BCDC or St Albans for infants

[Anonymous]

We have miraculously gotten a spot at both Broadcasters and St Albans for our five month old this fall.

We thought St Albans was our first choice based on our visit (though we liked both), but in the most recent thread i could find here about their infant room, a surprising number of parents said they ended up pulling their infants after a lack of attention/stimulation/care/etc.

Are there current or recent parents of either SAECC or BCDC infants out there who love or hate their experience?

Many thanks for any insights.

[Anonymous]

We are at BCDC and absolutely love it. The administration is great, the parents have all been really nice, and the teachers are fantastic. They get plenty of outdoor time and activities (baby yoga, musical guests) and the babies seem really happy and cared for.

That being said, they are moving locations and expanding in the fall, so I cannot speak to the quality of any additional teachers they might be bringing in. But my experience with the ones who have been there now has been really great.

[Anonymous]

We are at BCDC and like it. When we did a visit to St Albans, I had a few concerns: (1) Extensive use of "baby container" type devices; (2) use of two connected rooms, which makes it feel like the kids are in a really big group vs. a more intimate setting; (3) putting kids to sleep in bouncers. BCDC, even with the expansion, will have two separate infant rooms, and I think that makes a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Current parent at SAECC. We enrolled DS nearly 3 years ago when he was 4 months old and plan on enrolling our next child, due date in August, when she is around 4 months. The teachers are amazing, our son was very happy there as an infant and continues to be as a now three year old. We’ve never had any issues.

[Anonymous]

My DS is in the infant room at (SAECC) and his older sibling started in the infant room and has now been at SAECC for close to 3 years. We love it there — in fact I joked to my husband that we would only have a 2nd child if they could be in the infant room with Ms. Fely.

[Anonymous]

I pulled DC after a month at SAECC. Massive infant rooms with the lights on all day and a rotating case of caregivers so she couldn’t sleep well and seemed to spend many hours in boppies and bouncers and was sick constantly. The pics the caregivers texted me were not confidence inspiring - the babies looked miserable. And Miss Donna and the ego there. Never again.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Really appreciate the feedback.

We revisited St Albans recently and I see what people mean about the wide open rooms and the cribs just lined up against the walls, in the same space and lighting as the rest of the baby chaos. That seems suboptimal for getting anyone to nap. I also did see a bunch of "baby containers" like boppy pillows, sit-me-up chairs, and bouncers, but the kids in the "infant" room were all old enough to walk since they've probably all been there since last fall, so none of these devices were in use when we were there. Will be interested to see what they do with our 5-month-old.

We've actually gotten into St Albans a little earlier than Broadcasters, so we're going to start there, and if it's a disaster, switch. I can't say this discussion back in 2017 inspires much confidence, but i'm trying to keep an open mind. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/609560.page (if PP on 6/11 is still around, wondering if you were part of that thread?)

[Anonymous]

Hi OP!
I was one of the parents asking questions on the 2017 SAECC thread, and after reading the comments, I was very worried about enrolling our daughter in the infant room. But we decided to give it a try, and we have had a wonderful experience! I think they have made some positive changes since that thread. Our daughter is now almost 3, and has had friendly, loving caregivers throughout her time there. We always felt that she was well cared for in Tadpoles (infant room), and didn’t have the napping issue that others have reported (although she has always been a good sleeper!).

As she has gotten older, we have been more and more impressed by the programming that St. Albans offers and really feel that our daughter has learned a lot. Now, she loves her school and literally runs into her classroom every day to give her teachers a big hug!

I know some people have had negative experiences, but just wanted to reassure you that there are great ones too! Our son will be starting in Tadpoles in the fall.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP again. Thanks PP, that's helpful! We really like how much SAECC offers for older kids (field trips, special activities, a gym...) that BCDC doesn't seem to have.

However, having started now in SAECC's infant room, and revisited BCDC, it's sort of hard to weigh the future exciting programming that our kid will see in a year at SAECC with the chaos of the infant room we're in. BCDC's is just so much more chill, with dedicated classrooms for 8 kids amongst 2.5 adults plus a separate napping space, contrasted with half-walled classrooms for 16 kids and 6 adults and cribs lining the chaos at SAECC. I feel like our LO will be in survival mode for the first year, particularly with regard to sleep, and maybe that's not worth it for the future programming.

Gotta make a decision soon, but leaning towards BCDC. Hopefully that's not a "grass is greener" inclination. Once we've finalized a decision, I'll post more about our experiences in case it helps future inquirers here.

[Anonymous]

Current BCDC parent of a child who went through both infant rooms. The infant teachers are absolutely fantastic. With my older child, we had a similar situation to the one you describe at a different center - we moved to BCDC and have never looked back. I think the sleep area will be structured differently at the new location (I’m sure the Director would be happy to discuss), but I think it will still provide a dedicated quiet area for sleep. I’ve been pleased with the programming in the older classrooms - my child has learned a lot, the class had several field trips this year, and they have a number of “enrichment” classes such as music, yoga, Spanish, and creative movement. The parent community is also really lovely.

[Anonymous]

I am interested in infant program, and just noticed that BCDC is 20 percent more expensive than St. Albans. What drives the price difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current BCDC parent of a child who went through both infant rooms. The infant teachers are absolutely fantastic. With my older child, we had a similar situation to the one you describe at a different center - we moved to BCDC and have never looked back. I think the sleep area will be structured differently at the new location (I’m sure the Director would be happy to discuss), but I think it will still provide a dedicated quiet area for sleep. I’ve been pleased with the programming in the older classrooms - my child has learned a lot, the class had several field trips this year, and they have a number of “enrichment” classes such as music, yoga, Spanish, and creative movement. The parent community is also really lovely.

My daughter went to BCDC and is now an 8th grader! We still keep in touch with her day care friends. Does Lilo still come for music? Good times...
Where are they moving to?

[Anonymous]

We had an infant at St. Albans this past year and really liked it. She had no problem sleeping, and the teachers were caring and great. We never felt like she had too much container time. There were small things from time to time that we didn't love, but nothing egregious or beyond what you're going to see in any daycare. I would recommend it.

I toured BCDC when I was pregnant and decided against it because the teachers were all on Facebook on their phones when I toured, and that was WHEN A TOUR WAS THERE. They didn't even look up. I literally never once in a year saw an SAECC teacher on her cell phone, which I found really amazing.

[Anonymous]

Current BCDC parent: it's a great place and the new location was actually built with infants and preschool children in mind (most other centers were not, just put into an existing building). So the sleeping areas and other classroom specifics are tailored to the developmental needs of the children. Also the teachers are great and I've never had a problem with them being on their phones with the kids (and yes I've come at different times during the day). The teachers and administrators are fantastic! I do have a point of comparison as our children were at a different NW DC daycare center before this and BCDC has been amazing.

[Anonymous]

I am a previous part of an infant at SAECC- in Dec 2019 there was an accident of negligence where the staff did not strap our baby into the buggy and when they went outside down the driveway to the gym and over a speedbump, our baby flew out and landed on his head. The staff were careless; video footage watched by CPS/detective afterward showed the staff taking selfies when our son wasn't buckled in. After a trip to the ED and a CT scan we learned our son was luckily fine. However SAECC administration were not contrite and continued to minimize and misrepresent the event. I would avoid this place at all costs, I had a bad feeling from the start but did not trust my gut.