Mid-year openings downtown DC preschools or day care?

[marj]

Hi all.

Thank you for this wonderful forum. We are looking for full time care for our 2.5 year old (will be exactly 2.5 on nov 6) daughter somewhere in downtown DC starting in January. Plenty of light, outdoor play, and warm and engaged teachers are a must. (That seems obvious, sorry to sound precious.) I have called probably 20 schools (e.g. DC JCC, The Hill Preschool, Aiden Montessori, Georgetown Law, Smithsonian, U.S. Kids) and have had luck only with programs in basements (Huckleberry Cheesecake and Little Flower Montessori, which sound okay but too much of a shock moving from San Diego (again sorry to sound precious)) and programs in Baltimore (which is looking like our next home at this point).

Does anyone know of a family leaving a downtown DC daycare / preschool mid-year?

We need to live relatively close to Union Station as my husband will be commuting daily to Baltimore by train. Thus we are targeting the Capitol Hill area, but are still looking broadly. We will be visiting in mid-October and mid-November before moving in December.

Thank you sincerely for any leads!!
-Marj

[Anonymous]

CCLC at 2200 Penn is a new center in the area. They are a little too expensive for my budget (1900 for 18 months, 1600 for 2 year olds) but they seem like a good center.

[marj]

Thank you for the tip! I have been underwhelmed by some branches of the chain preschools, but that place looks great!

[Anonymous]

I have a 1.5 year old daughter at CCLC and it's great. They don't have a designated outdoor space, but they are great about taking the kids outside and wearing them out. I believe they are at capacity for the toddlers, but it's worth a call to get on the waitlist. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

My son is in the toddler room at the new Bright Horizons on 21st and L and we really like it. The teachers and director are great and they do a lot of fun, educational activities. It also has a large playground and play area in an outdoor enclosed courtyard connected to the center. It just opened in late July and isn't full yet, so they might have openings in the preschool.

[Anonymous]

Not to hijack this post - but will the CCLC parents elaborate on their experience so far? What are the teachers like? I'm esp interested in the 2s program. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Another option is Bright Horizons at the Reagan Building 1300 Penn - Triangle Tots the have ground floor and second floor - plenty of big windows and an outdoor enclosed playground one for younger kids (<3) and bigger kids (3-5). Teachers are wonderful and warm and engaged. They also have music and power tots gymnastics.

[Anonymous]

14:06: 14:31 here, my child is in the 2s room at CCLC and we really are enjoying the new space, loving teachers, and the Reggio-inspired curriculum. This is my first experience with a for-profit center, but I’m pleased with the established systems they have in place (example: you can enroll your child online, pay your tuition online, update immunization records online, etc, through a CCLC family portal) -- something I did not have at my last childcare spot. Although the center has only been open since August, I appreciate the emphasis they put on interacting with the parents (with monthly ‘morning coffee’ dates and parent meetings, to name just two) and keeping the children and teachers happy. They employ a full-time Master Teacher (!) that works in all of the classrooms to help the teachers establish their Reggio-themed lesson plans while also doing special activities with the children (like working with clay, etc.). This is completely different from my last childcare experience, which was lovely, but it was not this systemized or parental engaging (in fact they did parent meetings – at best – twice a year). The teachers at CCLC are very warm, attentive, experienced, and patient. I have yet to come into the room and see them on their cell phones instead of playing with the children. They are always interacting with the children at their level and are ready to give me the full rundown on what happened at pick-up. They are big on keeping the children stimulated, exploring new spaces, and engaged with new activities – and they aren’t afraid to get them messy! Although they don’t have a dedicated outdoor space (a bit of a bummer), they frequent the newly refurbished local park and use the courtyard in the building to do chalk and other gross motor activities. And, they always make sure that 3 teachers accompany the kids outside (there are 2 teachers in the room and a floater that joins them on outdoor adventures) to be sure that no one is left behind – a big concern for me, but a relief that they took outdoor safety so seriously. When the weather is nice, they take the kids outside in their bright yellow CCLC vests (for safety) to get some fresh air. The communication from the teachers and administration is prompt and detailed. For example, we get a daily email with photos that highlight what the kids did that day (it’s the perfect daily email that I pass along to the grandparents!).The 2s class is already filled to capacity (I was chatting with the director about it yesterday), but you can always get on the waitlist in case anyone moves or is bumped up into the 3s class (although I think everyone is the class is a young 2 or just about 2). If your child is an older 2 s/he might be able to integrate into the 3s/preschool class. Overall, I’m am very pleased with CCLC (and I don’t give out childcare compliments very easily) and appreciate how interested everyone is in knowing how my child is doing, what’s happening with our family, and if there is anything they can do to make the center better. It was a tough decision to move our child from our previous childcare location that we had been at for years, but I’m glad we did, although we did leave behind some teachers that we adored. I hope this helps and I encourage you to get on the quickly growing wait list!

[Anonymous]

9:18 - 14:06 here - THANK YOU SO MUCH for your detailed response! We are on the lookout for a new center and 2200 is on our short list. We were really impressed on our visit, and after your review, even more excited! Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

14:06: So glad I was able to help! I know how hard it is to find a center that not only looks great during visits, but actually is great once you enroll! Good luck with your childcare search.

[Anonymous]

09:18. Do you work for CCLC?

[Anonymous]

marj wrote:Hi all.

Thank you for this wonderful forum. We are looking for full time care for our 2.5 year old (will be exactly 2.5 on nov 6) daughter somewhere in downtown DC starting in January. Plenty of light, outdoor play, and warm and engaged teachers are a must. (That seems obvious, sorry to sound precious.) I have called probably 20 schools (e.g. DC JCC, The Hill Preschool, Aiden Montessori, Georgetown Law, Smithsonian, U.S. Kids) and have had luck only with programs in basements (Huckleberry Cheesecake and Little Flower Montessori, which sound okay but too much of a shock moving from San Diego (again sorry to sound precious)) and programs in Baltimore (which is looking like our next home at this point).

Does anyone know of a family leaving a downtown DC daycare / preschool mid-year?

We need to live relatively close to Union Station as my husband will be commuting daily to Baltimore by train. Thus we are targeting the Capitol Hill area, but are still looking broadly. We will be visiting in mid-October and mid-November before moving in December.

Thank you sincerely for any leads!!
-Marj

In that area, try Just Us Kids - 202-353-3300. Just saw an internal department notice that they have openings in their 3s and 4s classes.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all!