Planting the Seeds for Loudoun’s New STEM Resource

BY kincora • September 26, 2016

Planting the Seeds for Loudoun’s New STEM Resource

With school back in session, it’s a great time to think about an exciting destination coming to Kincora, the Children’s Science Center, a place that will inspire future innovators for many generations to come. We’re proud to welcome the world-class facility, which will provide both indoor and outdoor educational programs to our local community and attract visitors from across the region, to Loudoun. This non-profit organization is the first museum for children in northern Virginia and has chosen to locate its flagship museum site in our dynamic, mixed-use community.

The Center offers hands-on, highly experiential exhibits and programs that demonstrate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) principles in a fun and engaging way for schools and families with children aged 2-12, as well as youth leadership programs for teens. Today, they deliver programs to schools and other venues in Loudoun and across the region, in addition to exhibits and activities at their showcase site, the Children’s Science Center Lab in Fairfax.

The Children’s Science Center’s mission is to instill a love of learning STEM in all children by providing unique opportunities to explore, create and be inspired. The site at Kincora will allow the Center to vastly expand their mission, reach and range of content with exhibits covering STEM areas such as the universe, earth, cities, transportation, information technology and the human body.

The Center will serve as a community anchor at Kincora, and fill a critical need in our learning ecosystem by showcasing and leveraging our region’s unique STEM resources to deliver innovative and relevant content. One such program we are already collaborating with the Center on is Heronfest, a festival to celebrate the annual return of the Great Blue Herons to our community each spring.

We at Kincora are honored to donate the land needed to build this incredible resource and are delighted to share the Center with our Northern Virginia neighbors. The Children Science Center’s site at Kincora allows for up to a 70,000 square-foot facility, to be built in phases over time. The Center will embark upon the phased architectural concept design this winter, which will allow the opportunity for community input. We look forward to sharing more news and plans with you in the future.

To learn more about this exciting resource, visit www.childsci.org. For updates on the museum’s progress and on Kincora, follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.