Preschools & Day Care in Maryland, by city

Maryland Preschools Guide covers every preschool, day care center and child care center in the state with Google reviews, from Baltimore, Columbia and Silver Spring to Frederick, Annapolis and the towns of the Eastern Shore and Western Maryland. Every city with three or more programs has its own page, with separate lists for day care, preschool, Montessori, infant care and pre-K where a city has enough of each, so a parent can go straight to the kind of care they need.

Each listing shows what the program tells parents about itself: the ages it takes, whether it runs a pre-K class, whether it accepts child care subsidies, meals, early drop-off and late pickup, summer camp and any accreditation it names. Where a program has said nothing, the page says so, and a quick call will answer it.

Three public programs shape how many Maryland families pay for early care. The Child Care Scholarship Program helps eligible families who work, study or train, at programs that take part in Maryland EXCELS; new applications have been under a freeze with a waitlist since May 2025. Maryland Pre-K serves 3- and 4-year-olds in schools and private programs, at no charge for families at or below 300% of the federal poverty level. Head Start and Early Head Start add free federal options for eligible families.

Licensing in Maryland sits with the Office of Child Care at the Maryland State Department of Education, which licenses and inspects centers and registers family child care homes. Before you enroll, look the program up on Check Child Care Maryland at checkccmd.org to see its license status, verified complaints and inspection results, then use the city pages below to build a short list and call.