They closed down after only being open for just over a year. When trying to find daycare they had an 80 dollar application fee. They also had to keep pushing their open date because of issues with the town and state to open. At the time my maternity leave was getting close to being over and needed to get him started. Over the year of my son being at another daycare that opened around the same time I kept hearing a lot of not so great things. Had a friend that took her little one out of there and brought hers to the daycare we go to. read more

I am very happy to see that they are closed!!! I can't LOVE this enough!!! When one of my great grandsons was attending there they constantly refused to give receipts. Constantly over charged us!! Constantly lost pieces of his sippy cups! The husband would say one thing and the wife would say something different!!! Claimed they didn't have full time but was actively accepting more children! Was dishonest about trying to get state certified!!! Best decision EVER was removing my great grandson!!! read more

The first few months were great -- they made the transition smooth, provided good feedback, and my son adjusted well. They do offer the use of an app that allows real-time updates of feeding, toileting, etc. & we really loved that. Fast forward to what would become our own personal hell -- FREQUENT center/infant room closures, poor communication, constant staff turnover, excuse after excuse for our frustrations, steady turn over of children, and then a termination of care notice in retaliation for speaking up and pushing back against their poor practices, frequent closures, and lack of professional communication. A Step Ahead closed unexpectedly at least EIGHT times in a 4-month period. Also keep in mind, they expect you to pay full tuition, even on the days they choose to close -- however, they did kindly offer to take $30 off one week due to an unexpected closure which doesn't even cover the cost of the one missed day. There was zero structure and no activities -- my little guy loves moving and exploring and he was so bored and under-stimulated. We received a handbook prior to enrolling, and we used this as our guide to ensure their policies aligned with what we were looking for -- in the 6 months we were there, we received 3 updated handbooks - they would update the handbook as they saw fit. I had a lengthy conversation with Nate, regarding a teacher who claimed my son had a fever of 102, when he did not in-fact have a fever at all and I was told "yeah, we are aware. These two teachers feed off of each other and I think that's what happened. We always side with our families and we have a staff in-service coming up and this will be different from the others. No food and fun, we will be addressing all of these and other concerns." This moment is where I immediately confirmed that Nate is a "yes man" and will tell you anything he thinks you want to hear. NONE of what he told me made me feel better, in-fact it made us run for the hills. I question A Step Aheads practices as evidenced by my son being sent home with "his" two pacifiers on his last day, and neither of them were his and one of them was SO gross (the amount of dark crust on the plastic was nauseating) -- I also picked him up one afternoon and Julia made a comment about how the toys get "so dirty in a day" and one the teachers commented "oh, that's not just from today, that's been like that" ummm, gross and why has it not been cleaned? It also was not uncommon to see overly full trash cans and the sink in the kitchen area FULL of dirty dishes. We were notified a few weeks before both Nate and Julia were to embark on parental leave, and were again forced to find additional childcare options as A Step Ahead would not be able to meet our needs. Our son was being dropped to part-time care during their 6 week leave (let's not even talk about the fact that they were attempting this change and initially still expecting pay for full-time tuition!) They also notified us the Friday before their leave was to end, that it was going to be extended -- another great example of their fabulous communication and respect for their families time and schedules. Six months of childcare and my son had at least seven different caregivers. My 7-month old was referred to as a "butthead all day" when I picked him up one evening. Two separate occasions staff were hired and quit in the same day/week they started. A Step Ahead is disorganized and I think we often overlooked some of the red flags in the moment on the account that they were "new." We believe Julia and Nate are well-intended, but they are in over their heads and have taken on way more than they can manage. We question their priorities and did not feel like our son's care and growth were at the top of their list. No place is going to be "perfect" but we felt A Step Ahead misrepresented themself and fell very short of our expectations! We 10/10 would not recommend A Step Ahead for childcare needs. Julia and Nate talk a good game, but the reality is that they are not capable of living up to their many promises read more

Our family joined A Step Ahead Childcare when they first opened. We were desperate for care and after meeting Nate and Julia, felt like they were going to provide our child everything we were looking for. That was very short lived. They were very unprofessional and spoke poorly about local daycares and their owners. Saying things that we later found out were untrue. Our child attended the facility briefly. In a few months time they closed unexpectedly and for random reasons. We referenced the handbook and as soon as we questioned the written policies a new handbook would be provided. This happened three times while our child attended in a four month period. They closed down for ten days at a time for a single teacher having covid. Nothing that the CDC recommended at the time. And waited until Sunday after 5pm when they should open the next day to notify hs that they would remain closed, with no defined reason after that ten day period. All while charging us families full price for their "vacation". This happened numerous times. Snow storms were another story. The initial handbook stated they would be open during all weather. As soon as the snow started they started closing even when the local school district did not. When approaching them frustrated about this they changed their policy. Never actually following their updated one during our time there. They would only be open certain days of the week when they felt like working and never had a good reason for the days they chose to charge us to remain closed. Every day their own child who attended the center would greet us at the door. Often hitting or pushing our child. Not once spoken to by Nate and when I would redirect he would speak up to me that it wasn't my place. Their child was often aggressive and nothing was ever done. Yet they would tell us our child had developmental issues they were concerned about. All while our child was ahead of his peers. They would write evals that defined nothing but false information. We pulled our child immediately upon this behavior. We spoke out about our concerns and Nate would come up with some lie or false promise. Our child was provided nothing other than a free place to run, zero structure or direction. Staff almost always on their phones and laying around on the floor while the kids ran wild. They are the definition of what gives daycare centers a bad name. They may have the general idea on how to provide general care to a child but how they run this center is unsafe and unsuitable for children. They are poor business owners. If you frequent the local town fb groups you can see Nate pouring his energy into numerous surveys. None of which better the center he owns and runs. The newest being political. Maybe if he put his energy into the center he could provide the care these children deserve. Instead they are offering a poor and unsafe childcare service. Steer clear. Don't subject your children to care that A Step Ahead is offering. read more

The Owners are so professional and personable. The kids are in great hands and have a good time while learning at such a young age. I highly recommend A Step Ahead! read more