annoyed with Preschool...

[twinmomplus2new]

Ok Loooking to vent a little..... My boys go to a small preschool here in town. it has no after care, no daycare, simply a 4 year old class, and a 3 year old class. 3 hours each.

I picked it for several reasons, it is very small, one central classroom, bathrooms attached to the classroom. So the kids are in sight at all times. small community atmosphere both teachers are friends of mine.

I went to a monthly meeting tonight and was informed that they would be moving...( again news to me) To a larger facility and expanding to a daycare bussiness. I asked what the clasroom set up would be.. and for instance how would it be handled that the kids would have to be leaving the classroom to use the bathroom, How would this be handled... And was told they haven't figured that out yet?
I am a little miffed, the majority of the reasons they are there will no longer apply. I was even more annoyed that none of this has been figured out, yet, we will be in the new facility by April. Would you be annoyed? I am just shocked. that the whole program I signed up for is being reworked now..... ANd the director actually said they are adding the babies and toddlers because thats where the money is... I thought that was an awful thing to say to parents. It definately did not give me the warm fuzzies.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

So your kids will not move until April? When is school out? I would start looking for a new school for next year. And I would keep asking them for answers to the questions they couldn't answer today.

 

[bananiem]

As a former director at a child care center my advice would be to start looking around for toher options.
And we found that infant and toddler programs actually cost more (because of the higher local and state standards) to run than we could charge. They were a money loser and that amount had to be made up by charging the preschoolers more.

 

[twinmomplus2new]

They were not SURE, but they said it looked like April was the target date. To be all moved in. I figure maybe they are planning on moving the facility over April school vacation? they would have a week to do it then. They get out in June. and may or may not be staying VS going to Kindergarten. at least they were before this came up. It was probably the money comment that bothered me the most. i just thought it very inappropriate.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

Yes, the money comment was inappropriate. They could have easily said they were just looking to expand.

I would think it would be disruptive to move the kids during the school year. Personally, I think they should wait until summer vacation.

 

[Beth76]

I wouldn't want to send my children to a daycare/preschool. There are several of these around here where it's mostly a daycare situation (with a good cirriculum and good teachers). You can go full time or part time. Now these are good schools, but my issue is that most of the kids are there all day long and my child would leave after just a few hours. The other kids are getting more time with the teachers, knowing them better, and following the cirriculum all day. It just seems that my child would be missing something that the full-time kids are getting. So, I understand your reservations about the new school. I would start looking for other school in case you decide to not to attend the new facilities.

 

[bananiem]

Ok, now I've had some other thoughts. I still think the director was overly tacky and I think changing the structure of the school after you've signed up and the kids are used to it is a dumb idea but...
Perhaps they are renting the space they use now and the lease will be up.
Or maybe financially they are trying to do what they think will keep them in business. Maybe they wouldn't be able to keep the school open next year without bringing in more money.
I taught at a center that had preschool in the morning and then some of the kids just happened to stay for the afternoon for child care. Each classroom had their own bathroom so it was easy for us to supervise. the most I ever had in my class was 20 in the morning and then my afternoons I always had a few less. I like to think it was fun for the kids.

 

[bananiem]

Beth76, you have a good point. In our situation the preschool kids stayed through lunchtime. All they missed was a 2 1/2 hour state-mandated "quiet time" in which the kids napped and when they woke up we did quiet activities like play-doh or coloring until the others woke up. Then we had a snack and an afternoon activity, free play (where the kids could choose legos, coloring, dress-up or whatever) and outside time until they were picked up. We didn't do more academic things because they were only 3, 4, or 5 and they neded time to play and be kids.
I think a lot of teachers in this situation spend a lot of time with their part timers while they're there to compensate. I got to know the parents of my part timers better because they were more apt to stick around awhile or show up early. I'll get flamed for this, but the majority of my fulltime parents were always rushing in or out.

 

[twinmomplus2new]

The school is in no danger of closing.. Our current facility is leased by the town. It is a town owned building. The rent is minimal it may even be nothing... That is how the fees stay lower. The new building is also town owned and the arrangement is the same. We have a new SR center opening and the towns former facility is opening up. She repeatedly said the town's administrator wants to keep it small and affordable so (she has to work on him to expand further because he doesn't really want to raise the costs)

I wonder what will happen to our current school. I wish they would keep the preschool seperate, and use the new facility for a seperate daycare. Well I guess this just cements my opinion further that I am not particularly fond of this director. The teachers I love!!!! The director

I am gonna just shut my mouth and hope the new SR centers construction time runs over. If that happpens, It would make more sense for them to move this summer, And by then I will be out of there either way!

Funny but my dd now 17,, was in a daycare/preschool setting however it was a very differant situation. A local law firm had an affiliated preschool. and a small employee daycare. 10 kids all kids of the firm. I happened to stumble upon a space when the attorneys had no little ones that age. So my Dd did go to preschool and then daycare for the afternoon portion of the daycare, However we are again talking about a very small group not a fluid group, But a constant. my dd was the only one not affiliated. Parents walked in and out all day from upstairs at the firm, so it fealt like a community.
We are talking about going form 12 per class now, and one classsroom. To 4-6 classrooms and potentially more than doubling the class size! And 3 floors in the new building. Just a total differant setting entirely.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by bananiem
I'll get flamed for this, but the majority of my fulltime parents were always rushing in or out.

I teach kindergarten in a day care center. Most of our parents rush in or out because they have to get to work on time.

I'm sure the director didn't give direct answers because things could change between now and the move. Many people will understand that things could come up and force changes to the original plans. Then you'll have those that will complain because things didn't work out the way the director said they would.

I hope things work out for you and your children.

 

[Disney Princess 6]

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[Hillbeans]

Originally posted by disneyjunkie
I teach kindergarten in a day care center. Most of our parents rush in or out because they have to get to work on time.

At my center, they told us to leave right away so we wouldn't linger and stretch out the separation time. In addition, they only had 3 parking spaces and they had notes on the doors that we were not to take more than 5 minutes for drop-off or pick-up.

I also think mentioning that the babies will bring in more money was tacky, but an honest mistake. I've learned though, that if you're not happy with your center, there are many others around and you should find one you're comfortable at.

 

[mickeyboat]

I have a suggestion for you. Does your pre-school have a parent advisory board? Will the new day care / pre-school have such a thing? It might be worth it for you to get involved - to have imput on what is going to happen. Then you can decide for yourself if the center is making a concerted effort to maintain its current standards, or whether it is turning into a money-making machine as you fear.

I wonder if the answers to all the questions are not available (ie where is the bathroom located) because there will be some remodeling of the new space. If you were involved in the planning somehow, you could express how important it is to you to make sure the bathrooms are connected.

Good luck to you.

Denae