Stepping Stone School

First, the positive: Great environment, staff know Granddaughter by name, accommodating hours.
Negative: Granddaughter entering Kindergartenafter (after 2 yrs at S. S) & not prepared. Now in special class to catch up.
Cost
High turnover rate

15 yrs ago I worked at a daycare center to offset childcare costs. Wow… Until you have worked at a center you have no idea how difficult it is. Our son had been in an in-​home provider for 2 ½ yrs prior to our decision to put him in preschool. Initially it was tough. Not only did we go through a huge adjustment but this school had just changed Directors only a few months prior and the teacher/​class we chose left to go off to school. The first 4 months were tough. However, never did I feel like «we» didn’t matter. After a few short months of adjustments, with us & them, our son was put in Ms Alicia’s preschool/​kindergarten ready class. Our son was very shy & socially immature. She not only worked with him academically, she recognized his personality & worked with him not against him… Not «Forcing» him to adjust to the rules. She worked with him so that he wanted to participate & followed the rules in his time & at his own pace. That was huge for us & our son has made huge strides. We couldn’t be happier with this school & extremely please with the effort & love Ms Alicia gave our son. Not to mention, they have sooooo many «extras» they do for all of the kids. We have been very pleased with our decision to put him at Stepping Stone!

I have been generally happy with my son’s experience here. I wanted to get him used to sitting in a class with other kids in preparation for joining kindergarten in fall 2014. He started at Stepping Stone in June 2013. His first teacher was Ms. Alisha and she was fantastic. His second teacher has since moved on, and her replacement, Ms. Jillian is also fantastic. She usually has something to tell me about Seth’s day when I see her and she’s very open to questions.
I had problems with the teacher who has now left because my son would be in various rooms when I would arrive and there would not be a note telling the parents where the class was. I haven’t had the same problem with Ms. Jillian, although to be fair, it may just be that I understand the flow of my son’s day a little better now. The main office took awhile to figure out billing for us, because my son only goes part time, so there were some tiresome months of incorrect statements, but that has been resolved for a long time now. And the principal was always very responsive when I had to tell them the billing was incorrect. They are available by email (which I love) or by phone.
I have never had my son come home to me having been hurt. Knock on wood.
I like that my son is welcome to go to class field trips that are planned for days he’s not in school, at no extra charge. I wish the extras that are available at the school (Kung fu, swimming lessons) were more affordable, considering the price you already pay to send your kid there, but overall it’s probably pretty competitive to what is available elsewhere.
I plan on taking my daughter here, too, when she turns four. I hope the team is Alisha and Jillian will still be there!

It was fun while it lasted. Unfortunately, we are no longer happy with this school. At this point, we feel like all we are is another check in the bank. Although we like my son’s teacher, it’s the lack of professionalism from the receptionist/​school assistant (who is positively the rudest person I have EVER met), as well as the home/​corporate office. We continue to have billing issues (THEIR error, which I can prove through documentation). On top of everything else, and probably the main point, my 4 year old doesn’t ever want to go to school anymore. He asks me every day if he can stay home, which I find extremely disturbing in a child his age. You would expect to hear that from a teenager, but not a 4 year-​old. Needless to say, I have appointments this week with other day cares and we will be switching soon I hope.

I guess corporate never got my messages I left with their secretary, about my concerns, and how the asst director blew me off when I told her I was tired of my son looking like he got beat up. No one ever called me back. Sorry that Unilocal is the first time you are hearing about this Ms. Paver.