Preschool in Falls Church, VA 22043
Volunteers representing over twenty area faith groups organized the Falls Church-McLean Children’s Center in 1968 in response to news articles about children being left at home alone or in cars because of the lack of affordable child care. Wanting to address this issue, they established the Center with the mission of providing a comprehensive, high-quality early childhood education program that would be affordable to low-income working families, especially families headed by single parents.
Thanks to the volunteers’ unyielding commitment, the Center opened its doors on October 10, 1968, with an enrollment of fifteen children. From these humble beginnings in the basement of Chesterbrook Presbyterian Church, the Center has grown to its current enrollment of 70+ children, in a dedicated wing of Lemon Road Elementary School, built especially for the Center in 2003.
Today, the Center is open from 7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, year-round. The curriculum draws from multiple sources, including: High/Scope, Reggio Emilia, the Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood, and the Portage Curriculum, all nationally recognized, evidence-based sources. In addition, teachers rely on the educational theories of Erikson, Piaget, and Vygotsky, their years of experience, and the children’s individual interests.
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We believe all children have the right to participate in a quality early childhood education program with developmentally appropriate activities, in the least restrictive environment possible; we strive to provide the necessary support for the individual child, his or her parents, and the staff. The Falls ChurchMcLean Childrens Center uses innovative teaching methods to help 70 children ages two to five years old grow and develop alongside peers from many countries representing a variety of ethnicities.