Day Care in Northern Virginia

March 5, 2013 8:52 AM

Due to unexpected circumstances, I'll need to find a new day care for my son within the next 6 months. He'll be 2 at the end of May. The day care he is in now is beyond awesome and is NAEYC accredited, but will be closing at the end of August. I want to keep him in as long as possible, but know that I should probably get him on waiting lists ASAP.

I would love to find something equally amazing and NAEYC accredited. I am doing the appropriate research, but I do love to hear from parents with specific experience with their day care. Does anyone have any recommendations for day care in Arlington or Fairfax counties? Any place to stay away from? Price is not a huge issue right now. Thanks.

posted by ElleElle to education (7 answers total)

A kid I know goes to Bluebird's Alexandria location and the family has been very happy with it. I think this is their site.
posted by brilliantine at 9:19 AM on March 5

It is not NAEYC credited, but I adore the Quants at Little Beginners.
posted by hmo at 10:12 AM on March 5

Rosslyn Children's Center. My two kids (who went there as infants and continued through kindergarten) loved, loved, loved it. I fully credit them with potty training both kids. They had a super organized but gentle method that worked wonderfully. And the kindergarten was just awesome -- both kids still talk about the teachers. It's a little cramped in terms of space because it's in the lower level of an office building, there's a really nice outdoor play area. And, it's only 5 minutes (walking) from the Rosslyn Metro. We haven't been there for 6 years (my youngest is now 11) so it's likely a lot could've changed.
posted by bluemoonegg at 10:46 AM on March 5

It's worth checking to see if there are any non-employee openings at Arlington Public Schools' employee daycare. We were able to get our daughter in (like, 15 years ago now), despite not being employed by Arlington, and it was a wonderful, truly fabulous, incredible program.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:38 AM on March 5

Here's a link that may be helpful - Virginia Dept of Social Services Daycare Search. It allows you to search by type of facility and location.

In my experience, everything in Arlington has a 1-2 year wait list, including Rosslyn Children's Center that was linked to by bluemoonegg (I haven't checked the Arlington schools employee daycare, thanks for that info, MrMoonPie!). In fact, when I called RCC (at 16 weeks pregnant!), they told me that there is an 18-24 month waitlist and encouraged me to open up my own daycare center (no thank you!). Maybe it'll be better for you, since you have an older child and the room ratios can be larger, but I just wanted to give you that heads up. It's insane.

Also, I've found the message boards on DC Urban Moms to be helpful (incredibly snarky, but helpful nonetheless). And depending on where you live, consider asking your local moms club for tips.

You could also consider an in home daycare. They are obviously not NAEYC accredited, but do get inspected by the States and counties and you can look up violations at the site I linked to above.
posted by echo0720 at 3:23 PM on March 5

Sorry - when you say you're doing the appropriate research, that probably means you already know about that website...
posted by echo0720 at 3:25 PM on March 5

Infant Toddler Family Day Care
posted by callmejay at 11:18 AM on March 6