How do you know if a preschool/school is good if you don’t know anyone who attends?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I look at the licensing reports to start. If they have few violations (even minor ones) it at least speaks to the administration's attention to detail and management skills.

NP WHere can I find licensing reports on schools?

In Maryland at least, if they have a child care program (e.g. preschool or extended day) they should have a licensing record for those programs on https://www.checkccmd.org/

I checked my daycare on there and it hasn't been checked in 18 months!

Yeah ours doesn't look like it got an inspection in 2020 either. Not surprising given the pandemic.

It's still surprising to me. It seems ESSENTIAL that the state does its inspections.

Adding that it's even more essential because they aren't allowing parents inside.

I hear you but one asymptomatic superspreader inspector could cause multiple daycare closures. The inspections are pretty detailed. I don't think they can just get in and out in 10 minutes.

[Anonymous]

I find that costs is a big factor. I have toured more than 10 days in person before covid, and I find that teachers tend to be more engaged ( probably higher pay & benefit), better facility & infrastrure if tuitions are on the high side. We narrowed down to 2 choices that charged $2k a month & 1.9k a month for 3 years old (1:12 kid ratio).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find that costs is a big factor. I have toured more than 10 days in person before covid, and I find that teachers tend to be more engaged ( probably higher pay & benefit), better facility & infrastrure if tuitions are on the high side. We narrowed down to 2 choices that charged $2k a month & 1.9k a month for 3 years old (1:12 kid ratio).

I think this is true, but you can find some good daycares that have lower facility costs and therefore can invest more in staff without charging a lot. Our daycare is in a public school, so I suspect the rent is not as high as a private space, plus they can use the school's gym and playgrounds. And it's very well-managed - very little turnover last year or this year. It happened to be the cheapest one I toured.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I look at the licensing reports to start. If they have few violations (even minor ones) it at least speaks to the administration's attention to detail and management skills.

NP WHere can I find licensing reports on schools?

In Maryland at least, if they have a child care program (e.g. preschool or extended day) they should have a licensing record for those programs on https://www.checkccmd.org/

I checked my daycare on there and it hasn't been checked in 18 months!

Yeah ours doesn't look like it got an inspection in 2020 either. Not surprising given the pandemic.

It's still surprising to me. It seems ESSENTIAL that the state does its inspections.

Adding that it's even more essential because they aren't allowing parents inside.

I hear you but one asymptomatic superspreader inspector could cause multiple daycare closures. The inspections are pretty detailed. I don't think they can just get in and out in 10 minutes.

OK but we can't just forgive an entire year of inspections. It could mean life and death for a child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I look at the licensing reports to start. If they have few violations (even minor ones) it at least speaks to the administration's attention to detail and management skills.

NP WHere can I find licensing reports on schools?

In Maryland at least, if they have a child care program (e.g. preschool or extended day) they should have a licensing record for those programs on https://www.checkccmd.org/

I checked my daycare on there and it hasn't been checked in 18 months!

Yeah ours doesn't look like it got an inspection in 2020 either. Not surprising given the pandemic.

It's still surprising to me. It seems ESSENTIAL that the state does its inspections.

Adding that it's even more essential because they aren't allowing parents inside.

I hear you but one asymptomatic superspreader inspector could cause multiple daycare closures. The inspections are pretty detailed. I don't think they can just get in and out in 10 minutes.

OK but we can't just forgive an entire year of inspections. It could mean life and death for a child.

If the heat stopped working, they would let an HVAC tech in. There are a few good reasons to let one single person inside and getting an annual inspection is one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I look at the licensing reports to start. If they have few violations (even minor ones) it at least speaks to the administration's attention to detail and management skills.

NP WHere can I find licensing reports on schools?

In Maryland at least, if they have a child care program (e.g. preschool or extended day) they should have a licensing record for those programs on https://www.checkccmd.org/

I checked my daycare on there and it hasn't been checked in 18 months!

Yeah ours doesn't look like it got an inspection in 2020 either. Not surprising given the pandemic.

It's still surprising to me. It seems ESSENTIAL that the state does its inspections.

Adding that it's even more essential because they aren't allowing parents inside.

I hear you but one asymptomatic superspreader inspector could cause multiple daycare closures. The inspections are pretty detailed. I don't think they can just get in and out in 10 minutes.

My daycare hasn't had an inspection since 8/19. I see some schools had them in 2020. It's unacceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I look at the licensing reports to start. If they have few violations (even minor ones) it at least speaks to the administration's attention to detail and management skills.

I would also say look at accreditation. Licensing reports would have a list of violations, which only captures when something goes wrong. In theory accreditation is supposed to evaluate how the school operates - the good and bad -- by professionals who work in the field. You should be able to request a summary report from the accreditor and if any of the 3 options is not accredited I would cross it off my list.

Here are links to two of the major accreditors:
https://www.naeyc.org/accreditation
https://necpa.net/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I look at the licensing reports to start. If they have few violations (even minor ones) it at least speaks to the administration's attention to detail and management skills.

I would also say look at accreditation. Licensing reports would have a list of violations, which only captures when something goes wrong. In theory accreditation is supposed to evaluate how the school operates - the good and bad -- by professionals who work in the field. You should be able to request a summary report from the accreditor and if any of the 3 options is not accredited I would cross it off my list.

Here are links to two of the major accreditors:
https://www.naeyc.org/accreditation
https://necpa.net/

To add to this - in Maryland the licensing reports (https://www.checkccmd.org/ ) also list whether the provider is accredited and by which body. And Maryland also has the EXCELS system to rate quality of child care providers. Search for EXCELS rated providers here: https://marylandexcels.org/

If you want to search for Maryland providers via a geographical map, the Maryland Family Network's online search tool is really useful and has a lot of the above info: https://locate.marylandfamilynetwork.org/Family/login

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask the schools for info of parents who are willing to be contacted.

I have been royally screwed over getting reviews like this. Unless the entire school is horrible from top to bottom they will be able to find one person who has something nice to say about them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask the schools for info of parents who are willing to be contacted.

I have been royally screwed over getting reviews like this. Unless the entire school is horrible from top to bottom they will be able to find one person who has something nice to say about them

I mean don't just ask them if they like the school. Probe a little. You can learn a lot from what people say and don't say.

[Anonymous]

What school OP? I'm sure someone has an opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What school OP? I'm sure someone has an opinion.

OP back. We aren’t in DC anymore - hence the problem. We moved to Los Angeles in May.

[Anonymous]

I suspect most parents love their child's daycare until they don't. It's not like the parents are there every day. Sure it's helpful to know if there are a bunch of disgruntled parents as that's a bad sign, but beyond that piece of due diligence parents can only tell you so much about whether a daycare is right for your child.