Early Learners Child Care

I am giving Early Learners one star based on the fact that it seems the teachers do care about the kids and are very nice. However the way it’s run and the facility itself falls short. I had my son in the infant program for 2 months before switching to another daycare.
1. They have way to many kids in the infant room. There where 16 when my son was there, it seemed they where running out of room with all the pack and plays (you are required to bring your own). When I asked at what point does the classroom maxes out I was told they would just open another room and turn that into an infant room as well if need be. 3 teachers that would always be there but then it seemed like a revolving door of others. When speaking to the teacher she stated that she is overwhelmed and it’d hard for her to maintain the other aides in the room.
2. When on our tour of the school we were told the infant room is shoeless and booties must be worn, when going onto the carpeted area. Sounds great! Until you realize the only purpose the booties are serving is to keep the workers shoes clean. The workers would walk around the whole school (even into the kids bathrooms) and never once change the booties. When I asked if they ever change them, they admitted that they do not.
3. On a couple occasions I came to pick up my son and he was in a swing with blankets stuffed in front of him and his bottle propped on top. This is against STATE REGULATATIONS! Your two main jobs are to feed him and change him. They could not even do that properly.
4. This next issues deals with SAFTEY and cleanliness again. The infant room is supposed to be a more sterile environment since kids that age are crawling on the ground and more susceptible to germs. One day when dropping off my son I saw another teacher come through the emergency exit in the back of the room. (you do not know there is a door there until you see someone come through the small hall in the back of the room). She came in from a back parking lot, walked across the carpeted floor in her shoes and then continued on to go to her classroom (remember their booties only rule? Yea, I guess they don’t remember either).
When I asked about this they told me the teachers use that door because they park back there, and it might be a good idea that they start putting booties by that back door. Now mind you this is a solid door, no window and no camera on it. So they are blindly opening the door to whoever knocks and giving them access to the infant room. One, its an EMERGENCY EXIT, if the teachers are to lazy to walk around the building and need to use that door they should have made that a room for older children, not infants. Two, where is the safety?! Daycare centers have cameras, fingerprint systems etc to ensure the safety of the kids, while here their convenience is more important than the kids. They do have a camera on the front door and a buzzer system, but what’s the point when the rest of the school is accessible to anyone if you just knock on a door. After addressing this issue with the teacher who said she was going to make sure all the teachers are aware, two days later the same thing happened and nothing changed. It baffled me that I was the one who had to bring this to their attention. This is common sense!!!
5.On a smaller note everyday his outfit would be changed from being wet and he would go through almost 4 soaked bibs. I assume this is from the propping of the bottles. I also came in a couple times and he was sitting in the swing crying or by himself in a corner. He would also have a blotchy and broken out face when I came to pick him up (this would be from crying for a longer period of time).
Now that he is in a new daycare, he does not have a blotchy face at the end of the day, his clothes are not soaked daily and every time I have picked him up someone is either holding him or he is playing on the ground with the teacher and other children. Not to mention the infant room isn’t used as an main entrance and exit for the teachers and even I have to take off my shoes when entering the infant room.

My daughter attended Early Learners for approximately a year and a half. She started in the infant room at 5 months. The staff in the Infant Room at the time was fantastic, although they had way too many babies. During her time there, my daughter got sick frequently. Too many kids, no windows/​ventilation and very few, if any, trips outside. Given her age, I understand that they couldn’t take her out but this went for the older kids too. The staff is underpaid and over-​worked. There is no dedicated cleaning person which means that the staff are responsible for disinfecting toys (which they don’t do a good job of) and cleaning out garbage. If there was a dedicated cleaning person, I am convinced my daughter and all the other kids in her room would not have gotten sick so often. I was always getting called to pick my daughter up because she had a fever, vomited, had diarrhea, etc. It became a major inconvenience to have her stay here because she was sick all the time and I was constantly having to take time off of work. I thought that was the «norm» but now that I moved her into another daycare with a lower child/​teacher ratio, I realize it simply isn’t the norm, nor should it ever be.
My daughter moved into the toddler room when she started walking. So many parents gave me terrible reports and feedback on that room. Too many kids, no curriculum, no activities, excessive biting, just kids running around wild and toys all over the floor. Despite the negative reports, I decided to give the room a try. She was there for one month and I decided to make a change. The staff was very, very nice, caring and nurturing. But again, simply too many kids and no learning going on. Just glorified babysitting. For that amount of money, I could get a nanny and my daughter would receive individualized attention.
I decided to give another daycare a try and in retrospect, I am so happy that I did. My daughter is finally thriving. She has been at the new daycare for four months now and NOT ONCE have they called to tell me she’s sick and I have to pick her up. There is a posted weekly curriculum and activities (including a foreign language, music and phys. ed) and she goes out to the playground twice a day. She is so much happier and so am I. Granted, the new place is more expensive but the peace of mind I feel makes it all worth it. It’s hard enough to be a working mother and there is so much guilt associated with it. At least if I have to leave her all day, I want to know she’s happy, well cared for, participating in activities and learning. This makes it easier for me to feel OK at work.
I can’t give Early Learners a terrible report because the staff really genuinely cared for my daughter and she bonded with them. Its just important to make some distinctions — this is a daycare and not a preschool. Even though they have a kindergarten, I was not impressed with the teachers running it or the so called curriculum which seemed like a lot of artwork and coloring to me. I know many people who have pulled their kids out of this daycare because they were not satisfied. I also know some people who decided to keep their kids there due to convenience. I, for one, am happy that I moved my daughter out. If I have another child in the future, I would not have them stay at Early Learners.