Are you military or civilian? Civilians aren’t able to get into the CDCs anymore-military has preference. As for Cody, the only thing I know about it is they’ve had a few instances of child abuse in the past. That was enough to turn me off from it.

Bumping this thread to see if anyone has any relevant experiences with the preschool program (ages 3-5) at any of the Bolling CDCs. From what I've been reading here and elsewhere is that the preschool program is more of a daycare+ rather than a program like something at Bright Horizons. Ideally we'd like to get into Cody at Fort Myer (as I've heard nothing but good things about it) but the waitlist for this is pretty long.

Reviving this thread because I can’t find information anywhere else. What are your experiences with JBAB CDC 3. I have an infant and work at the PNT. I nervous about overcrowding and other environmental issues that were previously stated and the attention that she get. I thought they were all under surveillance. How could an infant not get fed with no recourse?

Anonymous wrote:I want to revive this old thread because my child just got offered a spot in a JBAB CDC. He is almost 3. This talk of it not having a curriculum has me nervous. Are there any updated opinions on this?

Thanks!

Which CDC? I have an infant at CDC 2 and we're very happy with the level of care there. My DS was in CDC 3 until 1yo and then we moved him to Cody at Fort Myer for convenience and we will do the same with our infant. I can't speak to having an older child there, but older kids seem to be well rounded and all centers at Bolling are NYAEC-certified. Usually, all kids are on the wait list at Cody if you live on the VA side and work at the PNT or in Arlington. I would keep my kid at Bolling if you work there for the convenience.

I want to revive this old thread because my child just got offered a spot in a JBAB CDC. He is almost 3. This talk of it not having a curriculum has me nervous. Are there any updated opinions on this?

Thanks!

We're currently on a waitlist at CDC #3 at JBAB and at Cody at Fort Myer for infant care (Gov't employee with working spouse). I didn't hear anything terrible about either CDC and I hear Cody is hard to get into...looong wait. We were actually offered a slot at CDC #3 back in May, but missed the offer email due to me giving birth at the same time. The MCC system administrators reinstated/backdated our request and looks like we will be getting a slot in CDC #3 at JBAB in September/October. Honestly, I am willing to give it a try and see how it goes. You can't beat the cost and I am trying to not pay attention to the horror stories.

Do NOT use them. I left my 9 week newborn with them twice and never will again. The first time they claimed he slept for 2 hrs (he doesn't sleep more than 30 minutes at a time during the day) and when I asked them how they got him to sleep for so long they avoiding answering the question. The next time I left him there they DID NOT FEED HIM despite being provided simple fill in the blank information on their own form about when he was due to be fed. They admitted that they misread the form and that the supervisor didn't review anything. If it weren't for me coming back 2 hours early to pick him up (and subsequently feeding him myself) I don't know when he would have been fed in their care. Stay far away from these incompetent people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a child There. The staff is very nice and we really liked all the caregivers but as a pp mentioned we also moved at 2. Its childcare - not preschool and it all depends on their caregiver as some teach the children and some don't. For example, there is no standard curriculum that has them teaching children their ABCs. My son visited once for hourly care and was bored. He said they were learning things in the 4 yr old class that he learned at 2. My biggest complaint is that they are always short on caregivers and often close / combine rooms so your baby is exposed to as many as 3-4 rooms in one day (if you drop off early). Lots of colds and getting sick (RSV, HFM, etc) from this.

Didn't know they offered hourly care? How do you sign up?

Usually only available in the after school program and 3-4 yr old rooms since younger rooms are almost always full.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a child There. The staff is very nice and we really liked all the caregivers but as a pp mentioned we also moved at 2. Its childcare - not preschool and it all depends on their caregiver as some teach the children and some don't. For example, there is no standard curriculum that has them teaching children their ABCs. My son visited once for hourly care and was bored. He said they were learning things in the 4 yr old class that he learned at 2. My biggest complaint is that they are always short on caregivers and often close / combine rooms so your baby is exposed to as many as 3-4 rooms in one day (if you drop off early). Lots of colds and getting sick (RSV, HFM, etc) from this.

Didn't know they offered hourly care? How do you sign up?

You can call the CDC or the central child care office (depending on the base) in advance and if they have room, they'll take your child. You have to meet all of the regular CDC requirements - like immunizations - and there is paperwork. As an example, colleagues have used the hourly care in cases where they have all-day meetings on our base, when they normally use the CDC on another base. There's a maximum number of hours (I think monthly) that you can use the hourly care.

Anonymous wrote:We had a child There. The staff is very nice and we really liked all the caregivers but as a pp mentioned we also moved at 2. Its childcare - not preschool and it all depends on their caregiver as some teach the children and some don't. For example, there is no standard curriculum that has them teaching children their ABCs. My son visited once for hourly care and was bored. He said they were learning things in the 4 yr old class that he learned at 2. My biggest complaint is that they are always short on caregivers and often close / combine rooms so your baby is exposed to as many as 3-4 rooms in one day (if you drop off early). Lots of colds and getting sick (RSV, HFM, etc) from this.

Didn't know they offered hourly care? How do you sign up?

To 18:57 - we moved DC to a preschool in our neighborhood. While DC was at the CDC, I worked on base and loved having DC close by.

As 19:28 said, the JBAB CDCs are childcare, including through the preschool years (though there is a curriculum for those years, I didn't feel like it was being implemented). If you're interested in a CDC that really has a preschool environment, look at Ft. Myer instead (I realize the reputation it has after the problems there, but friends who currently have kids there are very happy with it).

I would note that the room combining noted by 19:28 will happen at most CDCs - it doesn't make sense to keep 2 caregivers around in a room if there is only 1 kid left, so they'll combine rooms. I don't think that contributed to my child getting any sicker than normal in a daycare environment, where illness is pretty common. You'll see the combined rooms most often if you drop off close to opening, or pick up close to closing.

One of things I really liked about our CDC was that many of the caregivers had been there a long time, and had a lot of experience in childcare. If you can get a spot, take it.

We had a child There. The staff is very nice and we really liked all the caregivers but as a pp mentioned we also moved at 2. Its childcare - not preschool and it all depends on their caregiver as some teach the children and some don't. For example, there is no standard curriculum that has them teaching children their ABCs. My son visited once for hourly care and was bored. He said they were learning things in the 4 yr old class that he learned at 2. My biggest complaint is that they are always short on caregivers and often close / combine rooms so your baby is exposed to as many as 3-4 rooms in one day (if you drop off early). Lots of colds and getting sick (RSV, HFM, etc) from this.

Anonymous wrote:There are 3 CDCs on JBAB, each has its own director and is slightly different from the other. There are size differences - CDC II is the smallest, CDC III is the largest. It's been a couple of years since my DC was at one of them, but we were very happy with the care from infancy through about 3yo. We moved DC to a preschool at that point because we thought the CDC no longer met DC's needs. But while we were there, it was a very good experience. And you can't beat the cost. Have you been offered a spot, or are you on the waiting list? Just be aware that if you don't have a top priority (single military parent or dual military couple) you'll be waiting a really long time for a spot.

Where did you go afte JBAB? Did you like on base?

There are 3 CDCs on JBAB, each has its own director and is slightly different from the other. There are size differences - CDC II is the smallest, CDC III is the largest. It's been a couple of years since my DC was at one of them, but we were very happy with the care from infancy through about 3yo. We moved DC to a preschool at that point because we thought the CDC no longer met DC's needs. But while we were there, it was a very good experience. And you can't beat the cost. Have you been offered a spot, or are you on the waiting list? Just be aware that if you don't have a top priority (single military parent or dual military couple) you'll be waiting a really long time for a spot.

If you use this center, are you happy with it?