Outdoor Learning Lab Opened In Preparation For Ashburn Early Childhood Education Center

ASHBURN, VA — Amid the growth of Loudoun County, a longtime nonprofit is preparing to give a permanent home to early childhood education services in Ashburn.

The nonprofit Northern Virginia Family Service, which provides a variety of services around the region, will open its Early Childhood Education Center in Ashburn in spring 2025. A groundbreaking was held along with the construction of an Outdoor Learning Lab, which will assist with learning for the children who will attend the center.

"We have been providing Head Start and Early Head Start services to Loudoun County residents since the early 2000s, and we are thrilled to now have a permanent home to provide full-day, center-based preschool to the County’s youngest learners," said Stephanie Berkowitz, president and CEO of Northern Virginia Family Service. "As Loudoun has grown, so too have our investments in and commitments to the community and its residents. We believe in dignity, hope, and the power of possibilities."

In preparation for the center, more than 75 volunteers in November built the Outdoor Learning Lab outside the future location. The outdoor learning space features weather stations, plant beds, outdoor kitchens, and animal habitats. Volunteers came from Northern Virginia Family Service, PNC, Out Teach and other organizations.

"The Outdoor Learning Lab constructed this week at the site of our new Early Childhood Education Center is a testament to the power of collaboration and a shared vision," said Berkowitz.

When the early childhood education center opens, it will serve 70-plus low-income children and their families. The Head Start for ages 3 to 5 and Early Head Start for up to age 3 will run Mondays to Fridays starting in spring 2025. Northern Virginia Family Service's programs aim to help ensure a better future for the young children so they aren't behind their peers upon entering kindergarten.

Officials from Loudoun County government attended the groundbreaking, as well as leaders from Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, Community Foundation for Loudoun and Fauquier Counties, Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, Northern Virginia Family Service, PNC, and Out Teach.

"I’ve been working with Northern Virginia Family Service – in both my current role and previous role as a mental health therapist – for 30 years, and they’ve been doing groundbreaking work for all that time," said Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall in a statement. "The NVFS Early Childhood Education Center is not just going to help 70 families; it’s going to help generations of families. And I’m very pleased about the Outdoor Learning Lab being here at the Center, because we know that horticulture learning – letting kids get their hands in the dirt and watch things grow – makes a huge difference."