Daycare in Clarksville and Highland, MD: What Families in This Area Actually Have

Clarksville and Highland sit along the Route 108 corridor in western Howard County, and families here know the situation well: you are close enough to Columbia and Fulton to have options, but the immediate neighborhood is small. 

When parents in this area search for daycare close to home, the list is short. That is actually an advantage, because the programs that have been operating here for years have done so by earning the trust of a close-knit community of families who talk to each other.

This guide covers what is genuinely available within the Clarksville and Highland area, with enough detail to know whether to schedule a visit. If you are commuting toward Baltimore or Washington, D.C. along Route 29 or Route 32, the programs along Clarksville Pike and the surrounding roads also sit conveniently along routes that many local parents already drive every day.

Highland Playschool 

The most established childcare program in this specific corridor is Highland Playschool, located on Clarksville Pike in Highland. The center has been operating for more than 20 years and serves children from 6 weeks through 5 years of age, which means a child can start here in the infant room and stay through the year before kindergarten without ever changing schools.

That continuity is not incidental. It is one of the things families in the Highland and Clarksville area most consistently describe when they talk about why they chose this center and why they stayed. The teachers in the infant room know the babies. The toddler teachers know the toddlers. By the time a child reaches the preschool years, they are part of a community they have grown up in.

The program follows the Reggio Emilia approach, which is a child-centered philosophy built on the idea that children are inherently curious and capable learners when given the right environment and consistent, responsive relationships with the adults in their lives. In practice, this means the classrooms are organized around children’s interests and investigations, documentation of learning covers the walls, and the teachers act as careful observers and collaborators rather than directing everything from the front of the room.

Programs by Age

The infant program accepts babies from 2 to 17 months. Lead teachers in this room, including Mrs. Kattya, Ms. Janae, Ms. Mia, and Ms. Kallie, specialize in infant care. For families in Highland or Clarksville who are returning to work after parental leave, this is the closest full-day licensed infant program on the Route 108 corridor.

The toddler program serves children from 17 to 23 months, the age when developmental progress accelerates rapidly and the quality of a child’s daily environment starts to matter in very visible ways. Language, movement, independence, and early social behavior all take shape in these months, and the Reggio framework here is well-suited to that intensity.

The Early Learners program for 2-year-olds bridges the toddler and preschool years with structured play, emerging literacy activities, and the kind of consistent routine that 2-year-olds rely on heavily.

The preschool program for 3 to 4-year-olds is where the Reggio philosophy becomes most visible. Children this age are capable of sustained project work, collaborative investigation, and real creative expression when their teachers create the conditions for it. The lead teachers here, including Mrs. Lindsay, Ms. Grace, and Ms. Autumn, have built classrooms where those conditions exist every day.

The Pre-K program for 4 and 5-year-olds completes the progression with intentional preparation for the kindergarten transition. Emerging literacy, number sense, social problem-solving, and the kind of self-regulation that kindergarten teachers notice immediately all develop through engaging, purposeful activity rather than worksheets. Lead teacher Mrs. Shamaela heads this program.

A summer program is also available for families who need year-round coverage.

Practical Details

Address: 13342 Clarksville Pike, Highland, MD 20777 Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM Ages: 6 weeks to 5 years License: Maryland State Licensed under COMAR 13A.16 Maryland EXCELS: Level 1, actively working toward Level 3 Phone: (301) 778-1020

Tours can be scheduled at highlandplayschool.com/contact. Infant and toddler spots fill well ahead of the school year, so reaching out early is strongly recommended.

Other Programs Within a Short Drive of Clarksville and Highland

Highland Playschool is the only full-spectrum licensed childcare center physically on Clarksville Pike serving infants through Pre-K. The programs below are within a few miles and serve portions of the same community, though each has a different scope and age focus.

iCare Kidz Academy   Clarksville, MD

iCare Kidz Academy is located on Trotter Road in Clarksville and serves children from age 2 and up with a Montessori-inspired, STEAM-based preschool curriculum. The program was founded in 2019 and is Black-owned and women-owned. It offers before and after care, summer camp, and a virtual learning facility alongside its core preschool program.

iCare Kidz is a preschool-focused program rather than a full-spectrum infant-through-Pre-K center. Families with children aged 2 to 5 who want a Montessori and STEAM-oriented environment in the Clarksville area will find it worth visiting. Families who need infant care will need to look elsewhere, as the program does not serve that age range.

Northcrest Montessori   Clarksville, MD

Northcrest Montessori is a small Montessori program in Clarksville serving preschool-age children. It sits approximately two miles from Clarksville Pike along the Clarksville corridor and is another option for families specifically seeking a Montessori environment for a child in the 3 to 5-year-old range. As a dedicated Montessori school rather than a full-day licensed childcare center, it is a better fit for families with more flexible schedules whose primary priority is the Montessori method.

Brookfield Christian School   Clarksville, MD

Brookfield Christian School in Clarksville offers a preschool and elementary program grounded in Christian faith. The school serves children beginning in the preschool years and carries that community through the elementary grades. For families in the Clarksville and Highland area who specifically want a faith-based educational environment from the earliest years, Brookfield is the established local option worth contacting directly about availability and program details.

Why Location Matters More Than Usual in This Part of Howard County

Families in Highland and Clarksville are often navigating one of two commute patterns: heading south and east toward Columbia and the I-95 corridor, or heading north toward Baltimore along Route 29. In either direction, a center on Clarksville Pike sits directly on the most natural route.

Drop-off in the morning and pickup in the evening are not abstract logistics. They are daily events that happen under real time pressure. A center you can stop at without adding significant distance or backtracking to your existing commute is not a small convenience. Over the course of a year, it is hundreds of decisions made easier.

Beyond location, the size of this community matters in a way that is less obvious. Highland and Clarksville are not urban neighborhoods with dozens of competing programs. The parents whose children attend Highland Playschool, iCare, or Brookfield are often the same families you see at the grocery store, at community events, and at the same elementary schools a few years later. The reputation of a program in a community this size travels by word of mouth in ways that no review site fully captures.

That is part of what 20 years of operation in Highland means for a program like Highland Playschool. The families it has served are still in the community, and their children are now in middle and high school. When a new parent in the neighborhood asks around, those families answer. 

How to Choose Between These Programs

Given how few full-day licensed programs exist in the immediate Clarksville and Highland area, the choice for most families will come down to a few practical questions.

• What age is your child right now, and what age will they be at the start of care? If you need infant or toddler care, Highland Playschool is the only licensed full-day center on Clarksville Pike that covers those ages. iCare, Northcrest Montessori, and Brookfield all begin at age 2 or 3.
• Do you need full-day year-round coverage? Highland Playschool operates year-round Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Some of the other programs in the area have more limited hours or operate on school-year schedules. Confirm directly with any program you are considering.
• Does curriculum philosophy matter to your family? If Reggio Emilia resonates with how you think about children’s learning, Highland Playschool is the only program in this immediate corridor that follows it. If Montessori is the priority, iCare Kidz or Northcrest are the local options. If faith-based education matters, Brookfield is the established choice.
• Do you want your child to stay in one place from infancy through Pre-K? Highland Playschool is the only program in this neighborhood that makes that continuity possible.

A Practical Note for Families Starting Their Search Now

Clarksville and Highland have a limited number of childcare seats relative to the number of families who want them. This is especially true for infants and toddlers, where state licensing caps keep group sizes small by design. The programs that families in this area value most are consistently waitlisted, and the ones that are not waitlisted often have a reason for the availability.

If you are a family on Clarksville Pike, in Highland, or anywhere in the Route 108 corridor, the clearest first step is to schedule a tour of Highland Playschool. Call (301) 778-1020 or visit their contact page to find out about current availability and get on the schedule. The center has been a fixed point in this neighborhood for more than two decades, and the families who have found their way there tend to stay.

For families who need free personalized help finding available licensed programs in the area, the Howard County LOCATE: Child Care service is available Monday through Friday at 877-261-0060. Counselors will tell you what currently has openings in your zip code.