Our full time early childhood program is a full day, full year program for children from infancy through pre-kindergarten. Children can arrive as early as 7:15 AM, and stay as late as 5:45 PM. This program is a full year program. Rainbow Riders closes each year for three teacher work days that are announced at the beginning of the school year and for these other days: following holidays: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, 1 week during July, Labor Day, 2 days at Thanksgiving, and 1 week near the end of December.
We have three part-time preschool classrooms that operate from 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM, Monday through Friday during the school year. There is one 2 year old classroom and two 3-5 year old classrooms. Additionally, an extended day option is available for one of the 3-5 year old classrooms, expanding the hours from 7:15 AM - 3:15 PM.
All of our part-time preschool classrooms operate on the same schedule as Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and close whenever MCPS closes. This includes planned teacher workdays, holidays, weather-related closings, and summer.
During the school year we provide programming for children in Kindergarten through 5th Grades attending Blacksburg public elementary schools. There are several enrollment options for these children, including before school, after-school, and both before and after school care.
The before school option provides a safe environment with simple activities for children starting at 7:15 until time to transport them to their elementary schools. Children attending Margaret Beeks Elementary are accompanied to the bus stop in front of our programs and then ride the public school bus to school. All other children are transported by our staff on Rainbow Riders’ vehicles to their various schools.
The after-school option includes transportation from the Blacksburg public elementary schools. The program is designed to provide a balance between time for the children to spend time socializing with friends, completing homework, and providing a wide range of activities to keep children active, creative, and engaged. Each afternoon begins with a well-balanced snack bar and open center choices where the children can choose between a variety of active and quiet activities. Children provide input to teachers for planning activities and special projects or experiences. There is always a wide variety of activities such as: painting, crafts, puzzles and challenges, service projects, group games and team building exercises, cooking projects, dramatic play, Legos/building projects, etc.
Throughout the school year, Rainbow Riders coordinates with community organizations to offer activities such as musical instrument lessons and foreign language classes held on-site after school. We provide space for these activities to be held and the community organizations provide instructors and materials through contracts directly with the families who chose to participate. Enrollment in our school age program includes scheduled closed school days, early releases (for after-school families) and weather-related delays and closings.
During the summer months we offer a full day school-age camp. The camp is structured around weekly themes which have included topics such as Outdoor Adventure, Extreme Olympics, Happy Horsemanship, Bravo, and Lending a Hand. Each week, teachers plan mini-courses to explore a variety of activities related to the week's theme. Some examples include learning about animals, various sports, art and crafts, and cooking activities. There is time in the daily schedule for reading each day. Field trips are scheduled each week, including locations like Dixie Caverns, Pandapas Pond, Cascades, bowling, putt putt, swimming and more! The children are having too much fun to even notice that they are learning, too! No matter what the theme may be, there is always a focus on FUN!