Well, they were only red flags in hindsight. My husband was put off by the disorganization of the administrative office (misplacing our check, sending notices rife with typos, oddly worded messages, etc.) but, to me, the only thing that mattered was that my baby was safe and happy -- and I did not think that there was a correlation. Therefore, I also downplayed the fact that some of the staff continued to call my baby the wrong name after a month and labeled his crib with the wrong name. However, I now view things differently. I think that the level of attention one pays to the important administrative tasks (communication with parents, etc.) can also reflect the level of attention one pays to hiring, supervision and, thus, the overall quality of care the children receive. Juggling the care of so many children on a daily basis is no joke, and if you are not on top of your organizational game, then it will ultimately affect the children. But that's just my humble opinion

I encourage you or anyone else interested in SAECC to sit in one of the Tadpoles classroom and observe for an extended period of time. It's a pain, but a few hours will really tell you much more than 10-15 minutes at pick up and drop off. Though those early or late 10-15 minutes can also be revealing, I think it's much easier to dismiss anything you see then as the kids having separation anxiety or just being tired.

Hope whatever place you go with works out well for your family!

To the PP-

Can you share why you decided to pull out your child? Any specific red flags that you discovered?

Thanks!

I do not have any experience in early childhood education, and consider myself to be a pretty easygoing person, generally speaking. When I started looking for daycares, my standards were pretty low as compared to my friends and colleagues. However, having gone through the SAECC experience with my child, I feel like I've grown many years, and now understand the red flags I missed in the beginning and why parents asked a zillion questions during daycare tours.

I pulled my child out after a couple of months, and it has been months since she was enrolled. However, SAECC confirmed we made the right choice when they recently called me to tell me that my child -- who, again, has not been enrolled in the program in months -- got hurt in a little accident. I called them back immediately to let them know they contacted the wrong parent (one who no longer has a child enrolled in the program), but I'm not quite sure how they made a mistake like that...

Thank you for the offer! I would be interested in hearing more about your experience and decision to pull your child. My email address is katbeck316@gmail.com.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences (good and bad) with SAECC! Our daughter is scheduled to start this spring (at 6 months old), and after reading this thread I have some serious concerns about the center. I am planning to schedule a meeting with Donna and/or the site director to discuss some of these concerns and decide if we should give it a try. I am particularly upset to hear that there were concerns about safety- could someone elaborate on this?? If we do give it a try, I would definitely want to do some observations as well.

Any other good or bad experiences with the infant room at SAECC that parents would be willing to share would be greatly appreciated. I would like to have as much information as possible prior to meeting with the SAECC staff.

Thank you!

I am the PP who is pulling my daughter. I have the good fortune to be very familiar with what a high quality early childhood education program looks like for infants because of my professional background, and sadly SAECC did not meet my standards after giving it a try for several months.

I would be happy to share my experience with you but you have to keep in mind that my perspective is skewed by my background and experience in early childhood. Some parents are fine with SAECC, and others, as you can see from this thread, are clearly not.

If you provide an email address I will be glad to get in touch.

Parent of a child in Tadpoles 1 and we've been pretty happy with SAECC. Yes, my child has gotten sick....it is a daycare center after all but (despite being a FTM) I was prepared for constant sniffles etc because our pediatrician said the all daycare kids are sick from October- March. She also said this means less illnesses by kindergarten and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Unlike other posters on this thread, I feel like my child is constantly being fed, diapered and entertained/ stimulated. Whenever I walk into the classroom, there are new pictures of turkeys or menorahs made using handprints and footprints, pictures showing the babies feeling cold textures, listening to stories etc. I mean they even have someone come in and do baby massage and something called baby gym!

Are there issues? Sure. I'd love if my kid napped as well at daycare as she does at home. But I do think that the teachers in the classroom try to give a lot of individual attention and care to each child and it shows. Maybe we got lucky with Ms. Fely. But we feel good about our experience so far (and we've been at the center for almost 6 months).

Thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences (good and bad) with SAECC! Our daughter is scheduled to start this spring (at 6 months old), and after reading this thread I have some serious concerns about the center. I am planning to schedule a meeting with Donna and/or the site director to discuss some of these concerns and decide if we should give it a try. I am particularly upset to hear that there were concerns about safety- could someone elaborate on this?? If we do give it a try, I would definitely want to do some observations as well.

Any other good or bad experiences with the infant room at SAECC that parents would be willing to share would be greatly appreciated. I would like to have as much information as possible prior to meeting with the SAECC staff.

Thank you!

Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to add to the mix -- have been meaning to do so for a long time. We had our infant enrolled in SAECC for a very short time (about a month full-time, and then arranged other part-time care to hold us over while we looked for new daycare) because my husband and I both observed for extended periods of time (to give them a fair shot) and did not like what we saw. Babies were left to cry for more than a few minutes without any acknowledgment. We talked to Donna (executive director) about it, and she observed and shared our concerns. So, said that she was re-considering the 1:4 ratio. I think that it is just too much for anyone to handle - even the most skilled caretaker.

We did like Donna and one of the assistants, but agree -- the classroom felt like a large rotating cast of characters. Also, it was problematic that the infants ages weren't staggered; all babies were very young and needed a lot more around-the-clock attention than they were receiving. The few times we observed, the one older baby just kind of wandered around the classroom on his own with no stimulation, which was sad to see, and yes, babies were stuck in carriers for long periods of time.

Also, the classrooms are too large generally - making it difficult for caretakers to go back and forth between child and diapering station. (They also were not hustling, however.)

We switched to Wonders in Bethesda, and found the difference to be night and day.

Thank you for sharing this. We are pulling our daughter this month. Have had major concerns with staffing, maintaining appropriate ratio, safety, and the lack of stimulation our daughter receives. She got RSV her second week, and had two terrible colds back to back. Many children seem ill in her classroom and you walk in and hear them coughing and crying and see the rosy cheeks and runny noses--and nothing is communicated to us as parents about these illnesses. I don't understand why other parents send their sick babies in and are allowed to leave them there. It's irresponsible but the administration has to have stronger policies around this and the classrooms need to be better cleaned. All the kids drooling and chewing the same surfaces and sitting in the same devices without being disInfected is a contributing factor.

Just wanted to add to the mix -- have been meaning to do so for a long time. We had our infant enrolled in SAECC for a very short time (about a month full-time, and then arranged other part-time care to hold us over while we looked for new daycare) because my husband and I both observed for extended periods of time (to give them a fair shot) and did not like what we saw. Babies were left to cry for more than a few minutes without any acknowledgment. We talked to Donna (executive director) about it, and she observed and shared our concerns. So, said that she was re-considering the 1:4 ratio. I think that it is just too much for anyone to handle - even the most skilled caretaker.

We did like Donna and one of the assistants, but agree -- the classroom felt like a large rotating cast of characters. Also, it was problematic that the infants ages weren't staggered; all babies were very young and needed a lot more around-the-clock attention than they were receiving. The few times we observed, the one older baby just kind of wandered around the classroom on his own with no stimulation, which was sad to see, and yes, babies were stuck in carriers for long periods of time.

Also, the classrooms are too large generally - making it difficult for caretakers to go back and forth between child and diapering station. (They also were not hustling, however.)

We switched to Wonders in Bethesda, and found the difference to be night and day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current infant room parent and I would not recommend it. The ratio is 1:4 which is the minimum required by licensing so it's not great for individual attention and many centers have better ratios, like 1:3. Also there are 16 babies in each room which I feel is too many. Many centers have smaller infant rooms--this is the biggest I have seen. It's very loud and our son naps poorly, if at all. There is a rotating cast of teachers in the room and the babies basically spend most of their days in chairs and there is very little done to stimulate their development beyond diapering and bottle feeding. They are supported to take them out for a walk 2x a day when it's warm but this doesn't seem to happen very often. I am considering pulling DS for a nanny.

Former infant room parent that had concerns similar to the above poster, plus some inconsistent feeding and diapering that convinced me to pull my child. Would not recommend.

I'm the PP and yes, I agree. They let DS go five hours without a bottle and every time I shown up he is sitting in the same chair. Several times he's been in very full diapers or just awake and alone in the crib. It's pretty upsetting.

I'm so sorry PP. It sounds like we had identical experiences. We were able to find a nanny share (on the nanny share forum here) and have been so much happier. I did explain my concerns to the administration when we left, but it doesn't seem like they've made any progress on improving the situation.

Wow - it is surprising to read all of this! I am a current infant room parent and we absolutely love SAECC. DD has been there since it first opened and we couldn't be happier. Granted, she doesn't nap well, but my ped isn't too concerned considering she gets 12 hours each night. We have never had issues with diapers not being changed frequently enough and DD has always been offered a bottle every 2:30-3:00. The only time that doesn't happen is when she's napping. She seems very happy there and is always excited to see her teachers in the morning. I wish parents would talk to each other more!

The PP who is considering pulling my son. Is your child in tadpoles 1 or 2? FWIW I have tried to smile and be friendly to the other parents but most seem completely uninterested. Typical D.C. but it saddens me. And the teachers can't be bothered to learn my name and just call me "mom"--even though I know who they are. The administration infuriates me to no end. We get 10 emails and flyers about school closures but I walk in for pick up and see a stranger holding my kid--and they feel no obligation to inform us or introduce us to new staff. It's unacceptable.

We are in Tadpoles 1. Yes I agree, the constant emails and flyers are a bit much. I assume they go overboard on that for fear that someone will complain they weren't informed. I drop off and pick up pretty early so I don't get much of a chance to interact with many of the other parents - but I can see what you mean...people in DC always seem too busy to even say a passing hello to each other and give a smile. I know they have floaters that help out in each classroom, but they have always introduced themselves to me or one of the other teachers has let me know who they are. I never gave much thought to them just calling me Mom, though Carmen always greets me by my first name...not sure if the others teachers know it. I feel bad that you're considering pulling your son - I assume you've talked to Donna about your concerns?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current infant room parent and I would not recommend it. The ratio is 1:4 which is the minimum required by licensing so it's not great for individual attention and many centers have better ratios, like 1:3. Also there are 16 babies in each room which I feel is too many. Many centers have smaller infant rooms--this is the biggest I have seen. It's very loud and our son naps poorly, if at all. There is a rotating cast of teachers in the room and the babies basically spend most of their days in chairs and there is very little done to stimulate their development beyond diapering and bottle feeding. They are supported to take them out for a walk 2x a day when it's warm but this doesn't seem to happen very often. I am considering pulling DS for a nanny.

Former infant room parent that had concerns similar to the above poster, plus some inconsistent feeding and diapering that convinced me to pull my child. Would not recommend.

I'm the PP and yes, I agree. They let DS go five hours without a bottle and every time I shown up he is sitting in the same chair. Several times he's been in very full diapers or just awake and alone in the crib. It's pretty upsetting.

I'm so sorry PP. It sounds like we had identical experiences. We were able to find a nanny share (on the nanny share forum here) and have been so much happier. I did explain my concerns to the administration when we left, but it doesn't seem like they've made any progress on improving the situation.

Wow - it is surprising to read all of this! I am a current infant room parent and we absolutely love SAECC. DD has been there since it first opened and we couldn't be happier. Granted, she doesn't nap well, but my ped isn't too concerned considering she gets 12 hours each night. We have never had issues with diapers not being changed frequently enough and DD has always been offered a bottle every 2:30-3:00. The only time that doesn't happen is when she's napping. She seems very happy there and is always excited to see her teachers in the morning. I wish parents would talk to each other more!

The PP who is considering pulling my son. Is your child in tadpoles 1 or 2? FWIW I have tried to smile and be friendly to the other parents but most seem completely uninterested. Typical D.C. but it saddens me. And the teachers can't be bothered to learn my name and just call me "mom"--even though I know who they are. The administration infuriates me to no end. We get 10 emails and flyers about school closures but I walk in for pick up and see a stranger holding my kid--and they feel no obligation to inform us or introduce us to new staff. It's unacceptable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current infant room parent and I would not recommend it. The ratio is 1:4 which is the minimum required by licensing so it's not great for individual attention and many centers have better ratios, like 1:3. Also there are 16 babies in each room which I feel is too many. Many centers have smaller infant rooms--this is the biggest I have seen. It's very loud and our son naps poorly, if at all. There is a rotating cast of teachers in the room and the babies basically spend most of their days in chairs and there is very little done to stimulate their development beyond diapering and bottle feeding. They are supported to take them out for a walk 2x a day when it's warm but this doesn't seem to happen very often. I am considering pulling DS for a nanny.

Former infant room parent that had concerns similar to the above poster, plus some inconsistent feeding and diapering that convinced me to pull my child. Would not recommend.

I'm the PP and yes, I agree. They let DS go five hours without a bottle and every time I shown up he is sitting in the same chair. Several times he's been in very full diapers or just awake and alone in the crib. It's pretty upsetting.

I'm so sorry PP. It sounds like we had identical experiences. We were able to find a nanny share (on the nanny share forum here) and have been so much happier. I did explain my concerns to the administration when we left, but it doesn't seem like they've made any progress on improving the situation.

Wow - it is surprising to read all of this! I am a current infant room parent and we absolutely love SAECC. DD has been there since it first opened and we couldn't be happier. Granted, she doesn't nap well, but my ped isn't too concerned considering she gets 12 hours each night. We have never had issues with diapers not being changed frequently enough and DD has always been offered a bottle every 2:30-3:00. The only time that doesn't happen is when she's napping. She seems very happy there and is always excited to see her teachers in the morning. I wish parents would talk to each other more!