McGaw YMCA Childcare Center

While our regular daycare was on vacation during the summer, McGaw was a wonderful solution for backup childcare. My daughter was placed in the Flying Fish classroom and loved the experience! The teachers and other students made it such a wonderful experience. She came back talking about the water play and swimming class. It was a great week and good to know that they’re there for us as a backup childcare option as long as there is space!

If you want the lowest level of education for your preschooler, consider this school! As bad as the teachers are, the «administrators» are even worse. If you ever have to deal with Kinyata, be prepared to be talked over, talked down upon, and have your concerns completely disregarded. The teacher turnover and lack of ability on the part of the administrators should highly discourage anyone who cares about the quality of education for their children from sending their child here. I wish I could give this institution zero stars.

My child has been at this school almost one year. She has attended 2 day cares prior to this one and that seems like a lot for a one year old. The McGaw YMCA is the best school she has attended by far. She has learned things I’m not sure I could teach her had I been a stay at home mom. Love the program, love the teachers, love the school. Love that meals are included in tuition.

Y is like a big family. Wonderful teachers and friendly staffs! You can not find the program in any other preschools– gym class in a real gym (YMCA), swimming class starting age of 3 (required for every enrolled kid) (YMCA warm water pool). Both of my boys go/​grow up there, and we have been part of the family for over 4 years. Highly recommended!

We spent 9 months at another center and have been at the YMCA for two years. The Y is superior to the other center in nearly every way. My daughter has been with the same group of children the entire time she has been at the Y, allowing her to form a strong social group; at her old center, children transferred rooms regularly so no bonds were formed. At the Y, the staffing has been consistent and they all know my daughter; staff turnover was high at her old center. She is allowed to participate in music, gym, and swimming at the Y and goes on field trips; none of these things happened at her old center.
Every day she is excited to go to school where she receives an excellent early childhood enrichment program from staff who are clearly dedicated to the work they are doing.

The center seems to have top-​notch programming, care, and staff. The director is amazing — warm and passionate about early childhood education. My husband and I were blown away when we toured. Unfortunately, the waitlist for infants is 1 – 2 YEARS. I ask you to pause for a moment and think about the logistics of that!

The center provides nice activities for the children; however the «teachers» in the infant room do not speak English very well and sometimes have a hard time communicating with the parents.
Whenever we had a special request (ointment/​number of diaper changes) we found that it was never done. The «daily activity sheets» were purely estimated/​guessed/​assumed times that were done at the end of the day or whenever one person got to them (I saw this happening multiple times at pickup). Often they said the exact same thing for most days.
Overall, it was okay, not the best infant center for the money.