1. Yes, it's a whole new look! Have questions or need help? Please post your question in the New Forum Questions thread Click the X to the right to dismiss this notice
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Seeing tons of unread posts after the upgrade? See this thread for help. Click the X to the right to dismiss this notice
    Dismiss Notice

Need Advice What preschool do YOU recommend??

Discussion in 'General Chat Forum' started by smheese, Jan 25, 2010.

  1. smheese

    smheese New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2005
    Messages:
    982
    Likes Received:
    3
    Thinking about moving my daughter from the AOL Daycare, where she's been in an excellent program for almost 3 years to another preschool closer to home in the fall. Looking for something that has highly qualified teachers with a strong program and option for half or full day ideally. Someplace close to Broadlands. Does anyone have someplace they have had a child in and love?? Thanks!!
     
  2. JLC

    JLC Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2003
    Messages:
    897
    Likes Received:
    8
    Open Arms. Corner of Claiborne & Waxpool. We've had seven years of incredible experiences there. My third child is in the pre-K program now which runs from 9-2 five days a week.
     
  3. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2006
    Messages:
    2,512
    Likes Received:
    19
    Here's a big list of nearby schools. The ones with contact people listed spoke at the MOMS Club preschool forum and you can contact them for more info. They pretty much all were very happy with their child's school. Good luck!
     

    Attached Files:

  4. volvo_nut

    volvo_nut New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2003
    Messages:
    364
    Likes Received:
    1
    We have our daughter is at BeanTree and we are every happy with their program and teachers. Its expensive, ~$1800/mo. They offer full day kindergarten, something we were hoping Loudoun would offer but hasn't yet. Access to the building is secure with a finger print scan. They offer a variety of classes in different rooms (Spanish, Art, Computers, etc) plus they offer things like music and dance. The teachers are fairly young, educated and our daughter has grown attached to each one.

    Our son has been with the Kindercare program (Lake Newport in Reston and the one here in Broadlands) for the past 7yrs. We are happy with the results and our personal experiences have been very positive. The Broadlands location had some changes in staff over the years and we have been fortunate he's had good teachers. He gets additional reading, science to compliment his Hillside classes. Secured access with a keypad. He also has dedicated homework time. The cost is ~$135/wk and they pick him up at Hillside on their bus. They offer Parent's night out at least once a month.
     
  5. luftinarr

    luftinarr Member

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2005
    Messages:
    1,221
    Likes Received:
    6
  6. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2006
    Messages:
    2,512
    Likes Received:
    19
    I know I already posted the big list of schools but I thought I'd add that in the five years of attending the preschool forum and visiting with other moms in MOMS Club, at The Little Gym, etc. I've heard almost nothing but good things about all our local schools. I think the trick is to find a good fit for the type of program you'd like and a place your child feels comfortable. It's still another generalized statement rather than a specific recommendation, but it seems you can hardly go wrong with most any of the schools.

    Luftinarr posted about My Favorite Place preschool and I have a friend with a child there and she (and her child) are very happy with it. It's an in-home school. My daughter spent three years at an in-home school called Play to Learn and we all absolutely loved it. Before she started there I was skeptical of in-home schools because I thought they might be cheesy and lame but I was blown away by the professionalism of the owner/teacher and the way it was run. I've heard great things about Growing Minds as well.

    Some of the more popular ones I've heard good things about over the years are Winnie the Pooh (a co-op), St. David's, Bean Tree, and Golden Pond. To be honest, I've heard a few complaints about Bean Tree and Golden Pond, but those were about their high prices, not their programs.

    Once you've narrowed down your choices, check the Virginia Department of Social Services website to see how the schools do on their unannounced inspections.
     
  7. smheese

    smheese New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2005
    Messages:
    982
    Likes Received:
    3
    thanks everyone! villager... very helpful information. i appreciate it. my kids have always been in aol daycare and this is the first time i'm exploring preschools and kindergarten for this september (my kids will be 3 and 5 then). It's all a little overwhelming, especially finding the right times of day to jive with my infant's schedule at home. lots of juggling and driving around i guess! ;-)

    still trying to figure out if my son would be in morning or afternoon kindergarten at hillside....
     
  8. sharse

    sharse TeamDonzi rocks!!

    Joined:
    May 28, 2005
    Messages:
    2,795
    Likes Received:
    9
    Has Open Arms stabilized? A few years ago they had some nasty turnover issues.
     
  9. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2006
    Messages:
    2,512
    Likes Received:
    19
    I had always heard good things about them but their record on the Social Services Website was pretty crappy. I was surprised. Maybe the problems were before the new director arrived?
     
  10. JLC

    JLC Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2003
    Messages:
    897
    Likes Received:
    8
    Seems pretty stable to me. Same faces for the past couple of years. When they were transitioning directors was during the time frame I didn't have any kids in preschool.
     
  11. Chase

    Chase New Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2003
    Messages:
    138
    Likes Received:
    0
    I second My Favorite Place Preschool. Wonderful school and teacher.
     
  12. KPFamily

    KPFamily New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2006
    Messages:
    189
    Likes Received:
    1
    I third it! Awesome!
     
  13. rich351854

    rich351854 New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    Messages:
    464
    Likes Received:
    2
    I think there is a very big difference between a daycare environment and a pure school environment.... to that end, in our experience (twin 5 year olds)

    Golden Pond School is very good... it is not a daycare and is purely a school.... The teachers are highly qualified and the programs are excellent......it is kind of expensive (i think we pay about $10K for morning preschool with a lunch program) but our daughter loves it

    Our other daughter goes to growing minds school (home based preschool).... again a very good program with highly qualified staff.
     
  14. mikebnllnb

    mikebnllnb Active Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2009
    Messages:
    142
    Likes Received:
    26
    We've used 3 preschools in this area.

    Golden Pond (behind Bloom in Farmwell Hunt) had great teachers but when my youngest was ready for preschool we discounted them due to the cost. But would recommend them highly.

    Winnie the Pooh co-op.(off Belmont Ridge rd in old church) We had our oldest in a co-op preschool in centreville that we loved so when we moved to Ashburn we looked for another co-op. Unfortunately we were not happy with this school at all. The teacher my son had was awful and the school was run poorly. STAY AWAY!!!!

    Kids Under Construction Preschool. (in Sterling off Church Rd) We currently have our youngest enrolled there now. We've been very happy so far. The teachers are great and the school is very well run. The cost is also reasonable.
     
  15. krmckee

    krmckee Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2006
    Messages:
    497
    Likes Received:
    6
    I will kindly disagree with the statement above about Winnie the Pooh Preschool. Both my daughters have attended and we could not have been any happier. Nurturing, professional teachers and strong parent involvement makes you feel part of the community. Here you will feel like family. My youngest is still there and my eldest was extremely well prepapred for Kindergarten. She now excels in 1st grade at Mill RUn. You can run a search on these forums and find plenty of very positive feedback about our school. If you are interested, I urge you to visit our Open House on Feb 11th or schedule a private tour.
     
  16. vdb

    vdb New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2007
    Messages:
    246
    Likes Received:
    0
    Our daughter also attended My Favorite Place Preschool as a 2.5+ year old and loved it and we were VERY pleased with the environment and Ms. Hoyler. We switched to Open Arms the past 2 years since the hours worked better for our schedule and we're also VERY pleased with it as well and our daughter is so disappointed on "non-school" days.
    Best wishes!
     
  17. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2006
    Messages:
    2,512
    Likes Received:
    19
    The preschool spreadsheet I posted previously incorrectly listed Winwood's rates as monthly. They are weekly. Attached is a corrected spreadsheet. Sorry about that!
     

    Attached Files:

  18. kvandyke1@aol.com

    kvandyke1@aol.com New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2010
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    0
    Funny - my son was at the AOL preschool up until July of last year. He now attends preschool at The Boyd School (Montessori) off of Truro Parish Road. It's a very nice facility and the structure is just perfect. We are satisfied!
     

Share This Page