Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandria Schoolhouse.
Hi Alexandria, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
We started Alexandria Schoolhouse because we saw a model that worked and fell in love with it before we ever had a name.
Brian Billings spent three years as a director at Brooklyn Schoolhouse, a small one-room, multi-age preschool tucked into a corner of Clinton Hill. That’s where he met Kim Turnbull, the school’s founder — and where he got to watch up close what it looks like when a preschool is built around respect for children and community. When Brian and Henna Billings moved from New York to Alexandria, they couldn’t shake the idea of bringing that same feeling somewhere new. A sister school — something built with the same values in Old Town Alexandria.
So they brought the idea to Kim Turnbull, and to Newlin Wilkins, who’d been managing the finances at Brooklyn Schoolhouse, and the four of us decided to co-found Alexandria Schoolhouse together, with an eye toward growing even further down the road.
The planning started in 2024 — early days were mostly just walking different Alexandria neighborhoods, trying to get a feel for where a school like this should live. That turned into touring property after property, most of which didn’t quite fit, until we finally found the one that did. From there, signing the lease, completing construction, and working through licensing took about a year and a half. It wasn’t a straight line — we hit real obstacles along the way. But every bit of it taught us something, and here we are, open and welcoming families in.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Building Alexandria Schoolhouse tested our patience in ways we didn’t fully expect.
We knew going in that opening a school would have its challenges, and it really showed up in the details. Construction permitting alone taught us this lesson the hard way — we were told to expect 4 to 8 weeks, and it stretched to 12. Around the same time, we realized the scope of work we’d planned was going to cost more than we’d budgeted, so we had to scale things back and send revised architect drawings back to the city for approval. That resubmission cost us even more weeks we hadn’t planned for.
Just when we thought we’d turned a corner, the construction company missed a page in the architect’s plans. It was a big oversight with a big consequence — a full month lost getting it corrected.
And through all of it, we had families still wanting to see the space and enroll. We ended up having to cancel some classes while we waited for construction to finally wrap up. Through all of this, it helped us know what to do differently next time.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Alexandria Schoolhouse is a small, independent, one-room preschool for children ages 2 to 5 in Alexandria, VA. We’re a sister school to Brooklyn Schoolhouse, a beloved multi-age preschool in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Brian and Henna Billings, along with Brooklyn Schoolhouse’s founder, Kim Turnbull, and financial director, Newlin Wilkins, co-founded the school together.
Two things set our classroom apart: it’s multi-age, so children 2 to 5 learn side by side rather than in separated single-year rooms, and our curriculum is Reggio-inspired which follow children’s interests while weaving academics into the curriculum. We’re known for being a small — one classroom, real relationships between teachers and families, and a pace that isn’t rushed.
We’re not a chain or a franchise. We’re an extension of a school that works — co-founded by the people who have extensive early childhood experience.
That the brand and the reality match. Our marketing has always aimed to be warm and unhurried instead of urgency-driven, and that’s genuinely how we run tours and talk with families. After a year and a half of real setbacks getting the physical space ready — permitting delays, a construction rework, a missed page in the architect’s plans that cost us a month — opening our doors this fall as the same warm, small school we set out to build feels like the biggest win.
That this is a place built on relationships and community with flexible enrollment options. We’re a small, independent preschool with a hands-on curriculum, a multi-age classroom, and founders who’ve taught and lived this model for years in Early Childhood and professional degrees.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Co-owners, Brian and Henna Billings, have a daughter who won a Grammy Award for Best Children’s Music Album this year. Aura V is the youngest Grammy winner in history at just 8 years old. Aura lives in a blended family and spends her time with her dad and stepmom in Maryland and mom, stepdad and brother in Alexandria, VA. Her dad and her created an album called “Harmony” which prides itself in wholesome and positive music for kids and grown ups alike.
Pricing:
- $1000-$2600
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alexandriaschoolhouse.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandriaschoolhouse
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexandriaschoolhouse
