NEW GARDEN EARLY CARE & EDU CENTER LLC

My child has been enrolled at the New Garden Dover location for a year and a half, and I can honestly say that I see my child progressing very well. There were some concerns in the beginning, as many organizations face staffing issues. However, the class my child was in eventually had stable teachers, which made a significant difference. I gained a clear understanding of the classroom structure, and the staff was very supportive in helping with potty training at 20 months. I was pleasantly surprised when the teachers from the 18-24 month class attended my child's second birthday party. This gesture showed me that they genuinely care about my child and are able to handle their needs. I didn’t expect them to come, especially on such short notice. Now that my child is in the 2-year-old class, the teachers have been proactive. When their teachers expressed to me concerns about my child's learning and retention of information, we communicated about different strategies to help. Ultimately, we discovered that my child is doing fine and sometimes simply doesn’t want to participate. Do I think the teachers need more support? Yes. They are human beings who have families and lives outside of school. Do I understand that it's hard to find the right people to teach our children? Absolutely. Do I believe we, as parents, need to be more proactive? Yes.During the back-to-school night, not a single parent from the 18- to 24-month class showed up to meet the teacher. I made sure that my co-parent was on the phone that night because we need to understand the who, what, when, why, and how of our child's education. With all that said, I would still recommend this location. I know there have been numerous online posts that cast a negative light on it, but so far, my child's experience has not been affected to the point where I would consider moving them. I pay my hard-earned money for their care and education, and I expect my child to be in a safe and nurturing environment. There are great teachers there they just need the support.

Disgusted at the owners for their most recent stunt of abruptly closing down the Audobon center. Emailing us on a Wednesday to pick up our kids by 2pm and take all of our belongings. Literally walking in to pick up my daughter seeing parents scrambling, kids crying was devastating. Sadly the teachers and directors had no more information then that families only for everyone to find out they were closing the center for good leaving people without jobs and families without childcare. The most unprofessional people ever. Clearly didn’t care at all to communicate to familiesC very weird energy, and definitely not honest. My daughter fell twice and hit her head with no phone call and the owner lied about not being informed and never apologized for not calling etc. So much more to get into but it’s not worth it. This has been a nightmare and I’m sad for my daughter, the staff, and families affected by this nonsense. Poor children have no idea or understanding. Just completely displaced in a matter of days. Touring daycares in the area and explaining the situation is appalling to other centers l. Even just reading the responses to some of these reviews just speaks for itself about the kind of people the owners are. I wonder why they even decided to purchase this center just to run it in the ground.

They deserve zero stars but that was not an option. The owners of this school took over our daycare and within a year ran it to the ground. My family had been a part of this daycare for 9 years and it was a wonderful environment until Peter and Andrea took over. It was one problem after another with lack of communication, an unwelcoming environment and long time staff leaving. They emailed us on a Wednesday that we had to pick our children up by 2pm because they didn’t have enough staff to be open. Meanwhile neither of them even came to the school to help out. This had never happened before at this school. And then on Sunday we received a brief email stating the school would be shut down immediately with no notice for our children or parents. Disgraceful! My 4 year old misses his friends and his teachers and we have all been forced to split up and find alternative childcare. They took zero responsibility for this - blamed the staff, former owners. Not being able to keep staff is a reflection on them and nothing else!! Please think twice before relying on these owners and putting your children in their care. They do not operate with the best interest of the children.

Absent owners. Sub-par management, could not employ support staff enough to give them bathroom breaks. Closed the school, without telling parents or teachers. We were told to pick up our children at 2p with belongings. My husbands account was drawn immediately the same day. They bought the Eaglesville school as an ‘investment’ and did not care about the children or the staff. It was merely a money decision that they then decided to end without warning. Embarrassing. (Yes this is the same owners at in Dover) What more do I need to write?

This facility used to be operated by the most loving, trustworthy family. Once Andrea and Peter of New Garden bought the space, it has been a negative experience. For starters, the staff turnover was high. They couldn’t keep staff for longer than a couple of months. Half the time they would notify you of a new hire and the other half you’d see a new face in your child’s classroom with no communication whatsoever. There were also many times that classrooms were combined because of the lack of coverage so you had 15 to 20 toddlers running around in one small room. Not only was that unsafe, but during flu season? My child was perpetually sick from Christmas through March. For these reasons we were already looking to put our children elsewhere. But then we get an email on a Wednesday afternoon that we have to pick up our children IN TWO HOURS because they had no staff coverage for the remainder of the day, and that they would be closed the remainder of the week. I sent an email asking if there was even a slight possibility they would close the following week because I’d have to travel out of state in order to have childcare while I worked. The owners didn’t even have the decency to reply to my emails. Instead, we get a mass email Friday evening saying that they were shutting down effective immediately and wouldn’t reopen, leaving dozens of families who work full-time without child care. We have no family locally. This has turned our world upside down and caused immense levels of stress, especially given the long wait list for other daycares. My children are unable to start their new daycare for 2.5 months, which will require me to take a month off of work and find a consistent sitter in the meantime. If you want stability for your children, this isn’t the place.