Earlier in the week I posted about how the daycare center forgot to pick up my 6 year old from school. I spoke with the director and I was under the impression that everything was taken care of and they were very apologetic for the confusion and told me it would not happen again. Well, today my son was 1/2 hour late for school ! My son's teacher called me at work and told me that my son had just arrived to her classroom and it was 9:27 a.m. he is to be at school at 9:00 a.m. I was so upset, frustrated and angry. This is insane! I spoke with the director and told her that when I paid her $520.00 for the month I expected that my son would get pick up and taken to school on time. This price also includes my 4 year old staying at the facility until he starts pre-school on September 20th. They were suppose to take him at that time as well. Strangely enough, both boys love this place and don't want to leave when I come to get them. Anyway, I even asked before I signed them up and I was told that they had a good relationship with the school, had been picking up kids for years, and would have no problem getting my sons. Now I'm being told that it's just the first week of transportation and they are getting new kids and still refining the schedule.
I did visit 3 other daycares in my area before chosing this one. I wanted a center that was as close to home as possible. They are less than 5 minutes from my son's school and still can't be on time! I did visit a daycare that my sons attended last year as I was familiar with them and was asked by the Director if the school had a grace period when kids had to be picked up and I told her NO, the kids are expected to be picked up as soon as school lets out. So, I told her thanks but no thanks because I need my kids picked up and dropped off on time. I go to this place, everyone seemed so nice and easy to work with, but I was sure fooled and I'm so disappointed.
Anyone know every use any of the online nanny services such as care.com ? I really need to find someone ASAP?
Thanks for reading my Vent.
Thanks for your reponses especially from those who have worked transporting kids. It helps to understand the other side. I'm not as angry as I was yesterday! Well, I've heard nothing from the school today so I hope it all went well. My son's next school will definately be one with a latchkey program.
My sister has the same problem with her daycare. The kids are suppose to be picked up on Wednesdays from the daycare and they don't show up. But her kids LOVE this daycare too!
OK, my family used to run a day care that did pick-up/ drop-off and here's my two cents:
Sometimes when it is time to drop off, someone has to poop or someone has an accident or something of the sort. So everyone gets late. It happens. Sometimes at pick-up, the bus arrives and for many reasons, a kid might not come out for 5-10 minutes and it holds the whole route up.
I don't care what day care you go to, it's going to happen. This is because they are children and a number of them and they're dealing with different schools. If you were leaving to drop your son off yourself, and you were leaving on time, but your other child suddenly says, "I have to poop" what would you do? Tell him to wait until he gets to school? Tell him to go in his pants? Of course not. You are late to school. These dynamics don't change when you add a bus and extra kids into the mix.
There are going to be glitches. And it does take time at the beginning of every year, especially with new drivers and adjusted routes, new routines in school, new teachers at the schools, etc.
Just because you pay a mountain of money doesn't mean that a bunch of different pieces are all going to fall in place. It's just not reality. If your boys are happy there, I wouldn't change it. What if the next school does the same thing (they will from time to time)? What if the boys don't like it? Be patient. It will get better.
You could call the local college employment office and ask for a future teacher. In our state, we were required to have fingerprints and background checks before starting the program. Plus, you can do a lot of background checks for little money. Intelius is one that I type a name and it shows the other people living there. I can check the state and local court sites free.
I have never ran into this issue because or town provides bus transportation for all students so even if they were at a daycare the bus company hired by the school would stop there and pick them up and drop them off.
I agree with other posters though. There are more then just your kids there so this of course leads to a greater chance of a child having an accident, needing the bathroom, etc All it takes is one child for them to be late. Now the fact that they forgot to pick up your son would have me furious but them not getting there on time for drop off and pick up doesn't surprise me and I would be understanding of that. Another thing is do your kids eat at home? Is it possible he is eating breakfast at school? The few times my oldest ate at school last year he was marked late because by the time the bus dropped him off and he sat down to eat the 5 minutes wasn't enough he would still be eating while others were in the room and attendance was being taken. There are lots of possibilities as to why he is late to class in the morning.
I would find out if they have logs of when the van leaves an arrives at the school. I ask because we had trouble with our daughter being late for school, I was getting her to school on time but she was taking her sweet time walking around before going to her class.
Just a thought on him being late to class it might not be entirely their fault. The not picking up on time is their fault
I would post a position on sittercity.com. I needed someone to pick up my daughter at school and get her to her after school program (bussing for that won't start until Nov - go figure!!!!!). Anyway, there were TONS of people and I was able to find highly qualified candidates.
I have also had good luck on sittercity.com just finding regular babysitters if I need to go somewhere. You can run a background check, check references etc.
I feel your pain - it is soooooooo frustrating when you have day care issues! Good Luck
I can understand your frustration and hopefully this is an adjustment week and things will get on track. If you are satisfied with the overhaul care of your children which is crucial then I think you should give them another chance. Does the school itself have a before and aftercare program so you can drop and pick up yourself? Most schools do I would check it out. Good luck!!
i agree with the poster that sometimes accidents happen and sometimes they need to use the restroom before hand. however i think they should be trying to get everyone out of the house 20 mins before the kids have to be at school to leave room for these accidents/set backs. they have to sign your child in when they are late. i would be livid if i got a call saying my child was late when they should have been there on time. they should have called you saying that such and such happened and that your son would be a little late for school so that when his teacher does call saying he was late you already know and can say thank you for telling me i did know though. or you can call the school and let them know before your child even gets there. i think the daycare needs to communicate a little better in that area.
