I was warned by neighbors to stay away from this school (specifically Rivercrest location, because I know the Fishhawk location is excellent). Instead of listening as I should have, I decided to create my own opinions and give it a try.
We had our daughter here for a total of one month. In week two, I asked them why my daughter kept coming home burned on her face when I signed papers and brought in a brand new bottle of sunscreen to be applied every day before outdoor play. When I asked about it, the teacher was unaware that I even had sunscreen there for my daughter and not even the manager could locate it! They finally found it a day or two later, and still failed to apply some days.
In week three, my daughter came home smelling strongly of urine. I asked her if she had an accident at school, because she was clearly completely dry when she got home. She informed me that she DID pee herself when they were outside on the playground earlier that day because she told her teacher she had to potty and she wouldn't take her inside to go. After peeing herself, instead of changing her into the clothing that I provided for her, she came home in soiled clothes that she must have been in for quite some time. I was shocked and of course notified them immediately. The next day, the manager came up to me to discuss what had happened, and smiling the ENTIRE time and acting as if it was no big deal, never once apologized. In fact, she made it sound as if my daughter didn't do enough to voice her needs and that it wasn't their fault at all. I was just looking for a sorry and an "it will never happen again" but that never came. I immediately went home that day to submit our two weeks notice of leaving the daycare.
For the next week and a half, the manager and owner were excessively trying to assure me things were ok there, but all it did was push me away more. They would follow me closely when I would pick up my child every day and I just wanted to be left alone. I decided to just see how things would go for the next two weeks, and my child was somewhat better taken care of and given the attention she deserved besides another few days of no sunscreen. I told the manager we were then reconsidering staying since I felt things were getting slightly better. I still had concern that things would just go back to how they were after we decided to stay.
Week 4- I never could have seen this coming. The same day I told the manager we were re-considering our decision to leave, my daughter was pinched by her teacher for playing with a toy. I assume it was out of frustration. When I say pinch, I don't mean lightly pinch to get her attention. I mean full on, layer of skin missing, bruise for days pinch. NO child deserves this! They told me every day for four weeks how sweet and well behaved my baby was. How dare they think it's ok to lay hands on her and HURT her! Once again, notifying the manager immediately, she acted if it was as not big deal and that her teachers all denied it so it must be my child making things up. We took matters into our own hands at this point and contacted police to file a report. Conveniently, this daycare loops camera feed so there will never be any sort of real evidence for any child ever to get abused there, because video footage is not saved. What happened to my daughter was physically and emotionally devastating and shocking, but again not one time did management or the owner say SORRY. Or show any sort of sympathy. They brushed it off saying that this kind of thing happens often and basically there is no proof so nothing will be done. Not one sorry. Not one "this will never happen again."
After all this, I am facing trust issues as is my daughter with daycares and we are now trying to build new relationships with new strangers at a new school. I feel so guilty for not listening to my neighbors and allowing my daughter to attend this daycare only to be mistreated.
Create your own opinions, but do it with mine and others' experiences in mind. Not all of the teachers there are this way. We met some amazing teachers, including Ms. Ashley and Ms. Marsha. I would say although we had this issue with one specific teacher, the real issue is with management. read more