Discovery Isle Child Development Center

I love, love, love this Preschool! I was a very hesitant mother with 15 mo. old twins. The teachers in the infant room were phenomenal in transitioning them. They run into the classroom every day with big smiles on their faces! The facility is clean and safe and the teachers are so fun. I would recommend this preschool to any family.

Both my boyfriends boys attend this school. one is off to kindergarten now and transitioning well thanks to the great start they got here at Discovery Isle. Their mother has an alternative learning approach which doesn’t include, testing, rules, academic standards or scholastic guidelines. as to why you can see her negative comment below, but truthfully what she was an out right lie. She is just mad the court allowed the boys to attend theirs fathers school of choice on his parenting time. This school has had to deal with her and her girlfriends outbursts in front of kids dropping profanity in front of students and her degrading the teachers. They communicate with her, with me and the boy’s father. They have been a huge help in making the dealing with a co parenting preschool dilemma smooth as can possibly be, given the other parent is combative and non cooperative. I am grateful for the love care and academics they provide the kids

I’ve used Discovery Isle for drop in days for both my boys, now ages 3 and 9 months. My boys had a great time and the teachers were very understanding and adaptable to both my children. I would highly recommend Discovery Isle Ted Williams Parkway to anyone.

Extremely disappointed with the lack of communication before my kids even had the chance to attend. I am in need of fairly immediate care because we moved from out of state. Erin in the admissions department said there was space for both of my kids, my daughter who is 3 and my son who is 1. I scheduled an appointment to tour the school this evening, feeling so relieved that such a great school with awesome reviews had space for them. A few hours later, I received a voicemail from Susan at the school saying there is actually no room for my son and there is a wait list.
When I called her back to verify that and ask why Erin said there was room, she said that she’s sorry but there is in fact a wait list. When I asked her what the wait list is like currently, she wouldn’t give me a time frame and said it’s based on the center losing a full time family. So, does that mean indefinite? I’m not sure.
Either way, I would have loved to actually go to the school and have my kids attend based on what I’ve read, but I am very unimpressed by the huge lack in communication between the center and admissions. This is a really time-​sensitive matter, so to be told there’s room and plan on that working out to find out there’s actually a wait list… not a happy camper.

My kids have been in the 2’s class through private Kindergarten in this school and it’s been great. They have loved all their teachers and are happy to go to school each day. The principal and office staff are very warm and friendly, they know your name and your kid’s name. I checked out all the schools in the area before enrolling them and have no regrets on my choice.

As the parent of an infant who was to be enrolled in day care for the first time, I was highly disappointed with the service my family received at this center. After my son’s first 4 hour «Discovery Day» the first thing his teachers said to me upon my return to the center was «Do you hold your son a lot at home?» I found this loaded question to be completely off putting and disheartening. They followed up their question by saying that they felt he was «just mad» about being there and that they were going to encourage him to self sooothe.
Again, this was after his first four hours EVER in daycare.
While we anticipated a rough transitional period, they were not understanding or empathic to the fact that he was confused and scared about being in a new environment surrounded by strangers. They did not express how they would try to make a difficult transition easier. They did not offer words of encouragement or reassurance. As a parent, this conversation left me highly doubting the center’s policies and how they would support our family and our childcare needs.
After a long conversation with my husband, we decided to give the center a second try. The next morning, I spoke with the Principal, Melinda, and she said she could see where her staff were coming from, but that they would try a more gentle approach with him. The staff also admitted that it was a poor choice of words. I felt somewhat better.
Upon my return after his second Discovery Day, I was very concerned and distraught over his safety when I noticed a large purple welt above his right eye and no one could tell me what happened. My son was in their care for 6 hours and not one person noticed the swelling on his eyebrow. The best responses I got from the Assistant Principal were: «Maybe that’s what happens when he cries» (because in 14 months, I never noticed something so obvious that only happens on one side of his face) and «well, his teachers can’t tell his sad cry from his hurt cry» Neither of these were making me feel confident in their abilities to care for my son.
Needless to say, this was not the right center for us. I think promoting a strong bond with a new primary care giver should be the top priority of an infant teacher, not discussing promoting independence through self soothing after just meeting a child. My theory is that if you can’t be bothered to hold and comfort my child then you don’t deserve to be his caregiver. I hope the staff gets the retraining they need on how to interact with parents correctly in order to hopefully avoid repeating the same unfortunate experiences my family had to endure.

I wish I could give 1,000,000 Stars! The HARDEST thing in the world is leaving your young child (especially if it is your first) for 8 – 10 hours a day, 5 days a week while you work. Discovery Isle on Ted Williams Parkway was the BEST experience I have had while having my daughter enrolled in a preschool.
My favorites about the school:
1.) The Principal, Melinda, and Assistant Principal, Jen, are ABSOLUTELY the most kind, accommodating and caring pair of people I have ever known. They always are so easy to talk to, and genuinely care about the child and the well-​being of the family. You can ALWAYS expect a friendly «Hello» and conversation when you enter in the morning and leave after picking up your child.
2.) The amount of care teachers put into communication between the teacher, parent and child. The school uses every form of communication that is possible for every reason! For the good (letting you know your child stopped crying after they were dropped off) and the bad (informing you that your child tripped and fell and got a boo-​boo). Sometimes my daughter has rough Mornings and although it makes me somewhat uneasy, I know I will receive a photo or call to let me know she was doing great and having a wonderful day. Often, I would receive pictures via email to show me what she was doing and how happy she was.
3.) I love how much effort all of the teachers put into their classrooms. My daughter’s teacher, every day would write out on a piece of paper of what the class did that day and hang it in parent’s view for their convenience. I would often pick up my child and have super cute art projects and photos to pick up as well as the monthly folder the teacher works too hard on. Every room is prideful and very fun to look at. I love seeing my child’s photos and art all over their class!
4. A secure building! Each family has their own passcode to get into the building. This location has tall, safe fences around the entire school and I feel my child is 110% safe there!
Added extras: PLENTY of play space, effective discipline techniques, HAPPY children, trusting teachers, months filled with fun activities for the kids and families, and the teachers are awesome at potty training! :-)
Definitely schedule a tour as they are ALWAYS welcoming new children to enroll and are ALWAYS willing to accommodate and help you any way they possibly can!
I LOVE this school, and I cannot wait to bring my 2.5yr old back!!!

My 4 year old has been going to this Discovery Isle for a little over 1.5 years and my 1 year old has been going there for 9 months. I couldn’t be happier with the front office people and my kids’ teachers. It is amazing all the things my kids have learned. The teachers are great, they have way more patience than I could ever have. They send home monthly folders with all the art projects and other things the kids have been working on. When I drop off and pick up they are very good about telling me how their day went. They show genuine concern for my kids’ well being, in fact they call some times to let me know when there was a trip on the play ground, or when my littlest one gets bit by a friend. They are so concerned and I think I’m just glad it wasn’t my little guy that did the biting. I know they are in good hands when I drive away. As for the principal and asst. principal, they are super accommodating and willing to help out wherever they can. If we have had a rough drop off, they often call just to let me know everything is going well. They are always offering to help out. I couldn’t be happier.

Both of my boys go to this school 2 days a week when they are with their father. This school is not my choice. They claim that they value family communication however it’s a struggle to get their teachers to communicate. My situation may be the exception because I don’t drop off or pick up. But teachers who don’t email? Don’t return calls? I have a BA in child development and 10 years in the field if I knew I had a child in my class from a divorced home I would open the door for communication because it’s what’s in the best interest of that child. When I finally got a teacher on the phone she acted annoyed to talk to me.

I highly recommend Discovery Isle (DI) to all parents and/​or families who need child care, preschool, or Kindergarten for their children. I enrolled my son about 2 months ago and he is absolutely loving it! Every single day he says «Mommy, I love my new school!». Nothing more comforting than hearing that every day! Prior to attending DI, my son went to another ‘well known’ daycare and, regrettably, I wish I had enrolled my son at DI from the get go. The staff, the teachers, everyone at DI is absolutely amazing. They are so friendly and accommodating. I love the level of communication the teachers have with parents via one-​on-​one conversations and the month-​end progress reports/​folder take-​homes. I truly feel the teachers care about their students and are in-​tune with each child’s individual developmental level of learning. The curriculum is above par, the projects my son brings home are creative, and the social/​life skills being taught are invaluable. DI is paving a path of success for my little guy when he attends Kindergarten at a public school this fall. I am incredibly grateful and appreciative to DI and its amazing staff for everything that they do.

My son is now 5 and in kindergarten. I just wanted to update my review and let you know that the curriculum and structure that is offered at Discovery Isle provided a solid foundation for my son to perform well academically. Thank you Discovery Isle… you were worth every penny!

We are still here going on our second year. We have been more than happy with the new teachers (my son moved up to the 3YO room), principal and everything else. Melinda is still the amazing principal and now they have a new asst principal as the former AP was promoted to principal at a different DI.
They teach letter and numbers but also give plenty of time for free play. They have a structured day but no so structured that things are inflexible. My son was out for a minor surgery and the teachers called me themselves to check in to make sure he was doing well.
Again, very happy here!

I highly recommend Discovery Isle — Ted Williams Parkway. I have had experience with other Discovery Isle locations and it really comes down to the principal/​assistant principal as well as the teachers. This one just feels like a real school, and like one other reviewer mentioned, a big happy family. Danielle T. pretty much said everything I would say.
I have two children here and trust that my children are in good hands, learning social skills, and learning the basics needed for kindergarten. It is great to keep them on a schedule as I believe children do really well with knowing what to expect and when.
Take a tour and you will see for yourself what a great school it is!
By the way, we have been here for over 15 months now. I have done a lot of research into nannies and private in-​home daycares as well as other schools, and the only other school I can highly recommend is Bright Horizons — Kids on Broadway in downtown San Diego, but that one is extremely hard to get into unless you are a Federal or State employee as these families get preference on the waiting list. I have been on that waiting list for 3+ years.
Hope this helps anyone searching for childcare in the PQ/​Poway/​Carmel Mtn areas.

our little one has been here for over 4 months now and i trust them 1 000 000% taking care of him while i’m at work. i love all the teachers and the administration staff. they are super communicative and sweet and helpful and patient!
for example, my baby absolutely hated the bottle when he first started daycare but they worked patiently with him day after day until he was a pro! when we were struggling with starting solids, they gave great suggestions and now it’s amazing how much he eats. when baby started having separation anxiety when we dropped him off, they would quickly soothe him or distract him. we also use cloth diapers and they’ve been super accommodating with that.
i love all the little art projects that they do (even with babies!) and they send home pictures and progress reports so i know how he’s measuring up on their curriculum charts. they have lots of toys and books and activities to stimulate little minds and they’re always working with the babies on tummy time and achieving milestones (such as grasping, sitting, crawling, hand eye coordination, etc).
i tend to pick my son up near closing time (their hours are from 6:45am-6pm) and i usually see them cleaning up and sanitizing and washing toys and things for the next day, so i know that they’re definitely making sure things are clean! they’ve also just installed a new security code system at the front door as an extra precaution, which is great for peace of mind.
i honestly can’t say enough good things about them, and we’re really glad to have them around!