The Falls Church Day School

The Falls Church Day School
www.thefallschurch.org
115 East Fairfax Street, Falls Church, VA 22046
703-534-8687
Director:  Laura Alrutz
lalrutz@thefallschurch.org

I wanted to make this my first review, because it is one of the larger and more highly thought of preschools in our area.  It is pretty easy to find a lot of information about this school, and I did attend their Open House and Tour last year.

A very robust program!  These guys have it all ironed out to a T.  If you want a "plug your child in to an established quality kids program" this is the place.  I was particularly impressed with their age-appropriate learning objectives for each class.  Parents do not appear to be asked to do anything for the school (fund raising or service) beyond paying tuition and dropping off/picking up their children.  This is a fairly large school as well with several classes of each age.  I ultimately did not apply, but your chances of an acceptance here appear fairly good.

Their programs consist of:
1 day a week Parents Morning Out  (12mo to 23 mo)  M, Tu, W, or F  for $114-129 a month
2 days a weeks for 2s, 2 1/2s, or 3s                            Tu/Th or M/W for $217 a month
3 days a week for 3s or 4s                                          M/W/F only for $250 a month
4 days a week for 4s                                                   M-Th for $302 a month
5 days a week for 4s or 5s                                          M-F  for $343 a month

Extended care is available only for the 5 day a week programs and only until 1pm.  This option brings the total to a maximum of $468 a month.

Normal hours are 9am to 12noon.  A pretty short day compared to many other programs.

Note that the reason I did not apply here was their austere potty-training policy.  At the time the applications were due, my DS was only 2 1/2 and he was not potty learned, and how could I predict how successful we would be over the summer?  At the open house, when I inquired about any leniency in their potty-training requirement I was told that if a child had an accident, the parent was called to come to school and change them.  It was explained that this was done to minimize disruption to the teachers and the classroom.  Well, that seemed pretty cruel to me, to make my child sit in soiled clothes for a half an hour or perhaps even 45 minutes until I could get out to school and change him.  And requiring a 3 year old to be potty learned is possible, but not probable in my eyes.  At worst, I would be out a deposit and possibly out a school for my son and without any options for care.  I could not take that chance, so my search continued...