The Butterfly House @ VTS

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had any first hand experience with The Butterfly House @ VTS for child care? We are looking into this for our baby and would love some feedback from people who have sent their kids there. Other recommendations are welcome too! Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

We love the Butterfly House. Staff all love the children and it shows. Every staff member knows my kids and there is not turnover of staff.

I know you have a baby so won’t matter as much for awhile but we love how much outdoor time our kids get. They have such an amazing playground and kids go out even when it’s really cold or slightly raining. And even the Caterpillar Club goes outside, so your baby will get outdoor time (but not in the same more extreme weather the older kids go out in.) My kids always fall asleep easier on daycare days because they have played so much.

They did exceptional during Covid. When they shut down in March of 2020, we were reimbursed for the days our kids didn’t go that month and we were not asked to pay for the duration of the closure through that school year. They currently reimburse anytime a class is closed for more than 3 days, so we just got money back when classes were closed for 5 days in early January for snow. Amazingly my kids class have not had any closures for Covid this year, though some have and they test staff every week and parents can opt in to get kids above the age of 2 tested every other week.

I think it’s the best daycare in Alexandria and well worth the cost. I feel so lucky my family found the Butterfly House.

[Anonymous]

I also had a good experience at the Butterfly House. My daughter was 2 when she started. My only complaint and the reason we left is they don’t really have summer coverage. They are open over the summer for kids under 3 but it’s a terrible system where the teachers change every week. My daughter cried every day at drop off. It was too hard for her. Other kids do fine with it. And then once you’re 3 you have to go to summer camp instead. We switched to a school with year ‘round coverage. But we loved the Butterfly House otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also had a good experience at the Butterfly House. My daughter was 2 when she started. My only complaint and the reason we left is they don’t really have summer coverage. They are open over the summer for kids under 3 but it’s a terrible system where the teachers change every week. My daughter cried every day at drop off. It was too hard for her. Other kids do fine with it. And then once you’re 3 you have to go to summer camp instead. We switched to a school with year ‘round coverage. But we loved the Butterfly House otherwise.

Bumping this to see if you could elaborate more on summer coverage for under 3s? Do teachers change every week just due to vacations? I’m considering them for my infant.

[Anonymous]

This daycare is really intended for teachers at EHS and students at the Seminary, not full time working parents. So, no summer care and an overall lack of understanding of FT working parents in our experience. Nice outdoor space and we had some very nice teachers. But overall if you have options this wouldn’t be my first choice.