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Thank you to the previous posters. And yes, I am personally grieved by the situation and do not wish it on anyone.
I personally would not have wanted to go through this. But it has to be said that a wrong was done that needs to be corrected. The Board should not wash their hands of this and hide behind their policy of non-returnable application fees. It's ridiculous! It's not as if I just changed my mind and decided I don't want my child in the school! Honestly, if it takes this to make the Board clean up their act and manage their waitlist properly, so be it. Obviously they're doing something WRONG and they should FIX IT. There was a post for an Alexandria daycare where one of the paosters had the exact same thing happen to her... and they returned her application fee of $75. That daycare did the right thing. http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/94287.page (March 9, 10:13)
I went to the center tour, visited the school, met the teachers, observed the diverse mix of children. My coworker may be white European, but her kids are mixed Caucasian and African. Her daughter was not with her on the tour. This whole thing may have been caused by a very poor decision made by the past director, which the Board may have never even known about! But since I have brought this to their attention and made them aware, IT IS MY FAIR RIGHT that the Board remedy the situation.
To the parents who have been on the WL for time immemorial: there are 3 other children in my coworker's 3-year-old class who are leaving or have left the center (aside from my coworker's child). Other children from the other classes may have left as well. Please make sure to keep calling and see if you can get your child out of their disorganized waitlist and into the school, which is good as past posters have stated (and whose teachers, mind you, I have said nothing negative about because I have nothing bad to say!), albeit with extremely poor management.
May you have better timing and luck than I did, and may you not experience what I went through.
I personally would not have wanted to go through this. But it has to be said that a wrong was done that needs to be corrected. The Board should not wash their hands of this and hide behind their policy of non-returnable application fees. It's ridiculous! It's not as if I just changed my mind and decided I don't want my child in the school! Honestly, if it takes this to make the Board clean up their act and manage their waitlist properly, so be it. Obviously they're doing something WRONG and they should FIX IT. There was a post for an Alexandria daycare where one of the paosters had the exact same thing happen to her... and they returned her application fee of $75. That daycare did the right thing. http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/94287.page (March 9, 10:13)
I went to the center tour, visited the school, met the teachers, observed the diverse mix of children. My coworker may be white European, but her kids are mixed Caucasian and African. Her daughter was not with her on the tour. This whole thing may have been caused by a very poor decision made by the past director, which the Board may have never even known about! But since I have brought this to their attention and made them aware, IT IS MY FAIR RIGHT that the Board remedy the situation.
To the parents who have been on the WL for time immemorial: there are 3 other children in my coworker's 3-year-old class who are leaving or have left the center (aside from my coworker's child). Other children from the other classes may have left as well. Please make sure to keep calling and see if you can get your child out of their disorganized waitlist and into the school, which is good as past posters have stated (and whose teachers, mind you, I have said nothing negative about because I have nothing bad to say!), albeit with extremely poor management.
May you have better timing and luck than I did, and may you not experience what I went through.
As I offered to Mom at #140 on the WL, you're welcome to bring this post up to someone in administration or make someone you know aware that I am speaking out about some unfair events going on at US Kids.
I have written Mr. DB that I respect that he stands by the school's policy of application fees being non-refundable. However, one cannot help but suspect that it resembles more of a SCAM when
- the waitlist far exceeds the number of children in the daycare itself,
- there is no movement at all in the waitlist for nearly 2 years and
- a non-sponsoring agency child is given a spot immediately in spite of the extremely long waitlist (which contains top-priority sponsoring agency families as well!)
Makes me wonder on what basis the Board accepts children, and why they don't just stop accepting children on their waitlist since they obviously cannot manage it at all! 260 waitlisted children X $50 = $13000. Very lucrative, indeed.
I'm sorry you've been waiting so long. In this day and age, and in this city, I would think skin color could not be an issue. I sincerely hope that you eventually get your child into the school you want for him/her.
I have written Mr. DB that I respect that he stands by the school's policy of application fees being non-refundable. However, one cannot help but suspect that it resembles more of a SCAM when
- the waitlist far exceeds the number of children in the daycare itself,
- there is no movement at all in the waitlist for nearly 2 years and
- a non-sponsoring agency child is given a spot immediately in spite of the extremely long waitlist (which contains top-priority sponsoring agency families as well!)
Makes me wonder on what basis the Board accepts children, and why they don't just stop accepting children on their waitlist since they obviously cannot manage it at all! 260 waitlisted children X $50 = $13000. Very lucrative, indeed.
I'm sorry you've been waiting so long. In this day and age, and in this city, I would think skin color could not be an issue. I sincerely hope that you eventually get your child into the school you want for him/her.
Hi there. My son has been attending Children's International School in North Scott Street in Arlington, VA since September 2010. It's his first school ever and we love it there, he loves it there and it's just perfect. We used to live in Courthouse until we moved to Annandale, and because the school has just worked out for our whole family, we haven't transferred him. The owner is a wonderful lady, the director is sweet, and the teachers are qualified, attentive, and warm. They have a wonderful curriculum and do a lot of outdoor play in the backyard, which is great as opposed to most of the daycares in DC that are located in the basement of commercial or government buildings. I wouldn't know if they have any open spots, since I've seen a lot of new faces (and it's a new school year!), but it's worth a shot! Good luck!http://www.childrensinternationalschool.com/
Thanks for your reply; I respect your opinion. My close friend is the director of a daycare in Bethesda, plus it says so on every daycare website, so I'm well-aware that deposits are non-refundable. This is the only school that I requested for the deposit back, because of the EXTREMELY UNFAIR SITUATION stated above.
It escapes me how the school can take my deposit and put my child on the waitlist, then turn around and accept my coworker's child, same age, on the spot during her tour of the school! My coworker agrees that it was wrong for her child to have been accepted immediately while I had to pay $50 to get my child on the waitlist. I was the one who recommended her to the school, even without my child being there, so I certainly have a good opinion about the teachers.
My main complaint is towards the Board, specifically Mr. DB for washing his hands of the situation. The acting director, the admin assistant, and the accounts receivables person were genuinely sorry for the situation I had been placed in, agreed that what had happened was very unfair and stated that they wished they had the authority to return the application fee to me.
After all is said and done, it's not about the money; it's the PRINCIPLE of it all, which Mr. DB of the Board does not care about. All he said was this happened during the time of the former director so he now has no responsibility over her decisions. This, coming from the Board?! This is no way to run any kind of business.
To answer your questions, my child and my coworker's are only 3 weeks apart, so they're basically the same age. So this is really a case of either disorganization, discrimination, or both.
For Mom #140 on the WL: they offered my son a spot in the school once I demanded my deposit back because I'd been treated so unfairly. If you are so inclined, go ahead and show this thread to the administrators and see what they say, since obviously they make space for us "outsiders" when they have to. I chose not to have my child attend US Kids, though it is an OK school. But it would be really nice if your child who's been on the non-sponsor WL for so long was accepted into US Kids, if you still want her/him there. Only then would I probably feel like my $50 didn't go to waste!
It escapes me how the school can take my deposit and put my child on the waitlist, then turn around and accept my coworker's child, same age, on the spot during her tour of the school! My coworker agrees that it was wrong for her child to have been accepted immediately while I had to pay $50 to get my child on the waitlist. I was the one who recommended her to the school, even without my child being there, so I certainly have a good opinion about the teachers.
My main complaint is towards the Board, specifically Mr. DB for washing his hands of the situation. The acting director, the admin assistant, and the accounts receivables person were genuinely sorry for the situation I had been placed in, agreed that what had happened was very unfair and stated that they wished they had the authority to return the application fee to me.
After all is said and done, it's not about the money; it's the PRINCIPLE of it all, which Mr. DB of the Board does not care about. All he said was this happened during the time of the former director so he now has no responsibility over her decisions. This, coming from the Board?! This is no way to run any kind of business.
To answer your questions, my child and my coworker's are only 3 weeks apart, so they're basically the same age. So this is really a case of either disorganization, discrimination, or both.
For Mom #140 on the WL: they offered my son a spot in the school once I demanded my deposit back because I'd been treated so unfairly. If you are so inclined, go ahead and show this thread to the administrators and see what they say, since obviously they make space for us "outsiders" when they have to. I chose not to have my child attend US Kids, though it is an OK school. But it would be really nice if your child who's been on the non-sponsor WL for so long was accepted into US Kids, if you still want her/him there. Only then would I probably feel like my $50 didn't go to waste!
Negative experience with administration, OK daycare if you live in DC since it's convenient, but don’t give up your $50 unless you work for one of the sponsoring agencies!
Got my son on the waitlist and paid the application fee of $50. They said I had to wait a few months since I was not working for any of the gov't agencies, which get top priority. I told my coworker about the school for her daughter. They accepted her the day she applied! How this school chooses its students (my coworker is a white European; we are Asian...hmmm), I will never know, but it was downright unfair. I asked for my $50 back (that’s a lot of money, especially these days!) since it was obvious they never intended to take my son in the first place, but they still made off with that fee.
My conclusion: US Kids is basically focused on making money and they do not give all applicants a fair shot. Unless you work for one of the sponsoring agencies, put your $50 elsewhere!
Yes, this all happened when the old director was there and now they have a new one beginning August 15. But the Board members are still the same, so very little change can be expected to happen.
My son has been attending Children's International School, North Scott branch, in Arlington, VA since September 2010 (the only reason we thought of moving him is that US Kids is a 10-minute walk from my office). He's one of their favorite kids, and he just loves it there. It is a picturesque schoolhouse (red brick, white shutters… it looks like the school in Wonder Pets!) unlike US Kids which is at basement level. Yes, US Kids has a "great room" but it's still indoors so the kids are exposed to fluorescent/artificial lighting all day long. They do take the kids to walk around outside, but Franklin Park and 14th St.? There are just too many homeless people loitering around and I wouldn't feel safe having my son walk around there.
In retrospect, I have to be thankful that my son didn't get into US Kids. They should have just done what was fair and right, and given me back my $50.
Got my son on the waitlist and paid the application fee of $50. They said I had to wait a few months since I was not working for any of the gov't agencies, which get top priority. I told my coworker about the school for her daughter. They accepted her the day she applied! How this school chooses its students (my coworker is a white European; we are Asian...hmmm), I will never know, but it was downright unfair. I asked for my $50 back (that’s a lot of money, especially these days!) since it was obvious they never intended to take my son in the first place, but they still made off with that fee.
My conclusion: US Kids is basically focused on making money and they do not give all applicants a fair shot. Unless you work for one of the sponsoring agencies, put your $50 elsewhere!
Yes, this all happened when the old director was there and now they have a new one beginning August 15. But the Board members are still the same, so very little change can be expected to happen.
My son has been attending Children's International School, North Scott branch, in Arlington, VA since September 2010 (the only reason we thought of moving him is that US Kids is a 10-minute walk from my office). He's one of their favorite kids, and he just loves it there. It is a picturesque schoolhouse (red brick, white shutters… it looks like the school in Wonder Pets!) unlike US Kids which is at basement level. Yes, US Kids has a "great room" but it's still indoors so the kids are exposed to fluorescent/artificial lighting all day long. They do take the kids to walk around outside, but Franklin Park and 14th St.? There are just too many homeless people loitering around and I wouldn't feel safe having my son walk around there.
In retrospect, I have to be thankful that my son didn't get into US Kids. They should have just done what was fair and right, and given me back my $50.