talk to me about la petite academy

[ashleyhaugh]

ive got an interview tomorrow for ajob there, and ideally id like to put 2yo ds there too if there is an opening.

if youve used la petite acandemy before can you tell me what you liked or didnt like about it?

[raelynn30]

my sister works at a lapetite in VA. she loves it there. i'm not much help i guess!

[Mylie]

I worked there year ago when my son was small.

I loved it..He loved it..It was Montessori based and I really liked that it was all open.But it was years ago so it may have changed now..I worked at one in Richmond Virginia.Will your son get to go free? My did..

[ashleyhaugh]

its good to hear that you guys liked it. i asked my mom, and she said she liked it when she was looking at daycares, but it was too expensive.... and that was 20 years ago, lol

i hope ds would be able to go free. that'll be one of my questions, lol. it would definitly help my budget if he did

[jlpumkin]

I think it's like every other chain day care - the management and teachers make the difference. We tried one when we were in Ohio and hated it. But it wasn't the company, it was the director. So I would really put the most weight in the feel of the work environment. I believe happy staff = great care.

[Mosaic]

Originally Posted by jlpumkin

I think it's like every other chain day care - the management and teachers make the difference. We tried one when we were in Ohio and hated it. But it wasn't the company, it was the director. So I would really put the most weight in the feel of the work environment. I believe happy staff = great care.

ITA. We had DD in a La Petite from age 1-2. It wasn't the best, but it was pretty good, and we really felt like the teachers took good care of her. They had several violations all the time, but we sorta felt they weren't necessarily "bad" violations... things like lunch menu not posted, etc.

But, there were lots of signs of what was to come, and we chose to ignore them at first. The teachers were stressed out and unsupported by the administration, and many left to get better jobs. That left them struggling to keep up the child/parent ratios, and made the teachers focus much of their time and energy on meeting state regulations rather than giving extra to the kids. DD was obviously miserable when we moved her up to the 2yo room, so we pulled her out immediately. The center basically fell apart. The director got canned when she left a child on the bus for 2 hours (and no one told the parents!). The center received several warnings from the state and was eventually closed down. Bad, bad, bad.

That said, we went to CA for a week and had her in a La Petite there. In that week, even though everything was new and different, DD was happy as a clam, and they even potty trained her! In a week! All the teachers/staff were bilingual, friendly, not stressed out... etc. If they were local, DD would likely still be with La Petite. It really does depend on the individual school.

[ashleyhaugh]

well i got the job, but im not feeling that great about the center. however im newly divorced, and i NEED a job like yesterday, so this will have to do for now. the pay stinks, but i'll keep looking. the downside to that is ive worked at a center before, and i know how caregiver turnover affects the kids. that and i get 1/2 price care, and unless i get an awesome job, i probably wont be able to afford it if im not working there, so that would mean a change for ds and i dont want to do that if i dont have too.

but as for the center, it just gave a super stressed out vibe- i had to wait for the asst director because she was getting the school kids... then she only talked to me for about 5 minutes before she had to go the the bank, then shed be in a room when she got back, so im going back tomorrow to do the walk through of the rooms (both as a parent and a caregiver i guess) and ds and i can both start monday.

but like i said, it will do for now, and it will pay the bills- if only just barely with no wiggle room at all.

however, if anyone knows a center in san antonio who is hiring and pays a decent amount, please pm me!!!

[LoveOhm]

Congrats!!!! Celebrate having a job and having your son there..... it may be only a stepping stone position or location but being a single mom you will REALLY appreciate/value/need the job and finances independent of your ex.

There is another single mom on MDC who worked/works at a childcare center and her son attended/attends there as well. And there of at least three single moms who are teachers and two of us single mom that I know of that are in school to go into teaching at some point....

Teaching IMO is a good arena for single parents.

[ashleyhaugh]

teaching is my future goal, lol. i spent 3 years in a center while we were in germany (exh is in the army) and this school year got about 1/3 of the way through an associates degree on scholarship thanks to his purple hearts before i ended up in the hospital and had to drop the classes i was in.

he doesnt make a lot, but it was too much for me to get pell grants or anything. i figure next year i should qualify for a bunch with only a couple of months of income this year, lol. im looking forward to getting back in school.

maybe i was just spoiled working at our center in germany, but the center just seemed sloppy and poorly managed. the rooms were tiny and i dont know, somethign about it jsut doesnt seem like somewhere i want my son for a long time, you know? but at least i will literally be right next door to him so i'll have some idea on how hes doing (ie, is he screaming all day) i think he'll have fun though, hes never been around a whole group of kids like that for any significant period of time.

and the asst director just doesnt seem like shes into it. she walked me into a room and said "heres where you'll work" and thats it.... and i havent got a parent orientation yet either, but monday is only for an hour, so i'll make sure i get all that info then too.... or maybe shes to stressed to realize shes putting off a bad vibe to perspective employees and parents.

[StephandOwen]

Originally Posted by LoveOhm

There is another single mom on MDC who worked/works at a childcare center and her son attended/attends there as well. And there of at least three single moms who are teachers and two of us single mom that I know of that are in school to go into teaching at some point....

I was/am, though I think there's another single parent on MDC that I can think of who also works at a center and takes her son.

Anyway, my experience with working in a daycare and taking my son- GREAT! I love the center I work at (it has it's issues, for sure, but I love my boss and I like most of my coworkers). There is a group of probably 10 of us who have been in this center for 2 years or more (6 have been there the whole 10 years it's been open). The situation has worked out wonderfully for us.

As for La Petite Academy- I went to one for an interview and got a bad bad impression. I didn't feel comfortable with my son there and didn't get a good vibe from the workers. I left and never looked back. The center I work at is not a chain- it's owned/operated by the same family for 10 years. We just recently finished building an addition with 4 new rooms

[ihugtrees]

Have you thought about nannying? If you have childcare experience, you should be able to get a decent paying job. I make $10/hour in Florida (not sure where you are, but where I am, you can't find a job above $8-8.50/hour without a degree or certification) and I can bring my daughter with me for free. Also, I am only with one child plus my own at all times...I love it and it's the best job I've ever had.

I worked at La Petite Academy for 6 months and quit because of the caregiver turnover and all-around chaos that was the 2 year old room. I had 22 children, and my assistant teacher CONSTANTLY called out, so I had a different person in the room with me several days a week. It was CHAOS. Then again, it was a lot better then the center I worked at before that. I think it depends largely on the director, because they are in charge of hiring...if they hire people who are clearly not going to be dependable then that's going to effect the center. I know a great director could've made that place so much better, because there were several great teachers there.

[Satori]

My oldest went there when she was a toddler for a couple of months and she loved it.