First Steps Childrens Center

First Steps has been great for our kids. The Hudson location is convenient and rates are reasonable.
It’s too bad that a vocal minority have dragged down the Unilocal rating. Most kids /​families we know have been using First Steps for many years and are very happy there, but it’s a vocal minority of upset parents that have contributed most of the reviews here.

This is an awful daycare. My son went to the Hudson, Ma location from ages 3 months to 3 years old. In the baby room the women are grouchy and condescending. As my son got older, he went to the toddler and preschool rooms there. He had several minor and 1 major safety incident due to the staff not paying enough attention.
My son had some minor speech delay and I had to work with early intervention. First steps was not accommodating and basically wanted him out at 3 years when early intervention was over. The preschool teacher, Ms. Marianne was HORRIBLE and couldn’t manage 3 year olds. They made it a living hell for us for about 1 year. We were unable to move initially because we didn’t have any good day cares in the area that we lived in, once we moved to where there were other options, we high tailed it out of there. Thank God for the daycare that we went to after this one, which was AMAZING — It is called Shrewsbury Childrens center.
The director, Kathy Terra and Nancy (the owner’s daughter) are idiots and assume all dads don’t know anything. My husband was insulted on a regular basis by these two.
This daycare preys on first-​time mothers not being experienced in child development, and they had the gall to imply that because my son had speech delay, that he was autistic. Thank god I never listened to them, and instead listened to my mother, mother-​in-​law and doctors, because he is super successful in school with lots of friends and now getting into the honors program at his school.
I also worked with my company to get them off the preferred daycare list since they were so atrocious. I make sure that if any of my colleagues consider them that they hear the truth. Many of my peers who had their kids there, also pulled them out for similar reasons. You would best serve your kid by going ANYWHERE else!

My review is for the Southborough location for First Steps. It is the best place around! The teachers are the most caring and dedicated we have found anywhere and we should know, having three kids under the age of five. Every teacher knows your child and cares about your family. The back yard is spacious and wonderful for all the kids — regardless of age. The hours are wonderful for working parents and the tuition is a better deal than anything else in the area.
The curriculum is appropriate, creative and fun. Kids can learn at their own pace and there is something for everyone to enjoy. No one is pressured into performing beyond their ability, or held back for any reason. The Director is smart, creative and caring. She is a wonderful problem solver and has a consistent «can-​do» attitude. I trust her implicitly.
We cannot recommend FSCC more highly. We will be sad when our kids move on. If they had Kindergarten in Southborough, we would stay for sure.

Unfortunately, the teachers at this daycare center are great, but those in charge of staffing don’t have enough teachers for the children there and incidents happen that could have been avoided.
The parking lot is quite cramped and more often than not a parent can get stuck with a car blocking them in. There are tons of other options that are much more cost effective. This place charges $ 556 every two weeks and charges if a child isn’t in the daycare due to being sick + doesn’t offer options for not charging during scheduled vacations where other daycares do.