Arlington has a more diverse population, which is reflected in the somewhat lower test scores in two of the three high schools. But there is little point in paying the Arlington premium to live near DC when your job is at Tyson's. The further you go out from DC, the more house you will generally get for your money.

As the previous poster indicated, your budget and your tolerance for commuting will drive your housing decision. Because you are new to the area and your child is still a baby, you might consider renting for at least a year. See how the commute goes, and take your time checking out some other neighborhoods (and getting up early to try out the commute from those areas). Moving twice in a short time is less of a hassle and expense than buying in the wrong neighborhood. The traffic situation in and around Tyson's is a mess now with two major construction projects, but when the dust settles, the commute picture might look very different than it does now.

[Claire2900]

greatschools.org is a very good resource

[v2009]

www.fcps.edu is a great site. It provides statistics on public schools in Fairfax county, including demografics, test scores, etc. You can locate a school by just entering an address of a home you are considering to buy.

[tgbwc]

Definitely use the fcps website as a resource. Search a school and look at its profile. You will be able to see a ton of information about the school and it is all factual, unlike greatschools.org.

[novajs]

It depends on what your definition of a "good school" is. If you measure a school by test score, they can be found by searching the fcps.edu. In general, the top ten Fairfax county high schools are:

1) TJHSST
2) Langley
3) Mclean
4) Woodson
5) Madison
6) Oakton
7) Marshall
8) Chantilly
9) Westfield
10) Herndon

Obviously test scores change from year to year but they don't fluctuate that much.

Many people have different opinions about using test scores, which correlate strongly about the socioeconomic statuses of the students, to measure how good a school is. Some schools serve low income students, so their test scores are lower. But they provide a fine education and send many students to highly selected universities.

[chicagotodc]

Thanks everyone this is quite helpful. I'm just going to have to start looking in person and figuring out what I like and dislike.

Re the budget is $700-$800K, ideally on the lower end of that, hoping to land a 3 bedroom single family. Looking on redfin, it looks plausible and in certain areas near Tysons it even seems to buy more house than I want.

I'm torn on the renting issue -- on the one hand it makes sense, on the other, I don't need a year to figure out that living in Burke is too far out for me.... It seems like my options would narrow pretty quickly once you factor in budget, schools, proximity to work -- perhaps to no more than 3 or 4 key areas (vienna, mclean, falls church, arlington). I have a feeling that spending a weekend in each of these will probably whittle it down by half.

Well see - I've got 4 or 5 months of temporary housing lined up, that may be enough.