WARWICK LOCATION: My son was at My Learning Tree for about 5 months. I want to start by saying that…read moreduring our time there I felt my son was cared for and received an adequate education for his age group.
What really made me feel uneasy there was the lack of organization and cleanliness of the building. I never knew which class I'd be dropping my son off to or which class I'd be picking him up from. More often than not, I wouldn't be greeted at drop off and have to get the attention of teachers to tell me where to bring him. Same thing at drop off. It was very unwelcoming honestly. My son's classroom in particular was tiny! Even for toddlers it was cramped and there was lots of carry over noise from other classrooms.
In regard to cleanliness, the building looked like it needed some deep cleaning-floors and walls in particular looked dirty, even where the infants crawl around. I had never seen windows open so it usually smelled like a diaper pail. In the parking lot, there were always parent car(s) that reeked of marijuana. Not sure how staff didn't notice. The location was super convenient for us but knew we wouldn't keep our son there long term.
The issue that ended our time there was my son had had a bit of a biting problem as many toddlers do. It would come and go over those 5 months. We had talked about it with staff a few times. I was told that staff was able to prevent contact of the bite the majority of time. Still, I was very concerned. I was always on their side to figure it out and resolve it. Never argued, defended it, and was more than cooperative. I followed all of their recommendations, and even had expedited OT services to help that were going to start in the next week or two. Those last weeks, I was the one asking daily how he behaved, no one had mentioned any issues so I assumed all was well.
Then I was totally blindsided: One day after drop off I received a message in the app asking if I had seen the email that was sent to me. I checked my email and saw a message from one of the lead staff that was short and easy to tell not a lot of thought or effort went into it. On top of that, the email was sent to me at 9:46pm on a week night! It basically said my son was being disenrolled because the *attempted* biting had not stopped. They said he could stay the rest of the week but he'd be sent home if he attempted to bite. So he hadn't actually hurt anyone and was safe enough to keep him a few more days but was being kicked out? Ok. We didn't send him back of course.
Aside from the bonds my son now had to lose, I was not upset that he couldn't go there anymore, I was upset by how poorly the entire situation was addressed. There were absolutely no formal conversations, no warnings that termination was in the near future, I didn't even get the courtesy of a phone call! I was angry because a place that is supposed to care for children gave my child 0 chance knowing very well the OT services were starting soon. This was incredibly inconsiderate, unprofessional, and confirmed that this place would never be best for my son. A total disservice to him. Their decision was so abrupt, it seemed like there were ulterior motives, like they needed the spot or something. I knew this couldn't be ethical and definitely made me question how much this center could be trusted if they could pull the rug out on you so fast.
My 2yo is now in another center that is immaculate, so well organized, large class rooms and outdoor play space, ALL the staff are friendly, and only a $2/week price difference. But the best part is my baby is flourishing! NO biting, more valuable learning, and he is always smiling in his pics! (he rarely ever smiled in his pics here) Makes me wonder just how well my baby was being treated at My Learning Tree after all. I can't say for sure that your kids won't get "good enough" care here, but I will say you would definitely be missing out on better. There has to be better than what was done to our family, most importantly, my child.
