For a long time, I trusted Rhema's Learning Center with my son. He started attending when he was just 6 months old, and it took me a long time to find a daycare where I truly felt he was loved, cared for, and safe. I genuinely believed Rhema's was that place. My son has developmental delays, and I have always been transparent with the daycare about his needs. I made sure they were informed of every eval, appt, and recommendation because his health and development have always been my top priority. To give credit where it's due, my son made a lot of progress while attending Rhema's, and I will always appreciate the teachers who genuinely cared for him. Unfortunately, my opinion has changed because of how recent events were handled. Like many 2 yr. olds, my son has experienced behavioral challenges. During his time at Rhema's, he was bitten and hit by other children on multiple occasions. While I was upset each time, I also understood that the children are still learning and that these situations can happen. I never expected perfection. I expected communication, consistency, and fairness. Last week, my son's services were suddenly suspended after concerns about biting, hitting, and the use of inappropriate words. While those behaviors were concerning to me as well, I immediately did everything the daycare asked of me. I was told that he needed to be evaluated by his pediatrician before he could return. I scheduled the appointment, had the eval done and submitted the letter as soon as I received it, even though his pediatrician questioned why a behavior plan was being requested for a 2 yr. old. After I submitted the letter (Friday), I was told it was not sufficient and that it needed to be updated. Once I provided the updated letter(today), I was then given a completely different requirement, that my son had to begin his therapies before he could return. This was confusing because his therapies are for his developmental delays such as speech & OT, not for behavior. While a daycare can certainly recommend services, decisions regarding therapy should ultimately be made by the parents and healthcare providers. The expectations continued to change even after I complied with every initial request. Instead of receiving a clear answer about when my son could return, I have been left without childcare for over a week. As a single working mother, this has created an incredible hardship. A week prior to my son's services being suspended I was receiving reports about his behavior including that other children had bitten my son on 2 separate occasions, I was told my son was bitten out of reaction. Only my son's services were suspended while the others were kept. That inconsistency left me questioning how these situations were being handled. Throughout this entire process, I reached out multiple times to both Ximena and the director, Ms. Carmen, hoping to communicate and find a solution. Most of my messages went unanswered. When I finally spoke with Ms. Carmen by phone, I felt she was dismissive, rude, and simply suggested that I remove my son from the daycare instead of working with us to resolve the situation. I understand that caring for toddlers is not easy and simply not for everyone. Children at this age are still learning appropriate behaviors, and I never excused biting, hitting, or any inappropriate behavior, whether it involved my child or another child. However, I expected the daycare to handle these situations consistently, professionally, and with open communication. Instead, I experienced changing expectations, unanswered questions, and a lack of respect during one of the most stressful situations a parent can face. Sadly, because of how this situation was handled, I no longer trust the leadership at Rhema's Learning Center. The lack of communication, professionalism, empathy, and consistency has been extremely disappointing. Although I once confidently recommended this daycare to others, I can no longer do so after my family's experience. read more

My nephew had been attending this daycare for the past two years and at first it was great but overtime things changed. He would cry at drop off and his mom would take fruit or hash browns as a reward so he had something to look forward to. It was never an issue when the owner "teacher Carmen" would receive him every day to escort him to his class that is, until a couple of days ago. Carmen posted a LIVE video on Facebook to call out my nephew Max, a 3yr old, I must add! She mentioned she had a surprise for the class saying "Close your eyes. Do you remember when Max came and he didn't want to share something with you because he had just a little bit? Well that's right and guess what? I bought for everybody..." and shows a bag of Chick-Fil-A she had been secretly holding behind her. Immediately when I saw this on Facebook, I contacted my sister and she confirmed Max had been dropped off with Chick-Fil-A that morning. I told her what I had seen and she contacted the daycare with questions. She was initially told the video was not about Max and when she requested to speak to the owner Carmen, she confirmed that it was Max, her son who she was referring to. Carmen proceeded to mention that outside food was not permitted and that she used the last $25 she had to buy everyone food. She gave reassurance that Max was included but when asked why she took it to social media, Carmen hung up on her! Within seconds the online video had been deleted but luckily, I had already screen recorded it. Max's father also attempted to contact the owner and Carmen told him "this doesn't concern you" and he was also hung up on! Both conversations with Carmen were very unprofessional, rude and unapologetic. Being hung up on brought huge concerns and my sister rushed to the day care to pick him up and proceeded to file a report with McAllen Police. The officer admitted that this was wrong for an adult to call out a defenseless child. When he returned from getting Carmen's statement the officer stated that she was oblivious to any wrongdoing on her end and he was given Max's personal belongings. Basically, my nephew was kicked out before he could be withdrawn. The biggest concern here and a red flag to any parent is that the owners actions were unremorseful and selfish. We trust the care givers with our children and this was a very alarming experience especially because it escalated in this manner. An apology and acceptance that this was wrong of Carmen to do would have been all it took but she determined to take a different approach and hang up on both parents. I would think twice before you consider enrolling your child here. read more

My son went to Rhema's since he was 10 months old, all to 13 months. In the beginning he took a while to adjust, he'd cry a lot at drop off but eventually got used to it and enjoyed his day. I have only good things to say about his teacher Maria Elena, she's so kind and patient with all the babies. My son learned so much in the little time he was there. Shout out to Ms.Wendy who even though wasn't his teacher; cared and loved him so much, there was no day she didn't stop to talk to him or make him smile. Thank you to all the teachers who cared for my baby boy. The only issue/complaint I have is with director/owner Carmen.. from the start she gave off a very negative vibe. She often made judgmental comments towards me or other parents. She says things in a very degrading manner, not sure if she realizes how condescending she sounds. An example is saying "como va sacar al niño asi, Poreso se enferma y luego disen Que es por el daycare" when my son was wearing sweats, long sleeve and a sweatshirt with a hoodie and it was 79 degrees outside. She was trying to make a smart comment because my son was out for getting Rhinovirus at daycare, he was in and out of the hospital for 2 weeks. Every Dr who saw him immediately pointed out that once babies go into daycare they always begin to get sick, obviously from being exposed to other kids who might be sick when before they were just at home. Common sense. But she doesn't believe that. She believes it's the parents fault for taking them out in 79 degree weather with only sweats, and sweatshirt. She believes she knows better than doctors. Due to the fact that my son was out for majority of every week due to always being sick.. either it was Rhinovirus, RSV or a viral cold. I decided to take him out of daycare and stay home to care for him myself. She apparently didn't like that.. Today was the day I went to pick up my sons things and as soon as I enter she makes another judgmental comment stating "Ayer estaba hablando con Ximena (her niece who also runs the daycare) de que a 2 bebitos mas chiquitos que su hijo los sacaron destapados en este frio. Y le mensione que a su hijo tambien lo saco asi varias veces." I was in shock, I could not believe the disrespect and audacity she has to judge me or any other parent so bluntly while I was carrying my son on our way to say goodbye to his teachers. To avoid further conflict I cleared up to her that what my son had was a viral infection in his throat that then travelled to his ear, who cannot be blamed on the weather. That it is something that is transmitted from child to child. And she then began to say that Doctors these days blame it on whatever sickness is going around whether it be Covid or RSV but it's just due to the weather. Again claiming to know better than Doctors and trying to brush it off the daycare by throwing the responsibility onto the weather. I loved the teachers, the facility and the fact that they update parents on what the kids are doing for the day. It would be a great place to send your kids to if it wasn't for Ms.Carmen.. I mean Dr. Carmen. read more

The place seemed very welcoming and professional in the beginning, working hard to assure you that your children will be well taken care of and in a safe, positive environment. After only a few weeks, their whole demeanor had changed. Management had become very cross and disrespectful. I myself have witnessed them being racist to an African American woman and one of the head women in charge yelling at an employee in front of the children. I have also heard stories of the children being yelled at by management. These people have NO patience for children and will hire anyone into their establishment without concern of age, experience, etc... My son was diagnosed with Autism while he was enrolled there and they treated him horribly. My son was constantly coming to me explaining how mean they were to him and that when he was being bullied they did nothing to stop it. When confronted they gave me vague excuses, making it seem like my son was the one at fault. At one point, I received a text message from them stating they could not find my son when going to pick him up from school. I then called and they had told me that all was well and taken cared of. I proceeded to politely ask them to not send scary messages like that if they were not sure it was an emergency situation. I was accused of being rude by management for said statement when I could have handled it in much worse way. In conclusion. Please do not be fooled by the luxurious events they put on. You are definitely paying for them and then some. In conclusion, NOT WORTH IT. There is much better out there. Save yourself and your kids the trouble. read more