Discovery Time Learning Center (Del Ray)
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Anonymous
| Can anyone fill me in on the Discovery Time meeting from yesterday evening? I planned to attend but had a last minute meeting at work that I had to attend. Did they provide any new information? |
Anonymous
|
I went and it was basically a meet-and-greet with other parents along with a Q&A time.
- They said they're still on track to open April 1 and they're planning to hold a similar Q&A/open house in March so families can come out and see the new facility. - They're in the process of hiring teachers right now and they said there is going to be seven teachers to start with (along with some aides) and they're expecting that the grow with enrollment. - The one thing that won't be ready for a while is the natural playground, which is apparently going to take a bit longer. They're working on getting access to a nearby playground for the meantime. - They also said they're not going to be able to open at 6:45 a.m. for a while because of some permit issue but they'll apply to do that later. For now, it'll still open at 7 a.m. - There's two infant rooms, two toddler rooms (which aren't full yet) and a couple of rooms for other kids (sorry, didn't pay attention to that bit cause my kid is younger). They may combine the kids in the older classrooms for a little while until they get more students but it sounded like they are still enrolling kids and aren't sure how many will be there when it opens. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but that was about it. |
Anonymous
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No new info. I have a 2 year old, and a 1 year old, so I was more interested in their issues and the meeting was geared to infants primarily, probably because that is who was primarily there. About 8 2 year olds are currently signed up and there is capacity for 16.
I heard a lot of rumbling and others have voiced concern about the fact that the teachers aren't hired yet, which I think might be misguided and from those that have not yet used child care -- these are not usually jobs that are filled several months out. It is difficult to hire a nanny more than a couple of weeks before her start date. At this point, I am interested in seeing the center and meeting a couple of teachers before I make the ultimate decision. |
Anonymous
| My daughter is supposed to have a spot in October when she turns 1. Are 1 year olds in a toddler room? I want to say her current daycare switches them at 16 months from infant to toddler, but I'm not sure. |
Anonymous
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It depends on the kid, I think. I have a friend who's DS just turned one and he transitioned into his center's toddler room, but he's also walking and feeding himself (sort of).
I think some centers have two infant rooms: one for the younger infants and the 2nd one for the older ones who aren't quite ready for the toddler room yet. |
Anonymous
| I met with the owner prior so I was aware of most of the information. They had a big bear in a costume dancing and giving fives/hugs that my older one loved. They also provided pizza and an art activity for the kids who were there. They are planning to do an open house next month and the teachers will be hired by then. |
Anonymous
They served pizza? Yikes. Hope that isn't on the menu... |
Anonymous
Ha, yeah, they held it at 6 p.m. so it was mostly for the parents, I think. I appreciated the gesture because I went over there straight from work so it was nice to eat something before I went home to put my kid to bed. |
Anonymous
| Are the kids required to wear uniforms. Is the food going to be cooked in house or catered? |
Anonymous
| The director told me the food would be catered. |
Anonymous
| The director said she was doing interviews over the weekend. Has anyone been in touch with her to see how they went? |
Anonymous
| They are exploring the uniforms and she talked about doing a poll with the enrolled familes to see what is preferred. Breakfast, lunch and snack are all catered and I believe the company is Good Foods. |
Anonymous
| I kind of feel sorry for the owner. She has picked a very entitled population to serve, and god help her if it's true that most people are coming from nannies. Group care is group care, people. |
Anonymous
Seemed to me like she knows what she's getting into, but I hear you on this one. There were a few nanny-share folks there that I talked to. Seemed to me like the audience was weighted heavily towards infants and moms who were still either on maternity leave, still pregnant or working p/t. My kid is home with a relative right now but was in daycare before. I think its going to be really interesting to see what the place looks like and who actually enrolls later this spring. |
Anonymous
| Anyone heard updates on this place? Thought they were opening in April. |