I'm so grateful that I found Curious Mind childcare on Georgia Ave in Petworth. A parent at the daycare referred me there and it was a perfect fit for me and my baby. I looked at several places and decided on Curious Mind because it had the best of both worlds: the small scale and intimate setting of an at-home daycare where there is a lot of hands on care and affection for the children, as well as the clean and orderly facilities of a larger daycare center where you feel the kids are safe and watched over by well-qualified staff. I placed my child there at nearly 8 months and she began to thrive right away. By the third day, she put her arms out to be held by the owner "Nana". They have an easy app that shows me her meals, poops, naps, etc, plus photos of their activities, among other features. The owner is VERY good with the smallest babies. My infant was often sitting on her lap and taking a bottle when I popped by. The teachers are very affectionate. It says a lot that I have rarely seen a child cry unattended in the play rooms when I do drop off or pick up. The teachers are mostly Spanish speakers but between Nana and another teacher there is always someone who can communicate with you in English. Would highly recommend. read more

It is easy to recommend Curious Minds. Our 1 year old daughter joined the center when she was 6 months. We visited numerous daycare centers in the neighborhood, and felt most comfortable with this one (especially the small size and high staff-to-child ratio). The staff are loving and kind and devoted to her and the other children. They send home adorable crafts that the kids make (mostly hand and foot print oriented given my little one's age!) and upload photos of them playing and at the park. The let you know when your kid is eating, sleeping, etc., through the app (which is comforting and makes it easy to pick up parenting after pick-up). The staff primarily speak Spanish though there is always someone who speaks English, and I'm excited for my daughter to grow with a second language. The center generally follows DCPS for holidays and is closed during the week between Christmas and New Years, as outlined in the parent handbook. read more

We enrolled our first child at Curious Mind in 2018 he was nine months old and our second, three years later, when she was 12 weeks old. We're now nearing the end of our time at Curious Mind (as our daughter will be starting preK3 soon) and are so sad to be leaving this incredible community. Our kids have been so well loved and nurtured at Curious Mind. We have always been confident that they are learning and growing in a safe and comfortable environment there, and the fact that they come out fluent in Spanish (which we don't speak at home) is a fantastic bonus. My kids have accidentally called me by their CM teachers' names from time to time, and I have taken that as the greatest compliment because I know how they are cherished and encouraged at daycare and how much they adore everyone at Curious Minds! read more

Our son has attended Curious Mind since he was six months old (he's now 2), and we absolutely love it there. The staff is loving and supportive. Our son is always happy to go to school, and talks about his teachers and friends all the time. The class sizes are small, so he gets lots of personal attention, and the teachers know him so well. He loves books and reading, and the teachers encourage that all the time. The art and crafts he brings home are adorable, and the staff do a great job taking pictures of his day and keeping us updated on what he is doing. When the weather is nice, they have a small backyard playground on site and take the kids on walks to a bunch of the playgrounds in the neighborhood. There is also a lot of music, and our son has learned a bunch of songs. our son is also learning Spanish there (the daycare is bilingual). The daycare uses an app, Brightwheel, to update us on eating, bathroom use, and pictures of his day. We would wholeheartedly recommend Curious Mind to any parent. read more

My child has been enrolled at this center for about 6 months, but we're looking for an alternate option. As soon as we find one with availability, we'll move our kiddo. Curious Minds has closed three times now, none of which were recorded in the calendar in their parent manual and none due to inclement weather. They gave less than 24 hours notice for one of them, which obviously put us in a huge bind where I ended up having to take off work. Still scrambling to figure out the latest unexpected closure happening in the weeks around the holidays (we obviously expected them to close on the holidays, but not the week and half around them). When I tried to address this with them, explaining that their closures were putting a serious burden on us, the owner/manager Braudilia was incredibly rude. She insisted I was wrong and that the parent manual said they were closing all these times (I had checked the night before and again after the conversation, it did not). At one point another parent came in and she started telling him that I was being difficult and unreasonable, right in front of me (in Spanish, probably not realizing that I do speak some). She finally went into the office to get one for me to prove it and spent about 10 minutes back there before I said I couldn't wait much longer. She came out empty-handed, shocker. Our kiddo has also fallen a few times there. Just learning to walk, so totally normal and I'm sure not intentional. But, if the kids hit their head and gets a bruise or a scrape, I expect them to at least say something to us. I mean, you never know if something is more serious than it first appears with kids that can't talk, so just a heads up to parents seems warranted. I've also had a lot of payment troubles. They send invoices/receipts that are more often than not incorrect, with my address and child's name misspelled multiple times on one invoice. I have a FSA where I have to submit proof of the bill to get the reimbursement, and have repeatedly asked them to update my information. Only one of the invoices/receipts I've received has been correct, and that one after 5+ requests. I would just skip it after all these difficulties but I can't change by FSA until open enrollment again, so this would be just cash down the drain (and a lot of it!). They bill themselves as bilingual, which was important to us because we want our kiddo to learn Spanish but my husband doesn't speak any, so we needed him to be able to communicate with the staff. Most of the staff speaks exclusively Spanish, and we've had a lot of communications issues with the owner/manager as a result of her limited English abilities. If we weren't having other difficulties that needed to be discussed, I wouldn't really even care. The other staff do seem nice and caring, but the administration/ management is so terrible that we are at the point of feeling taken advantage of, given how competitive daycare is in DC. So, only choose them if you're truly desperate, and keep looking for a better option all the while. read more

My daughter has been attending Curious Mind for about 16 months, and she loves it. The staff is very kind and loving to her and act very excited to see her in the morning. They send updates about what she is up to throughout the day, and immediately notify us of any issues. I feel very good about leaving my daughter with Braudilia and her staff every day. Only complaint: Policies on when children are allowed back at daycare after being sick (regardless of how small the issue) are a bit unclear. The staff makes it seem like a child has to visit a Doctor and receive a note in order to come back to the center - however - on more than one occasion the Doctor has told me that we could have waited 24 hours to see if the issue cleared before bringing her in. read more

It's hard to imagine a better daycare. We looked around a lot in 2015 before enrolling our first child, and found none with a better environment for children. They keep the children safe and happy. The kids get outside regularly and get an appropriate mix of play and instruction. One thing we like about Curious Mind is that the entire daycare seems like one family. Other daycare facilities can be too structured, with age groups quarantined from each other. We love how the older children interact with the babies and vice versa, and that all the caregivers can interact with all the children. Even despite being designated to infants or toddlers, elsewhere the caregivers seemed less personally connected with the children. At Curious Mind the caregivers clearly love our babies. Also, they stay. Our children haven't had to get to know new adults every several months. I hear staff retention can be a problem elsewhere. Some may complain that the daycare is more Spanish than bilingual, but this is really only a problem for impatient parents since there are always staff there who speak English. We are thrilled that our 2-year old could communicate in two languages, and at 4 now helps his classmates with their Spanish. He had a great head start. Our first had graduated to PK-3 by the time we needed to enroll our second child this year. Since demand in DC has increased for a good daycare, we feel fortunate to be able to enroll our second child too. read more

We have sent two kids to Curious Mind over the last few years. We are so grateful for the loving environment that is nurtured at this small center. Our first child attended the center from 4 months to 3 years and we were determined to send our second as well. Our kids both love going to daycare every day. Our first learned his numbers and letters and has been evaluated professionally and determined to be fluent in Spanish (my husband and I do not speak any). This is a small center with a intimate feel. That may not be for everyone, but we love that about it. The staff are native Spanish speakers and some have limited English. This is workable, but sometimes communications are not entirely clear. That said, I have never had issues getting clarity with some followup. They use Brightwheel which is a great tool to keep in touch with parents throughout the day. It makes it easy to stay in touch with the caregivers directly also. The center follows most major institutions on deciding when to close (OPM and DCPS). They are also closed the week between Christmas and New Years, like most schools. This is made clear in the Handbook and they have been consistent. read more

We love Curious Mind Childcare. Love the teachers and staff, my daughter love everything about the daycare. We enjoy their daily notes updating us about activities and photos of activities. Mrs. B is clear about the mission of the school. She cares about all the children and you notice once you enter the daycare. read more

Our kids were at Curious Minds for three years. They guided our babies from their first steps to potty training. The whole staff is so thoughtful and loving. This was a wonderful daycare! read more

My kid attended Curious Mind from 10 weeks old to 3 years old. I went to work every day knowing that my kid was safe and taken good care of. I always felt that they were very nurturing and treated all kids with so much love and respect. They always have activities for them -reading, singing, dancing, painting, etc. When the weather is nice they go to the park or take a walk once or twice a day. They are very good at keeping a routine for them. They also help a lot with potty training. They are very respectful and professional. I recommend Curious Mind to anyone that is looking for a safe, nurturing environment for their kids. read more

Our daughter has been at Curious Mind for about 15 months and we love it here! The staff are so sweet and loving to her and she learns so much with them. They know her favorite songs and are attentive to her needs and moods. We feel very fortunate to have such excellent childcare so close to our home. read more

I noticed today that my Yelp review mistakenly gave Curious Mind 4 stars. It should have said 5 stars from the start!