Small Society Academy

1. Parents are discreetly encouraged by staff to dress their children warmly during the winter months since the owners keep the building’s heat on a timer, rather than on a thermostat, thereby blowing heat only in the morning when the parents arrive. Other parts of the day, in order to save money the building is not kept at a consistently warm/​suitable temperature. My understanding is that if visitors are expected at any point during the day, the owners turn the heat on for that adult visit only.
2. If they need a space in the infant room for a new customer, the owners push out infants as little as 10 months into the toddler room, thereby unsafely mixing inappropriate ages jeopardizing the safety of the infant. The owners have gone further to hide older children when the state visits in order have the rooms each appear to be safe and age-​appropriate. Children are also all mixed together in the same immediate area during drop off time. I have witnessed undocumented injuries which were a result of the owner’s direct negligence and neglect. I also have witnessed the owners yell at children who are injured.
3. I picked up my baby at the end of one day and she had a large, round scab on her forehead about the size of a nickel. I asked the owners what that was from and she said that she had no idea and that I should just get used to them — all babies wind up them. Obviously, for the injury to have formed a scab, it evidently was bleeding during the day and my infant would have been crying. Therefore, the idea that no one saw anything was not credible. I was given no accident report.
4. After leaving Small Society Academy, I soon became aware of times when the owners have withheld breakfast from my baby repeatedly. One morning this spring, according to a staff member, the owners told the staff member that it’s time my infant learned to hold her own bottle. The owners then proceeded to hand her the bottle that the owner knew my infant could not hold. Despite the fact that this was my infant’s regularly scheduled feeding time, to the shock of the staff member, the owner stated that if she can’t hold her own bottle then she must not be that hungry and refused to feed the infant.
5. During the month of May 2009, a staff member mentioned to me in passing that sometimes she’s very busy and just doesn’t have time to heat the baby’s milk in order to make their breakfast cereal. Consequently, on cold mornings, the babies are just given cold oatmeal to eat.