La Petite Academy of Fairfax Station

We absolutely loved our experience at La Petite Academy in Fairfax Station. Our son was always excited to go to school each morning and transitioned into their schedule with ease. He made wonderful new friends, learned so much, and we were especially happy he was introduced to Spanish at an early age. The staff truly knew our son and made an effort to get to know us as well. We always felt he was safe, supported, and well cared for. He even tried and enjoyed new foods thanks to their well-rounded meal program! The school’s parent portal made it easy to stay connected with regular updates, photos, and communication throughout the day—which we really appreciated. We’re only leaving because military orders are taking us out of the area, otherwise we’d have loved to stay. Highly recommend this school to any family looking for a warm, engaging, and well-run early education environment.

My daughter had a difficult transition to daycare, and the teachers in the infant room were wonderful with her. They treated us like family, and in just a couple of weeks, our daughter loved coming in to "school". The transition back to work was also difficult for my wife, and the directors went out of their way to help her feel comfortable. We are very happy with La Petite, and recommend it to all.

My daughter who is now 2 has attended La Petite in Fairfax station since the age of 4 months. My husband and I have been very happy with all the teachers, staff and their director Melissa. We feel she is in a safe and nurturing place and learns so much each and every day. Because each age group has it's own room and curriculum she gets a full day with activities and is learning so many life and school readiness skills. We have been complimented on how independent she is and I really attribute much of it to La Petite. It's a very inviting, comfortable and secure place. She looks forward to going everyday. The kids are well behaved and helpful. The staff gets to know the kids really well. I would highly recommend them to anyone who is considering La Petite in Fairfax Station.

My son started at here at 2 1/2 years old after being very unhappy in a much larger classroom setting without much individual attention and with a craft heavy/everyone sit still environment. At LaPetite he has been able to thrive and although still crafts and quiet time, they are flexible enough to let a boy be a boy- I truly appreciate all the support and hard work the teachers and mangement have done working with my son over the past 2 years and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend thee center to anyone looking for quality, personalized and education oriented childcare! I also want to particularly Ms. Peggy for the outstanding and creative classroom she has set up for the PreK! I have seen my son really blossom under her tutelage. She is a keeper!!!!

We recently toured this facility and want to highlight some of the most disappointing things we encountered. Upon arriving, the director took us down a small, narrow hallway that was littered with car seats. Evidently, they don’t have any dedicated storage for these car seats. We were practically tripping over them. At the very least, this seemed like a major fire hazard. From there, we were taken back to the classrooms. Each of the classrooms is NOT independently accessible by the main hallway. There are 3 larger classrooms, each divided by a simple room divider to make a total of 6 “classrooms.” The space is CRAMPED and the layout is such that, depending on the age of your child, you may have to pass THROUGH multiple “classrooms” to get back to your child’s appropriate age group “classroom.” For example, to get to the “junior kindergarten class,” you first had to pass through the 4 year old class, then a 3 year old class, then another 3 year old class. We weren’t impressed by this, as we felt it was disruptive to constantly have that much through-traffic in the classrooms. Of note, we were touring the facility during nap time. They had lullaby music BLASTING in every room. This CANNOT be understated and was the most horrifying part of the entire tour. It was so loud that the director literally had to scream at us in order for us to hear her as we asked her questions. It was clear the music was blasted in order to silence the kids and get them to leave the (visibly overworked) teachers alone. There were many kids sobbing quietly and hopelessly to themselves on their nap cots, and the teachers didn’t tend to any of them. It was so upsetting. To make matters worse, all the “classrooms” (reminder: these classrooms were divided by room dividers, NOT actual walls) were blasting COMPLETELY different CDs at once. I felt so badly for those children and could only imagine the horrific headaches they must go home with every night :( There was only one toilet available for SIXTEEN potty training two year olds. The outdoor space for kids under 3 is extremely limited, and even the space for the older kids left something to be desired. As we were leaving, we looked into the infant classroom and saw 3-4 babies crying alone in baby swings and bouncer seats :( I understand they can’t be held all the time, but they should at least be integrated and spoken to. They were off on their own, staring/crying into space. Overall, we witnessed far too many red flags to proceed with this facility. I was disappointed because the director seemed very nice over the phone, and the price/flexibility was decent for the area. Don't be fooled.