My daughter was in the infant classroom for 18 months (Jan 10-Aug 11). We left only because we moved out of the area. I have sent children to 4 other daycare programs (one in Philly, 2 in Maryland and 1 in California) and while this review is a little out of date it does benefit from comparison to other centers.
This is the only center I've been involved with where the students moved up based on age throughout the school year. All the other centers I've been involved with or toured have moved classrooms at the start of the program year in September. As a parent waiting for a spot, I found this confusing and difficult to predict. However, in retrospect, I appreciate the opportunity to shift classes mid-year. This allows students to experience being the youngest and the oldest in the group and gives the director an opportunity to change the classroom dynamic. Also, because tuition gets less expensive as class size increases with the age of the student, this approach reduces your tuition payments as soon as possible.
The infant classrooms are mixed age from about three months to two years. Sometimes kids stay in the infant room a little past two while waiting for a spot to open up in one of the 2 year old rooms. The mixed age group worked well for my DD. The teachers were able to simultaneously hold the baby and talk to the two year olds. The expectation was that everyone would be at a different stage of development, which allowed the kids to develop at their own pace.
At one point, I had a concern about a substitute teacher's tone of voice and took it to the administration. I was really impressed with the response--I saw a marked improvement in the teacher immediately. I had been concerned that telling on someone was not a great way to improve their attitude. But the administration had clearly been able to convey the message in a way the teacher was able to hear. That's hard to do. The interaction gave me confidence that any problems that arose would be addressed appropriately and effectively, which is the key to maintaining a high quality childcare.
Finally, most importantly, the classroom felt wonderful and the kids had a great time. read more