Today's Child in Media, PA…read more I have worked in childcare for 8 years now. This was the absolute worst childcare facility I have ever worked at. I stayed for 9 months because I got attached to my children and their parents. When I got hired, they didn't even interview me. They threw me in a room that was dirty in every way. It smelled like animal poop because they had 2 ginnea pigs cooped up in there. It was dark and unorganized, things not labeled, toys thrown everywhere. The children's cubbies weren't labeled and changed every day because kids got thrown into different rooms. They never trained me or guided me to a schedule or routine, in which I eventually made myself. I never got an employee handbook or was explained any of the benefits. I took it upon myself to change rooms, organize, clean and label everything. Brought in new toys, made a parent board and schedule, had progress reports and lesson plans - which lacked the materials because they never accommodated me, took them on field trips, risked my life being on ladders to take down old decorations and dust the 4 inch globs of dust, etc - I ultimately got very involved with my classroom, kids, and parents because I am extremely passionate about my job and am pursuing to better myself in this field. I felt like I had no support from my other co workers and even boss. My boss by the way is not equipped to be a director. Yes, she was nice, but had no clue what was going on. Teachers kept to themselves and were uninviting and greedy. With the 9 months I was there, AT LEAST 13 teachers quit. Because of the chaos. Parents dropped their children. Some teachers who did get hired were incompetent - Never took the kids outside, took multiple smoking breaks to where they reeked of cigarettes, were always on their phones, didn't know what a curriculum was, etc. Teachers were "supposed to" to clean the classrooms and bathrooms but there was never a vaccume or proper cleaning supplies to do something that was not our job. Kids would get rashes from the dirty carpets, they didn't keep soap or toilet paper in the bathrooms because "kids made messes with it" (if they were being supervised it wouldn't be messy) teacher had to make "bathroom baskets" that were kept in the classrooms. The teacher bathrooms were also a disgrace - They were shared with parents and men and at times I'd be going to the bathroom and a man come in and go next to me. Not ONCE since I've worked there did they have a fire drill OR lockdown drills. Again, I did them myself with my kids once a month. Especially now a days... You could yell my code word "peanutbutter" and they knew to shut the lights off and hide in closets quietly even knowing we don't have locks on the doors. Neighbors near the school even called the cops on my boss because they stopped seeing kids line up outside for drills. My boss well aware of this her response was being mad at that neighbor. The playground is meant for school agers - Being that the school used to be The Blessed Virgin Mary Elementary School - Monkey bars and rock walls 10 feet high. The gravel mats ripping off, kids tripping. Some people even vandalized the rock wall saying things like "fuck the population" "fuck trump" etc and my 5-12 yr olds would read this - After complaining to my boss several times about it. I, and other teachers, were left out of ratio ALL OF THE TIME. We got lucky if we had another teacher with us. Sometimes I'd be left with 25 school agers, some with autism/behavior issues. At times I'd be drained and asked if they could take certain children from me and they didn't empathize or care. Kids that are dangerous to me and others - punching, biting, cursing... They never took their "3 strike " system serious so I wrote everything in a journal in case things got legal. I also took initiative to get my CDA and go back to school. They not once congratulated me or offered me a raise or even did my 90 day review/assessment. They NEVER admired the work I put into the kids and classroom. They never respected it either. I'd be out sick or on vacation and leave what needs to be done as far as the learning activities I had planned for my kids and it'd still be sitting on the desk when I got back, my room trashed instead. The center was almost closed down because they failed to report child abuse in which they are mandated reporters. Police came and everything. I'm surprised it's still open. I feel bad for the kids - I remember when i got hired they said 3 teachers in my place left in a span of a few weeks because my room is tough. So the kids had no consistency before me. And never had a consistent assistant teacher for me. Do not send your child to this location. And do not work there. As for me, on to better things.

My son has been going there since he was 4 months old, he is 18 months now. I couldn't be happier…read morethat he is there. The infant and toddler teachers are wonderful and they know my son well enough to know if he is being picky that day or it is something he truly doesn't like. My husband and I have dropped by occasionally to visit and we were always happy to see him active (except at nap time) and eating well. They are reinforcing table manners in the toddler room (using fork and spoon, staying at the table to eat, ect) and we have noticed a positive change. He has made friends and his social skills are where they should be. I was also impressed that we were given a survey to understand where our child is socially, emotionally and physically. It is designed for early intervention should it be necessary. An example of one of the questions was, "Do your child walk unassisted?" While we were sad to see some teachers leave, my son took the summer off and when we came back there was a different teacher in the toddler room, he loves the new ones too. They are able to keep up with my toddler. They are very organized in the toddler room and it is kept very clean. Every evening when I pick him up, one or both teachers are cleaning. Oh and they provide diapers and wipes!