We enrolled our twin girls here at 16 months old. They had never been to a daycare. We left…read moreBeantree after 3 months. I initially decided not to post a review, but my husband convinced me that other parents may find my feedback valuable.
Starting with the first week, our girls were consistently sick. We expected common colds, but they repeatedly got pink eye, ear infections, and one of our girls caught the flu. My husband thought it was too much but I convinced him to stay and that it was to be expected. However, since starting at our new school, our girls have not been sick once (granted, it has only been one month). The many rooms they rotate throughout the day is great for learning experiences, but I think it also helps facilitate germs between the different age groups.
The adjustment was rough. Every drop off was filled with lots of tears and leg holding, but I fully expected this. This was the norm, even 3 months after starting. Overall, their teachers were very nice and seemed caring, but I believe it was hard to adjust because we could not depend on the same teachers being in the classroom at drop off. I tend to drop my girls off between 8am and 8:30am and sometimes there would be the usual teachers and sometimes not. This did not help with the adjustment. My girls thrive on consistency - I knew which teachers each of my girls "preferred" and when they were there for drop off, it made things a little smoother. They have monitors in the reception area that let you watch your child's classroom. I would typically make a cup of coffee (great perk!) and then go look at the cameras. After about 5 minutes, they would settle down and I would leave for work. One particular day, I made my usual cup of coffee and looked at the cameras. One of my girls was standing in the corner looking at the wall. It was very unusual. I stood there watching and just waiting for someone to go see if she was okay. No one did. It was heart wrenching. I watched for 9 minutes until my heart could not take it anymore and I asked the receptionist to come look at the monitor. As I was talking to her, one of the teachers went to my daughter, but only because they were gathering all the students to move to a different room. I left that morning and cried all the way to work. I felt so bad for my daughter and I felt like a horrible mom for having to leave her there and go to work. I decided at that moment I could not leave my children there anymore. They do not have the capability to watch your children remotely (which I was fine with - hacking is real!), but I need to be able to trust that my children are being taken care of and that trust was gone. That evening at pickup, their teacher did apologize and stated that it probably appeared worse than it was and that she was talking to my daughter from a distance. Maybe that's true, maybe not. Even if true, I want my children to attend a place where if they go stand in a corner facing a wall for 10 minutes, someone walks up to them to ensure they are okay.
After we notified them we were leaving, the director asked for a meeting. We met with her and one of the teachers. If I wasn't already set on leaving, this meeting would have settled it. To further explain the corner incident, they said they typically leave Twin A alone in moments like this and she eventually comes around. During this meeting, they also decided to diagnose Twin A with anxiety. I was angry. To be clear, she does not have anxiety but she does take time to adjust to new people - as many toddlers do. They should leave the medical diagnoses for doctors. Additionally, they provided us daily reports and not once did a daily report or teacher say Twin A stands in corners or that they think she has anxiety. I also watched the monitor every morning and never observed this either. They proposed putting my twins in separate classrooms. I am a lawyer, also not a doctor, but it seems like that would worsen a twin's anxiety if they'd been together all day every day for 18 months.
We started at a new school days later and to say they are thriving would be an understatement. Within a week, Twin A, with her supposed anxiety, was smiling during drop offs. Seeing my girls grow and enjoy their new school as happy AND healthy toddlers made me realize they don't have to be sick all the time and they don't have to be sad at drop offs. I feel awf
They did have a lot of positives too - They have great perks like coffee for the parents in the morning and to go snacks for the kids in the afternoons. They also provide diapers, wipes, and diaper cream which is really nice. I think this is to be expected for the cost you pay, but price aside, not having to regularly haul a ton of diapers in for 2 toddlers (they go through a lot!) is a huge convenience for this busy mom. It was one less thing to remember in the morning. During our time there, they had a spirit week which was really fun - we enjoyed dressing the girls up for the different themed days.
