Main Street Child Development Center

Founded in 1973, Main Street Child Development Center (Main Street) provides nationally-accredited educational instruction and enrichment for at-risk children ages 2 to 5 each year. Students come to Main Street from predominately low-income, working families in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax.

Childcare costs can easily exceed 30% of a family's total income. In Fairfax County, programs that are both affordable and high-quality – such as Main Street – are scarce. Main Street's affordable early childhood program allows the area’s working parents to maintain employment and ensure the quality education of their children thus contributing to family stability and the expansion of the county’s tax base.

One of our ongoing challenges is helping families cope with the stress caused by the economic climate. While these uncertain times are trying for many of us, they can be doubly hard for the children we see every day. Many of them have stressors in their young lives that can often make it difficult to simple be a child. There is no greater joy than to see our students learn, dance, sing, sculpt, paint, create music or garden in their safe, happy, and secure “home away from home”. After all, they are here for 11 hours each day.

Over the past 40 years, we have prepared over 5,000 children for success in kindergarten, closed the achievement gap between low-income students and their peers, and increased parent engagement in children’s lives.

Main Street welcomes all preschool children and families regardless of race, religion, culture, national origin, gender, family background or economic status. We have been accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) since 1995. Main Street Child Development Center is a partner of the Virginia Preschool Initiative. We maintain a 4-star rating from the Virginia Star Quality Initiative.