I was going to wait to write this review because my daughter still attends, but I am highly annoyed at this school. After 6 months, I am very close to removing my child! I cannot say this school is all bad, because my daughter wouldn't be here. I like her teacher Ms. Jewels and the other teachers in her class. They try to make the most out of their limited resources. I also love Ms. Jordan at the front desk. She goes out of her way daily to make my daughter feel special. From stickers to compliments, my daughter loves her!
One of my first and main issues is with the head of administration. I homeschooled my child until she was almost 3. Because of that, Ms. T and I discussed my daughter staying in the two-year-old class until her 3rd birthday in October. She told me there will be room for my child in the regular 3-year-old classroom. The last time we discussed this was a month before my daughter's birthday, and once she turned 3, the classes were full. She then told me my child can go into the 3-year-old classroom that has kids who need additional assistance, because she doesn't think my daughter is ready for the regular PreK3. Because she's only over the admin, in my opinion, she's not qualified to tell me what my daughter is ready for... especially since the person over education and her current teacher said they recommend my child go to PreK3. They really allow this woman to make recommendations for children when she doesn't work directly with them. In addition, she has a terrible attitude. She will speak to you depending on her mood, and that's not the best attitude to have when working around children. I often ask myself if I am over exaggerating, but my neighbor didn't choose this Cedars because she felt the staff had an attitude problem when she called for the first time.
Another major issue I had at this school was when they allowed a part-time teacher conduct an assessment on my child. The assessment was so bad that I couldn't sleep that night. They said my child doesn't know simple concepts, such as in or out, she can't draw a straight line, etc. That day, I took my child home and recorded her doing everything the assessment said she couldn't do. If anyone needed to conduct an assessment, it should've been her lead teacher. Her lead teacher was surprised by the assessment. She said she never questioned my child's ability because she knew everyone's name in the class by the 2nd week of school, recognized and spelled her name, etc. After they viewed my videos, the school's education advisor assessed my daughter. She told me I was right. My daughter can do "All the things!" These are a few examples of how they have unqualified people doing unqualified things. If my child didn't have present parents who speak up for her, they would've put a label on her and moved on to the next child. You would think people in this position know the difference between a child who actually doesn't know things and one who's still coming out of their shell because they went from one-on-one learning to 20 students and 2 teachers.
Another thing I have to mention is that last week the flu was going around. I was told they were going to put up signs, but they didn't have ink. Apparently, they didn't think to email everyone. I've watched this school wait until 3pm to call parents about a sick child. At that point, everyone could make contact with the sick person.
I could really continue, but I have said enough. Ultimately, the issue falls on the school's director. Everything reflects poor leadership. I have come to her numerous times, and she basically tells me what she thinks I want to hear without taking any action behind her words. I will not fault the Cedars brand because I am still open to other locations, but the McDonough location needs some changes, fast! read more
