I have mixed feelings about this place. It's probably okay for your child if you start them as an infant and it's what they grow used to. However, I cannot recommend this center for an older baby or toddler who is new to daycare. We initially planned to enroll our young toddler at this center, as most of the reviews I'd read were good, they had an opening, and I thought because it was a smaller center, maybe it'd be easier for my little one to adjust. I was completely wrong, and ultimately ended up pulling her out last minute, even though we lost our deposit.
As far as the center itself is concerned, the location is terrible. You can only turn right into and out of the facility directly on 85th street, which gets to be tricky during peak traffic times. There's no other way to describe the playground than by saying it's sad. It feels more like a prison than a playground. It's small, the equipment is old, and nothing about it is park-like. Additionally, the facility and classrooms are cramped. The toddler room, for example, is so small, that there's barely enough room for all the kids to sleep during nap times without tripping over them. And forget about the kids eating meals within their classroom. Because the rooms are so small, the kids eat in shifts in the kitchen, which means if they miss breakfast at 7:30, they don't eat breakfast. Additionally, of the meals I witnessed there, they were very rushed and chaotic. They offered little feeding assistance to the kids who weren't eating by themselves, and were slopping extra food on the plates of the kids who wanted seconds.
The student/teacher ratio wasn't great in the toddler room either. I witnessed on a couple different occasions several kids crying while the lead teacher was changing a diaper and she had to have a random teacher come assist, instead of having a full-time assistant. They only had another teacher in the class if there were over 7 kids. I understand that's the max ratio per law, but when you have a toddler class that has such a big age range because of the size of your facility, 1 teacher per 7 kids isn't enough to keep the peace. In addition, I don't want to go so far as to name names, but one of the lead teachers there looked consistently disheveled and overwhelmed, and I overheard on two different occasions her raising her voice to toddlers. I understand that caring for toddlers is a lot of work, but it's really off-putting to hear somebody yell at a child who can barely speak.
Finally, although there are more expensive daycares in the area, I felt the price for care at this center was high for what they offer, and the price we were quoted that we signed off on increased a week later, yet they failed to tell us about their planned rate increase when we signed up--talk about shady.
There are better, bigger centers with more offerings that are less expensive. I found an excellent Montessori center, for example, that has a much more convenient location, friendlier staff, smaller ratios, and that serves all organic food by a personal chef, AND that's open an hour longer every day. I don't have any worries after I drop my child off at her new daycare, but I certainly did when I dropped her off at Discovery Center. I'd worry about her constantly because the atmosphere was crowded, over-stimulating, and there weren't enough comforting teachers on hand to help soothe her when she was having a tough time.
I'd highly recommend doing A LOT of research and touring several facilities before choosing Discovery Center. Don't make the same mistake we did. read more
