Part of the lore of New York City for the past decade or so, like muggings and Manolos, includes children barely potty trained vying for spots in elite preschools, being turned away for such transgressions as faulty finger painting and mono-lingualism.
While the days of trilingual toddlers and Tolstoy-reading three-year-olds may be some years away, the onslaught of young upper-middle class couples to the area has spread the demand for higher end day care to Northern Virginia. In the past ten years, what was once the domain of Chesterbrook Academy and a few other private schools, has been taken over by a range of elite schools offering academically rigorous programs for children as young as eighteen months. Northern Virginia has been a hot draw for high-end childcare chains.
“There’s a huge demand in Loudoun county, especially, there are lots of young people moving here with young children,” explained Heather McGuinness, owner of the Goddard School in Leesburg.
The biometric fingerscan at the front entrance is the first sign that the BeanTree Learning Center in Ashburn is not your average day care. In fact, the center avoids the term “day care” at all, instead preferring to think of itself as a school. The facility is divided into eight activity rooms, including an international café, a sidewalk-style continental eatery, the Atlantis waterpark and a tech hub. The activity rooms empty into a large central courtyard, reminiscent of a shopping mall’s rest area, but lower to the ground and with more rounded edges. Maximum capacity buggies pass by occasionally, loaded down with wide-eyed tots.
Like many other new schools in the area, BeanTree is designed for the ease of busy parents. Both BeanTree and Goddard offer after school programs, and teachers help children with their homework and preparations for the next day. BeanTree even offers evening Tae Kwon Do and dance lessons for those who want to participate. There is also a small on-site barber shop, striped pole and all, where a child can receive a haircut in a child-sized barber chair.
BeanTree is perhaps the premier in what is considered elite child-care in the Northern Virginia area. “A lot [of parents] come here from other centers in the area. And they were dissatisfied for one reason or another. And they were looking for something new and innovative. Something designed with their child in mind, as well as reliable, dependable, staff,” explained Executive Director Sharon Parkinson.
But what sets this program apart from their predecessors is their focus on the academic atmosphere, offering a school-like schedule for children seen by others as still babes in arms. Many of the schools offer Spanish and computer classes beginning at age two.
At the Boyd School, a Montessori school in Ashburn, the majority of its 206 students are under five years old. Though an open enrollment school, there is a wait list for toddlers and parents must go through an interview during the application process.
“Our goal is to educate the whole child, to have the child at the center of what we do,” said school Director Kathleen Opiola. In addition to the Ashburn campus, there are Boyd schools in Centreville, Fairfax, Herndon and Reston.
But do these schools really make the difference between the Ivy League and a state school? Most of the schools claim that they see academic improvements in children who attend their programs, and all three say they have children reading by Kindergarten. Deborah Morbeto, whose four-year-old son attends the Goddard School in Leesburg, was attracted to both the emotional and academic aspects of the school. She claimed that she saw changes within the first month of his transferring. “I really like how structured it was. The previous school just didn’t have enough structure.” Like Boyd, the Goddard School is another chain in the Northern Virginia area with multiple campuses.
Dr. Susan Burns, co-coordinator of the Early Childhood Education Program at George Mason University in Fairfax, argued that while long-term studies have found that programs like these can enhance early development, the features of the program are essential for success. “If I had to identify two aspects of preschool programs that would indicate long-term benefits…I would pinpoint the quantity and quality of teacher-child conversation and the opportunities that young children have to participate in socio-dramatic play.” Though she added, “Stay-at-home parents can provide all the pieces needed for an excellent preschool experience.” Most schools run from between $1000 to $1500 a month for care five days a week. Despite the hefty price tag, the schools claim that the long-term benefits that they provide are more than worth it, “What is expensive when it comes to the education of your child?” queried McGuinness.
Opiola sees these schools as a shift in parents’ approach to the education of their children. “I think the shift is investing in the early years…before the money was saved for college, and while that’s still true, now we know that a child learns so much from 0 – 6.”
The housing explosion in the western counties will likely bring more young couples, willing to compromise college savings for a pre-K head start. Goddard, Boyd and BeanTree are all currently looking to expand in the Northern Virginia area. What was once a phenomenon has become a trend, and soon will likely become the norm.
The Goddard School
601 Tavistock Drive, SE
Leesburg, VA
703-443-6766
The Boyd School
42945 Waxpool Road
Ashburn, VA
703-723-3364
BeanTree Learning
43629 Greenway Corporate Drive
Ashburn, VA
571-223-3110
