About Us

Philosophy

Our commitment to each child and family in our community:

  • Provide a safe, nurturing, and developmentally appropriate environment.
  • Respect the individual needs of each child.
  • Foster a climate that encourages confidence, compassion, and curiosity.
  • Attract and retain outstanding teachers and staff with competitive wages and a collegial environment.
  • Support and encourage the professional development of teachers and staff.
  • Improve parenting skills through parent education and classroom participation.
  • Build community through active parent involvement in a parent-led cooperative.
  • Use positive statements in problem solving and discipline (e.g., "Please use gentle hands with your friend" instead of "No hitting").
  • Provide an affordable education through parent participation in school activities, committees, maintenance, and fundraising.
  • Encourage open communication and problem solving between parents, teachers, and staff in the interest of the child.
  • Focus on the process ("How I did it") versus product ("What I did").

I believe I am a better parent because I am surrounded by people who know my child and who have been a wonderful source of information, suggestions,and reassurance.
–AUCP parent

Our play-based curriculum promotes:

  • Self-confidence and independence. Our goal is a sense of individual worth for each child. A child who has a positive self-image finds it easy to develop good relationships with others.
  • Physical and muscular development and coordination. We emphasize development of both large and small muscle control.
  • Social development. Our classrooms offer a variety of situations where children can interact with their peers, thereby learning to get along and share in groups.
  • Practical living. Practical life is the recognition of and reaction to everyday responsibilities (e.g., cleaning up at the end of an activity).
  • Cognitive development. Our purpose is to instill in each child the excitement of discovery and the incentive to explore.
  • Outdoor activity. Children spend roughly 30 minutes outside every day, throughout the school year on incredible playground equipment, tending their garden, and exploring the school's grounds.
  • Free play. Children of all ages have a minimum of 45 minutes of free play time, where they choose their own activities, playmates and interest centers to explore.
  • Enrichment opportunities. Every class has a music curriculum, and many of our classes also incorporate science, art, and Spanish enrichment programs as well.

AUCP Address

4444 Arlington Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22204
703-892-3878
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