I would be very careful before enrolling your children at Zacarias Daycare. I truly hope things have changed since my experience, but I feel it's important to share what happened with my son.
When my son was 2 years old, I had to place him in daycare. From the very beginning, something didn't feel right. Drop-off and pick-up always took place at the front door, and I was never allowed inside. That immediately made me uncomfortable.
The daycare appeared to keep all of the children in one small bedroom for most of the day, except when they went outside to play in the backyard. Every time I picked up my son, he seemed extremely hungry, and every morning when I dropped him off, he looked sad and didn't want to go inside.
The incident that made me remove my son happened when he was injured while in her care. He came home with a scrape on his forehead. When I called to ask what had happened, she responded, "He might have fallen." I asked, "Did he fall, or do you not know?" I also asked why I hadn't been informed that he had been injured. Her response was, "Kids are going to have accidents all day long. That doesn't mean I'm going to tell you about all of them."
I explained that if my child is injured and comes home with visible marks, I expect to be notified.
I later scheduled a meeting to review the security footage. The video showed the children outside while she was inside the house cleaning her refrigerator. My son fell forward off a picnic bench and landed face down on the ground. Instead of immediately checking on him, she came outside yelling at the other children because they had gotten up from the table to surround him. The children appeared startled and began crying.
She then brought my son inside and had him sit on the couch for what felt like a long time, almost as if he were being punished for falling. I never saw her check him for injuries or assess whether he was okay.
While reviewing the footage, I asked her to continue playing the recording so I could see how long my 2-year-old remained sitting on the couch. She refused, turned off the computer, and ended the meeting.
I trusted my instincts and removed my son from the daycare shortly afterward. He is now 4 years old, and I am grateful I listened to my gut. Even today, writing about this experience is heartbreaking because no parent wants to wonder whether their child was safe while they were away. read more