Here ya go

I'll echo the two previous posts. I currently have an infant and a pre-K at Cody. I think Sunny is trying hard to clean up the mess from previous management and this is allowing the amazing caregivers--many who have been at Cody for years and years--to really shine. I love the TS Gold tool so I can email the teachers with questions and to see what my kids are up to. Our Strong beginnings teacher team is really good about posting pictures and anecdotes from my son's day.

Anonymous wrote:My baby is in one of the infant rooms and my daughter is in the toddler program and both are doing great. The teachers are very loving and caring with both children. I often log onto Teaching Strategies and find photos of her along with the lesson plans and newsletters from Sunny. Things have changed and Cody CDC is a different world than it was in the past. There is finally a director there who knows how to be a leader and is weeding out the uneducated caregivers who should not have been working with children to begin with.

Totally agree with this. The providers and teachers we've had have been excellent and the new director has made a world of difference.

My baby is in one of the infant rooms and my daughter is in the toddler program and both are doing great. The teachers are very loving and caring with both children. I often log onto Teaching Strategies and find photos of her along with the lesson plans and newsletters from Sunny. Things have changed and Cody CDC is a different world than it was in the past. There is finally a director there who knows how to be a leader and is weeding out the uneducated caregivers who should not have been working with children to begin with.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have their children in the preschool classrooms at Cody? Curious about good and bad. Thanks.

Yes, the preschool program is excellent in my opinion and we had a good experience with the providers in the preschool class. Unfortunately, I found the pre-K (Strong Beginnings) too academic for 4-5 year olds. Although I don't think the Strong Beginnings program is harmful, I wish they had more play based activities. Preschool program though was GREAT and DC loved it.

Does anyone have their children in the preschool classrooms at Cody? Curious about good and bad. Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will never understand why anyone would keep their child here. Why is this even a discussion?

Because sometimes you don't have a choice. Cost is a huge issue. Lower paid enlisted cannot simply afford private day care. It is also a schedule issue that not all day cares work on a military schedule. And convince... not all military can afford cars and other luxury's. It is easy to criticize but sometimes you have to make the best of a bad situation. Its not like a regular job where the worst happens is you do not show up and get fired.

Amen.

Cody Center was the only place in the area that was open early enough (and late enough) for duty hours. In our case my husband is an E-4 and this area is VERY expensive. I do get annoyed sometimes that some of the officers have more choices. They can afford the places that are three times the cost. There are conversations that they were in more expensive centers before and might return to them if need be. But in our case we can't afford it.

Are you active duty also?

Yes, there are subsidy programs such as "Army Child Care in Your Neighborhood" (ACCYN) but finding a qualified provider with openings in this area is next to impossible. Trust me, we've tried. Also, like others have stated Cody offers hours that aren't available in off post centers, 0600-1800. With the travel and odd duty hours of some members of the military, these hours offered by the CDC are a huge help to the working spouse to manage the family schedule.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is super cheap daycare a benefit you are promised when you enlist? Just curious.

Its not, but its an argument that is brought up over and over. The absolute lowest BAH in this area with dependents is over $2000, that's tax free money on top of salary. There are options. People can afford them. Its not just the officers. And it bears mentioning that becoming an officer is an option to anyone that gets a degree (which the military will pay for...).

All army CDC's are under investigation for hiring practices. The issue is not fixed. Also there are financial assistance options for those seeking daycare off post. There are MANY options. Many.

Wow, you are a piece of work. Seriously. $2000 is not enough for this area for decent housing close in with child care options on top of it.

I just looked up the enlisted pay chart and an E5 with 8 years in makes $35,000 a year. Wow. That is just BIG money with that whole $2000 a month BAH. Meanwhile an O4 with 8 years in makes $74,052 a year. So yes, that officer has a LOT more options PLUS he is getting close to $3000 a month in housing allowance.

I know lots of enlisted that have worked for their degrees but are not being put into OCS because the military doesn't want to lose their enlisted. It is a rarity for someone to back a soldier so that he/she can become an officer.

I imagine that you are some officer's wife that is completely out of touch or an an O4/O5 that doesn't know any better because you are on the side that CAN afford to have options. If the military makes you move to DC but doesn't give you enough to adequately care for your family you do not have a lot of options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is super cheap daycare a benefit you are promised when you enlist? Just curious.

Its not, but its an argument that is brought up over and over. The absolute lowest BAH in this area with dependents is over $2000, that's tax free money on top of salary. There are options. People can afford them. Its not just the officers. And it bears mentioning that becoming an officer is an option to anyone that gets a degree (which the military will pay for...).

All army CDC's are under investigation for hiring practices. The issue is not fixed. Also there are financial assistance options for those seeking daycare off post. There are MANY options. Many.

Where in the D.C. metro area can you find safe housing for a family with a reasonable commute for $2,000/month with "MANY" child care options?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is super cheap daycare a benefit you are promised when you enlist? Just curious.

Its not, but its an argument that is brought up over and over. The absolute lowest BAH in this area with dependents is over $2000, that's tax free money on top of salary. There are options. People can afford them. Its not just the officers. And it bears mentioning that becoming an officer is an option to anyone that gets a degree (which the military will pay for...).

All army CDC's are under investigation for hiring practices. The issue is not fixed. Also there are financial assistance options for those seeking daycare off post. There are MANY options. Many.

This is not true. There are many enlisted that have degrees but cannot get into a green to gold program. Automatically having a degree does not make you an officer. There are many enlisted that cannot become officers that have degrees.

And an enlisted might get $2000 in housing allowance (how much house in a safe neighborhood near base can you get for that? And if you live on base it goes straight to the base). Salary is about $40,000 a year. That is not alot of money for this area. It is decent money for other parts of the country and most other areas that you are stationed at have decent child care where the military rate is the more expensive - but in DC it is the cheaper option for this particular area.

There are not many child care providers that provide the hours either. So, yes, you can get subsidize elsewhere but if the Center does not open early enough (and not many do) then what are you supposed to do? There is not a great deal of flexibility as to when you can report.

Anonymous wrote:Is super cheap daycare a benefit you are promised when you enlist? Just curious.

Who on this thread said they were promised cheap daycare when they enlisted? Child care is a benefit that some employers provide (both in the private and public/government sector) to help with employee retention. Part of the challenge for active duty service members is that most private sector daycares are geared for parents with regular working hours (8 am to 6 pm). This can be very challenging for active duty service members which one of the reasons on base daycare are so popular have long waiting lists. For example, some daycares for hospital employees sometimes have non-traditional operating hours. Same concept.

Anonymous wrote:Is super cheap daycare a benefit you are promised when you enlist? Just curious.

Its not, but its an argument that is brought up over and over. The absolute lowest BAH in this area with dependents is over $2000, that's tax free money on top of salary. There are options. People can afford them. Its not just the officers. And it bears mentioning that becoming an officer is an option to anyone that gets a degree (which the military will pay for...).

All army CDC's are under investigation for hiring practices. The issue is not fixed. Also there are financial assistance options for those seeking daycare off post. There are MANY options. Many.

Is super cheap daycare a benefit you are promised when you enlist? Just curious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will never understand why anyone would keep their child here. Why is this even a discussion?

Because sometimes you don't have a choice. Cost is a huge issue. Lower paid enlisted cannot simply afford private day care. It is also a schedule issue that not all day cares work on a military schedule. And convince... not all military can afford cars and other luxury's. It is easy to criticize but sometimes you have to make the best of a bad situation. Its not like a regular job where the worst happens is you do not show up and get fired.

Amen.

Cody Center was the only place in the area that was open early enough (and late enough) for duty hours. In our case my husband is an E-4 and this area is VERY expensive. I do get annoyed sometimes that some of the officers have more choices. They can afford the places that are three times the cost. There are conversations that they were in more expensive centers before and might return to them if need be. But in our case we can't afford it.