Ratings, services and a phone number for every preschool or day care in Virginia.
What a featured listing costs · from $29 a month
The Goddard School of Alexandria - West is a private preschool and child care center at 1703 N. Beauregard Street in Alexandria, taking children from infancy through pre-K…
The Tom & Ann Hunnicutt Family YMCA in Newport News is a fitness and family center that includes child care programs. Under Child Care and Camps it offers…
The Williamsburg Indoor Sports Complex, known as the WISC, puts fitness, sports and childcare under one roof in Williamsburg. Beyond its soccer programs, ninja warrior, basketball, pickleball, yoga…
The Nature Bus takes guests on nature tours around coastal Virginia, with private customizable group tours and occasional public tours, and its stated mission is to be a…
The R.F. Wilkinson Family YMCA serves Greater Williamsburg as a family-oriented community center with swimming, fitness classes and wellness programs. Its child care and camps offering covers preschool…
The Goddard School of Falls Church, at 2921 Telestar Court, teaches children from infancy through kindergarten with its Wonder of Learning curriculum. Classrooms are set by age, including…
Every listing begins as a public Google Maps record for a preschool, day care or child care center in Virginia.
Schools with at least one review and a record updated in the past year stay. Duplicates are merged.
Ages, Pre-K, subsidies, meals and hours come from the school's own words, not from guesses.
When a school does not say, its page shows no information yet, never a yes or a no we made up.
Every program here started as a Google Maps record filed somewhere in Virginia under Preschool, Day care center, Child care agency, Montessori school or Family day care service. We kept the ones that are open, have at least one parent review and were updated in the past year, merged duplicates, and removed the few that turned out to be something else, such as a pet boarding kennel or an adult day program.
Then we read each school's own website for the things parents ask about first: the ages it takes, whether it runs a Pre-K class, whether it accepts child care subsidies, whether it lists tuition or keeps a waitlist, meals, early drop-off and late pickup, summer camp and any accreditation. A program is marked yes only when the school says so in its own words. Many schools say little online, so a blank on a listing means the school has not told us yet, and a call will answer it.
Owners can claim a listing to correct details or add photos. A person checks every claim. Published by Little Compass Guides.
Start with your child's age, because it rules out more programs than anything else. Some Virginia day care centers take babies and keep them through pre-K. Others start at two or three and run half-day preschool classes. Each listing here shows whether a program takes infants and toddlers and whether it runs a pre-K class, so you can cut the list down before you make a single call.
The Virginia Department of Education licenses child care centers and larger home-based programs, and inspects licensed programs at least twice a year. Some church-run centers are religiously exempt, and some smaller homes are voluntarily registered. You can look up any of them, with its license or exemption and its inspection reports, in VDOE's Search for Child Care tool, linked from childcare.virginia.gov. Publicly funded programs also take part in VQB5, the state's quality system, which publishes ratings each fall. Treat a rating as one clue among several.
If your family needs help with the cost, the Child Care Subsidy Program pays part of the bill for eligible working families at participating providers. Families apply on CommonHelp or at their local department of social services, pay a copayment, and in many localities join a waitlist first. Look for "Accepts child care subsidies" on a listing, and confirm it on the phone before you enroll. If your child is 3 or 4, ask your school division about the Virginia Preschool Initiative.
Most schools say little about tuition online, so ask for the weekly or monthly rate and what it includes. Ask whether there is a waitlist and how long it usually runs. Ask about hours, and whether early drop-off or late pickup costs extra. Ask whether meals and snacks are provided or packed from home, and what the day looks like: play-based, Montessori, Reggio Emilia or a set curriculum. If summer matters, ask whether the school runs a summer camp for current families.
Tour two or three schools in the same week so the comparison is fresh. Watch how teachers talk to the children, how clean the rooms are and whether what you see matches what you were told on the phone. A short list built from this directory, a phone call and one visit each will tell you more than any rating on its own.
Each program comes from a public Google Maps record in Virginia. We keep the open ones with at least one review, then read each program's own website. A program is marked yes only when the school says so itself.
No. This directory does not check licenses. Since July 2021 the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has licensed child care, through its Office of Child Care Health and Safety. Look any provider up in the Virginia Department of Education's Search for Child Care tool, linked from childcare.virginia.gov/families/finding-child-care, to see its license or exemption, its ages and capacity, and its inspection reports with any violations.
Virginia law lets a child day center run by a religious institution choose not to be licensed. Each year it must file with VDOE, show it has passed local health and fire inspections, follow set staff-to-child ratios and keep someone trained in first aid and CPR on site whenever children are present. VDOE may inspect it and can revoke the exemption for serious violations. Religiously exempt centers appear in the state's Search for Child Care tool too.
VQB5, Virginia Quality Birth to Five, is the state's system for measuring the quality of publicly funded early learning classrooms. Every publicly funded program must take part, and others may choose to. It looks at teacher-child interactions and the curriculum, and ratings are published each fall at earlychildhoodquality.doe.virginia.gov. A program without a rating may simply not receive public funds.
Look for "Accepts child care subsidies" on a listing, or open the statewide subsidies page. Virginia's Child Care Subsidy Program pays part of the cost for eligible families who are working, looking for work or in school or training, at participating providers. Families apply on CommonHelp or at their local department of social services and pay a copayment. Many localities have had waitlists since July 2024, so confirm with the center and your local office before you enroll.
The Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) funds preschool for at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds, mostly in public schools, and mainly serves four-year-olds. Mixed Delivery serves eligible children from birth to five in private licensed centers and homes, with a monthly family copayment. Ask your school division or your local Ready Region about eligibility. Children who turn five by September 30 are eligible for kindergarten.
The program has not said on its own website whether it offers that service. It is not a no. Call to ask.
No. A basic listing is free and stays free. Programs can pay for a featured position or a premium listing, and those are marked wherever they appear.