giving back
ImagiNation Learning Center Westfields' hidden gem of child care By Dominique McIndoe
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ow, more than ever, child care and childhood education in the United States are hot-button issues, and Virginia is often at the center of the discussion. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, children all over the country took part in virtual learning for the first time. Homeschooling became a norm rather than an alternative, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 Household Pulse Survey (homeschooling rates increased by 5.6% between the spring and fall of 2020). Two years have passed, and as we, in one way or another, learn to live with this virus, parents are slowly trickling back into their workplace offices, and children have already made their way back into the classroom. A few factors stand out when caring parents decide where to send their children in their early years: safe, healthy environments conducive to learning, creativity and play, and affordability. Fortunately, for northern Virginia parents with infants through preschool-aged children, ImagiNation Learning Center perfectly fits the description.
The History of ImagiNation Learning Center The non-profit organization was originally founded in 1987 as Westfields Play and Learn Children’s Center. Westfields business community was in the midst of expansion, and the center’s primary goal since then has been to fulfill the “overwhelming need for child care solutions that would combine affordable child care with a quality educational experience,” says Lisa Matteson, Director of ImagiNation Learning Center. Westfields Play and Learn Children’s Center officially changed their name to ImagiNation Learning Center in 2011 and
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March 2022 prince william living
expanded their facility outside of their Chantilly location into Gainesville. What started as a bold initiative blossomed into a close-knit community. ImagiNation serves approximately 200 children annually and has enrolled thousands since its inception. Prince William is their major hub, but families come from all over Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier and Loudoun counties, and the city of Alexandria.
The Compass Combining affordability and quality is no easy feat when it comes to child care, which is why ImagiNation is not just your average daycare. They make it so even families who may not typically be able to afford child care are still able to enroll their children and give them the opportunity to benefit from their programs. ImagiNation Learning Center offers a specially curated, STEAM curriculum called The Compass, and it’s tailored to each unique child and their natural bent, learning style and interests. Programs aim to develop each child socially, emotionally, cognitively and physically. Language and literacy, math, music, science and the arts are just a few of the subject areas the children learn to stimulate their brains in a nurturing environment. “Our Mission at ImagiNation Learning Center is to fulfill our foremost responsibility of providing the highest quality care and educational services to the children, families and communities we serve, and enriching the lives of the children entrusted to us,” says Matteson, who’s been working with ImagiNation for 28 years.
