Sugar Plums in Rockville - reviews?

[Anonymous]

I've now read on a couple threads that the Sugar Plums director is inflexible and unaccommodating.

Can someone please provide some specifics? Feel free to send me a PM if you don't want to post publicly.

I'm looking for infant care and but I'm new to the area so I don't have a network for good inside information. My brief visit to Sugar Plums and my short interaction with the director were positive.

[beanie]

Whoops-- I am the above 15:06 poster above. I wasn't logged in when I posted the message. I'm now logged in if you want to send a PM.

[Anonymous]

I realize this discussion is relatively old now, but in searching for the Sugar Plums website, I came by it and thought I would chime in. My son has been enrolled in Sugar Plums for about a month now. I had read these negative reviews (and a few others) online prior to enrolling him, but quite frankly, I ignored them because I had gotten such a good feeling from the Center and the employees when we toured it. My son (a little over 1 year) absolutely loves it there. He is always thrilled when we pull into the parking lot, and when I drop him off he isn't even interested in saying good-bye, because he is so happy to be there. His main teacher has been there for a while, from what the assistant director told me (something like 7 years, I believe), and she is fantastic with the kids. The other teachers are very good as well. I have picked him up early without letting the center know (not to sneak up on them, just incidentally) and am always so pleased at how the teachers are playing and engaging with the children. I can't speak more highly of this daycare center. It is a bit pricey, and I was hesitant to shell out what amounts to a small mortgage payment every month, but it is well worth the cost (and isn't everything pricey in Montgomery County, really). I don't have much experience with the director, but the assistant director has always been quite accommodating and very nice. My limited experience with the director has been positive as well.

[Anonymous]

We have had our son at Sugar Plums for 9 months now. I have not had much interactions with the Director. I spoke to her once about an issue I had with one of son's care givers and she responded to it well. I have always been very pleased with the assistant director Angela! She is wonderful and truly cares for the children, my son will always check at her desk to say hi, although she is often roaming through the center. I have not noticed a lot of staff turn around.
My son has been in 3 different rooms as he has grown totaling 7 care givers and only one care giver left the center. (That was 2 care givers per room plus the replacement.)

We have found them to be very flexible. My husband and I have both switched to working 4 days a week, and we were able to make a 3 day a week schedule for our son base off of our workplaces requests of days.

[Anonymous]

WE have had the most excellent experience at Sugar Plums. We have been to several other centers over the years and Sugar Plums is by far the finest of them all.
The director is accommodating and always very professional and caring. She is extremely experienced and has operated centers for 20 years.

I would highly recommend Sugar Plums to the community.

[Anonymous]

I have had my son at Sugar Plums since 3/2009. I haven't seen the turnover discussed in earlier threads. So far the teachers he has had were great with him. They really get attached to the children and treat them like family. My son is always having fun and smiling there.

[Anonymous]

I would recommend the center as a good child care place. The staff takes good care of the children. The secretary of the place, Angela, is very friendly and caring. The place is clean. The price is high, but quite reasonable if compared with other day cares in the same area. HOWEVER, I will have to agree with people giving negative feedback about the director/owner of the place. In my humble opinion, she is more of a business women rather than a person with true passion in child care. Granted, she got a bachelor degree in child development from Syracuse University, which seems to be a good indicator of her general interest in children. Sadly, I found it hard to believe she is truly passionate about child care. I saw the passion in Angela, her secretary, not in her.

[Anonymous]

It is nice to hear how everyone feels about Angela (since she is my wife). She does care about children very much and takes pride in her relationship with the parents. FYI, she is the co-director, not the secretary.

[Anonymous]

We have been at Sugar Plums for over a year. The center is clean, the teachers are educated and professional and the directors are caring. The owner is very knowledgeable and understands the needs of children.

[Anonymous]

For God’s sake, Angela just got promoted to co-director on Jan 27, 2010. How would the people posted before that day knew that she was going to be promoted as a co-director??

Besides, in the child care industry, I believe the job title counts very little in parents’ evaluation of the place. It’s the personality and the heart inside the staff that attract the customers.

That being said, I am very glad that Angela got the promotion. She deserved every bit of it.

[Anonymous]

I looked at Sugar Plums, but at $1705 / month for infant care it was unaffordable to us.

[Anonymous]

To the anonymous posted on 02/01/2010, 07:47:

A good friend of mine, her mother is currently looking for a babysitting job. She had babysitting experience before with two babies for a family living in Rockville, MD. I think that was a year ago. If you are interested in getting more information, let me know. I can get in touch with my friend so you can check out the reference or perhaps an interview. From my understanding, the price is flexible and negotiable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For God’s sake, Angela just got promoted to co-director on Jan 27, 2010. How would the people posted before that day knew that she was going to be promoted as a co-director??

We were at Sugar Plums in 2008, and Angela was not the secretary. She was assistant director. Would be kind of strange to be promoted from secretary to co-director now, wouldn't it?

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to chime in and say that I have had my daughter at Sugar Plums for over a year now and love the teachers, Angela and the facilities! I was able to negotiate a special schedule/rate for my daughter when she started because a new center had opened up and many kids had left Sugar Plums. (I learned that from this thread) However now I am attempting to enroll my second child with the same schedule and the owner will not allow it....

[Anonymous]

OK. Apparently getting Angela’s job title straight was a very big deal for some people here. So what, I thought she was a secretary and I made an innocent mistake. What is the big difference between secretary and assistant director? Sure, the second title seems to sound so much glorious. So? In a lot of corporation, people can put whatever job title they want in their business card, given that it’s not too far away from the truth.

Again, my point is that I don’t think job title is such a big deal in child care industry. In fact, job titles don’t say much in plenty of other industries (but I think this is especially true for the child care industry). We sometimes call the staff assistant in my office the secretary. Sure, we can easily call her manager assistant. I don’t care. I don’t think my co-workers care, and I certainly don’t think my managers care. We love her. She is doing a good job, just like Angela is. That’s all it matters.

Again, I sincerely congratulate Angela’s promotion.

I hope I have got everything straightened out.