A private preschool franchise will soon replace a longtime laser tag spot in Fairfax County’s Franconia neighborhood.
Franchisees of The Goddard School officially purchased the nearly 1.8-acre property at 5508 Franconia Road last week, they confirmed to FFXnow, paving the way to make the school a reality.
“My wife and I currently own a Goddard School in Alexandria West and we had been looking to expand,” said one of the owners, who requested not to be named. “We think there’s a lot of good demand for childcare in our Alexandria/Springfield area, and this was a good location.”
The forthcoming school will be able to accommodate nearly 180 students, a step up from the 144 maximum at the owner’s other location in Alexandria, and hopefully assist with growing demand in Northern Virginia.
“We are operating at full occupancy with a six to eight-month wait list at our current location,” the owner said. “This location is far enough that it’s going to draw its own target audience.”
Instead of new construction, The Goddard School will take over the 20,000-square-foot building already on the site that housed ShadowLand Adventures — an activities venue featuring laser tag and an arcade — since 2006.
Shadowland’s website now lists the Franconia location as permanently closed, though another site in Gaithersburg, Maryland, is still operating.
The forthcoming school will keep the same footprint as the existing building, though it will undergo extensive interior renovations in the coming months.
“The building is going to stay as is, but we will be doing some major improvements,” the owner said. “The building itself is in pretty rough shape currently, so we’ll be bringing it up to our standards and doing a lot of improvements — a playground for the kids, a lot of parking and a lot of windows.”
In all, the school is expected to take up three-fourths of the building’s space. The other portion will house SafeSplash Swim School, which offers group and private swim lessons for swimmers of all ages.
The SafeSplash location will be the brand’s second in Fairfax County, joining a location in Chantilly’s Sully Place.
“It’s a very complimentary business,” the owner said. “We are kind of serving the same kind of population, the families with kids 6 years and under kids that are trying to get their kids into swim school. So, we are hoping that, by offering these options in the same facility, it’s going to make it seamless and easier for the parents.”
The school is “at the tail end” of getting its building permit approved, the owner said. After taking possession of the property at the end of March, ownership estimates nine to 10 months of construction will be required before the school opens its doors in the first quarter of 2026.
