First Baptist Church (Dupont Circle) - recent experiences?

[Anonymous]

moving our kid too--teacher on cell phones; swearing in front of kids; missing feedings; not taking kids out. a shame to pay a college tuition and get such a lousy ROI.

[Anonymous]

Weighing in on the other side, my 2 1/2 year old is at FBC and loves it -- he is so excited to walk out the door every morning, and even asks to go on Saturday. I have gotten good reports from teachers at the end of the day, and lately when it has been nice outside the kids have been having a ball out on the playground at the end of the day when I come for pickup. Maybe it depends on the room, but my experience has only been positive.

[Anonymous]

12:52, what room are you in?

[Anonymous]

Older kids go outside. they aren't taking infants out and it's required by law.

[Anonymous]

We left too....there are quite a few things they "should" be doing an aren't. They were going to keep that moldy mess of a building open after the flood and have kids breathing in that horrible air until the parents called officials. Even better, they had the young kids in a lower level room--AGAINST the law due to fire hazards. Run, don't walk to the nearest nanny share/other daycares.

[Anonymous]

I didn't realize that taking infants outside was a licensing requirement. Thankfully we got out of FBC but, grrr, it ticks me off knowing that now (I don't think my daughter EVER went out while she was there) especially since my DD looooooves being outside. I'm surprised that the licensing folks missed that detail when they were in there for the flood/babies not on ground level issues...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:moving our kid too--teacher on cell phones; swearing in front of kids; missing feedings; not taking kids out. a shame to pay a college tuition and get such a lousy ROI.

Very interesting. I know what room your kid is in. Teacher on cell phone and swearing in front of kids is the same problem we had back when we were there. Always listen to your gut instinct. Our DD came home saying curse words- we were in disblief- we don't curse at home and she was just learning to talk properly. They denied it. This just proves my instinct right all along! We are long gone, and happily so!

[Anonymous]

Hi - I have an infant at FBC, and we are pleased with the center. They are taken out for walks daily - and sometimes go out twice a day on nice days. We also haven't had a problem with missed feedings, etc. Judging from the comments made on this post - maybe it depends on the room you are in. My child is in the Panda room. Are there rooms that for older children that parents would recommend?

[Anonymous]

PP- definitely the Koala room with Ms. Geneva-
she's wonderful. For the 2s the Tiger room and for
the 3s and up you'll be fine with either.

[Anonymous]

A second on Ms. Geneva in the Koala room. She's amazing!

[Anonymous]

I third Ms. Geneva. Put in your request early to get into her room -- it is far, far better than the Duckling room! I agree with the tiger room and smooth sailing in rooms after that. Allegra is fantastic and Carolyn runs a great and enriching pre-k program.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PPs - totally depends on what room you get. Go Cubs!

[Anonymous]

Panda room parent--are you sure they are going on walks? We pulled our daughter out a year ago. We assumed they were going on walks, but when another parent told us they weren't in the Teddy room, we started asking. It turned out that more often than not they were NOT going on a walk. Or, if they did, it was for 15 minutes in the morning and that was it. The lead teacher too was notorious for texting and could never tell us if our daughter had napped or not.

[Anonymous]

We left the center in April--had two kids there - panda room and elephant room. I had enough of my kid getting bitten and no recourse, and we too had missed feedings and naps taken in a car seat. I could never get my son to nap in his crib because they always had him in a bouncy or car seat. Sooooo much happier at Bright Horizons.

[Anonymous]

We just toured there last week. I noticed in one room, there was a little boy pulling another little boy's hair and the teachers were so busy talking to each other they didn't notice. The director also didn't notice until I said something. I also noticed some of the rooms really smelled. I know it's a daycare, but I've toured 5 now, and the others didn't smell. I think it's because they don't have proper disposal cans. I did not end up putting down a deposit or putting my name on a list - but I did for the 4 other daycares we looked at so far.