Mailman Segal Center

While its a great facility and a neat play space in the parenting place– I can’t give a good review simply for one reason: cleanliness. My baby has gotten sick basically every time i have taken her to a class here. I have never seen any teachers wiping anything down. It’s a real shame because my baby enjoyed the classes– I just can’t stand for her to be sick again.

If you are looking for an early childhood education school don’t look any further. The Program is excellent, the school is safe, everything is squeaky clean, and their playgrounds are award winning. My little one loves this school, the teachers are outstanding and the staff very professional.
I tried looking for a less expensive school but nothing compares to MSC. I basically wasted my time, after you visit them every school is just blah.

Someone out there has a nickname of «Not-​so-​stay-​at-​home-​mom» and I can completely relate. When I first had my baby, I was going stir-​crazy at home. I think I had cabin fever the first day I got out of the hospital. I was certainly interested in partaking in all mommy-​and-​me possibilities, only to find that there were very few for babies 3 months and younger.
After being at home everyday, mostly by myself, with only a few outings to speak of, I was really excited to get out there and meet other mommies. My sister-​in-​law recommended this place, saying that she REEALLY loved it, and I needed to give it a try. I saw they have a class called «Play Together, Learn Together: 8 weeks — 3 months Amazing Newborn.» I thought to myself that my newborn was amazing and would certainly fit right in. I was told that it was important to call and RSVP ASAP as spots are limited and fill up quickly. The receptionist was extremely friendly and took down my information. I packed my bag with socks (they make you take your shoes off in the room) and all the baby’s necessities and was very excited for my big day out.
Unfortunately, It is not necessarily easy to find (which could just be because I don’t have a great sense of direction). It could also be because there are multiple buildings in this complex that look exactly the same, and if you have never been there before you just might walk up to the wrong door for the staff to tell you that you should get in your car and drive around to the building behind it. Which, this would be a fantastic idea if I was alone, and not with a new baby that I had to put the car seat back into the car (the newborn one that snaps into the carriage) and then fold up the carriage and put that in the car, and then drive literally 10 seconds to the other side, to take the carriage out, unfold it, take the car seat out again, and then snap it into the carriage, again. So– I (along with some other lost new mommies) ventured around the building, pushing my LO. I feel that this mishap alone would cause a review to drop a star or two, but I feel as though I don’t want to base the review off of possibly my own error —
I will say that the place is very colorful, lovely, and clean. The people who work there are generally up beat and smiling. The reason why I have rated it a 3 is because I went there thinking that the class was going to be geared for the age group that it said. This institution prides itself on its courses tailored for specific age groups right? Instead, the entire time, the woman who taught this session kept saying «when your baby gets older, he will really enjoy this.» Well, I wanted my baby to enjoy this now. Wasn’t that the point? The only thing that I got out of it was that I could sing to him «The Wheels on the Bus…» and move his limbs around, and he loved it; but that was only 5 minutes of the 45 minute class. After all of the activities that baby would «eventually like when he gets older,» there was «free play» which was also odd, because 2 month old’s do not just play freely. Also, like any mommy who knows the importance of tummy time already had more tummy time activities in my living room than this kid could ever use. One might think perhaps I was taking for granted that my research on babies, but I believe the typical demographic of women who attend this particular school are also highly educated women who are knowledgeable about baby basics.
Additionally, I wanted to meet other mommies. If I wanted to sing to him by myself, I could have just stayed at home because that is what I had been doing every day before. I will mention now that it is important to come to the class a bit early not only so that you can get a seat, but also so that you can be there when the other mommies introduce themselves. But, as the class went on, I found that unless I made a comment to those around me, the other mommies either only spoke to the friends they brought with them, or to their own baby. Like me, my baby was looking around and trying to make friends, to no avail. Again, I blame this partly on the course instructor because aside from the introductory «hi my name is Jane Doe, and this is my 2 month old baby Mary» there wasn’t any ice breaker for anyone to talk until almost the end of the session. At that point the instructor only asked if there were any questions, to which she only got blank stares. Perhaps the instructor needed a list of conversation starters– I have heard that the classes for older babies are much more enjoyable and that mommies and babies both love them, I don’t know, but at the end of this class I felt as though it could have been so much more.

Great classes! Excellent! Something for newborns to 5yo!!!
Additional review pending!!!