I can't speak to all of the Washington area, but can to the part of Northern Virginia where I have lived. I have been here for 20 years and have lived in Arlington, Alexandria, Mt. Vernon areas.

One very sought after location is the Mt. Vernon area. (I left there post-divorce). It is somewhat pricey but there are some excellent schools there. One I highly recommend is Waynewood Elementary. My children did not go there but many from my church live in that neighborhood. Excellent school. Also, in that general area are Ft. Hunt Elementay, Stratford Landing Elementary and Belle View Elementary. My children attended Belle View. Its an older school (my mother taught there when she got out of college - to tell you about its age - late 1950's- early 1960's), but the programs are good and the teaching staff is very dedicated.

I now live in the Van Dorn/Kingstown area. Decently priced homes for the area. All 3 of my children went through Lane Elementary. I can't say enough wonderful things about Lane. The teachers are excellent, the staff is wonderful, helpful and accommodating. My daughter participates in the Gifted and Talented program there and it really boosts her interest in new ideas. She loves it. Another good school in that area is Island Creek Elementary. Both Lane and Island Creek are relatively new schools. Both excellent.

I know you mentioned looking for a pre-school. (which I think is a back-up plan) but wanted to recommend one anyway. I was looking for a pre-school program for my 4 yr old when I moved here, and was delighted when I found the "Christian Weekday Program of the Springfield United Methodist Church - www.springfieldvaumc.org/CWP_Home.html- they had an excellent program and my child loved it there!
Let me know if I can help further.

Hi
There is no need to worry about schools our issue is the fact that our daughter if she went into kindergarten would only be doing half days and would be just repeating everything she has already done in the uk this year as the americans start school a year later than the uk,so that is why we are going to try to see if they will put her in grade 1 and there is no guarantee at all that they will.I don't know how international schools work and when your daughter started school but if you have any questions Cheryl the education adviser at the british embassy is really helpful,your husband should of received all the info about what help the embassy can offer.In regard to the house has the embassy housing office offered you anything as they usually try to and you can give them a list of schools you would consider and they would look for available houses in any of those school zones. Also as you probably know the long and foster property website is great for rentals and it usually lists the relevant school next to the property details and also one called militarybyowner.com which lists rentals available near military bases which are owned by military personnel.Hope the above helps apologies if just repeating what you already know,good luck with the search,keep me posted.

Hi, sorry i haven't been in touch, only 5 days to go until our removals of boxes to USA. You appear to know far more about school than I do. My children have been going to an International school for the past 2 years and my daughter will be about to start Grade 1 this school year. She will be 7 in March, should I be contacting schools to find out what year she should be in? I am finding it very difficult to locate housing within a school cachment (doing it the other way round is possible but very time consuming)Any suggestions?

Hi
Thanks, that would be great if you could let me know how you get on,it's nice to be in touch with someone who is in the same position.My daughter will be just 6 when we arrive in early Jan and my son 3.We have the problem that she should be going into Kindergarten as she is only 6 in Jan (as, as you know they start school a year later in US) but as she has just done reception in the uk and will do a term in year 1 before we move ,we ideally we want her to go into grade 1 so she can keep up when we come home to the uk.Most schools have said that as long as they think she is ok for grade 1 they will place her in it but it's a nightmare as so many of the schools only have half day kindergarten and the thought of her doing that doesn't bear thinking about! My husband is going to be working in Crystal city and unfortunately will be doing fairly long hours ,so he doesn't want to be on the metro for an a few hours a day so that is why we are looking at Alexandria and McLean and parts of Falls Church .We know a few people in Vienna though and they have great houses(as you obviously get more for your money the further out you go) and highly recommend Wolftrapp school so if you fancy Vienna it's suppose to be lovely.Not sure if you know already but If you contact Cheryl the education woman at the embassy she will also give you email addresses of people who have children at various schools so you can ask them their opinions on it.Unfortunately no one has any kids at George mason or douglas mcarthur in Alexandria so it hasn't helped us much but there are a few at chesterbrook,kent gardens if you are interested in McLean.I like the look of Mount Daniel in Falls church city but the chances of getting a house there are slim so I think I have given up on that one.On the house front the embassy only want to hear from us in Oct to start searching but we are debating whether to find our own and we are keeping an eye on the realtor websites as ,as you probably know they have told us that in certain circumstances you can just find your own within your entitlement and they will check all the tenancy agreements and sort everything out but how easy the process is I don't know.Anyway good luck with everything and let us know how you get on.

hi, we are also posted to DC (British military currently serving in Germany) and we are also looking for a house and a school. I am looking at the school test results and class sizes plus distance to school (not more than 1 mile)from the house. I am finding the schools appear to be a little better in the Falls Church/Vienna area (orange metro line) although the houses are very nice in Alexandria. Good luck and I will let you know if I find a really good one. My kids are 6 and 8 and we are moving on 4th Sept.

Hi thanks for the information it's a real help as it's so hard trying to sort out everthing from the uk.

Hi. I'm not from the Washington, DC area, but I wanted to give you some information to get you started, as you wait for other responses.

In the U.S., typically only kindergarten to 12th grade is covered by the term "public school." Since you'd be paying for preschool tuition privately on your own, you're not restricted by any preschool "attendance boundaries." Some parents find it more convenient to look for preschools that are located near their workplace, while others do try to find preschools closer to their homes, or in their churches, etc.

With regards to selecting an elementary school (kindergarten to 6th grade, usually) have you tried using the "Find a School" feature on the green menu bar near the top of this page? You can enter a city and grade level, and find a list of all schools in a given area. Public ones are rated from 1 (low) to 10 (high) based on how their students perform on statewide testing. You can also click on individual school names in blue font, to find out more details and read any parent comments about the schools.

For general questions, you might also like to join the Elementary School Parents Group at community.greatschools.net/groups/11527,the Kindergarten Parents Group at community.greatschools.net/groups/11535, and the Preschool Parents Group at community.greatschools.net/groups/11534