Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I pay $1,700 for one toddler and one infant in Hyattsville, a non-profit center - right on the DC/MD border ($1,000/mo for the 4 month old and $700 for the 3 year old) The ratio in the infant room is 6 infants, 2 care-givers, with a 3rd "floater" care giver available if needed.
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Is this Heritage? St. Ann's? What do you like about it for the 3 year old in particular? Any drawbacks? How much outside time do they get? We live nearby and are thinking about switching from our nannyshare to a center for our 3 year old. Thanks!
Yes, Heritage. I toured St. Ann's also 3 years ago and liked it as well, but was a bit leary that their caregivers are not real teachers, they were volunteers and also teen mothers who live there. They also do not do breakfast there. At Heritage, they do breakfast and their teachers are actually trained teachers. DS1 has been there 3 years now and we both love it there. The main teachers have been there a long time (although teachers aids do come and go). Ms. Maha who is the preschool class teacher is really awesome. They have Spanish class and also Mandarin Chineese class, and one of the teachers aids has been teaching French (although it's not official - I was totally shocked when DS1 started counting his matchbox cars in French a while back). They also have Soccer Shots classes as an elective, which DS loves. The infant room caregiver who is now taking care of my infant is the same teacher who took care of DS1 and she is wonderful and loving and you can really tell she just loves babies. I can't actually think of any drawbacks other than they don't offer haircut/barber services for the kids like Beantree does
I can't find my daily schedule printout right now, but they do have outdoor play everyday, weather permitting. They have a nice gated playground and also a nice indoor gym area where they also have gym/yoga. The day is structured on a schedule. Also, during the summer they have fairs there on the grounds of St. Thomas More with bounce houses, petting zoo animals, and they even had ponies.
Definitely check out all the centers in the area to see what a good fit is for you - there is also St. Ann's of course (I don't mean to disparage St. Ann's, I have friends who have used St. Ann's for multiple children and they were extremely happy with them) and also Rheema, Our Redeemer, St. Jeromes, and also nearby on Rhode Island Avenue they just opened Mindbloom, who apparently also teach Spanish and Mandarin and have piano lessons. I've heard Heritage is working on opening another center in Mount Rainier also. There is also Gateway Childcare in Mt. Rainier, but I haven't heard very good things about them.
I'm more than happy to try answer any other questions you have
