My children attended LELA from February 2014 until December 2015 (almost 2 years). When we toured in 2014 I was sold on the warm friendly atmosphere and the great director who assured me that the staff hasn't turned over in years which is what I needed for my son. About two weeks after we started I found out that the owner of the daycare is opening a new location and both my son's teacher and my daughter's teacher were being moved. This started a string of coming and going by staff members. The infant room and the 1 year old room had many staff members come and go. Luckily the staff that remained have been amazing and I felt my children were truly loved.
Yes the playground is big but the children do not go outside from the time the first snow falls to the middle of spring when it all melts and is no longer soggy. Because of the trees and shade it's really not until April that Charlie saw the outside during the day. Even when the temperature was above the limits for being outdoors (36 degrees) they still didn't go out because the snow took forever to melt.
The infant room and 1 year old are connected (one big room) if you have a light sleeper infant like my daughter was do not expect them to sleep there because the toddlers run around and scream all day long as toddlers do.
The director is the first to admit that the owner doesn't talk to parents, he doesn't make any decisions and he is just the "money" behind the business. As a teacher I was appalled by the centers field trip policy. "You either send your young 3 year old on the field trip or find alternative care for the day" there is no option for the children whose parents don't want them going to stay behind at the center. They take 3 field trips every year. One to milburn, one to a Christmas tree farm and one to an indoor play place. I didn't feel comfortable sending my three year old to any of those places without me. So my husband and I have collectively taken 5 days off to chaperone these trips. Even though I have paid for care for the day they will not provide your child care. When I spoke with the director about an option for children to stay back she basically laughed at me. I don't have alternative care. You are my care for my children and when I asked if they run any background checks on the parents chaperoning I was looked at like I was insane. So option 1 I send my child alone to a farm or a huge indoor play place with strangers who haven't been background checked (not fun). Option 2 I take a day off work and chaperone (fun). Option 3 I have to take a day off and keep my child home because care at the center WILL not be provided. It doesn't matter that you paid for the full week!
The place is filthy. They ask the teachers to do their own cleaning while the children are still there. Take a tour and take a look at he the floors in the corners and at the conditions of the rugs, windows and blinds. This is not a case of "you get what you pay for" because I paid $375 per week for two children. My children were constantly sick because there is only so much cleaning that can be done while kids are present. The place needs a deep cleaning. The only way to describe it is filthy. Like get down on your knees and scrub the place down dirty!
I really started to question the decision making of the daycare when they decided to take the 3 and 4 year olds walking on the busy road towards fox run shopping center to "trick or treat" in the stores. This happened last year and I didn't let my son go because I had just taken a day off to chaperone a trip and didn't want him walk a main road and a parking lot without me . This year there was a bomb threat and an active shooter in the fox run shopping center right before Halloween and still put out a permission slip to go.
A new pre-k room was opened mixed with before and after care. This was done to add more children to the center. The program was thrown together as an afterthought. It is chaos at pick up and drop off. 4 and 5 year olds are mixed with 10-12 year olds. When Christina is closed the big kids are there all day so your pre-k student spends their day on the iPad or watching tv. We recently left the center because the chaos and mismanagement was not something I wanted to continue to deal with for 4 more years. If you are looking for teachers who love your children they really do. But people are starting to leave the turn over rate is high especially for the support teachers. Do yourselves a favor and pay the extra $25 a week and find cleaner, more organized care elsewhere, with an owner that wants to be involved and where parent suggestions are considered! read more
