My kids attended to Skribbles for 7 months and will resume in January. Best experience ever. Actually, I decided to post because the yelp ranking is nonsense and not fair to the level of caring and professionalism from this place. There is a music class every other week, add ins for martial arts, tumble bus, etc My kids also learned a lot because of the program! read more

I have never written a review for any business, but this needs to be said so others are aware. My wife and I visited for a tour about 15 months before our child was going to require daycare. Yes, that is very early, so early in fact that we were told we would most definitely be "good to go" and to not worry about securing placement as we were well ahead of any waitlist. Nonetheless, we asked to be put on a list and were told that we would be. My wife followed up with an email about 7 months before the start-date, which received no response. Now, about 5 months before the start-date, she called and was told that there is no space available, and that this has happened to multiple families as the person responsible for this "waitlist" is now on leave and had simply "forgotten" to include those who were inquiring early, and instead booked newcomers ahead of at least 8 families (their quote!) who are now without a daycare spot they had been told they would receive. This is not a restaurant, mechanic, pet care provider, etc. There is absolutely no excuse for carelessness in this regard when families are as reliant as they are for a service like daycare and all the scheduling and pressure that come with it. I don't wish to blame the entire business, but frankly, hearing that at least 8 families are now left to scramble for a different daycare, I am fairly shocked that whoever is in charge of scheduling was allowed to handle this type of work. The failure to SIMPLY make a basic priority list and follow up with those folks is actually astonishing. It is 2024, and literally anybody in the workplace can take two minutes of time to *open a word/excel document and make a numbered list.* When it comes to where you place your small children, I think this kind of carelessness really is just a horrible look. If you are lucky enough to get in, I genuinely hope for your sake that they are more organized with current customers. read more

I had several issues with this establishment. Overall, the administration was horrible to deal with. Three separate times they called to say my son had a fever and I would pick him up and take him to the doctor and the doctor would tell me he didn't have a fever. When I brought my concerns to the school I was dismissed saying they have a state of the art thermometer and that it was accurate. Another time we picked him up and brought him home and changed him and found three ticks on him, one of which was attached to his foot. Again, I informed the school and they told me that they haven't had a tick on a child in years and that they treat the play area regularly. Why try to justify or defend yourself in this situation? He was at daycare all day and we came straight home and found the ticks. Where else could they have come from? All a parent wants to hear is that you understand the concern and you will address it. This place is more concerned with gaslighting you to protect themselves than actually taking concerns regarding the safety of children in their care seriously. Their illness policy makes absolutely no sense. My son was not allowed to come to school because he had an ear infection which is not contagious yet when I called to tell them he had pinkeye, they said he was fine to come in as long as he didn't rub his eye. He had just turned two at the time and there's no way a barely two year old isn't going to rub his eye. I was disgusted at the thought of children being allowed in a classroom together with something highly contagious like pinkeye. Also, my son was at the age to transition from day care to preschool and I reached out several times about the process for moving to preschool and for more information about the program. No one responded to my inquiries via email and I never saw administration there after 4pm when I came for pick up. One day while I was at work, out of the blue, I received a message via the school's app, which they typically used for communicating quick information like event reminders, saying that because my 2 year old son doesn't make eye contact and can't sit still during activities, they would not allow him to move to preschool or stay in his current day care program at Skribbles and told me his last day would be August 25th giving me little notice before he would be unenrolled leaving me scrambling to find a new childcare facility. This should have been an in person conversation, not an emotionally disruptive instant message in the middle of my work day. I also had an issue with a teacher who felt it was appropriate to make a comment about my son, who is autistic, saying: "It's too bad you didn't name him Dennis so we could call him Dennis the Menace." If you're not trained or equipped to support a child with special needs then maybe you should have a serious conversation about your concerns with the parents. I consistently communicated with the school about his developmental delays and how to best support him. Every day I would pick him up and his teachers would tell me he had a great day and how impressed they were with his progress. No concerns were ever expressed to me about their ability to handle my sons needs. There's so much more I could say about the terrible experience my family had with this place. At a certain point I just stopped bringing any concerns to the administration because I was constantly gaslit and it was clear they didn't want to take ownership of anything. We've found a much better environment elsewhere and now my son actually gets excited to go to school instead of crying every drop off like he did with Skribbles. After starting at his new school, I've meet a number of people who had less than pleasant things to say about Skribbles. This establishment needs to learn some empathy and compassion and needs a serious lesson is communication. read more

You know I stumbled upon these reviews and was quite shocked. I have three boys who have come through or still actively enrolled here. My children have gone through every classroom and I can honestly say I trust these teachers whole heartedly. I find the teachers to be down to earth, kind, caring and honestly people I genuinely like. I feel as if my children are cared for exceptionally well. I would even consider myself a helicopter mother who has definitely eased up over the years but was able to because of the trust and respect given by these teachers. I won't say I have never had any issues appear in the last four years but always minor things. HOWEVER, any time I did have an issue and brought my concerns up to either a teacher or Tara (owner), I was heard thoroughly and action was taken properly. I would absolutely recommend this daycare and actually is the only one I trust in this area. I've considered others due to convenience, closer to home but was unhappy with others I looked at. Plus they have so many perks about this center. Monti lunch ordering, Music, Karate, Tumble bus, an awesome indoor gym and new events and field trips all the time. Don't trust every review you see. Take a tour and find out for yourself! read more

Updated Post: June 2021 My family's time at Skribbles has sadly concluded. My oldest graduated in August of 2016. My youngest just graduated in June 2021; she's been a part of the Skribbles family since infancy. Her vivacious and social attitude is credited in no small part to Tara's fantastic team. Through every classroom, every event, every improvement, there has been a thread of love and respect for the children and each other. We were very fortunate to have found this place and I hope they continue their great work for years and years. Thank you, Skribbles. We miss you all the time. Original Post: March 2016 I love Skribbles and my 4 year old loves it, too. This is his 3rd daycare location and he has definitely communicated what he does and doesn't like in a facility. Skribbles is tops. We've moved a couple times recently, so I've probably interviewed/visited at least 20 daycares in the New England area. Skribbles has a quality that you can't quantify with certifications, advertising or statistics; they really like teaching and playing with kids (They being the leadership and the staff) It is that "hunch" or "word of mouth" quality that is really hard to know without experiencing it. I certainly didn't know about it when we started out on this process years ago. I'm not sure how else to describe it; every place has a similar minimum standard. Every place keeps the kids supervised, fed and provides engagement. But, some places (I don't like) feel more like a business and treat the kids as a commodity. You don't see teachers really sitting down with the kids. A big tip off is you see teachers always talking to each other and not the kids. Great places, like Skribbles, the attitude is totally the opposite. When I first visited, in each room the teachers were sitting down with kids and actively participating with the kids, not just supervising, not just monitoring. It makes a difference to the child, it makes it a place the child wants to come back to again and again. read more

very disappointed in the service regarding the special needs aspect, they were very aware of my child's level 1 autism . when he had a minor episode they demanded I picked him up the same day, with no notice or back up daycare to go to. I was very disappointed in how unprofessional this was. read more

Love Scribbles... Friend works there and I often stop in to visit whenever they are having family events... Owners are great, Directors are great... The teachers of course are Great! Stop in & check them out... My son loves visiting & playing in the playground! Clean, well maintained, would highly recommend. read more

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My daughter got bitten so hard by another. I walked into the class and the boys had pieces of 2 by 4's trying to hit each other. There was no adult in the room. I see a teacher come out of the bathroom a few minutes later. She was all alone with all those kids running around. She seemed very stressed out. She gave me attitude. She was losing it, yelling at them to clean up. All i did was suggest that clean up song. I mentioned it worked great at home when my child had early intervention. She lost it. She said, I know how...She went on and on was so offended by my suggestion of the clean up song. I knew right then and there why my child was so upset when i try to leave. This woman should not be working with children. I immediately left with my child. I passed the head teacher in the hallway who was on her way into the room, 10 minutes went by; I can understand feeling overwhelmed but I expected a system in place, such as finding coverage. It was too much to watch all those children with 1 teacher, even if it was a short time. read more

I am appalled how poor Tara and the staff have handled the care of my two children. in several occasions my child was left with a wet diaper and even had a accident outside the parking lot when asked they forgot to put in the parent app so they "said", also they left my baby with not bottle for 6 hours I a came to find out by realizing by her cry's as a mom when asked again they forgot to put in the app so they "said". that is not the case Pure neglect! on top my daughter was attack by another child although it can happen I was not notified on the app or incident report until I requested it and yanked my kids out the daycare because the owner Tara never properly called me back. As the face of the facility take more accountability and be more professional No one should chase you to handle a parents concern. Once you lose a parents trust with there babies there is no going back. I can only say I do not recommend. Not all that glitter is gold! read more

We love Skribbles! My oldest daughter is in the preschool classroom and really enjoys going to 'school'. I couldn't believe when she came home one day and told me how to spell her name. I trust that she is well cared and stimulated. The teachers are wonderful. They have a new virtual system where you get updates all day long on activities, naps, bathroom breaks and even pictures. There is an indoor and outdoor play area and no expense seems to be spared for fun activities. I certainly would recommend Skribbles to a friend. read more

i just love skribbles!! my oldest daughter who is now 17 went there and loved it so much that i couldn't think of a better place to send my youngest daughter. she is almost 5 now and has been with skribbles since infants. i have and will continue to recommend skribbles to anybody looking for childcare. they are the best read more

General: Its a growing daycare center in the area. They just moved to their new location at WMain St, Northborough last year and the new location is bigger. It has a great playground in the back. There are different classrooms for different ages and a small but decent indoor gym. But, the location feels homey- I dont know if that is the feel they are going for vs professional/schoolish. All things considered they are good. Just not great. Fees: ~30/week lesser than the most expensive place in the area. But, those places have bigger square footage per child indoors and provide meals. I chose this as cost was a big issue for me when I started my kid on daycare and this was most affordable. Culture: They could use a huge dose of professionalism. The director is not very available or too approachable. She does not even acknowledge most parents at drop off and pick up. She is not available in the building most days at most times and is unreachable on phone and does not reply to emails very often. She has grown the school from a home care center to two flourishing centers so she is obviously very skilled in her trade but the school would benefit from a professional liason or social media person to interact with parents/ potential clients. At the very least they would benefit image-wise from a PR team. While I am trying to review all the pros and cons, there are a lot worse reviews out there. Policy: They are flexible about early/late drop off and fines associated with that. They are understanding about late fees but have recently started implementing a fine I think. Teachers: My kid loves whoever is the current teacher. They are all nice people and seem to interact well with the kids. Its a safe and fun environment for the kids. But, most of the teachers are just high school grads with some experience here and there. They have evening classes in the premises to get the staff (who are enrolled) their bachelors in early child care. Not sure how may of the staff are enrolled and actually finished their degrees. It would be great if they hired bachelors grads in the first place instead. I do not appreciate a team of high school grad baby sitters take care of my little one when they charge almost top of the line fees. One teacher that is qualified is Jillian. Im not sure about any of the others. They are all nice people and I got nothing against them but I would like more qualified teachers. There is a high turnover rate. My kid studied here for about three years and did not have the same teacher for a whole year even once. Teachers keep coming and going every few months but thats an industry wide problem. Here they also sometimes shuffle teachers around so the kids need to adjust to new faces but they make the transition slowly so they can get used to it. There is some idle talking and gossiping between teachers but that might also be an industry wide problem. The teachers could use some professionalism as well. They also need to be more friendly and interact better with the parents- get to know them as people -not just drop off and pick up machines. Activities: They have a lot of extra programs the kids can enroll in but they all cost extra. This is same in all daycares I think. Theres Tumblebus, Mr.Vics music (free), Soccer/sports, dance. Parent activities: There are some events like skribbles day, outings, parties for valentines, halloween etc but as they are mostly during the work day only few if any parents attend. Some online forum/facebook group for parents to interact and discuss would be great. Photos: They need a professional photographer/ atleast an amateur photographer on campus as most pics are clicked very badly/are blurry- dont include all the kids. They have a shutterfly group to share pics but almost none are worthy enough to make into a mousepad or a photobook. They are clicked by the teachers or mostly by the owner when they are also managing the kids so they dont come out so well. I have been disappointed every month trying to find a nice pic of my kid. Potty training: When my kid was younger, there was not much emphasis on potty training. I did what I could on the days the kid was with me but without a consistent training from school authority figures, it was a protracted journey. Feedback: They dont ask for feedback from parents on a regular basis. This would help to get new ideas and resolve any disappointments that parents have and improve standard of childcare all around. In summary, indoor space, qualification of teachers and professionalism are main issues. I would probably put my second kid here too but would keep an eye out for these issues to see if they were resolved. read more

I'm very disappointed in the communication at this facility. I had a tour a few weeks ago for the infant room. I was recommended from other mothers on FB. I was told the days I was looking for were not available until March and to bring a deposit either by mail or drop it off with the paperwork that was sent to me via email. I emailed them to find out if there was a specific location to drop it off and was told "actually we had someone come last night and we meant to email you, and they gave a deposit and we will need to put you on the call list." I emailed them back wanting an explanation and no one ever responded. I called to speak to the director, Tara, and not a call nor acknowledgment of the issue. Finally, called again and got someone to discuss my concerns that I was led to believe our spot was accounted for and said I would receive a call back. Once again, two weeks later no call or email. Very disappointing that no one can take the time to even acknowledge the fact what they did was unprofessional. If there was a deadline date to have the check and paperwork, then it should have been stated. The other party should have been placed on the call list- not my son. read more

NOT recommended. Just a money making business - not the "care" one would look for, for their LO!

My son learned a lot in Skribbles. He is ready to kindergarten. I am very happy to find here. Skribbles has great manager, nice teachers, and positive learning environment. A+ read more

As one of the other parents posted, the teachers at Skribbles are fine and they do a good job using a variety of activities for learning. Two major things were a problem there: the director and the rotating door of staff. The director is not a total you know what, but for someone who does this for a living, maybe you should be more lively and talk to the parents? I think I saw her a handful of times and she barely acknowledged anyone. The second thing is the staff. Most of them consist of people who are very young and don't have that much experience IMO. Additionally, it seemed like every other week the parents would get an email saying that someone was let go. If you have a good place to work in and an inviting atmosphere, you just don't see that kind of huge turnover. On the plus side, it is somewhat cheaper than the other day cares in the area and it is well maintained. I also liked Mr. Vic, who provides entertainment for the kids - otherwise everything is for a fee. My other complaint is that the directors two teenage sons were always there. It didn't seem like they were doing anything with education, but it creeped me out and annoyed me that they were allowed to be there when other people working there had to have education and we were paying so much money to have our children there. Maybe it's because so many people were fired that they had no one else to look after the kids? wouldn't dismiss Skribbles, but I definitely wouldn't make them my first choice. read more