LAKE EDGE LEARNING CENTER

I truly wanted to love Lake Edge Learning Center; however, our experience was below average. We were enrolled for only about a month and a half, and from the very beginning, drop-offs were extremely difficult. Initially, I assumed this was simply a transition period. Unfortunately, staff provided little to no support during drop-off when my child was crying. I vividly remember our first day: we walked into the classroom and had to search for the teacher, who was in the back of the room folding towels. They did not stop what they were doing to acknowledge us or assist with the transition. As time went on, drop-offs did not improve—in fact, they worsened to the point where my child did not even want to enter the building. My children had been in daycare for about a year prior, and this behavior had never occurred before. Knowing how challenging mornings were, I frequently reached out to staff to check in and see how things were going. Messages often went unanswered. On one occasion, my mother dropped my son off and overheard a staff member say to him while he was crying, “I am not dealing with this today, [child’s name]!” This was deeply concerning. I scheduled a meeting with administration and the teacher to address my concerns. While I felt listened to during the meeting, nothing changed afterward. Communication remained minimal, and drop-offs continued to be distressing. Secondly, although we were only there for a short time during the summer, my children were sick more often than ever before. They contracted hand, foot, and mouth disease three separate times. Our home was thoroughly cleaned, and we followed strict hand hygiene practices to prevent reinfection, yet the illness continued to return. For a center that advertises itself as nature-based, I felt the programming did not differ from a standard daycare. Aside from classroom pets, there was little evidence of nature-based learning. During our tour, we were told children would attend monthly field trips to a nearby nature preserve. Neither of my children attended a single field trip during our enrollment. I even offered to volunteer as a chaperone and was told there were no planned trips for the foreseeable future. Another major concern was building security. The center is connected to a church with which it is not affiliated. During our tour, we were told a staff member would be stationed between the daycare and church whenever church personnel were present. However, there were multiple occasions when non-daycare staff or families were present in the church and had easy access to the daycare without any staff monitoring or restricting access. The final straw occurred during a drop-off when my son refused to get out of the car. I had to nearly carry him inside and informed staff that he was having a particularly hard morning. One staff member did not get up to assist, and another was busy doing their daughter’s hair. I dropped my daughter off in another room, assuming staff would help comfort my son. As I was leaving, I could still hear him crying. No one attempted to help him transition. He developed a stress rash and was clearly distressed. I raised all of these concerns with staff, administration, and even the owner. Ultimately, I withdrew my children immediately. Since starting at our new daycare, we have not experienced a single issue with drop-off.