tntgoodwin Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Well, I found out we will be going to Langley AFB in the Hampton-Newport News-Virginia Beach area sometime this spring. I am doing research like crazy into schools, churches, and housing, etc. We are excited to finally know where we are going. I know several of you live there. Any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Homeschool. ;) Hard to find a "good school" in that area. (ducking...) You'll be close to SWB!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giraffe Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Homeschool. ;)Hard to find a "good school" in that area. (ducking...) You'll be close to SWB!:D Don't duck - it's true. Used to live over there. Everyone I knew either homeschooled or sent their kids to private school. Calvary Classical School is one option. I reiterate what I said earlier: If you're working at Langley, live on the Peninsula, NOT on the Southside. You'll go crazy going through the tunnels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Virginia in the spring is almost as beautiful as Hawaii. :) Homeschool. Check out everything else, but keep your kids home. I grew up in Portsmouth (second longest baby on record at the Norfolk Naval Hospital in Portsmouth--my claim to fame). Was in the first graduating class at Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk. I remember Virginia Beach when it really was...the beach. :) Recently, one of my nephews has been doing genealogy, and it turns out we have ancestors who were born in Williamsburg pre-Revolutionary War. How cool is that? But I haven't lived there since 1970, so I don't have much practical advice. :D I just know that my heart melts when I drive back there and I cross the Virginia state line. :001_wub: And I believe this: To be a Virginian either by Birth, Marriage, Adoption, or even on one’s Mother’s side, is an Introduction to any State in the Union, a Passport to any Foreign country and a Benediction from Above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giraffe Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 I just know that my heart melts when I drive back there and I cross the Virginia state line. :001_wub: And I believe this: To be a Virginian either by Birth, Marriage, Adoption, or even on one’s Mother’s side, is an Introduction to any State in the Union, a Passport to any Foreign country and a Benediction from Above. That's high praise coming from a Texan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee22 Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 (edited) We lived in Hampton seven years ago...right next to Langley AFB. I grew up in the country and didn't like the congestion of Newport News/Hampton so we moved to Williamsburg. My husband commutes 30 minutes but we love living here. The Tabb area of Yorktown (very close to Langley) has decent schools from what I've been told but we have always homeschooled. Edited October 27, 2012 by Dee22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaM Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 My brother just transferred out of Langley AFB about 2 months ago. I went and visited him and it is a very pretty area. Lots of trees and the beach is crazy clean. He lived off base in Newport News but was very close to everything. He doesn't have kids so won't know much about the schools but if you need any information on the base (which is a pretty nice one!), or the area I can ask him and I know he would be happy to help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdj2027 Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Great, keep the conversation going! We will be moving to Norfolk next summer though my husband will be stationed at the shipyard. We plan on staying on the south side though in order to avoid the tunnels :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Look at a map of the area before you commit to where you want to live. Hampton/Newport News area is separated from Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Chesapeake/Portsmouth by either tunnels or bridges or both. The commuting traffic through those choke points is awful. (I'm not sure awful is a strong enough word actually.) Other than that it is a lovely area and I'm sure you'll enjoy your time there. Lots to do and see within the range of a day trip or weekend adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 Thanks everyone! We are hoping to get base housing. Most of it appears to be in the York School Division, which we have heard good things about. Especially Bethel Manor Elementary. Am I being misinformed about that? Is the traffic worse than in Hawaii? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimtaxi234 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I wanted to put in my two cents for the CRAZY named roads! I thought I was going to lose my mind trying to get directions in that town. One highway will be called three different names depending on where the place is located on the highway. Grrr! I would say, "Please just give me the street address on the road and I will find you," but they would confuse me with a full paragraph answer telling me the history of why that portion of the highway was named xyz. Grrr! :D As homeschoolers, we used our passes to Busch Gardens all the time when the crowds were low. Loved that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Thanks everyone! We are hoping to get base housing. Most of it appears to be in the York School Division, which we have heard good things about. Especially Bethel Manor Elementary. Am I being misinformed about that? Is the traffic worse than in Hawaii? I haven't been to Hawaii, but traffic is bad especially if you have to cross the water. There are 2 tunnels and 1 bridge (lift bridge so it will stop traffic to let large ships go through). There just isn't enough road going from 1 side to the other and at rush hour it is usually a real nightmare. If it snows you might as well forget about going anywhere. It took me 2 1/2 - 3 hours to get 8 miles one evening when it started snowing and it wasn't more than a couple of inches and I left an hour or 2 after everyone else did. A friend's daughter (high school graduate) was in the York Country schools and claimed that they never did fractions. Whether they did or not, she didn't have a clue as to how to do them. She didn't have any learning disabilities either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) That's high praise coming from a Texan! Ah, but I was born there, after all. :-) Edited October 28, 2012 by Ellie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) Great, keep the conversation going! We will be moving to Norfolk next summer though my husband will be stationed at the shipyard. We plan on staying on the south side though in order to avoid the tunnels :-) Come to Chesapeake, the drive to the shipyard from here is pretty easy. To the OP I agree, stay on the Penninsula, unless your husband really likes sitting in traffic. Not sure about schools, but homeschooling in VA isn't all that hard. I don't know much about housing in that area, we're Navy so always stationed at NOB. ETA: I've never lived in HI, so I don't know what traffic is like there. Husband says the motto of Hampton Roads should be "Hampton Roads, you can't get there from here" I64 is a nightmare a good chunk of the time as are I264 and I664. The HRBT is easily backed up 6 miles or more by 1530 every day. usually the MMBT isn't as bad but still a real choke point. Oh and I64 is very confusing at times, sometimes to go east you'll get on the one that says west. Edited October 28, 2012 by nukeswife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmama Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Though I live a bit more west now, I lived in Williamsburg for several years and loved day trips to the beach and peninsula. Yes, the tunnels are terrible choke points (especially at rush hour and during the summer when people are heading to the beach on weekends). But if you live on the same side of the tunnel as you work, you should be fine. York County Schools are better than the others there, but homeschooling is alive and well and quite easy to do in VA. There are two main homeschooling groups in VA -- HEAV and Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers. There is a University Model School in VA Beach, Oaktree Academy. Good luck with your move! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tntgoodwin Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 So, we are on the base housing list, and I think the elementary school for the area we are likely to get would be Bethel Manor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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