+1 om the Hope Montessori suggestion. Our son loves it there. It is in a church, but not in a basement and has no religious curriculum whatsoever. The classrooms are bright and sunny with lots of windows.

hope montessori has been great for our child. it is on ravensworth between braddock and little river.

My kids go to country woodland and we've been really really happy with them.

Kiddie Country

I don't know anything about it personally, but I have heard others say good things about MSNV (Montessori School of Northern Virginia). It is a coop, though.

Looking for a new preschool in the Burke/Fairfax area. We have one now that is OK, but I wonder if there's something different out there that we haven't seen. Most of the schools I know about are play-based, with classes of 10-14 and two teachers, and typically not so great facilities (they all seem to be in church basements). Is there anything non-religious and non-co-op out there with a little more of an academic focus and nicer rooms? My son will be 4 next year (after the coming year), and I would like something that has more math and science. I don't mean worksheets and boring classes, but rather a place that uses some of the latest practices in math and science education. I feel like all of the preschools that I've seen are just glorified daycare. As a teacher, I can see that most of them don't really know how to incorporate real learning into the play (i.e. they read books out loud, but don't integrate them into any other activities, and don't stop to point out words or ask questions, even in a fun way). They have math games, but they are just number cards or something like that, no manipulatives or number sense games that would actually help kids learn. My child really loves to learn. Any ideas? Would be willing to anywhere in Fairfax, Burke, Annandale, even parts of Springfield.