I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND LA PETITE ACADEMY TO ANYBODY WITH A CHILD. PERIOD…read more
My name is Charles Tate, and my son attended La Petite for about two years. I can personally say that I regret ever sending my son there. A lot of the behavioral problems we are fighting to correct now started while he was attending La Petite.
Before La Petite, my son was at home with me and his mother. He was not constantly throwing temper tantrums, falling out, biting, and displaying the type of behavior that became normal after being in that environment. Instead of progressing, we watched our child start going backwards.
My biggest problem is the lack of supervision and accountability from some of the teachers. Too many times it looked like teachers were sitting around while these kids were allowed to do whatever they wanted.
I would pick my son up around 5:00 PM with PILES of food still on his clothes. I'm talking about thick globs of spaghetti, crumbs, dried food, and mess all over him. If my child has been walking around for hours with thick food all over his clothes, what does that tell me? Nobody even bothered to clean him up.
When I complained, the excuse was basically, "He's a messy eater," and I was told maybe I should send extra outfits.
HOW MANY OUTFITS AM I SUPPOSED TO SEND?
Two or three outfits every single day? Ten to fifteen outfits every week because the teachers can't wipe food off a child or change his clothes?
That's ridiculous.
And I know it's ridiculous because since moving him to his new learning center, HE COMES HOME CLEAN. Same child. Same eating habits. Different school.
There were times I picked my son up and his Pampers would be soaked with pee or dirty with poop. One day I walked into La Petite and my son had taken his shoes and sock off and was sitting there SUCKING ON HIS SOCK. The teacher didn't even seem to know what was happening. You're sitting in the same classroom with my child and don't notice he's taken his shoe and sock off and is sitting there sucking on it?
That is the type of supervision I'm talking about.
My son came home with too many unexplained injuries. Bumps on his head. Bite marks on his body. Scrapes on his legs bad enough that skin was missing. And too many times NOBODY COULD TELL US WHAT HAPPENED.
I even personally walked in and caught a teacher YELLING AT MY SON.
Then they started putting my son in a classroom with children who weren't speaking, and instead of watching him develop, we watched him regress even further. My son went from saying words to barely saying anything. Now we are having to work like hell to get him out of the hole he fell into developmentally and behaviorally while attending this daycare.
And yes, I'm going to speak on the director, Miss Sean.
Miss Sean is nice, but NICE IS ALL SHE IS. In my experience, Miss Sean is extremely passive-aggressive when it comes to actually dealing with problems, and she allows entirely too much to happen without anybody being held accountable.
Being nice and smiling in a parent's face does not mean anything if the same problems keep happening to their child.
If teachers aren't properly supervising children, DO SOMETHING.
If children are repeatedly coming home filthy, DO SOMETHING.
If a child keeps coming home with unexplained injuries, DO SOMETHING.
If parents repeatedly complain, DO SOMETHING.
You are the DIRECTOR. At some point, the excuses have to stop and somebody has to be held accountable.
And here's what really confirmed everything for me: We finally took my son out of La Petite and sent him to a different learning center.
MY SON DID BETTER HIS FIRST WEEK AT HIS NEW SCHOOL THE LEARNING CENTER THAN HE DID IN TWO YEARS AT LA PETITE.
Let that sink in.
He comes home with clean clothes. He keeps his shoes on. We're seeing improvement. We aren't dealing with the same nonsense and excuses.
Same child.
Different environment.
Different teachers.
Different results.
That tells me everything I need to know.
Parents, please pay attention to your children. Pay attention when their behavior suddenly changes. Pay attention when they repeatedly come home filthy, soaked, bitten, scraped up, bruised, or with injuries nobody can explain. Don't let anybody continuously make excuses and convince you that everything is just your child's fault.
I trusted La Petite with my son, and based on MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, I WOULD NEVER DO IT AGAIN.
I would not recommend La Petite Academy to ANYBODY with a child.
Charles Tate
Father of Jace Tate
