2024-2025 School Year

• We will have 10 Learning Lab students in the program.

• Learning Lab students must be restroom independent (capable of toileting on their own) and 3 or 4 at the time of registration, and cannot be eligible for public school kindergarten based on their birthday.

• The Learning Lab follows the LCPS calendar but starts in mid-October and ends in late May. We are closed for snow days, student holidays, teacher work days, and other special closings.

• The Learning Lab is the hands-on classroom laboratory for high school students enrolled in one of the Early Childhood Education courses. They are not trained professionals.  This is NOT a state-licensed child-care facility or accredited preschool program.

• We aim for a mutually beneficial relationship - the high school students are learning to care for and teach children while building relationships, and the preschool students are gaining age and developmentally appropriate instruction. The high school students run the Learning Lab under the supervision of their licensed instructor.

2024-2025 School Year Registration Information

• The LCPS Learning Lab registration and lottery process will begin on May 1st.

• Please see the LCPS Career and Technical Education's ECE Learning Lab Website for the registration information and process. Career and Technical Education (CTE)

Emily McCord is the Bright Lights Learning Lab Director.  She started teaching for LCPS in 2014, and the 2023-2024 school year is her 15th year teaching Family and Consumer Sciences! She is teaching Dual Enrollment Early Childhood Education 1 and 2 through NVCC, and  Dual Enrollment Teacher Cadet 1 and 2 through Shenandoah University. In addition to teaching FACS, Mrs. McCord serves as the Teacher Leader for Educators Rising.

Mrs. McCord is a 2005 graduate of Lewis County High School in Weston, West Virginia. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Family and Consumer Science Secondary Education as a 2009 Graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Mrs. McCord completed her her Master's in Early Childhood Education from George Mason University in 2019.

She lives in Haymarket with her husband Mr. McCord who teaches social studies at Freedom, their sons Seton (4th grader) and Beckett (2nd grader), daughter Evryn (age 3), and baby Laurel. Mrs. McCord loves being outside, cooking, and reading.