Pinecrest is a little gem in the heart of Annandale. The small student to teacher ratios ensure…read morethat each child is nurtured and taught in an environment where they can have their needs met. The teachers are warm, caring, and provide exciting and challenging curriculum while helping maintain a creative environment. The motto "This is Community" could not be more true as parent and teachers work together, are involved and always looking out for the best interest of the children. Pinecrest also has a wonderful Mindfulness program that is implemented in every classroom on a daily basis! It's a wonderful and warm place to have your children learn and thrive!

As an educator I know a quality school when I see it. Pinecrest School (as well as their summer…read morecamp- Pinecrest Summer Pavilion) is an incredibly unique learning environment, with a school community like no other. I often think how much I would have loved going to school there as child. Pinecrest's leadership and staff are highly qualified and incredibly talented. The class sizes are small and the students truly LOVE their school. There is a genuine joy of learning that takes place at Pinecrest from both the students and the staff. The energy at Pinecrest is buzzing with creativity, comfort and community. It is a true gem of Northern VA.

I had a high hope for this summer camp, but I will not use them ever again. This place is not…read morereally organized. There is little to no communication. Morning drop-offs and Afternoon pick-ups are nothing but chaos. The kids working on curbside are clueless and unhelpful. They make kids watch TV on those rainy days because they have nothing else planned for them, when you pay thousands of dollars. No thanks.

I had high hopes for Congressional Camp based on rave reviews from friends, but my experience has…read morebeen extremely disappointing. On February 1st, I tried to enroll both of my children for a one-week session to see if they would enjoy it before committing further. I successfully signed up my son, but my daughter was waitlisted. Since we needed both kids in camp at the same time due to work schedules, I immediately contacted the camp for insight into whether she had a chance of getting in. It took two days to get a response, only to be told that the waitlist had 130 people and she would not be getting in. Realizing that it didn't make sense to send just one child, I immediately requested to unenroll my son. Weeks later, I finally received confirmation--along with a $200 cancellation charge! It's absurd that there was no way to place my son on a waitlist before enrolling, forcing families with multiple children into an impossible situation. This policy is unfair and completely lacks consideration for working parents. If you have more than one child, I'd strongly advise against this camp unless you're okay with paying a steep fee for a situation that's out of your control. This experience makes me question the camp's priorities--would you want to send your child somewhere that doesn't understand the basic point of camp?

We enrolled our 5 (almost 6) year old for the summer camp on the recommendation of a friend. My son…read moreabsolutely loved his week there and begged to stay longer and go back. Coach Nicole is great and warm with the kids, and the space is very large. They have a huge gym space for sports play and obstacle courses (which the kids can design and build) as well as a second obstacle course area and a separate trampoline room. In addition to the 3D printer and VR headsets, there are lots of Legos, circuits, and all sorts of build and design type activities. My son came back exhausted every day. I also saw a noticeable improvement in his confidence and abilities in navigating obstacles at other play gyms we have been to since. It's not the cheap camp, but it is well worth the price. We will be sure to come back and sign up up for additional sessions throughout the year.

From the owner: We offer innovative programs that combine ninja warrior, parkour, obstacle training, rock climbing…read moreand STEM/ STEAM activities and we are passionate instructors with decades of experience who want to inspire youth in a positive and healthy environment. We are more than a gym, we are a community of families that work together for the holistic development of children. We also offer camps, ninja warrior birthday parties and special events, like nerf battles, field trips and ninja competitions. The Staff is fluid in Spanish, English and Portuguese..

Great gym Squash courts and foot ball courts…read more Has everything including pools etc Staff is always friendly Nice hang out spot Highly recommended

I had a very disappointing experience with the Spring Flagship at The St. James Sports Complex. The…read morecustomer service is honestly some of the worst I've dealt with at a facility like this. One of their representatives, Daisy, was especially rude and disrespectful when I tried to ask simple questions. Instead of helping, she seemed annoyed and dismissive the entire time. On top of that, their website is extremely unhelpful and rarely has up-to-date information. It makes it frustrating to try to find accurate details about schedules, amenities, or programs. The condition of the facility itself is also very disappointing for a place that promotes itself as a premium sports complex. The pool house is constantly messy and poorly maintained, and the gyms are in some of the worst condition I've seen at a facility like this. Equipment and areas often look neglected, which really makes you question how well the place is being managed. Overall, between the poor customer service, lack of reliable information on their website, and the condition of the facilities, I wouldn't recommend the Spring Flagship location. There are much better-run gyms and sports facilities in the area.

My daughter is almost 6 now. She still asks me why the "lady" would not talk to her so she could…read morepet the turtle. Makes me extremely sad for my kid. I hope that person doesn't work for this company anymore. Considering the non-response I got from this place, you guys don't care. But I do and that nasty person left a LASTING negative impression on my kid. Disgusting. I should give you an "update" everytime she brings it up!

Reptiles Alive was the PERFECT activity was my son's 7th birthday! The office was professional and…read morepersonable setting up the birthday date and as promised, I received a reminder and contact information from my naturalist 2 days before the party. On the day of the party, my naturalist showed up on time and proceeded to set up his area. From there, the show was perfectly executed, was totally attentive to the birthday boy and his friends, and was a blast for all! Admittedly, I couldn't help but to join in with my reptile finger, feeling our reptilian friends as they passed by. In the end, everyone (both young and old) learned something new and had fun!

My almost-four-year-old son currently attends Griffin Academy. We are working parents and needed…read morefull-day care, and we did a pretty exhaustive search in the area for an affordable preschool. I cannot BELIEVE how lucky we are to have found this place. Let me tell you why you should send your kids here. Even before I talk about my son's experience, I need to mention how well this program is run. Kristine Lee, the preschool director, is one of the warmest, kindest, most competent and professional humans with whom I've had the pleasure of interacting. She was so responsive and helpful throughout our enrollment process that we felt like we were already family members from the first contact. This was not our experience with other preschool programs. Many private preschools, like the one our older daughter attended, have strict arbitrary rules, parent work hour requirements, and intimidating admission processes that (for us) made us feel a tiny bit unwelcome. None of this from Westminster. This private school, with its classical focus, has managed to wrap us in its arms and surround us with a community of funny, warm, and down-to-earth people. It feels EASY, not stressful, to attend school here. As private school first-timers, we had to adjust to uniforms, but it's been no sweat. Teachers. We knew that our son liked his teacher, and that she (and all of the Griffin teachers) had been kind to him, and patient as he adjusted to a full day of school. We were so incredibly impressed when we met her in person at back-to-school night. Beyond having exactly the personality you would want for a preschool teacher (gentle, nurturing, and understanding), Miss Horner brings incredible expertise and professional knowledge to her job as classroom teacher. I myself am a board-certified teacher, so I have some clue about what they do, and my son's teacher is at the top of her game. Literally every aspect of her students' experience seems to have been designed with their development in mind. Everything in the classroom is accessible to the children, with the goal of fostering their independence, improving their fine and gross motor skills, and promoting harmony. The children are taught to greet each other respectfully, refer to their classmates as "friends", and express appreciation frequently. We toured other schools in our search, and at some well-known schools, we were dismayed to notice that the teachers did not seem to have a loving relationship with their students. My son's teachers LOVE him, and it shows. This was the single most important thing that we as parents were looking for. Every child deserves to experience preschool in a class like my son's, and we cannot overstate how fortunate we feel to have landed here. Here are some other fun things that we love: - They go on field trips (on the Westminster bus!) on almost a monthly basis. That is so many out-of-class experiences! - Each classroom has an imaginative play area that changes monthly (post office! garden! cave! grocery store!). - You can pack your child's lunch, OR order hot lunch from their service! Or both! - Excite Soccer offers a short after-school class on Thursdays, and our son goes to this and LOVES it. - French. Library. Music. Science. Our preschooler's schedule is as varied and rich as our 1st-grader's. My son is a wiggly little boy. Was I worried that he wouldn't have enough opportunity to move and play in the course of his rigorous classical education? I was. I've got one word for you: GYMNASIUM. If you can show me another preschool where kids get to run around a huge gym first thing every single morning, I'll be astonished. My guy comes home happy and tired every day. I'm typing all of this because when we were looking for preschools, there weren't a lot of parent reviews to read, and parents need to know that this wonderful option is available. Look no further!

Our son went to Griffin Academy for preschool and he attended some of the Griffin camps (winter,…read morespring, summer.) Griffin Academy is part of the Westminster School, however, it is on a different campus and it is run by a different headmaster. So first, I must say that this review is for Griffin Academy not Westminster as we do not have any experience with Westminster directly. The best part of Griffin Academy is the teaching staff (actually, all of the staff) and the facilities. If you take a tour of the facilities I have no doubt you will be very impressed. Having an indoor gym-type of space in the winter was hugely beneficial. Also, the teaching staff was excellent, and I mean really excellent. My son had a primary teacher who he adored and then he did rotate through other teachers who teach specialty subjects, and they all got to know him and I was really impressed with all of them. The expectations, educationally, were set very high which works well for my son and our family because I felt that he was pushed just the right amount. The class sizes are small so the teachers are really able to work with the kids at the level that they are at. They also worked a lot on his manners and his social interactions. My son came out of Griffin at age 4, able to sight read entire books on his own, silently, to himself. So educationally, I cannot fault Griffin at all; I was very impressed. Our son was definitely not bored, which is a big thing for us. The hours that they provide childcare/school for are also very good for working parents, as they provide a variety of options to allow the parents to be able to choose and manage the hours of school and childcare that they need. The price was also surprisingly much more affordable than a lot of other preschools. The only reason I am not giving the school 5 stars is because, just out of bad luck, is our son really didn't have that many other boys in his class, so unfortunately a lot of the stereotypical boy activities, he was not able to partake in to the fullest extent of what he would have preferred, so I ended up having to enroll him in some outside extracurricular activities (karate, etc.) just to kind of make up that deficit. The class he was in was almost all girls. However, as I say, I realize that experience was probably just unique to us and unfortunate due to the way the classes broke down. The reason that is a big deal to me is my son needs a lot of physical activity to get his energy out and that really requires him basically running around like a maniac playing soccer, etc. He is already at the age where he doesn't want to play what he thinks of as girly games so that was a bit of an issue during the school times, was not having enough physical activity for his liking. (***During the camps sessions it was a better mixture of boys and girls so this problem actually completely went away for us during all of the Griffin camp sessions.) The only other pretty minor complaint I had about the school was at times I felt they were a bit too strict on some things that I myself am pretty relaxed on - especially the "clean your plate" mentality, I am not really that into. On the flip side, his manners were much improved and he is able to do a lot more on his own and for himself than he was when he went into Griffin, so I have mixed feelings about that. All in all, I would really recommend Griffin, it is a very good preschool, and when our daughter is old enough we will probably be sending our daughter there.

Review of water park only:…read more Don't buy for the whole family. We made the mistake of buying for a family of 4, but only small kids would enjoy this. Could have saved half the cost by just buying for 2 kids. You definitely don't need more than an hour either. It's really loud, so it's not great for autistic or sensory sensitive kids. My kids don't enjoy water directly in their face, and there's nowhere to go that doesn't have water landing directly in your face. There's nowhere for adults to sit, and it's a small room so there's residual splashing everywhere; wear pool shoes even if you don't go on the play structure and are just supervising the kids. During the 5-minute breaks once per hour, it would be nice if you could use the adjacent pool I but it was occupied with aquatic sports teams. Staff were very friendly, and the overall sports/rec facility looks huge and very clean. Locker rooms were very clean as well. For our family, however, it just wasn't worth the price paid nor was it the type of water park that would work for older kids or autistic kids.

We visited on Sunday morning during tots time 9-1130. It was empty with only a few young kids so it…read morewas easy watching two toddlers running around. Kids two and under are free to enter. We had a blast at the bounce house and the ninja maze. There is a rock climbing wall and some advanced obstacle course for older kids. My kids were fascinated by the arcade too, they sat on the motorcycle and pretended to play. The groupon deal makes it worth going, you get two hours of play on the regular ticket price. Staff was friendly and helpful at the front desk. Will recommend!

I worked here AND had my child here. On both ends this school was terrible. Thankfully I was always…read morearound to keep an eye on my daughter. At the time she was 14 months old. I hated the people that watched her. I caught her crying unattended so many times. I can't even imagine what it would've been like if I wasn't around. They also paid the bare minimum and made you work with the entire class of children BY YOURSELF!

We are very happy with the care that our kids have received at Springfield Academy. The teachers…read moreare very caring. My kids have a lot of fun and learn so much while there!