Little Beginnings Arlington VA

[Anonymous]

We've been on the wait list for Little Beginnings before our twins were born (now 2). Are there any hopes of getting off the wait list here? I know there is priorty for current members, staff and members of the congregation. #3 is on the way and I wondering if I should even bother putting him/her on the wait list. Thanks for any insight and feedback on LB.

[Anonymous]

Maybe because you have 2? We went on the waitlist in July '09 when I was pregnant. We were offered a spot in April '10 (which we declined at the time since we had already committed to another center)

[Anonymous]

We also got offered a spot, but well after we had found another place that we were happy with. We registered our baby when I was 6 months pregnant and I think they called us when she was around 1. I think the waitlist might move slower for you b/c you need two spots at the same time, and maybe it would be easier to get #3 in?

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the feedback. I'm sure a huge part of not hearing is due to the fact that I need 2 spots for the same age group, but I'm happy to hear that single spots do come up for people not currently associated with the day care center. Would either of you mind sharing where you ended staying? DH and I are comfortable (though not thrilled) with our current center and would consider moving the kids to another day care if we can find spots. Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

13:24 here. We ended up going to a wonderful in-home daycare in Falls Church, near the WFC Metro. Both our kids were there for a little over 2 years, and they are now in preschool in Ballston.

[Anonymous]

13:22. We're at a fabulous in-home daycare, but are again looking for care since our provider is retiring this summer.

[Anonymous]

On the flip side, my child has been on the waiting list since birth for 2 years, and I don't expect to get in this fall either. I'm surprised to hear people are being offered slots after just 1 year.

[Anonymous]

So it's a waste of time and money to "tour" and get on this list?

[Anonymous]

We were offered a spot when #1 was 3yo. Got on list when I was pregnant.

[Anonymous]

I got on their waitlist when I was 3.5 months pregnant. DS is now 21 months and I'm still on the waitlist. I do appreciate that they call me every year to let me know my status, which is more than most daycares do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've been on the wait list for Little Beginnings before our twins were born (now 2). Are there any hopes of getting off the wait list here? I know there is priorty for current members, staff and members of the congregation. #3 is on the way and I wondering if I should even bother putting him/her on the wait list. Thanks for any insight and feedback on LB.

toured today and based on the tour lead. Your 3rd should have a really good chance. She recommend contacting them in feburary when she sorts the applications to get a real feel for the numbers.

[Anonymous]

I got on the waitlist when I was 4 months pregnant with kid 1. 4 years later, we got off the wait list. I was pregnant with kid 2 at the time, and we were offered a spot for the baby as well so they could go together. Get on the list now. Spots are usually offered around February. We are not church members. The class size nearly doubles between the two's room and the three's room so that's why most people get off the wait list then. An additional 4 spots open up in the 4's room as well.

[Anonymous]

I went by to ask questions today and the staff was so rude. I'm not taking my kiddos here.

[Anonymous]

This is not a safe place for your child. The director of this school, Sasha Cunningham doesn’t care about your child’s health and wellbeing.
my baby daughter had an accident while attending LB. The school told us that another baby hit her head to the ground which led to her nose to bleed. Accidents can happen with kids at this age so we are very understanding and try not to be unreasonable since the other child’s parents also apologized.
The school on the other hand, didn’t let us know about it and only gave us her bloody clothes at pick up. The accident happened at 11 AM and pick up was at 5:30 PM so they had an entire day in which they could have called us/text us but nothing happened. They made the decisions for our baby daughter without even consulting us.

After numerous emails in which we were expressing our concern and anger, Sasha Cunningham decided to put the entire blame on the teachers even tough we were informed later on that administrative staff, the Director included, had witnessed my daughter bleeding.
When complaining about it, the director seemed more frustrated than us. After telling her that we are looking for other options for our daughter’s care she started pressuring us to leave giving us an ultimatum. I asked to confirm that she can keep her safe during the time she had left at the school twice and she didn’t. The director was punishing us because we complained about not knowing that our baby got hurt while in their care.
The scariest and most painful is that she never asked about how our baby daughter feels. We mentioned that her nose bled again after the incident and we had to take her to the doctor’s and take days off to keep her under supervision(while still paying for daycare) but this just didn’t touch her at all. She actually DID NOT CARE!
This was a very traumatic experience for our family and the school didn’t treat us, the victims gently at all. Their attitude was to kick us out because we had the nerve to complain.
Until this day we don’t know what happened to our daughter and we will probably never will because we don’t believe them.
her teacher was the only one that really cared and asked about how my daughter was feeling!
This Director will not treat your kids as helpless beings that need protection and a safe environment. This is an industry in which you have to be kind and considerate. This person and the institution she is running are inhumane!
Their policies are only meant to protect themselves and not the children attending the school. Their director is a bully!

Mistakes at LB are common practice: they have gas leaks, they are calling you to pick up your child for whatever reason(but not during an actual emergency), they are charging you even they said they won’t, they have so many days off because they don’t want to pay their staff more, they are constantly stating that they’re understaffed but won’t hire new people etc. You just can’t have a full time job while taking your child to LB cause you won’t be able to keep up.
Unfortunately they know that people are in desperate need for care for their children so they think that even if their services are poor they will always have hard working parents to pay for them. Trust me, there are places with way better services around. Go look somewhere else and don’t give this institution your hard earned money.

[Anonymous]

We have been at LB for three years. Our daughter is excited to go to school every day because of the positive environment the teachers and administrators create in each classroom. We also love the effort the teachers put into coming up with special activities and engaging curriculum. You can tell they are passionate about teaching and not just “babysitting.” The teachers has also been very communicative so we know what is going on at school. The teachers and administrators are trained in Conscious Discipline which has been a great way for our daughter to learn how to self regulate. They also have a huge shaded playground and parking lot for easy drop off.

We love the amazing sense of community at LB. The daycare is a nonprofit with a cooperative model which means each family contributes some time to the school (such as bring in snacks or classroom librarian), but don’t let it scare you away. There is also an intentional effort for families to get to know each other.

I highly recommend sending your child to LB.