My child started coming here when he was 2 years old. The issues began shortly after he turned 3 and was moved to a different class. In December 2018, I arrived at 5:00 p.m. to pick him up. He had several long scratches near his left eye and swollen bruising underneath his right eye. The scratches were deep enough that to this day, several weeks later, he still has a scar. The afternoon teacher informed me that according to the morning teacher, my son threw mulch at another 3 year old, and that child retaliated by scratching my son's face. When I asked about my son's swollen eye, nobody there could give me an explanation. When I later asked about camera footage, I was told that the incident happened in an area outside the camera's field of view.
Taking great care not to seem accusatory, my wife left a message for the director, asking for more information regarding our son's injuries. Instead of expressing concern for our child and attempting to find out how he suffered a swollen eye, the director responded by implying that our son was at fault. She said that my 3 YEAR-OLD doesn't respect other people's personal space and "is always getting into other people's faces." (Anyone with any experience with toddlers should know that toddlers aren't well know for respecting personal space.) The director went on to say that she believes this to be a sign of development delay. She then cited that my 3 year-old always hits others and cannot keep up with lessons. It should be noted that practically every time I pick him up, I ask his teachers how he's doing. More often than not, I was told that he was doing well and that he's "very smart." After hearing this from the director, I spoke with one of my son's teachers and specifically asked her if he has issues hitting others or not being able to follow along with the class lessons. She replied that although he has hit others in the past, she hasn't witnessed that behavior in months. She also said that he has no problems with lessons and seems to be "very smart."
Nevertheless, wanting to be certain that we, as parents, were doing everything we could, my wife and I had him evaluated by his pediatrician (UTMB). We were told that our son didn't present any developmental concerns. We informed the daycare director of this and offered to give her a copy of the evaluation results. She said she doesn't need to see it, because she knows for sure that our son has development delay issues.
About one month later, I pick up my son and again seen him with bruising underneath his right eye. I was told that according to the morning teacher, my son "touched" another child's foot during nap time, and that child retaliated by kicking him in the face. My attempts to directly contact the morning teacher who witnessed the incident were unsuccessful. I was again told that the area, where the incident occurred, was outside camera coverage. When my wife contacted the director to get further information about the incident, the director again appeared to blame our son, whom she's certain has developmental issues. She insisted that we have him screened again and even gave us the contact information for a place where he can be evaluated by another "professional."
I became suspicious of the director's agenda. After a bit of research, I found out that children with diagnosed developmental delay fall under protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Daycares receive tax credits and tax deductions for complying with the ADA. I can't say with certainty that this explains the director persistently insisting that our son had developmental delay issues, but my wife and I decided to find another daycare.
After finding a new place, we informed a Growing Place employee that our son will be leaving and attending a new daycare in two weeks. A couple of days after we gave notice, the director contacted us and said our son had to leave the center that day. She said she had just found out that we intended to have him start a new daycare, and that it wouldn't be fair to the teachers to continue caring for him since he would be leaving in two weeks. Fortunately, my work schedule allowed me to pick him immediately and make arrangements for him to begin attending the new daycare the next day.
I cannot recommend this place any less. read more
