My daughters went to Berkeley Child Care Center, and I took them out as of today due to multiple reasons.
First, when I visited the school for a tour, the director was very adamant about me enrolling my daughters. I was still deciding where to send them, and for about two months I kept getting calls from the owner about enrolling my daughters. I saw this as a red flag, and honestly it creeped me out. However, I tried to look at it on the positive side and thought maybe she was just interested in having my daughters at her center.
One thing that stuck with me during the tour was when she said that a lot of parents send their kids to the free Pre-K program, and that she did not recommend sending my daughter there because many parents had taken their children out of that program and sent them back to her center. To me, that was unprofessional and made it seem like she's money-hungry and couldn't care less about the child's best interests, only about herself and money.
Secondly, I had two incidents that were handled very unprofessionally. My youngest daughter has emotional dysregulation, which I made the director aware of. She said, "I don't think anything is wrong with your daughter. Mother to mother, I think she's not getting enough attention at home." To me, that was disrespectful and inappropriate. She was making assumptions about how I care for my children.
I made her aware of my daughter's struggles, and my daughter would cry in the classroom. According to my daughter, whenever she cried or started to cry, her teacher would yell at her and tell her to stop crying. She eventually started coming home crying because she felt she wasn't allowed a safe space to cry at school. I find it highly concerning that this is a daycare center where parents are supposed to feel comfortable dropping off their children. Children cry. If crying is not allowed, then they are not adequately equipped to be around young children.
I called the owner, Christine, about the incident, and she told me that she has "the best daycare ever" and that "none of that happens here." The entire time I was talking, she was talking over me and not hearing what I had to say. On multiple occasions, I had to tell her, "I need you to listen and hear what I have to say before I lose my train of thought," because she is loud and constantly interrupts before I can finish my sentences.
Lastly, my younger daughter was put into a room with younger children, and I felt that was inappropriate. What made it worse was that nobody informed me she had been moved. My oldest daughter was the one who told me. Zero communication. My daughter started there when she was 2 years old and turned 3 in May. She had been in the 3-year-old room up until summer camp, and then all of a sudden she was placed in a room with children who were 18 months to 2 years old.
I believe this was because she is money-hungry and wanted to accept as many school-age children as possible. Instead of putting a limit on enrollment so children could remain in their appropriate classrooms, younger children were moved around to accommodate summer camp. Children need structure, routine, and consistency, and I felt those needs were ignored because everything had to benefit Christine.
Oh, and to mention, about a month ago my daughter came home with a tick attached to her hair. I am praying her blood work comes back normal. I also believe this may have been due to the outside landscape not being properly maintained. Christine herself told me she had contacted the building owner regarding the upkeep of the grounds. Her response to me was, "That does not happen here. Were you in the woods over the weekend?" Yet she also admitted that another child had been found with a tick just a week earlier.
Throughout my experience, she was never the problem and always found a way to deflect responsibility. I found that extremely unprofessional. Between the poor communication, dismissive attitude, lack of accountability, and the way my concerns were handled, I would 100% never recommend this place to anyone. read more