D.C. Area Babies

Please recommend your Ashburn area preschool!

I can't believe I'm even typing this, but after looking long and hard around Falls Church, Vienna, and Great Falls, DH and I are seriously considering moving to Ashburn.  He currently works in Sterling and will be moving to Reston shortly, so the commute wouldn't be so bad.  

Anyway, we're going to look at a few houses this afternoon, so I'd like to get a head start on the preschool search for the fall.  Both of my girls are enrolled at the Falls Church Day School and we love it, so I'll be really sad to leave.  Since our house has already sold and we have to be out at the end of March, I would even consider a preschool that would take them for the last two months of this year so they could get used to it, but we're fine waiting until the fall.  DD1 just turned 3 in January, and DD2 is 19 months, so they would be 2 and 3.5 in the fall (DD2 currently goes to a one morning PMO program at the day school).

Anyway, if you have any recs that would be great.  Also, any other thoughts/experiences about Belmont specifically as DH said the only way he will live in Ashburn is if he can live on a golf course.  :-)   (I grew up in Ashburn, but back then it was just Ashburn Farm and Village, so it's obviously very different now).

Thanks! 

BabyFruit Ticker On our way to 3 under 4! DD1 1/22/09 DD2 7/16/10 Baby Boy Due This Summer!

Re: Please recommend your Ashburn area preschool!

  • what?!?! (i have no recs...sorry) but omg, I'll be so sad for you guys to go :-(

    (although, I know that you get much more house for your $$ there) 

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  • I was wondering if you would see this.  :-) We're going to look at houses this afternoon, and there's a good chance that the drive makes us realize it's not for us.  But yes, you get so much more for your money!  A big huge house on a golf course, where someone else mows your lawn, and money remains in the bank, hard to resist!

     

    BabyFruit Ticker On our way to 3 under 4! DD1 1/22/09 DD2 7/16/10 Baby Boy Due This Summer!
  • Hi there! Congrats on deciding to move to Ashburn! We just moved to Ashburn in June, from Alexandria, and we LOVE it. It is soooo relaxing to be out of the "city" ... less people, more room, gorgeous, and so family friendly! My husband was also very weary of moving "so far out" but he loves it too. His commute (half the week to Arlington and half the week to Herndon) has been really managable, because he is able to leave very early (around 6:00am) to beat traffic, and come home on the early side too.

    I have my older son at Open Arms preschool this year and we LOVE it (not to mention I can walk there from my house!). https://www.openarms-ccdc.org/  It is such a loving environment, and even though we're not super religious, my son adores the once a week chapel. His teachers this year are so excellent. They have music and Spanish once a week and art projects each day. It's very organized and the staff are wonderful, too.

    We decided to switch preschools for next year though as we decided our son could benefit from a bit more of an academically-focused program (for his 4 year old year). And we'd like to send my 2 year old a few days a week next year too. The only school with a 2 year old program (vs. 2 1/2 year old program) that does not require potty training is Golden Pond School. We toured there on the recommendation of a few neighbors and LOVED it. It is definitely more academically focused. And I noticed that their teaching style has some European/Montessori influence which I really like. It's a bright, organized school with a great curriculum. So we're sending both our boys there next year. I've heard nothing but great things about the school. The only downside is that it is much more expensive than a church-based school. To some extent I think it's true in this situation as well - you get what you pay for! https://www.goldenpondschool.com/

    Otherwise, there are dozens of other preschools within a 5 mile radius. We were not thrilled with the Montessori school we toured. Some home based preschools look good, and I've heard good things about Goddard School and HOPE preschool.

    We looked into Belmont neighborhood, but didn't want to deal with the high HOA fee, even though it includes lawn care, etc. Broadlands and Brambleton are great, too. So many good options :) Let me know if you have any other questions!

     

     

  • oh, you should totally move here, we'll be neighbors!

    Our kids are very close in age as you know and DD is at Goddard and we really like it. It's a year-round program, she's in the pre-school class now, she started right after her 3rd b-day as she was already PTed. She'll start in Pre-K in the Fall (or late summer, whenever it starts; Goddard does not follow Loudoun Co. school calendar for much but it does for starting pre-K and K).

    All their rooms/classes are very classroom-like so even though your DD2 won't be in a pre-school class per se, she will get a school-like education IMO.

    As for Belmont Country Club, we looked there but the prices were too high for us. They have a really high HOA fee which does not include a lot, I think you pay extra to use the pools, etc. But you can get a huge house for a lot less than you'd pay in McLean.

    feel free to email me w/ more questions - sssssm_2000 at yahoo

     

  • Check out Ashburn Children's Center. another all year round place, that seems pretty affordable. We send DS to one of their other branches in Herndon (reston day school) and really like it.
  • I also grew up in Ashburn :) I'm in Leesburg now but my parents are still in Ashburn and my Mom has been working at preschools for years now. She used to work at St. David's in Belmont and LOVED it. Can't recommend it enough. 

    She's now at Golden pond (and I see the other rec from a happy mama above, so don't let this steer you away) but she says it's night and day from St. David's - just a much different style and the curriculum is academic focused, which she sees can really stress out the kids. 

    Again, just her opinions. Many kids could thrive in either situation, I'm sure :) GL with your decision!  

  • Thanks everyone!  I'm writing down these recs just in case.  We were not impressed with what we saw in Belmont yesterday.  The one street we spent a lot of time on was very squished together and wasn't as roomy as I thought living out there would be.  One house we visited did have the most incredible view of the golf course, so we're keeping that in mind.  We're going back today to look at two more homes, and then are checking out a few in Vienna on the way home.  *sigh* We're really all over the place and have no idea what we want!  Ideally we would build in Vienna, but finding a lot is proving to be very difficult, obviously.  
    BabyFruit Ticker On our way to 3 under 4! DD1 1/22/09 DD2 7/16/10 Baby Boy Due This Summer!
  • you should check out Brambleton as well and maybe Broadlands

    DDed the area I live in, if you didn't see it, OP, email or page me

     

     

  • Have heard great things about Golden Pond, we need full day so it doesn't work for us. 

    We live on the golf course in Belmont and are moving this year, we hate it. We have NO back yard b/c it's all golf course and the HOA is ridiculous b/c we never use the club except for the pool & playground and all neighborhoods have those. We are moving into a smaller neighborhood near lansdowne, more land and low HOA.  

  • We've decided that Ashburn is not for us, and are back to focusing on Vienna and Great Falls.  I'm kind of bummed that I wasn't blown away by it, but kind of relieved that we won't be moving that far at the same time.  :-)
    BabyFruit Ticker On our way to 3 under 4! DD1 1/22/09 DD2 7/16/10 Baby Boy Due This Summer!
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