Prince William County Schools, specificaly in Woodbridge, VA

[jellibeans]

A friend is looking for some info. Which elementary schools to stay away from, which ones are good, etc. They are moving there from California so any info would be great!

[onerubberducky]

Almost none rise above the mediocre if she can Fairfax county is the way to go any are best in the nation

[daisymommy]

I agree. I live in that general area (I won't say exactly where since this is all public)--but if they can buy a house in the Montclair or Ashland neighborhood, the schools within those subdivisions are better than the rest in the area. Otherwise, I would look at private school, unfortunately.

[lmwbasye]

Having taught there, I would avoid PWCS at all costs. Either go to Fairfax county or go private.

[Cam&Clay]

FCPS employee here so I have an obvious bias, but PW is not known to be the best at all. Fairfax, Loudoun, Arlington...all good.

[mom2binsd]

Almost none rise above the mediocre if she can Fairfax county is the way to go any are best in the nation


A friend of mine has two boys and are paying for Catholic school (even though the parents are not Catholic or even religious), their neighborhood school in Pyramid 2 in Falls Church (Margarity I think) was very disappointing.

They bought their home because of the schools and then with boundry changes the school ended up with significant issues...I think like any school district there are specific schools to look at.

[TwinFoxes]

A friend of mine has two boys and are paying for Catholic school (even though the parents are not Catholic or even religious), their neighborhood school in Pyramid 2 in Falls Church (Margarity I think) was very disappointing.

They bought their home because of the schools and then with boundry changes the school ended up with significant issues...I think like any school district there are specific schools to look at.

Hmm, I wonder if she lives in Falls Church City, which has its own school system? I'm sure there are some FCPS schools that are better than others, but coming from Los Angeles "significant issues" means something a lot different to me. :)

But for OP's friend, I haven't heard very good things about PWCS. Fairfax is very close to Woodbridge, if she can maybe move into part of Fairfax or Loudon I think she'd be better off.

[egoldber]

Is her DH at Quantico? Is that why they want to live in Woodbridge?

FWIW, we are in the Falls Church HS pyramid mentioned above. :) (Oddly enough, Falls Church HS does not serve the city of Falls Church.) It is considered one of the "worst" HS in FCPS, mainly because it has a large ESL population. While it is certainly not as affluent as many other areas in FCPS, the school offers a lot and many people love it because it is smaller than many of the other much larger HS in the system.

However, the issues at a place like Falls Church would be similar to those at most HS in PWCS.

[jellibeans]

Is her DH at Quantico? Is that why they want to live in Woodbridge?

Yes and they will only be there for 3-4 years or preschool to about 2nd grade.

[crl]

Yes and they will only be there for 3-4 years or preschool to about 2nd grade.

They might look at Springfield instead. I think that will improve the schools. Dh did the Springfield to Quantico commute for a year. It's reverse traffic so it's not awful (not great either).

Catherine

[egoldber]

In that case, I wouldn't worry that much about it honestly. I think the issues most people tend to have are with MS and HS level.

[lmwbasye]

They might look at Springfield instead. I think that will improve the schools. Dh did the Springfield to Quantico commute for a year. It's reverse traffic so it's not awful (not great either).

Catherine


Having lived and taught in Woodbridge for several years, I would agree with this. I would avoid Woodbridge in general for various reasons.