Preschool of America

My son starting going to POA at 3 months old and is now one. We’ve been blown away by how much he’s progressed everyday since he’s been there and how loving/​affectionate the teachers have been. As a young parent the most important thing for us is that we trust the people taking care of our child and we have that for every teacher there. The minute he sees any of the staff his face lights up with a smile. He’s learning, he’s socializing, and his parents sleep great at night knowing he’s in good handsl all day.
This school is a keeprer and if you live anywhere near by dont’ wait, sign up. Your child will be super happy and so will you.

My daughter is currently enrolled in POA Chelsea. She’s now 2 ½, but has been there for a little over a year. She’s also progressed through 3 classrooms, so I have a good basis of judgment on the school. I was very surprised by the couple of negative reviews here, but when i looked at the dates, I see that they are old are don’t reflect current conditions. I have really enjoyed our time here — and so has my daughter! It definitely met/​exceeded my expectations on all I considered to be important. In talking to other parents at the playground, they also concur.
— Caring, dedicated teachers. Even the teachers she doesn’t have know her name and she responds very well to them.
— Well run and responsive administrative staff (e.g.frequent reminders on things to help busy parents, prompt response to emails/​calls, organized «special events» — mother’s day muffins, Halloween parade, etc.)
— Clean, safe environment
— Lots of stimulation — art, music, dance specials, and even yoga :)
— (and my biggie) a real emphasis on training our kids to be polite and helpful (e.g. school rules — always say goodbye, hello, please, thank you, etc). I was also (happily) stunned when my daughter got up from the table after dinner one night to bring her empty dish into the kitchen and threw out her paper cup!
— Meals! Hot, healthy breakfast and lunch, plus a snack and milk/​water. A huge help to getting out the door in the morning and my daughter enjoys them.
I definitely recommend POA to other families looking for a clean, caring, safe, and stimulating environment for their children.

I live in Chelsea and explored all of the neighborhood day cares before returning to work. It was a stressful process, but in the end I decided on POA.
It’s been four months since his enrollment (my son is now 7 months old) and I could not be happier with the school, its teachers and the staff. Everyday I leave my son, I trust whole heartedly that his teachers not only care for him with the upmost experience, but shower him with love and affection. (They’re like a second family.) They regularly engage the infants in activities like painting, music, and neighborhood walks. They involve parents in celebrations for holidays (e.g., Mother’s and Father’s Day). They hold parent-​teacher conferences throughout the year to discuss milestones and goals they have for each child (physical, mental and emotional). They keep track of each child’s day through daily written reports, plus take the time each day to answer any questions (there’s always communication). They keep the rooms very clean. They respect each individual child’s schedule – and are are always open to change. (The parents wishes always come first.) And as a first-​time mother, I have learned so much through the teachers’ guidance.
I’ve read some of the negative feedback on Unilocal – but I encourage you to visit the school, talk to the teachers, sit in on a classroom, ask to speak to real parents about their experiences. The school is very open to this time of exploration, so that you can find out for yourself if this school is right for you.

My son enjoys going to this sweet neighborhood school, and cries if we’re passing by on a weekend and he can’t go in! The administrators Jamie and Su are so responsive, friendly and helpful. The location is clean and I saw cleaning happening throughout the day as needed. The teachers are warm and pleasant and invested. They write helpful daily updates on our child, our son loves the toy selection and brings home cute art projects, and the location is safe and central. This school is a very good option in the area and we’re so happy we found it!

I unfortunately have to agree with C.T. The school administrator seems ineffectual. The «classes» are a joke. Mandarin class = 10 – 15 minute sessions when recorded music is played too loudly to blank-​faced children, while assistant teachers shout unintelligible syllables with completely incorrect intonation at the children.
Teachers are overworked and underpaid, and not surprisingly, often unmotivated. There is a lot of turnover, since good teachers with other professional options quickly leave because of the poor pay and administration. (It is true that teachers attempted to unionize several years ago and were quashed. Another mark against the school.)
Hygiene is terrible (don’t expect consistent hand washing before meals or after the potty, parents). The Red Rabbit menus are often not followed, at least at snack time. Half the time, the purported «healthy homemade muffin or cookie» is actually Goldfish and Cheerios. That’s what they call their «homemade trail mix.»
The reports sent home at the end of the day are largely works of fiction. My child is always reported to have eaten «most of his food» at each meal, but comes home ravenous and dehydrated and he has a small appetite, ordinarily. We were told that milk and water were served at meal times. Only water actually is. (It’s a healthy option, of course, but we didn’t like the false advertising.)
Potty training is half-​hearted at best. Diaper changing has at times been infrequent, depending on the teacher or assistant teacher, causing diaper rash to often run rampant. Classrooms are cramped and the student to teacher ratios are at the legal maximum.
The focus here is on profit, not on pedagogy. Evidently, the owners were arrested at some point on charges of misappropriating federal funds intended for the children’s meals.
Some of the staff, including Su, the assistant administrator, work very, very hard to make life better for the children and parents. But it’s not enough to save this poorly run school.

Preschool of America Chelsea (6^th Avenue and 17^th Street) has a laundry list of issues. Avoid sending your child here or try to pull them out ASAP. Here’s why:
Food — Food is heated up by the kitchen server and portioned out according to the classroom attendance for the day. However often not enough is given for children to have seconds but there is enough put aside for the staff to eat even though they bring their own lunches or go out and purchase their own
Cleaning — Only 2 or 3 rooms have teachers who thoroughly clean. I mean sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, sanitizing toys and all eating equipment etc. I also don’t understand why their cook/​janitor isn’t taking out the trash or cleaning the entire school with another cook/​janitor as her assistant. The teachers should not have to do these things nor carry huge bags of garbage out on their way home.
Classroom supplies –I don’t understand where close to $ 2000 a month is going when it takes months for the director to order enough art materials and other miscellaneous supplies for the classrooms. Toys are all old and non functioning or broken. A few teachers spend their own money and bring in their own materials.
Heat/​Air conditioning — The teachers have access to these thermostats and take turns switching them on and off regardless to the fact that it affects others. There is no constant air flow and this has resulted is stale smelly air (especially urine/​feces/​sweat scented) and rooms being frigid in winter and steaming in the summer.
Elevator — The elevator routinely breaks down and never seems to work for more than a month without it being out of order again. Once there was a parent stuck in the basement with their child during morning drop off
Buggies — The buggies are filthy. Children are seated in these and are covered in dust, food crumbs, dirty used tissues, and black dirty grimy film.
Gym — Often times the teachers are too busy leaning on the walls and talking amongst each other to properly supervise the children. It is also not disinfected only vacuumed. The seesaw is extremely rickety and needs to be replaced or taken out altogether. My $ 2000 hasn’t been used to remedy this. Has yours?
Educational Content — Often the director and teachers focus so much on bulletin boards and décor that the educational content of the day is overlooked and the children are essentially babysat rather than taught any actual basic concepts, especially with the under 4 year groups. Each classroom has to create their own report cards and curriculum with the director only giving out a list of suggested themes. There are no standards here and no consistency or screenings. What is my child learning for $ 2000 a month?
Books– The teachers have to spend their own free time and money purchasing or borrowing books from the library as the director does not order any throughout the year. New books for the classroom come via the extremely limited seasonal selection of the Scholastic book club that parents purchase and «donate» to the classroom., Again where is my $ 2000 going?
Adult/​Child ratios. — Often so many teachers are out and there are not enough floaters (substitutes) that the remaining children and teachers are moved around to try to meet ratios. Sometimes it is so bad that the director and payroll woman must step in and substitute while leaving the office and doorbell unattended. The substitutes also only sit and watch children from a distance or clean tables. I rarely see them changing diapers or interacting with the children. Many also refuse to work with certain classrooms out of preference. I don’t understand why a director would hire a substitute who isn’t flexible and able to adapt and work with ALL age groups.
Teacher turnover rates– These are ridiculous. The older staff (those who have worked 2+ years there) are treated with preference by the director as she was once a teaching colleague and was offered a promotion. They are also very chatty and gossipy. POA also only gives teachers 1 paid day off every full 2 months of work after a 6 month probation period and 1 week vacation after 1 year. Many teachers don’t even make it to a year. One classroom has had 4 assistants in one year — that teacher must be driving them out and if thats the case why hasn’t the director figured this out and replace that teacher? Oh its preference again for an old colleague. What are the incentives for any teacher to stay here? They make less than $ 30,000 year and put up with all this. Now I see why they all leave.
Director Jamie Conte: She avoids conflicts or questions by avoiding them or giving you the run around. Also clueless.
Overall this school has done a good job of sweeping things under the rug and fooling parents by creating a false sense of calm and happiness. They are all about appearances only and keeping their school to 100% capacity at all times to bring in $

PSOA, poorest customer service. Over a year waiting for an opening in three different locations. They refuse to refund $ 100 application fee. We placed our child in a montessori school, well worth it! Still fighting for refund though.

Steer well clear of POA! Dirty, unsafe, horrible food, windowless rooms, rude teachers and administrators. My son attended this POA twice, never again. During this last go round, we pulled him out after three days. The teacher was inexperienced and not warm with the children. The food was disgusting and served cold. The new administrator is a complete idiot, that shouldn’t run a McDonalds. After only being there for three days, the head office decided not to refund our deposit. Now I have to take them to court. Bottom line, Preschool of America is not worth $ 2,000 a month. There’s a damn good reason that enrollment is down big time! This school preys on the unsuspecting new parent by selling them a bill of goods. Trust me, what they are selling, isn’t what they are delivering.