 History and honors The Falls Church-McLean Children's Center was founded in 1968 by representatives of 20 local faith-based groups. The founders created a comprehensive, high-quality early childhood program designed to give all young children, regardless of their family?s economic resources, a strong foundation on which to build the rest of their lives. In 1987, the Center was among the first programs in the nation to achieve initial accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The Center has voluntarily undergone a comprehensive process of self-study and external professional review every three years to maintain continued compliance with the criteria for high-quality early childhood programs. 
The Center has been honored by the Virginia General Assembly, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, and the Fairfax County Public Schools for outstanding service. Temple Rodef Shalom presented the Center with the year Rabbi Richard Sternberger Award for Social Justice, and the Catalogue for Philanthropy chose the Center as one of the finest small charities in Greater Washington. Visit www.catalogueforphilanthropy.org to learn more.
In July 2007 the Fairfax County Office for Children selected us as one of only three child care centers in the County to participate in Governor Kaine’s Start Strong early childhood education pilot program. As part of this pilot we also helped evaluate a new rating system for early childhood education teachers and directors, Virginia’s Star Quality Initiative. In October, 2007, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the highly regarded early childhood education accrediting agency, selected us as one of only three centers in the United States to participate in the filming of a training video for early childhood educators. The film was used during the NAEYC conference in November as part of a seminar. In November 2007, First Lady Anne Holton Kaine visited the Center to learn more about our program. She visited classrooms and stayed to talk to one of our CCAR parents about the importance of the subsidy program. The Executive Director, Elizabeth Page, received the prestigious Fairfax Futures School Readiness Educator Award for 2008 for her deep commitment to building partnerships that support the school readiness of young children. Fairfax Futures is a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that the County’s youngest children are well prepared to succeed in school and in life. The Northern Virginia affiliate of the National Association for the Education of Young Children chose to give their 2008 award for Outstanding Service to Young Children to the Children’s Center. This is the first time an organization has been given this honor. 
7230 Idylwood RoadFalls Church, Virginia 22043 Phone: 703-534-4907 Fax: 703-534-4908 fcmlcc@aol.com www.fcmlcc.org |