Ashburn Village Country Day School

After researching around for quite a while, we finally decided to get our 4 year old enrolled in the Kinder Prep class here. Ms. Sayako is her class teacher and is absolutely wonderful. She maintains a good balance between academics, social skills, and playtime. Our daughter is learning sign language, computers, and doing little science experiments. The school has a nice outdoor playground as well. Kids get to play outside, weather permitting. She keeps talking about her teacher and friends, even when at home, and that’s always a good sign. It’s been 6 months and my daughter just loves it. AVCDS is the best place for our child!!

My son attended AVCDS from 2mo-5yrs (2010-2015). When looking for care, I considered 7 places in Ashburn & the local area. None were perfect. Every one had violations (listed on the VA Dept of Social Services website). AVCDS had the most minor - one factor in my decision. The facility itself was another factor (clean, spacious, lots of outdoor space, a library, computer room). I also had recommendations from acquaintances. I've been very happy with the staff & school program. The staff is very loving, caring & knows my son & me. This helps especially when kids have their challenging moments: i.e., my son was never a biter or aggressive child, so when he had an off week and was biting (even non-aggressive kids have their moments), the school knew this was not normal behavior for him & was able to address it in his context (rather than simply label him bad or a bully). My son has severe food allergies (nuts, eggs) & that's been handled well. The school is nut-free. I can bring food when he can't eat what is served. When he was a toddler there was a lot of caregiver turnover in his room making it a challenge to ensure that information on his allergies was continuously propagated for a couple of weeks. Out of the last 5 years, this was probably the only time I was a little worried & in retrospect, I think all I needed to do was be more vocal about my concerns. I believe they would have been addressed. One of the best things is how the program develops as the children get older. Meals, naps, & activities are all on a schedule (works well for us). Things became more academic starting around the age of 2 & continued through pre-K, each year increasing in complexity. I love the pre-K classrooms where each week is a theme (space, camping, the ocean, etc) and books/activities are all about that theme. It's a great way for kids to learn, especially since they vary wildly in their abilities to read/write at this age. Between the pre-K program & the fact that we read at home every day, my son is more than prepared for Kindergarten. I love the amount & variety of outdoor space. There are play areas for different ages with lots of room to run around. In summer, the kids also get "splash time" twice a week in a fun area set up with sprinklers. I also like that there are no TVs in the program (I briefly considered in-home daycare providers but one reason I nixed it is that they ALL had a TV on for a large part of the day). As for the other reviews, we were there when the current director and asst director started. There's always a transition period with new employees till they find their groove. I've always found the staff responsive & willing to listen. They've always had a great attitude towards caring for the kids & taking care of the school. I've never had a problem getting in contact with the owner, but, the front office staff & in particular the director is supposed to be the person who handles anything that comes up. That's what they're there for. One example when my son was in the infant room: They used to use pushpins on bulletin boards in that room. One day, a teacher dropped a pin. She knew she dropped it & while all the adults were looking for it, my son found it & put it in his mouth! They recognized this immediately, took it away, & he was fine. Given that, it's possible they might not have reported the incident... but, the classroom reported it, an incident report was written, a corrective action taken (no more pushpins in that room!) & I received both written notification & a phone call! That told me this was a very responsible school. Stuff is going to happen - it's all about how it's dealt with & I've always been happy with how things are handled. Over 5 years, I've seen them change & adapt in response to parents (i.e., like when they started text message blasts to inform about delays/closings during bad weather). It's a great place. I am extremely happy with AVCDS & highly recommend it to others.

My daughter is now 5 years old and has been attending AVCDS since August of 2010. I recall vividly her first day at AVCDS when she was 3 months old. Leaving her at day care for the first day was gut wrenching for me, but Stephanie (owner) was at the front desk and as I was walking away from the infant room and down the hallway crying, almost hysterically, she comforted me and assured me that they would take excellent care of her. To this day, that has been the case. My daughter is a vivacious, very bright, friendly child who loves to learn and experience new things. The staff and teachers at AVCDS have definitely contributed to her emotional and intellectual development. There have been some issues over the years with turnover and I did have some concerns in that regard, but I don't believe that has in any way negatively impacted my daughter. When I have experienced any issues or concerns regarding her development or social interaction with other children (such as being bitten by other children or bullied) or with a few teachers (when I questioned their approach or tactics), I feel my concerns were immediately addressed. I agree with the previous post in that there will be issues at any/all day care centers. My daughter will be leaving AVCDS this fall to attend Kindergarten, while this is very exciting time for us, the staff and teachers at AVCDS will be greatly missed.

My Daughter attended AVCDS from the the time she was an infant until she was 7 years old. Unlike the previous posting I found the school and the management to be very engaging. They have always been very responsive to any and all concerns I have ever had. I have never had any issue reaching management or Stephanie the owner. On the contrary I found management very personable at AVCDS and many evenings when picking up my daughter I would find myself talking to the director or assistant director until my daughter would tell me "come on dad lets go". As for the teachers at the school my daughter has had some of the best teachers ever at the school Mrs. Carol, Mrs Kim, Mrs Lauren, and Mrs Crystal to name a few. I hate naming them because I can not remember them all but they all did a great job beginning with her infant room teacher all the way up to after care. They were all excellent teachers and treated the children like they were their own. As for the cleanliness of the facility I don't think you will find an cleaner facility. That is one of reasons we chose AVCDS. The facility has continually changed over the years that we were there and always for the better. It seems they are always looking for ways to improve. I would definitively recommend AVCDS to anyone looking for daycare in the Ashburn area. My experience over the 7 years there was excellent.

My kiddo has been going there since she was 9 mos old and she's 5 1/2 now, so we've been through all of the rooms. Like one of the posters said, we did experience some turnovers there and looked at other schools as I, too, was concerned about the issue. Everyone at the other schools told me if that was the only issue we had to stay where we were because all schools have to deal with that issue. They potty trained my daughter pretty much single-handedly. The kids were learning Spanish and computers in the 3yo room, the kids were learning about planets and dinosaurs and all kinds of science in the pre-K room. My daughter has bonded with all of her teachers and I feel like each has made an effort to foster her love of learning. I cannot rave enough about the teachers at the school. I feel like management from the owner to the director and asst. director has been very accessible and accomodating on addressing a variety of issues we've dealt with over the years. The facility is very clean - which was what won us over in the first place. The way we've been treated keeps us there.