from fairfax county to anne arundel (Baltimore, Severn: low income, real estate, school districts)

[novadris]

we are considering a move next spring (mainly for a better school district) and would love to hear from someone who moved from northern va to anne arundel county. my husband's office is in reston, but he only has to go in at busy times. if you did make this move, are you happy you did?? thanks!

[drs72]

I was under the impression that Anne Arundel County schools weren't very good overall. And, for that matter, aren't Fairfax County schools among the best in Virginia?

[newhart]

I'm confused about this too. Anne Arundel has a couple of pockets that would be considered good, but there are a lot of not-so-good areas. Overall, I think Fairfax schools have a much better reputation.

[novadris]

most of fairfax county is great. unfortunately, our elementary is not rated that well

[Steelers10]

Originally Posted by drs72

I was under the impression that Anne Arundel County schools weren't very good overall. And, for that matter, aren't Fairfax County schools among the best in Virginia?

Another popular myth that is propogated but never really examined for truth (like the myth that you pay lower real estate taxes in Virginia). Certainly reputation plays a factor and I am more apt to examine high school rankings from Newsweek although this method is always panned despite the methodology actually being quite sound. If you are looking at rankings based strictly on test scores (which I personally loathe) check out Schooldigger.com.

In their ranking system (based on test scores), Anne Arundel Schools rank slightly higher (0.635) than Fairfax County Public Schools (0.630). AACPS is the 7th ranked district in MD while FCPS is the 27th in VA. The test score rankings are highly skewed due to the fact that Virginia has so many counties and independent cities. For example, Maryland has a total of 24 districts; only Kent County Public Schools has less than two high schools. In the top 24 school districts of Virginia, 13 (over half) have less than two high schools with some districts having no high schools or middle schools. The fact that you have fewer students testing in districts that lack "problem" areas (i.e. Falls Church) that leaves fewer intervening opportunities for poor performing schools to bring down the overall district rankings.

So everyone laments on how poor the schools of Prince George's County and Baltimore City are. Yes, their test scores and rankings are abysmally low - in comparison to the rest of Maryland districts which are aggregately the best in the country. But Fairfax County is the only Virginia school district with a comparable number of schools (particularly high schools) to Montgomery County, PG County, and Baltimore City. No other district in Virginia has even half the number of schools that PG County and Baltimore have. So there are a lot of low income schools that certainly bring down PG and Baltimore's rankings. However, if you were to stick Alexandria's rankings in with Fairfax it wouldn't be such an exclusive enclave anymore (Fairfax also doesn't rank much higher than Montgomery County, scoring 0.621, by the way).

Also, the bottom end of Virginia school districts make PG County and Baltimore look pretty high performing! And if you feel like looking at the bottom tier of schools for Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and West Virginia it becomes clear why so many of these states' residents migrated to Baltimore and the Maryland suburbs of DC in between WWII and the 1970s. The schools of Prince George's County and Baltimore City look downright Ivy League in comparison to the rankings of some school districts in the Plantation Belt and Coal Country. People wonder why the parents and grandparents don't push students in PG County and Baltimore harder in school; in comparison to where they migrated from in the South, the "bad" Maryland schools probably seem like paradise. So if there are "bad" schools in Anne Arundel County I would take that description with a grain of salt. Yes Maryland has many individual schools that leave a lot to be desired (PG County and Baltimore City have more of these than less) but there are no districts that are completely hapless. The further you get away from the old Plantation counties in Maryland, there is a strong correlation as to how rankings of the school districts improve. But once again, test scores aren't everything IMO!

[KLynch10]

There are some great schools in Anne Arundel County, and even some of the lesser ones have the IB program. Every school in Anne Arundel County is huge, most close to 2k or more, so if you don't want your child to be at a huge school, and have much more competition to make teams and plays and bands, you may want to consider areas like Howard and Carrol where the schools are a lot smaller... by design.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by novadris

we are considering a move next spring (mainly for a better school district) and would love to hear from someone who moved from northern va to anne arundel county. my husband's office is in reston, but he only has to go in at busy times. if you did make this move, are you happy you did?? thanks!

If you don't mind me asking, what is the lure of moving to Anne Arundel County as opposed to just another area in NoVA?

[tarp]

Commuting from Anne Arundel County to Reston, even a few days a week, is a nightmare. Also, Fairfax County schools are some of the best in the country. Don't let test scores at schools with higher percentages of ESL or special education students confuse you. The programs are superior to just about any other school district, and better than most private schools. I'm sorry, but you seem really misinformed about this whole thing.

[MDLifer]

You couldn't pay me to live anywhere in NoVA. Way too crowded and overpriced. I don't blame you for making a move.

That being said, I'm a product of AACo schools (almost 20 yrs ago) and think they're great. I graduated from Broadneck, but have friends/coworkers that graduated from Old Mill and Severna Park. I have a masters and the others I know are very successful as well. Severna Park is considered "the best" in AACo, but make sure your kids are in that school system from elementary school - it's very cliquish.

Overall, if my kids went to Severna Park, Broadneck, Old Mill or South River I'd be happy. Remember, it's what your kids make of the schools.

Then again, I'm basing this on my experience and I graduated in '94.

[tarp]

Yes, NOVA is expensive and crowded. But living in Anne Arundel County, spending gas money to drive to NOVA, and sitting in traffic, doesn't sound like a good compromise to me.