I'm an administrator at a preschool in DC and if you just popped by I'd chat with you for a few minutes if I could but then tell you to schedule something if you want to learn more. We only offer tours during certain times of the day and we tour one family at a time.

Oh heck no. If I found out random adults could just wander in to observe I would pull my child from that preschool so quickly!

Schedule it, OP. Preschoolers don’t perform according to planned observations, so I assure you that you will still see “reality”.

I own a childcare center in NoVa. I do permit people to drop in. We do require all adults in our center to wear masks so there is no additional risk from a COVID perspective and per regulations we check all IDs before anyone enters our center. We do prefer to have people schedule their tours but sometimes that isn't possible. The benefit to scheduling a tour is that we can make sure you see what you want to see (i.e. real engagement and learning - not napping) but I do not mind at all if people have a moment and want to stop by. I think that a lot of centers are using COVID as an excuse to keep parents and prospective families out of the building. That time has passed. FWIW we have had very few cases of COVID and no community spread at our school.

Daycare teachers are extremely busy every minute of the day except during nap time. Have some respect for the hard work they do and schedule your visit.

Absolutely not. Why would you consider sending your child to a daycare that let's just anyone drop in without notice.

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine this would even be acceptable even in a non-COVID world.

Exactly. The answer is no. Schools are usually understaffed and with all the mitigation strategies these days, visitors probably need to have a rapid test.

Be polite, respectful, check the website and follow the instructions which usually means email first.

Anonymous wrote:I certainly hope there aren't preschools that are given tours to random strangers who walk in off the street!

+1

Former director here, and this is often advice (Pre-COVID) that folks gave so that you could "catch them without warning." Just don't do it. Directors are often in classrooms, many centers don't have receptionsists, and staffing is thin --nobody is just waiting around to give a tour.

I would never want to put my child in a daycare/preschool that allowed this.

But even if there are some places that would allow it, it will vary by facility so there’s no way we can answer your question. Figure out which ones you are interested in and then find out their policies.

I certainly hope there aren't preschools that are given tours to random strangers who walk in off the street!

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine this would even be acceptable even in a non-COVID world.

why? I’ve done it

I can't imagine this would even be acceptable even in a non-COVID world.

Moving to VA and want to know if it’s ok to do a surprise drop in to preschools/daycare? Or do they request a call first? Id prefer not to schedule it so I could see how things are spontaneous but also know in this COVID world, things are different.