Biscayne Gardens Day Nursery

When I was looking to enroll my ²¹⁄₂ year old in preschool, I had 6 main requirements:
1. Cleanliness
2. Warm & Welcoming Environment & Staff
3. Compliant with DCF rules
4. VPK Readiness
5. Diverse
6. Affordable
And to my surprise, who knew this little preschool off of 1 – 95 and 151^st street would possess all of the above. I am a very picky mother, which is why, it took me almost an entire year to make my decision. Below are the most important attributes that contributed to my decision: 1. Upon entering the location, I was not met with the smell of children’s poop, mold, or a wet mop. Although the preschool can use a few modern touches, it meets the purpose, after all this is a preschool. There were no runny nose little kids. 2. My son has detachment issues and what impressed me the most is how inviting the director, Michelle, and the teachers were to him when we had the tour. The atmosphere was so inviting that after a few minutes my toddler wondered off and began to participate in circle time. Keep in mind that once I enrolled him, he still cried during drop offs. He was also shy with the other kids but within a matter of 1 week he started to come around. My once spoiled, stubborn toddler was exhibiting signs of independence such as he now had a desire and the ability to feed his self, he was no longer crying when I was trying to potty train him, and he was expressing himself more. «Mommy, I tired. Mommy that a circle. Mommy that a big dinsaur,» were a few of the sentences he were expressing. 3. I researched the DCF provider tool and noted that this location did not have any violations for the past 2 years, which is surprising when compared to some of these more expensive preschools. 4. I researched VPK statistics as well. This center has had a 100% score for years. I could tell that this was not one of those «play all day» preschools/​daycare facilities. When I completed my tour, all of the classes were being instructed, even the 1 year olds. The VPK children were learning advanced concepts and they appeared to understand the lesson. 5. In my son’s 2 year old class, there are a good mixture of children from different racial backgrounds. Although, I am a black woman raising a black son, my aim is to raise a son that has friends from various backgrounds and I believe it starts when they are young. 6. Given all of the above, you would think that this place costs $ 200/​week or above. Well, its well below $ 150, even with free breakfast, lunch, and snacks. I believe the key to this is that the Director has been in this line of business for several decades and is able to limit the amount of overhead that these new facilities deem as necessary when pricing our children’s care. I’m not going to say the exact amount because while my goal is to acknowledge this preschool for its excellent service; I have another son that I intend to enroll soon and I don’t want everyone beating down this place’s door, just because of the price. In fact, so much so that at the end of the day, they don’t have enough room to receive my other son when he turns one. (I know terrible, but the truth!). If you are a parent seeking the same attributes in a day care, then I suggest you give this place a try.