To the Parents of the 2-Year Old Girl Who Was Left Alone today at P St Playground by JCC in Dupont

[Anonymous]

So it was not a two year old (as the topic of the discussion states), where the teacher-child ratios are better, but a three year old that wondered off. Or scuffled. Or wasn't accounted for. [[insert phrase here]]

By the way, I'm pretty sure if it was YOUR child who had not been counted "during a scuffle" you would seriously reconsider attending this school or promoting it entirely. Yes Sarah Rabin Spira responded on DCUM forum with an outline of ways to correct this issue going forward. Somehow that does not ease the queasy feeling that is still with THIS parent. And you can't blame a parent for feeling that way. I'm not sure what other actions are outstanding for them to take either, but that doesn't mean I'm going to hop in line for my child to be the next one lost in Stead Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my child went to the J and i have mixed feelings about the experience. i think some of the classroom teachers are fab and the philosophy and values of the school are great. BUT, i think the admin, both in the preschool and the J overall, are mediocre at best. i don't think enough money or attention is paid to protocols/policies/procedures. i am not too surprised by this story, to be honest. the admin at the J needs to wake up and fast.

How long ago was this? I know that the current director (who has posted here) has been in place for a few years. Prior to her, the administration did seem to have a number of problems. I have had nothing but good experiences with the administration and feel that they are emotionally invested in the children there. We had the unfortunate circumstance to come from a different preschool prior to attending the JCC where the administration truly didn't even know or care to know the children and felt that parents should feel privileged to use their services. This is NOT the case at the JCC.

we were there under madeline's tenure and spent two more years under sarah's tenure, so i am pretty well aquainted with the place. i stand by my comment but i will say that i think the problems that exist at the school are due to the layer of management above sarah (josh and arna) and not due to sarah herself. though i did make a suggestion several times that i thought would improve safety at the school (that the teachers wear nametags or something else identifiable to young children) and sarah basically ignored me.

safety issues were my number one concern while my child was at the J. clearly my intuition was correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

[e-mail] wrote:The ratio in DC is 8:1, with 16 kids max, for children who are 3-years old. At 4 years old, the ratio goes to 10:1, with 20 kids max (though we have 16 kids in our 4s and PreK classes).
For 2s, it's 4:1 (12 max)
For 2 1/2s, it's 6:1 (12 max)

-SRS

I thought AppleTree had 20 kids with 3 teachers for the PreS classroom - does this violate DC regulatiions?
I know MV is planning for 18 in their PreS class with 3 teachers
And I thought IT had 20?

How is this?

Charter schools are lisenced by the PCSB and not by the DOH and so the rules are different.

[Anonymous]

I think it takes a lot of guts for the school to come on here and post like that. They know they screwed up and they are doing everything they can to make sure it never happens again. There really isn't anything else they can do. I have seen some schools try to sweep these things under the rug, so it is good to see that they are being open and honest about what happened.

I can't say what I would have done if it were my little kid that had been left behind - we'd probably have to pull from the school because I just couldn't live with myself if it happened a 2nd time, but with a worse outcome. But it does seem to me like they are doing everything right in the aftermath of this horrible mistake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it takes a lot of guts for the school to come on here and post like that. They know they screwed up and they are doing everything they can to make sure it never happens again. There really isn't anything else they can do. I have seen some schools try to sweep these things under the rug, so it is good to see that they are being open and honest about what happened.

I can't say what I would have done if it were my little kid that had been left behind - we'd probably have to pull from the school because I just couldn't live with myself if it happened a 2nd time, but with a worse outcome. But it does seem to me like they are doing everything right in the aftermath of this horrible mistake.

It should never have happened in the first place. Period. That is the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it takes a lot of guts for the school to come on here and post like that. They know they screwed up and they are doing everything they can to make sure it never happens again. There really isn't anything else they can do. I have seen some schools try to sweep these things under the rug, so it is good to see that they are being open and honest about what happened.

I can't say what I would have done if it were my little kid that had been left behind - we'd probably have to pull from the school because I just couldn't live with myself if it happened a 2nd time, but with a worse outcome. But it does seem to me like they are doing everything right in the aftermath of this horrible mistake.

There is no way to deny that there was an extremely huge procedural failure that left a three-year-old child alone in the middle of a large city. Making teachers fill out a couple extra forms is not the fix. They could start by enrolling fewer children and having better ratios. That would be way more gutsy than coming online and saying, oh, we spent an hour thinking up a couple new procedures and fixed all the problems, don't worry, keep sending your kids.

[Anonymous]

they must have quite a bit of liability insurance.

[Anonymous]

What amazes me more than anything is that this morning when they opened their doors, parents were waiting to drop their kids off.

There is no way my child would ever set foot back in that center after this type of "incident".

Losing for kid for 5-10 minutes? Upsetting. And definitely shows a need for better policies. But mistakes happen.

Losing a kid for 30 minutes? Seriously? 30 minutes! That's a complete failure on every single level. I can't imagine what you tell yourself as a parent that makes it ok to trust your child to that kind of incompetence. And I am a teacher and former daycare director.

[Anonymous]

I'm very impressed with the email from the director and the changes that she instituted to correct it. This isn't unheard of, even in the "the best" daycares - I'm very impressed at the response.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm very impressed with the email from the director and the changes that she instituted to correct it. This isn't unheard of, even in the "the best" daycares - I'm very impressed at the response.....

Please, I am not that easily impressed. My experience with my day care is that when issues arise, they fall all over themselves to be "very responsive" by sharing every last detail and telling you every last thing they are doing...but at the end of the day, where's the accountability? How hard was it for the director to show up, post the email and keep saying mea culpa, etc etc. Much harder to actually do something real, like PP suggested (smaller ratios , more teachers).

[Anonymous]

This was a horrible situation. I know the JCC staff understand the gravity of the event. And as a JCC parent my heart goes out to the child and family. But, we've had 2 kids at the JCC for the past 2 years and this incident does not undermine my confidence in my kids' safety and security at school. The direct, transparent response from the Director is exactly what builds confidence -- the JCC owned up and got going on improved systems.

[Anonymous]

I find it interesting that just about every other year there is a major discussion on the JCC on this forum. In the summer of 2008 it was how horrible the transition from the old to the new director went and the chaos among the school including the classrooms from the point in time when the previous director resigned to the new school year.

In 2009 there was there teeter totter incident at the P St Playground

and now it is a child left at the same playground


In contrast, I do not see any other similar sized schools discussed on this board as frequently for negative items.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it interesting that just about every other year there is a major discussion on the JCC on this forum. In the summer of 2008 it was how horrible the transition from the old to the new director went and the chaos among the school including the classrooms from the point in time when the previous director resigned to the new school year.

In 2009 there was there teeter totter incident at the P St Playground

and now it is a child left at the same playground


In contrast, I do not see any other similar sized schools discussed on this board as frequently for negative items.

That may be true. But the issue is straightfoward and factual. They left a child on a playground in Washington D.C. and didn't realize she was gone for 30 minutes.

I keep reading posts by parents with kids at the center respond with "but, but, but.....it's a great center and she was responsive and we've never had a problem".

No. It's not a great center. All you are doing is attempting to alleviate your guilt. No parent in his right mind would a leave a child at a center that lost a child and then allowed 30 minutes to pass without realizing the child was missing. And to make matters worse, the teachers apparently had a "note" put in their permanent file. Oh No! Not a strongly worded note! Those teachers should have been fired. And honestly, the director should probably lose her job as well, especially if this isn't the first time it has happened.

[Anonymous]

Actually, did they ever realize she was gone? Or did the good samaratain's call the school, and then the school realized?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, did they ever realize she was gone? Or did the good samaratain's call the school, and then the school realized?

Nope...they never realized she was gone!!! That's what's so astounding about the whole thing!!