Advice on elementary schools/neighborhoods North Albemarle (Richmond, Charlottesville: houses, school districts)

[PineHill]

My husband and I are moving to Charlottesville in a couple months and have begun looking at houses. Husband works on the downtown mall, so proximity to his work is important to us, as are good schools. We've seen a couple places we like in the Woodbrook and Agnor-Hurt elementary school districts, but the "Great Schools" ratings are inconsistent (for instance Agnor Hurt was a 7 last year, and now is a 2). Any insight regarding these schools?

We've also looked at a couple places in Forest Lakes, but are a bit concerned by the commute down 29 into the city. Is traffic bad? Or does it move fairly well? We're coming from Northern Virginia so we have pretty low standards

Also, a few of the houses we've liked seem to be close to train tracks. Is this just a reality of living in Charlottesville and not a big deal? Or should we be concerned about this being an issue down the road?

Any advice is much appreciated!

[gregir]

"We've also looked at a couple places in Forest Lakes, but are a bit concerned by the commute down 29 into the city. Is traffic bad? Or does it move fairly well? We're coming from Northern Virginia so we have pretty low standards"

Delays on a bad traffic day are 30 minutes at the most and usually folks in the area call the traffic bad if a 10 minute trip takes 20 minutes. By northern Va. standards there are no traffic issue. Events and sports happenings affect very specific roads and these can be NOVA like when the events finish

[PineHill]

Thank you Gregir! This is really helpful.

[jens123]

We are also planning a move to Charlottesville but are having trouble determining which are the "good" public schools. Great Schools data seems to be old (some from 2008-2009), Schooldigger is more recent but I'm not sure if it is always accurate. Can some one local offer advice on which schools are considered the best and even good schools in Charlottesville and Ablemarle?

Thanks!

[FBurgMove]

I used to live near Forest Lakes but that was several years ago. Every now and again it would take me 30 minutes to get into the city, but the traffic there is really no big deal, particularly if you're used to the DC area or even parts of Richmond.

I was actually surprised to see the low rating for Agnor-Hurt on Great Schools because that school generally has a good reputation and I know some parents there who absolutely love it. Stony Point is further out in the county, but it has a very good reputation. I don't know Woodbrook very well, but I have heard Hollymead (near Forest Lakes) is a strong school.