Schools

Hi L. my name is R. but please call me Nisha! Im not sure where you will be living but if the KOA that Im familiar with is right by our house. My three boys attend Birdneck Elementary. I am so happy with this school!!! We are a military family and have been to many schools nationwide and this is the only school that my children have attended that my husband and I are included in our children's well being and of course education. The staff are great at keeping in touch with you and the teachers are never to busy for a phone call, email or even a conference. My husband is up for orders soon and I really want him to extend his time here just so that my older boys can finish elementary school at Birdneck. But of course you can go on the Va Beach public school website and look at other schools. Also here in this area your child's school is zoned in the area you live so that may have an effect on your choice of school. The website can let you know what school she will attend according to your physical address and you can then research that school and Im sure you will be able to tour it as well. I hope this was helpful!!!!

My daughter is in kindergarten at Lynnhaven Elementary school. Lynnhaven is a Title One school, so they get funding to have full day kindergarten, which I consider to be a blessing; kids have to learn first grade stuff in kindergarten, and I consider it impossible to teach what they need to know in three hours. My daughter can read, count to 100 by fives and tens, is learning about addition and substraction, is receiving instruction in social studies (they learned about Gambia, of all places, last week), has PE everyday, music on Mondays and computer lab on Fridays. Her teacher has really opened up her brain to learning, something I couldn't do on my own (after all, I'm her mother, what do I know?) Now if only my daughter's self-control would match the age of her vocabulary. . .she's five with the vocabulary of a college student (but wait, college students don't have self control, either!)

Overall, the Virginia Beach Schools are all very good. People who work in other cities move to Virginia Beach so their children will be part of the school system. The teachers at Lynnhaven are all dedicated, creative teachers. As to whether or not the kids appreciate their efforts, well, it's up to the kids to figure that one out.

Hope this helps. I'm pleased with what my daughter is learning and what her teacher is trying to do for her.

By the way, the schools that are considered the best also pull children from the areas with the most expensive houses. John B. Dey is considered great, but the houses in the Great Neck area are outrageous. Same for Christopher Farms, the houses there start at $400,000. So, this just proves that socio-economic status does influence school performance. I don't think the schools I mentioned receive any more money than schools elsewhere in the city, just that the kids seem to be predestined to be better students.

You need to decide how much house you can afford, then try to find a nice one in that bracket. Don't try to pick a house in school district that you want your daughter to attend, you may be priced out. As I said, overall the Virginia Beach school system is very good and tries to do the best for all students.

I live in a nice neighborhood with houses in the $300,000-325,000 range. I couldn't afford to buy into my neighborhood, now. We bought our house almost 20 years ago before real estate went through the roof.

Hi L.! I have a three year old and have been starting to look at Elementary Schools for him- a website that I recommend is GreatSchools.net. They rank the faculty, class size, and have a lot of different information about each school. I believe you can search by city, zip code, grade or anything! They also compare schools side by side so you can look at all the different aspects. Good luck, and I hope you like it here!!

All the Virginia beach Elementary schools are good, Lynnhaven Elementary included. We chose Kingston Elementary due to receiving the best ratings. We moved 2 years prior and have a 7 year old girl also. I was very pleased with Kingston and the size of the school. We were able to place her in the gifted elementary school this year (this is a great opportunity of virginia beach schools). Every 1st grader is tested and can be placed at the gifted school. However, the elementary schools are so good, you may choose to keep her at the local school.