Falls Church City (FCCPS — separate district) for families buying in Washington, DC metro
If you decide immersion is a soft preference rather than a requirement, FCCPS is the cleanest small-district play in NoVa. If immersion stays first-order, this zone fails the priority test.
Pick 4
22046
Mt. Daniel ES (K-2) → Oak Street ES (3-5) — no DLI in FCCPS -> Mary Ellen Henderson MS -> Meridian HS (FCCPS)
Sam → Pentagon: 18–22 min via Rt 50 / Washington Blvd. East Falls Church Metro is in walking distance of much of FCCPS for Hana.
The K-12 pipeline
Mt. Daniel ES (K-2) → Oak Street ES (3-5) — no DLI in FCCPS
GreatSchools GS 9 · Niche A+
Mary Ellen Henderson MS
GreatSchools GS 9 · Niche A
Meridian HS (FCCPS)
GreatSchools US News #253 nat'l, #7 VA · Niche A+
Sold comps and street-level targeting
- Falls Church City SFH (median assessed) sold for $1,022,400 on Q1 2026; 3-4/2-2.5, 1,800-2,400, ≈$450/sqft.
- Falls Church City typical SFH sold for $910,000 on Oct 2025; 3/2, 1,700, $535/sqft.
Anywhere within FCCPS boundary — district is only 2 sq mi, all blocks feed Meridian
Edges that look like Falls Church but are actually FCPS (Bailey's Crossroads, Seven Corners)
- Top-ranked small district in Virginia
- $1.0M is at or above median — budget actually shops the upper half
- East Falls Church Metro for Hana
- Less pressure-cooker than McLean HS
- No DLI — structurally fails your top-stated priority
- Highest property tax of any zone considered (1.30% nominal)
- Small district means less programming variety
- Limited inventory — district is 2 sq mi, ≈80 SFH sales/year
Compare Falls Church City (FCCPS — separate district) against the rest of the short list.
Westover / Bluemont (W-L feeder)
The cleanest fit on the data, but only if you treat immersion as upside, not a guarantee. Apply to the lottery for 2027–28 in November 2026, and accept Tuckahoe + W-L as an excellent fallback. This is the zone where every constraint resolves at once.
Pick 2Lyon Park / Ashton Heights
1b to Westover. Trade size for walkability — if walking to Metro and the farmers' market matters more than the extra 200 sqft, this jumps to #1. Same school lottery, better daily life, smaller house.
Pick 3McLean (Kent Gardens → Longfellow → McLean HS)
The unique-fit pick if you want French specifically and you're willing to accept Sam's commute drifting to 25–30 min and the McLean HS cultural intensity. If Spanish is fine, the Arlington top-2 zones are objectively better fits. McLean is here because it's the only NoVa zone where French immersion + a $1.2M house overlap at all.
Pick 5Vienna (Madison HS feeder)
Strong house-and-school value, fails on commute and immersion. Becomes interesting only if Sam's job goes 100% WFH or Vienna Metro becomes his primary mode.