Easter Seals Child Development Center352

This is an inclusive center that has great goals, but pretty poor follow-through over the years (I've been here with 2 kids for 4 and 1/2 years, so I feel I've seen it all). They have had so many staff changes over years, honestly it's occasionally hard to remember the names of my children's teachers, or substitutes, etc. Frankly, if it weren't so convenient to where I work, I'd seriously consider taking my children elsewhere. I comfort myself in knowing the kids have had a good time, but have they missed out on some other, greater place because the ESBA folks were watching the bottom line, and not the kids? Case in piont - they spend more time elaborating a food policy (which is great, don't get me wrong) to the exclusion of many other, more important issues, like do they have the right teachers in the right rooms? Is the teacher/child mix and ratio right? etc.

While I have no other experience to compare this to, I don't think that this facility is as much a preschool as it is a babysitting service for the 3.5-5.5 year olds. The infant and toddler care was great and worth every penny, due in large part to the commitment and experience of staff assigned at the time, and the higher child/teacher ratios. The good intentions expressed by management are not manifested in day to day activities, and promises (such as for a parent handbook) go unfulfilled, so I don't have confidence in management. I see a lot of frustration and exhaustion on the part of staff. Management has claimed that it is redirecting the program's emphasis to a Reggio-Emilia approach, and my worst fear is that this is just a smokescreen covering another year of unaccountability, increased teacher burden, and less attention to each child. To reverse this trend, I recommend smaller class sizes so that it is easier to phsyically isolate troublemakers, and routine communication with parents about their child's good and bad behavior so that self control/self defense lessons can be reinforced at home.