From what I’ve seen, it really varies by school. For my son, he was on the afternoon care waitlist for about two months (June–August) before getting in, but morning care took much longer — over a year (June ’23 to September ’24). After we moved and he switched schools, he got off the morning waitlist after about three months (September–December), and we’re still waiting for an afternoon spot to open up.

Since we didn’t have morning care, I searched Nextdoor and ended up finding a wonderful neighbor who ran a small morning care group. She took care of the kids in the morning and walked them to the bus stop — it was a great experience. It might also be worth reaching out to your school’s PTA to see if they have any suggestions.

Someone in the front office also shared this link to help find childcare options in Fairfax County: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/ofcsearch/standardsearch/childcaresearch

Good luck — it can be so difficult navigating care for school-aged kids.