Location and Facilities
Spring-Mar is a small school located on a quiet street near Burke Lake, featuring a charming building in a peaceful woodland setting with lots of trees, a beautiful flower gardens, and a certified bird sanctuary! (Spring-Mar is not affiliated with the Accotink Unitarian Universalist Church, the property owner).
All classrooms have lots of natural light and are fully air-conditioned in hot weather. Students have special places to hang their belongings – coats, snack bags, and school bags. They learn quickly where everything goes in their classroom and how to navigate from room to room within the school.
Spring-Mar has an independent art room that is simply magical! With sand, water, and sensory tables and plenty of space for painting, play dough, and creative projects related to the week’s theme, our students are busy learning how all different kinds of media can make great works of art. Prime examples of learning through play can be seen up and down the halls, where our children create their own masterpieces!
All students enjoy imaginative play in the block room, which has full sets of blocks and manipulative toys, dollhouses, mini-kitchens — and at many times, special thematic displays. (One example from last year was our Post Office set up – complete with a building, carrier costumes, mail processing and sorting equipment, cash registers, pretend mail, and more!).
Playgrounds feature well-built and well-maintained play structures, a large sandbox with a cover, a secure space for riding tricycles, and a separate play area for younger children. Our teachers believe in the value of outside time so you’ll see our kids outside even in winter – bundled up in hats and gloves having a great time!
Fields and woodland trails are also utilized by the preschool for exploration and discovery. Our kids frequently see so many varieties of birds – from the bluebirds fluttering in and out of the nesting boxes to cardinals and woodpeckers to enormous geese and Great Blue Herons making their way over to Burke Lake.
The church maintains a beautiful wildflower garden and students can be seen frequently observing butterfly and ladybug behavior. Spring-Mar kids always plant and maintain their own gardens each year and learn concepts like photosynthesis…plus they get to see, touch, smell, and even taste some of their own produce!
In addition to daily outside time, Spring-Mar students enjoy biweekly Movement classes led by a teacher. These classes take place upstairs in the church sanctuary where the students can spread out, work their muscles, “shake their sillies out”, and learn great gross motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and have fun running around with their friends!
Students attend Music class biweekly, also in the upstairs open area. Mrs. Cooper, our long-time Music Teacher, introduces children to all kinds of instruments both professional and rudimentary (homemade!), new and classic songs, and encourages children to find their musical “voice”! It’s amazing to see the children perform what they have learned at fall and spring events!
The school has access to a full kitchen on the main floor of the church, meeting rooms, and a dedicated business office for the Director.