pre-K/K programs in Springfield, Woodbridge, Manassas areas? (Burke, Montclair: rent, day care)

[ls2006]

We are moving to the area this summer from CA and my husband will be commuting to Quantico each day. Our plan is to live north of there in the Springfield, Woodbridge, or Manassas areas and we are looking for a school with a good pre-K/Kindergarten program for our daughter. I've begun researching private schools and am wondering what else is out there that my internet searches aren't turning up. We will be renting and ideally will rent in the same area as her school, so it would be a bonus to find an area that has a good elementary school as well.

Any recommendations? Thoughts?

Thanks for the help.

[goldenmom7500]

Originally Posted by ls2006

We are moving to the area this summer from CA and my husband will be commuting to Quantico each day. Our plan is to live north of there in the Springfield, Woodbridge, or Manassas areas and we are looking for a school with a good pre-K/Kindergarten program for our daughter. I've begun researching private schools and am wondering what else is out there that my internet searches aren't turning up. We will be renting and ideally will rent in the same area as her school, so it would be a bonus to find an area that has a good elementary school as well.

Any recommendations? Thoughts?

Thanks for the help.

Hi,

I only know the options in Manassas. My daughter went to kindergarten at Manassas Baptist and it was wonderful, but the teacher left and as far as I know they didn't do kindergarten this year. It still was a great place and has ages 2.5 to pre-K.

If you are Catholic, or wouldn't mind a Catholic school, there is All Saints.

There is a place called Apple Tree that you either love or hate. My friends who are a little more "structured" as parents really loved it.

Grace Wellington preschool has a kindergarten and has a good reputation.

There is a new private school called The Compass School that is $, but my friends really loved it.

Those are really the options that come to my mind for pre-K/K programs in Manassas. I could give you a much longer list of preschools without the kindergarten. All of these tend to be situated either right along the main road "Sudley/234" or not too far away ... so you could live any number of places and drive 10 minutes to these schools. That's what I did for 3 years

[ls2006]

That is a great help. We will probably end up sending her to a pre-K class instead of kindergarten, so any thoughts on preschools would be helpful as well.

Thank you!

[HereinVA]

There are a few other Catholic options with pre-k and kindergarten in the Manassas area.

Renaissance Montessori School : Home
which is in the city of Manassas, very close to All Saints

and
Linton Hall School
which is just outside of Manassas in Bristow. Linton Hall is right off the 619. If you take follow the 619 about 25 minutes, it takes you right to the front gate at Quantico. Lots of nice, family friendly neighborhoods in Bristow

[Yankeesfan]

Saint Bernadette School in Springfield is wonderful. They don't have a preschool but Springfield Methodist Church is a few blocks away and it has a wonderful preschool program.

[goldenmom7500]

Originally Posted by ls2006

That is a great help. We will probably end up sending her to a pre-K class instead of kindergarten, so any thoughts on preschools would be helpful as well.

Thank you!

OK, the names aren't coming to me ... these are in Manassas unless I specify otherwise:

Alpha-Bet: this is a cooperative preschool; this is where my daughter went - we loved it

Little Elves: in Nokesville - one of the preschools was booted from its church basement in Manassas (the church wanted the preschool to be tied to the church) so this one moved to Nokesville - I never toured but it was very popular

Manassas Presbyterian: good reputation

Haymarket Baptist: this is the one that is really difficult to get into, just in terms of available space - also would be a little out of your way (Haymarket)

I forget the name, but there is one at the Episcopal Church in Gainesville on Route 29: good reputation, also out of your way

Methodist church on Sudley: I forget the name of this church/school - this is the one that booted out "Little Elves" a few years ago, I'm sure it's good

There are also a few of those private places in nice buildings that are frequently chains ... the names aren't coming to me and I didn't tour any; some of my friends went to these. You know the type called "academies". We were just more into the preschools in church basements.

[dizzyblond70]

My son currently attends Little Hands Preschool in a church. GREAT programs. Its his 2nd year. Last year they gave us a photo album with pictures from every event and activity they did, it was so adorable. Its also near Montclair, a nice family community with good schools. We live in Triangle next to Quantico.
Feel free to email me.
Andrea

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Most of the pre-schools associated with churches are the best - much better than commercial preschools. The end of January was when most of us signed up for Sept. 2008 - so a lot of the very good ones are filled up already. You might get lucky though - the one I use - St. Stephens in Burke still has openings in the afternoon. Burke and Springfield borders intersect

[Yankeesfan]

Even if you find a school that's full, it's worth signing up for the waiting list since people here move a lot (not that it's a guarantee, but it's not hopeless either).

[FatherOf2]

I'm interested in this topic too.

I have a son that's 3 and a daughter that's 1 1/2. When it was just the son, he went to Minnieville, a local day care chain, which was OK. He developed really quickly and he's smart and personable, but no telling how much of that was the school. On the flipside, he got sick a lot -- which tends to be par for the course -- but then he had to stay home a day and get a doctor's note before he could come back. But you still had to pay full price for the days he didn't attend to hold his spot because there's a waiting list.

Needless to say, at $200/week, plus doctor's, plus all the days a parent had to stay home, the costs began to add up. Then when the daughter came it was all about to double.

$400/week, $1600/month ... even if you make really good money it's a solid chunk of change.

Luckily I was blessed with a change in job duties right before she was born, enabling my wife and I to take the son out of school and have one parent watch them while the other worked, then switch.

While that has worked great for a while now, we wonder if maybe the kids would get a more full experience being around other kids and more structure and such.

Distance is not a huge concern, as a parent is available to drop off and pick up, and cost might or might not be.

I would really like a place where they could go maybe 3 days a week and I could still spend time with them twice a week, maintaining the connection we've built and the behavior and helping shape their personalities remains consistent, at least for a little while.

However, I know that's asking a lot.

I appreciate your suggestions so far, and I will look into some, but if anybody knows of anything that fits the criteria (or even if it doesn't), shoot ...

Thanks.