THIS PLACE HAS COMPLETELY TURNED AROUND! This daycare used to be really bad and the older reviews show it. This is until their new director Ana took over. Under her leadership, this daycare is organized, calm, clean, and genuinely caring. Ana is present, responsive, and clearly sets a high standard. You feel it the second you walk in. Becca, the two's class teacher, is phenomenal. She's attentive, patient, and truly knows the kids. She keeps the app updated consistently with real details such as meals, naps, activities, photos. I'm always up to date and aware of what my two year old is doing and I can see how happy he is to be there! Most importantly, my son is happy, comfortable, and clearly feels safe with her. Bonus points: Clean, well-run facility Nutritious food Calm, safe environment with lots of engagement This is not the daycare it once was, it's so much better. We're incredibly grateful to be here and would recommend it without hesitation to any parent looking for a place they can truly trust. Thank you, Santee Kindercare! read more

It's time for me to leave a review. My son has been going to this daycare since he was 6 months. He is now in the 2 year old classroom and I can't even explain how thankful I am for this daycare. They have been so loving to him since day one and continue to support him in every way. I never feel worried about him throughout the day because I know he is well taken care of. Every teacher knows him and they all say good morning. The atmosphere is just happy and bright when you walk in. His teachers now are Ms. Vero and Ms. Kaylyn and they are the most amazing teachers! They have started helping us with potty training and are so excited to tell us during pick up that he went multiple times. My son doesn't even care that I drop him off anymore because as soon as he sees them he runs gives them a big hug. We have another baby that will be born in July and he will also get enrolled into the infant room. Highly recommend you visit the facility and meet the teachers. They are wonderful. read more

We've sent our 3 year old boy here for 3 months now. He absolutely loves it and so do we. lt's such a positive and fun learning environment, with the right amount of structure, and he is thriving. More specifically: Great teachers His main teacher is Ms. Erica, and he also spends time with others, especially Ms. Becca and Mr. Junior. They are all attentive and caring, and our son loves being around them. If he is in one part of the facility or in the yard when I pick him up, he often insists we visit other rooms on the way out to say good bye to other teachers he knows. When there is an issue, whether it was something our son did, or something he did to someone else (you know like pushing/getting pushed, while not often, it's inevitable among toddlers that it happens sometimes), the teachers communicate promptly and transparently. Great administrators I am amazed at how Ms. Ana and Ms. Daisy are on top of what and how all the children across levels are doing. The are always in the classrooms helping the teachers and checking in on the students, and are really aware of what's going on. They have created an environment of open communication across the staff, so all the teachers and administrators are frequently in contact over the course of the day so that everyone stays on the same page. Great support and communication Our son was in the process of getting potty trained when he started attending. Everyone was super helpful, patient with his accidents, and accommodated special requests. The teachers and administrators were always happy to discuss how our son's day went and align on strategies to help him going forward. The app is great and pictures are uploaded throughout the day so we know what the children are up to. Great programming The children are always kept busy with fun activities. There's lots of painting, crafts, playdough, magnatiles... Every time I show up to pick my son up he's engaged in something, whether an activity at a table, or climbing on a playground structure in the yard. Sometimes he says we can't go home yet because he wants to finish what he is working on! Each child's art is stored in their own folder, and we have brought home a whole pile already. Some of the art is displayed in the hallway, along with a picture of the child making the art that is displayed. They always make sure that every child has art displayed. Our son likes to search the hall for his art and then wants to pose for a picture with it and with the picture of himself making it -- very meta. In short, just a great experience. I've read through all the other reviews out of curiosity. I have to say I'm perplexed by the negative reviews. I'm sure people have had different experiences, and have had the experiences they say. It just seems like they're talking about the same center in a different dimension! read more

When you pay top dollar for daycare, you would expect your child to be watched in a safe facility. With a franchise like Kindercare, you would expect competent staff and corporate support. Your child is worth it, right? What we found is a smelly facility, revolving staff of 'teachers', repulsive plops of food served, unsanitary handwashing stations, absolute neglect. With combined classes due to perpetual short-staff, our child picked up all sorts of bad behaviors and got hurt multiple times by rough older kids. The positive for this place is that it's conveniently located at a major intersection (Cuyamaca and Mast). Negative is your kids are a lowered push bar away from running 50' into Cuyamaca. There were multiple incidents including a security lockdown during our experience. The administrative staff are absent, the corporate support incompetent and unhelpful. Luckily, our neighbors warned us of them continuing to bill for weeks after leaving. We removed our payment information, and gave over 2 weeks notice per their contract. With ample notice of us leaving, we were ignored until they wanted tution every week for months after! Every week, we would get a call from their family support, and financial services call centers. After about 3 months the calls stopped. Here we are 5 months later and we're getting calls yet again over charges. Neither call center can explain what the charge is for, and refer us to the local director at the center. Guess who isn't available after in-person visits and multiple phone calls. This place is a nightmare, and Santee deserves better. Please heed this warning and avoid this center at all costs!!! read more

For parents looking for daycare: For the past year this school has not been able to keep a teacher for more than a couple months, there is a revolving door of faces that come and go.. They seem to hire anyone they possibly can and frankly who don't have any experience taking care of children or have education behind this matter . My son was in mobiles class and the two main teachers he had were Ms Marylou and Mr Junior who individually I would give them both a 5 star rating because they seem to be very genuine in their roles as care taker and who my son seems to light up when they are around . Once my son moved over to twos I found that the class is very chaotic having 12+ kids to one teacher. Obviously a huge shift in atmosphere to where my son began to become stressed out and overstimulated. You can see in the teachers faces how frustrated they can be with the ratio, there is usually always understaffing or so they call it, "a lot of call outs". If teachers are visually frustrated what makes them think a two year old wouldn't be? My son was never a "biter" he became acustome to it since that's how children express themselves which is understandable because they can not speak their frustrations so of course my son picked up on the habit. After meeting with the staff and his teacher we all agreed to give him up to an hour where he can be off to the side to do his own thing where I brought in a box full of stuff to keep him busy. Everyday after the meeting I have asked "did my son do his box today?" And the answer was always yes he did. I was "offered" this alternative to get my sons behavior in the class to settle down and then they said if this didn't work they offer a specialtist who can come in and work with my son one and one so he can be given the proper care with someone who isn't in charge of 15 other kids. So once I asked for this alternative they said it's not offered because they have to believe he is autistic? Teachers don't diagnosis children doctors do, what child care is supposed to offer is calm, healthy, positive atmosphere yet every teacher seems to be stressed, frustrated with how many kids they have in the class. So then, I have them telling me I have a week to find care for my son because they can not get him to control his emotions in such a chaotic setting. For any parent this can be a nightmare, a week notice ? I have been disappointed by this staff and their lack of communication, and childcare I pay for. The last day I went to pick my son up because he was being sent home a teacher was serving lunch and just throwing bread into the plates to where the plate and bread completely fell over onto the little girls lap, no apology or no effort to even go pick up the food she was just throwing onto plates. After given this week notice I had no confidence as a parent to leave my son there anymore so I went to pick him his belongings, As I was leaving a teacher who has had my son before asked, "where is he?" And I stated he can't come here anymore I was given a week to find somewhere for him and the look she gave me was unsettling as she was trying not to cry like "really your son?"like yep I can't believe it either. My son is such a sweet baby he didn't deserve how his care had to be terminated and so quickly. I don't believe the kids are the problem I believe the staffing is. Nothing in my son's box was ever used, and I 100% believe he never even used it at any time to calm down from the chaos. I don't believe there was a true effort in helping not only my son but all the other kids who are crowded into one room with one teacher in that class. Messages can take days or weeks to even get a response and this whole situation has left me super upset as a parent because I have had my son here for almost two years where the teachers he had before this class are long gone. My son's wellbeing is always my first concern. The environment is not as friendly as they portray to be and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving my son with people who just think getting rid of the child is better or easier than helping the teachers do their jobs they sign up for. I would not recommend this daycare until they apply more structure and staffing to this facility and classrooms. Their job is to take care of children and parents should be at ease leaving their kids with people who go into this kind of environment knowing kids are going to behave based on their surroundings. Truly an upset parent. read more

Santee KinderCare - Child Care & Day Care Near Me - Santee, California

See all

My hope is to be as transparent as possible to help any parent who is going through the very stressful process of finding the right fit for their little one. My son is 21 months old and we were in the toddler room from July to today. Environment: -I really like the school like setting, facility is clean and orderly. -Closed only on major holidays, no last minute trips or a week of closure at a time. -Includes variety of meals & snacks Curriculum: -A benefit of a larger facility versus in home daycare is there is a calendar of curriculum that follows closely with the child's development--Kindercare has neat themes of the week and follows a lesson plan. Staffing: -One of my biggest concerns for any daycare setting has always been staffing--as you see from previous yelp reviews, that was a concern of other parents here. When I asked about this during our tour, the Assistant Director said that those reviews are old and they have no issues now. That was not the case. Many times there were comments about staffing during drop off. Two times my son was moved to a different classroom due to staffing and I was not informed. -I felt like the lead teacher played favorites: saw her doing the same little girl's hair a few times during drop off, or had her in her lap in almost all the pictures in the app. This little girl didn't seem to have any trouble or anything to need this, so that was strange. --There were some staff that did seemed like they actually cared, and had genuine kindness. Kids pick up on that. Even after 3 weeks, when the lead teacher came to the door at drop off, my son would whine and start to fuss. (Maybe this is the treatment towards him from lead teacher? Or he picked up on the favoritism?) When it was another teacher at drop off, my son was totally fine and went right into her arms. -Some people have bad days here and there, and that's understandable--felt like lead teacher, director, and assistant director had the opposite: good days that were far and inbetween. Would it hurt to smile or look like you're enjoying your job? As part of leadership, makes me assume that is one reason for high turn over. Communication: -Poor communication, and when there was communication it was short, unprofessional, and did not answer my questions fully. Couple of times I had to send messages twice to get a reply or acknowledgement. -They have a neat app, similar to brightwheel, but I wonder if what they inputted was always accurate: i.e. my son eats a snack or breakfast in the morning sometimes, and I would see that he ate all his breakfast as daycare. Strange. Also felt like the pictures were more checking the box of 2 photos minimum a day, rather than being interactive/sharing something that he was doing/learning/milestone etc. -I had to take my son out for 3 days for my mother-in-law's memorial. When I messaged them to inform them there was no reply..no condolences or even acknowledgment. Not sure if that is a representation of character, or being overworked, or both? But they DID make sure to message me about a missing payment for that week--only later to tell me it was another family (I know the policy and had already paid). Sick policy: -Safety of the our kid and other kids is priority. 100%. But being sent home for 48 hours for temperature that was .4 over the limit, when it was 100 degrees outside for almost 2 weeks, and no other symptoms was the last straw for me. When I picked him up he did not have a fever, was happy, eating, sleeping, not even a runny nose or cough. Makes me wonder if it was more of a staffing thing.. I know there is no perfect place, these are just things I wish I knew/followed my gut. Especially when there is a waitlist everywhere for kids under 2 years old. We are now going to Le Petite, and I have to tell you--my experience so far is night and day. Director is responsive, genuine, transparent, clear, took her time to explain things, made me feel very grounded. Most of all she seemed to enjoyed her job. I look forward to feeling like family here. The onboarding process has not been like Kindercare at all--I remember getting my package for kindercare and almost 80% of what was on the intake checklist did not happen/was not in the package. That should have been another sign. I really think the director, assistant director, and lead teacher be more mindful & reflective about their position in the school. Still I like to be amicable, I dropped off treats and thank you gift card on my son's last day. But again, no acknowledgement, not that I expected one but just funny to me--and again, telling. I also just realized didn't get any of my son's art work.. Kindercare had all the right elements of being a great daycare, staff and leadership needs to be reassessed or paid more.. I hope this helps you. Good luck. Any questions feel free to message me. read more

Santee KinderCare - Same as another reviewer, wrong billing--guess she assumed I missed it because we were out for his grandma's memorial? - Child Care & Day Care Near Me - Santee, California

We are so glad that we found Santee KinderCare after extra extensively researching and numerous of daycare's we have found this to be the best option for our baby girl. The teacher both in her class and in the center are amazing and very welcoming! The Assistant Director Ms. Ana is extremely nice and such a genuine person overall, she has really shown her dedication to the center and to our family, both me and my husband are very grateful for making this transition easy for us. We Also have to give a lot of credit to the amazing staff and teachers Ms. Becca Ms. Natalie Mr. Junior just to name a few! We have notice the good work and dedication the teachers have shown to our daughter and she seems to be genuinely happy to be there everyday. As a first time parents it was extremely Important for us to find a childcare facility where we could trust our little one to be safe and we feel very lucky to have found that at Santee kinderCare. read more

Deserves zero stars. My daughter was extremely stressed out here to the point of ripping her clothes during nap time. And they scammed me. Told me I was covered by my subsidy then ended up charging me $1700 for 2 weeks of care and sending a bill to collections. Their staff did not even try to help settle or fix this. Scammers and unqualified, unsupported teachers here. Stay away! read more

I cannot say enough wonderful things about KinderCare! It was a big adjustment for my daughter going from being home with me to starting preschool, but the staff showed so much patience and care, helping her feel comfortable, warm up, and eventually adjust to preschool. She absolutely thrived there; every day was full of learning, fun, and care. The teachers are truly amazing! Ms. Becca played such a special role in my daughter's preschool experience; her patience, kindness, and encouragement made a huge difference in helping her feel comfortable and confident. Along with Ms. Caprese, Ms. Natalie, and the rest of the amazing team, they were so kind and supportive, and really helped her grow both academically and socially. I also want to highlight the assistant director, Ms. Ana, who was always approachable, supportive, and attentive to any concerns we had. Another special thank you to Ms. Maria, who handled food preparation with so much care and diligence because of my daughter's allergy. Now that she's in TK, I can clearly see the benefits of her time at KinderCare; she's confident, curious, and ready to learn. Her ability to adapt in a new classroom setting is a direct result of the foundation built at KinderCare. Highly recommend this preschool to any parent looking for a safe and nurturing environment! read more

I recommend this daycare for your kids if they are under 2. My son started with Ms. Andrea at 8 months old. She is one of the best teachers we had there. You can tell she really loves her job and cares about the kids so much. Even when my son moved up to the other classrooms, he would stop by to see the babies and say hi to her. My son loved going to school here. They have delicious food (breakfast, lunch, and snack) all cooked and served by their in-house chef, Ms. Maria. Honestly, I think they helped expand my son's palate more than I could have done at home. They got to play outside a lot, even as infants. They do a lot of arts and crafts and music and dancing. I loved seeing updates on the app throughout the day. It' a great program for the most part. The reason I can't give a 5 star review is because my son was the target of a biter in his class. He would come home with bite marks fairly often once he moved into the Toddler classroom (16mo-24mo). I feel like supervision started lacking in this room and he wasn't getting as much attention as before. The classroom was really cool with a little play structure inside, but I think it was a lot of 'free play time' for the most part. I knew it was time to leave when my son turned 2 years old, because the ratio goes from 1:6 to 1:12 with twice as many students. The opening room has a lot of older kids and it was too chaotic during drop offs. Sadly, we had to leave our friends and teachers behind for another daycare setting. read more

See all

Working with this corporation had been the biggest nightmare. My children have never attended this school. Six months after our tour I'm still getting calls saying that we missed a payment. I spoke to the family line who say to call the center and talk with the director, which I have multiple times, and she says I have no outstanding payments. Fast-forward to today where I receive an email from a debt collecting agency. A DEBT COLLECTING AGENCY! MY KIDS NEVER ATTENDED THE SCHOOL! I don't know who to talk to. I keep getting the run around and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. read more

If I could leave zero stars I would. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD/CHILDREN HERE! WORST DAYCARE WE HAVE EVER HAD!!! We were unhappy with the level of care provided, especially the constant teacher and director turn over, lack of communication and miscommunication, numerous closures and staffing insufficiencies leading to no care being provided, incorrect billing charges during closures where no care was provided, prolonged reimbursement periods, and lack of cleanliness resulting in our child's numerous illnesses from their facility. After giving the proper notice that we were switching daycares, they used our diapers and wipes for other children before we could take everything that belonged to us. We tried contacting the regional director numerous times and she never returned our calls. How can they correct their deficiencies when no one cares enough to respond to concerned parents. Whatever you do, please do not send your child/children here!! read more

Do yourself a favor and find another daycare. My kids were constantly sick and had new teachers every couple of weeks. While we attended we had three differnt directors. Pretty sure they have never deep cleaned that school. Place is trash we pulled kids our kids out as soon as we could. The regional director never replied when we tried to give feedback. Id avoid this place until they get there act together. read more

Worst care I know they are short staffed due to issue but my kid shouldn't have to suffer read more

Highly recommend!! Wendy is the best teacher, the kids love her! The teachers there are highly qualified and care deeply about their children. read more

We chose KinderCare in Santee because it felt/is the most safest & friendliest atmosphere. My daughter has been going to KinderCare since 4 months of age (now she's 3 years old) and I can say that she has developed earlier than other kids her age who aren't part of a daycare with an excellent curriculum. All of the teachers are reliable, respectful, caring and fun-loving. My daughter always looks forward to going to "school" (we call it school because there is a great education program). read more

I enrolled my son here when he was 6 months old and we took him out after being there for 2 months. I was notified by the director that the infant teacher had given my son another mother's breastmilk. Although I know this was unintentional, I could not trust them with the safety and security of my son. I am an RN and am 100% aware of the potential health threats this could cause. Breastmilk can transmit various diseases, including HIV and Hep C; drugs/meds can also be passed through the milk. In addition, if the milk isn't properly stored and handled then bacteria can grow and cause illness. My son became very sick within a day of this occurance and ended at at Rady's emergency department twice and at our pediatricians twice within the following week. In the weeks following I called several times to follow up with the facility per my pediatrician's recommendation, but the director and assistant director would not return my calls. I eventually had to get KinderCare's corportate offive involved. KinderCare's director and assistant director handled this completely unprofessionally and I believe did not take proper accountability for their sentinel event. I did report the facility to the state to try and protect the other current infants and the future infants in the daycare. I believe both the teacher and the facility were at fault by either not having a proper feeding policy in place and/or the teacher did not follow the facility's policy. I underatand that babies can successfully use donor milk in medical cases, but that milk is tested for diseases and in those cases there is consent. I did not give consent and because of the facility's and teacher's neglect my son was put at risk. Please do your research before putting your child in someone else's care because it could cause lifelong ramifications. read more

Both of my children have attended Santee Kindercare and we love it! Before enrolling my children I researched many pre-schools and Kindercare fit all my needs. From the hours, teachers, rate and just an all around good feeling when you walk in! The curriculum has prepared my children for elementary and has given them the confidence and tools to succeed. read more

This is hands down one of the best daycare centers my children have ever been went to! All the teachers are incredible with the children and the are always have a smile on their face! My kids love their teachers so much! They only thing I think could be better is if it opened at 05 due to my family being active duty military and us having to be at work by six and because Kindercare is nationally accredited it is the first recommendatio, a side from the cdc, for military members, but that is really the only thing that could be better! My family loves Kindercare and my kids are learning and picking up on things now more than they ever have! read more

The classrooms and curriculum are good, the teachers and childcare staff are great, but the front office staff and particularly the director are definitely NOT great. I was harassed for tuition payment before tuition was even due, so that wasn't very pleasant. I also had to argue with the director for reimbursement when they overcharged me on two occasions.. despite perfectly clear bank records showing I was overcharged she still tried to insist it was all legit. The front office staff just really left a bad impression. I only kept my son here for four months, but during those four months he was constantly getting sick. I never witnessed anything that suggested a lack of hygiene or sanitation procedures, but my kid isn't a sickly child and he never got sick that often at a previous daycare facility or at the one we're at now... so I can only assume there was some sort of issue at this facility. Despite their policy it appeared that many children were accepted for care even with active coughs and runny noses (and I'm talking big nasty green snot trails, not the runny nose that comes from teething or an allergy). I never felt my child was unsafe there, though. Like I said, I liked his teachers and the childcare staff in general. They all seemed like lovely people and my son adored them. I just didn't like how this place was ran. read more

My grandkids have gone to KinderCare in Santee and I love the care they have received! The staff is amazing and shows true dedication to their profession in the care and education of the children. Both of our grandkids have thrived there and the youngest just "graduated" from pre-K and we are sad to leave! read more

My daughter attended school here for 2 1/2 years (she's now in primary school) and my son just started attending as well. My experience has been extremely positive. The teachers are engaged, the curriculum is appropriate and fun, and they have such a wonderful time in this learning environment. I was/am very picky when choosing a preschool for my child. I toured a number of childcare options in this area and this felt much more organized than the others, and just a better overall vibe. After enrolling, all my feelings were founded by my great experience. I would definitely recommend KinderCare to anyone looking. read more

I have had my son in daycare with KinderCare for 4 years. I love it, I love the staff, the center director politely answers all of my crazy questions and concerns. The building is always nice a clean. The curriculum is wonderful. I love that it prepares kids for school instead of just watching them while my . They have extra programs like phonics and Spanish lessons, which are affordable. My son loves all the teachers and they are so nurturing, especially if he is having a hard day. I would recommend Kindercare. read more

We recently moved from the area, but our son attended this branch of KinderCare for over a year when we lived in Santee. This is a great place for kids. The director, Ms. Thelma, takes great care this center. The teachers are nice as well. They have little parties for holidays - fun! read more

We've had two vastly different experiences with this KinderCare - the first a very positive one, most recent was not to our liking.

this was one of the worst places i have ever visited. i came to the school with my friend to pick up her children and i could not believe the unprofessional manner in which the director spoke with her staff. i do not know if she knew we were there or cared but she was talking about one of the children and their parents, and when the teacher defended them she said if you want to keep your job don't take that attitude with me. the teacher excused herself, by saying oh hello to us and walked away. we just looked at each other. i went to the classroom because i was interested in placing my child there and wanted information and i wanted to observe. i witnessed children being swapped from class to class. there were school aged children in the same class with the preschool children, which i know was a clear state violation. we were there for fifteen minutes while my friend spoke with the assistant director who was handling her billing situation. i will add the assistant director will awesome...as were the teachers that spoke with me about the center. i just felt that the director was unprofessional. if you are looking for a center that offers a wider range of teaching and oen ended creative learning activities i would not choose this place,this took place in june 2013. i really think that it is time for the corporate office to come to this school and invest in some materials and update the toys....maybe send the staff to some training on how to conduct themselves in the workplace....for the money they are charging i wonder why it is not naeyc accredited. read more

Our son attended Santee KC from 4 months old until March of 2014....3 years. The only reason we left is that we moved out of state. I can't rave enough about how wonderful the staff and management are at this center. They are on top of everything, and truly take the time to get to know your child....and not just his direct teachers mind you, but the Center Director and the Asst. Center Director. Our son learned so much while attending Santee KC. Their curriculum fosters learning, fun, and self confidence. We actually enrolled our son in a KC center in our new state, and sadly it doesn't even come close to being as wonderful as Santee. The staff in Santee are always warm and friendly, and it feels like one big family when you are there......one you and your child are part of. If you are looking for a place to take your little one, look no further, because nothing else can hold a candle to Santee Kindercare! read more