Going to copy and paste what my mother in law sent to the directors as to why we chose to unenroll…read moreour child from this preschool and will NOT recommend to any family in Cumming or around. Here is our review:
I am writing to express my utter disappointment in the way in which our sweet, happy hearted four year old was treated at Cumming First United Methodist Preschool. I can not tell you how overjoyed we all were when we found out a slot had opened and she was going to be able to attend. Having been a member for 20+ years, dedicated to many years of leading and participating in all of the volunteer programs with the church, my granddaughter being baptized there and my daughter's eulogy being officiated by Rev. Kathy Stasko, our family has always considered the church leaders and fellow parishioners as being welcoming, loving and full of grace.
In a very short amount of time, I have witnessed bias, judgement and a lack of understanding and grace.. Below are the details of the occurrences leading up to our decision to withdraw our 4 year old from CFUMC Pre School:
To begin with, your application queries as to the level of potty training in which your child can be considered, to which my son and daughter in law answered honestly that she was not completely trained. The fact that she was not completely potty trained became an issue immediately, prompting Kim Hannigan to send the first of her condescending, misinformed emails to my son and daughter in law. After a lengthy conversation with her teacher Ms. Wendy, she seemed to be confused as to why Kim sent an email and stated that there wasn't a problem with our 4 year old; she didn't understand why Kim contacted us.
We were instructed to send her in a Pull Up by the teachers and Kim contradicted that instruction stating that it was "not appropriate"
After contacting Taie, the Director about the mis-direction and the condescending email from Kim, our 4 year old became a target of constant scrutiny
We received reports of our 4 year old acting aggressively almost daily. In particular, we were told that she was aggressive towards a non-verbal child in the class yet when she was questioned at home about it, she would tell us how she was pushed.
On a regular basis, we were told that she didn't complete work and wouldn't participate, was disruptive; despite her bringing home completed papers on a regular basis
A second rudely worded, lecturing email was sent from Kim regarding an accident she had, after many weeks of no incidents, to which we called a meeting and requested that instead of hiding behind an email, maybe Kim should be a little more human and pick up the phone and have a conversation. Most people who want to truly resolve an issue would communicate verbally so that there was no misperception of one's tone or intent.
My daughter in law noticed that our 4 year olds hair had been cut in the front. She asked her how it happened and she said "kids name" did it. When she sent the picture and contacted the school about why another child had scissors so close to our 4 year olds eyes, she simply received a response showing a picture of River, stating that the hair wasn't cut. Yet, if you zoom in, you can see that the short hairs were swept back and blended in with her other hair. Secondly, nothing was investigated with the other child and the same scrutiny was not used as had been with our 4 year old.
Lastly, my daughter in law received a call stating that another child stated our 4 year old "touched her privates". When she arrived at the school and asked for details, she was told that they didn't further investigate. Again, it was just assumed this occurred and she was to blame. There was no discussion or attempt to try and determine what, if anything happened at all. Once home, she was asked if she touched the child and where, she said she touched "the back of her head".
Our 4 year old is a member of her Girl Scout troop, plays with neighborhood kids of all ages and interacts with her cousins almost every weekend. She is a sweet spirited, active little four year old who has never acted aggressively towards anyone. I am so upset that she was exposed to bad behaviors and treated so unfairly by an establishment we all trusted. Furthemore, I am empathetic towards any child with special needs but I do not think your school is equipped with the trained professionals necessary to handle non verbal children, along with young children who are around them. In particular, you always placed blame on our 4 year old when she interacted with said child and never offered to acknowledge that he too was aggressive towards her.
In closing, I am disgusted with the lack of grace shown to our 4 year old and hi-light the fact that the leadership in this children's program is sub par. You have failed our 4 year old; she loses in this situation and that should weigh heavily on everyone's conscience.
