Accident at St. Albans Early Childhood Center (SAECC) - Tenleytown

[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 stroller 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 just want people to know so they can avoid this place at all costs, I had a bad feeling from the start but did not trust my gut.

[Anonymous]

Glad your child is okay, OP. Scary.

[Anonymous]

Oh my God!! This is horrible! I just went for an open house tour this past Friday. Didn’t get too excited about the place but thought it was okay. Now I’ll definitely not apply for enrollment. Thanks for sharing, OP!

[Anonymous]

I am so sorry to hear this happened...thankfully he is okay. That could have been a very horrible accident.
What were the teachers reactions? Are they still working there?

[Anonymous]

It was so, so unfortunate ? However it was handled extremely well with disciplinary action, a termination of a staff member, and new safety measure put in place. I definitely was impressed with Admin’s response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was so, so unfortunate ? However it was handled extremely well with disciplinary action, a termination of a staff member, and new safety measure put in place. I definitely was impressed with Admin’s response.

Are you a parent there? Curious because your description is very different than the OP's.

OP, I so feel for you with the scare of going to the ER and having to have a CT scan on your baby. We had to do this for an unrelated accident, and it was so, so scary. Luckily, ours was also okay but did have some bleeding that had to be monitored overnight. It was terrifying, and I hated having to get a CT scan on a little baby. Give yourself some space to recover and cope with this -- it's tough. Hugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was so, so unfortunate ? However it was handled extremely well with disciplinary action, a termination of a staff member, and new safety measure put in place. I definitely was impressed with Admin’s response.

This doesn't sound like a parent's response... It sounds like if it was written by someone from the centre. Anyhow, I'm so sorry that this has happened to you, OP. Given how much we all spend for child care services, teachers should be selected in a more rigorous way...too bad it wasn't the case at the St Alban's.

[Anonymous]

This was no accident. So glad the baby is ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was no accident. So glad the baby is ok.

Are you suggesting that the staff person made the baby fall on purpose?

It may have been preventable, but it still sounds like an accident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was no accident. So glad the baby is ok.

Exactly. It was obviously negligence.

[Anonymous]

Something falling on kids, something flying at kids, buckle breaking, kid getting out of the buckle are examples of accidents.
The staff lifted the child up to a place (seat) where he no longer was safe unless buckled. How is this different from putting the child up on a cupboard or on anything high?
Didn't have time to buckle? Lift the child back down.

[Anonymous]

OP I am so sorry. I pulled DD from SAECC after two months—it is not a good program. Please report this to NAEYC as they are an accredited program and need to know about the incident (the program should disclose but I would recommend you report as well). https://www.naeyc.org/accreditation/early-learning/feedback

[Anonymous]

So awful to hear. I’m so sorry. Our daughter used to go here for three years and we had a wonderful experience, kind of shocked to hear this.

[Anonymous]

I am so sorry that this happened to you. Our son is there and I thought they handled the situation as best they could. We've been really happy with the care he has received (he's been there since August 2018).

[Anonymous]

Another current parent at SAECC, with two kids in the program - one is an infant. We all got an email about the incident. Terribly sorry for OP, and I understand why you chose to leave the program, but I think it's unfair to bash the entire school. The teacher who did not strap in the child was fired. There have been extra safety checks implemented when kids are taken out in the buggys. I'm not sure what else they could do? Our children have thrived in the program and continue to do so...we've been very happy there.