Teddy Bear Day Care and Preschool

"Teddy bear was an amazing daycare for our infant son. We enjoyed the daily updates and sweet care that our boy received everyday. He started at 8 weeks and we were thrilled with his care until he was about 2 years old (27mos). We decided to switch daycare providers after we had multiple calls a week about his ‘behavior’ which started almost to the day that his little sister was born. Teddy bear staff was aware of this huge transition that he was experiencing at home and demonstrated some understanding to the overall struggle. However, he was placed on a ‘behavior plan’ that seemed unrealistic for a 2 year old in the midst of a major adjustment. We made the decision to move him to a new daycare so that we could be sure that he would be met with empathy, understanding, and patience. We were worried that he would be labeled as a ‘problem child” and treated as such (every little noncompliant behavior causing major attention). It should be noted that we had zero calls home or any behavioral incidents at his new daycare which may or may not have been due to other factors. That’s all to say that Teddy Bear provided the services to our family that we needed, when we needed them. I wish we could have had more time to iron out some of the ‘behavioral issues’ before it became so formal, but I still look back and remember how safe and secure I felt with my baby at Teddy Bear when I first brought him as a baby."

"We had a great experience. Was it perfect? No! But it was great. The staff cares and did the best they could navigating the trials of Covid/early post Covid. When we had issues, we spoke clearly and politely and more often than not any issue we had was resolved. I particularly appreciate Mr David. It is so great to have a caring male figure educating and looking after kids. I know my son looked up to him and to be honest, I do too in many ways."

"Our son recently “graduated” from TBDC and, while everyone has their own experiences, I wanted to make sure that we made visible the great experience we have had at this daycare. We had been with the center since fall of 2020, just after the initial peak of COVID. I was trying to balance the need to get our kiddo into a daycare with the need to protect him; TBDC did great on this front, doing their best to keep in step with the latest health department guidance. We always felt James was well cared for and he always enjoyed his time at daycare/pre-school and talked about the time with his friends and doing fun activities with enthusiasm at the end of the day. Is the center perfect? No, but it was great, our son was treated like family (to be clear, we are not actually family), and we learned to address any issues directly and with adult discussion; any issues were always resolved to our satisfaction. We had a great relationship with Mr. David and Ms. Jennifer; as with any daycare, it’s important to get to know the teachers and management and it went a long way to avoid or mitigate miscommunication. Mr. David and Ms. Jennifer always treated us with respect and love (to include joking about WWE wrestlers! Ask Mr. David about it), and our son always raved about the food Mr. David prepared for his class! Additionally, Mr. David’s previous law enforcement experience made us feel confident that the school had thought through the appropriate safety contingencies that are an unfortunate part of our lives these days. As I said at the beginning, I thought it important to highlight that we have had a wonderful experience with this Teddy Bear Daycare and would recommend it to others! Go check them out and meet the team yourself!"

"While I understand that this review won't undo the damage already done today, I believe it's crucial to share my experience at Teddy Bear Day Care for the sake of other parents who are considering enrolling their children: We enrolled our child when he was about 9 months in 2020. He moved on to an early learning program at Basis Independent just last year. We requested to have him at the day care for 10 weeks of summer. He is 3.5 years old. He was placed in a classroom with children younger than him while his peers transitioned on to the next class. When we questioned this a few times we were given the excuse that "he's not ready, that he he will transition later, and that he is with his peers, you just drop and pick him up later and don't see them". He was finally moved just last week with only one more week remaining. The past few days were hard for us as everyday he was sent home with a torrent of complaints. That he is not listening, he has issues. The "teachers" had issues with him, they cannot be burdened with him and he is leaving anyway. The new owner Jennifer prides herself in communicating with 3 year olds with no formal training, pulled him out and made him cry, the staff heard him cry and say, "I want to be with my friends". I just so happen to call and check up on my lunch break and ask how he is doing and after listening to about 8 minutes of complaining, and in my attempt to advocate for my child's well being, I expressed my concern and I said: That sounds like torture for him, I am going to pick him up in 10 min. I used the word "torture". This escalated as to "how dare I use that word" as if I used profanity. Jennifer's response was defensive, devoid of compassion and understanding. It was equally shocking and demonstrated a disturbing lack of professionalism. Sounds like emotional torture to me if you keep singling out a 3 year old because the teachers are upset with one more child in the classroom. What was even more disturbing was my 7 month old infant that I had to beg and plead for them to take at 6 weeks (she was the youngest they ever had) was also abruptly DISENROLLED. At first I was asked if I want a refund or a credit toward her payment and I opted for a refund then I was about to get in my car I was called back and told by Jennifer to take her "because you use the word torture" and she pouted by the front door. My infant was handed to me along with her baby bag, crib sheet, diapers etc. I am standing there with two children, it's mid-day, about to return to work. As a parent, as a mother and as a community doctor and military family, I entrusted the daycare to provide a safe and nurturing environment for my children. Instead, what we as a family experienced was a shocking display of unprofessionalism and severe lack in training and customer service. The final straw being the abrupt disenrollment of my infant, leaving me without any prior warning or consideration or the courtesy of a discussion. I had hoped for a positive experience but this has been very traumatizing. We were kicked out in less than 10 minutes. I would not wish for any parent to go through this . I understand this is a business and they have autonomy to make their choices. However, given that their services involve our children, there should be an adherence to a certain standard. That standard has fallen over the past 3 years under new owners. The vindictive actions, the retaliation if questions or concerns are brought up, and such disregard for the well-being of children and their parents is beyond comprehension. The potential negative impact on their mental health makes it a risk that may not be worth taking."

"I was not going to leave a review, but I feel that other parents should be aware of circumstances while researching prospective daycares. When we first started our son at daycare when he was just shy of three months old in August 2018, things were wonderful at Teddy Bear Daycare in Fairfax. Things began going downhill very quickly in 2021 when Ms. Veronica and Ms. April left. They were the backbone of what used to be a truly wonderful and nurturing daycare that my son used to smile and really enjoy. However, once Ms. Jessica, the replacement director, was hired and Ms. Missy, took the reigns, communication began lacking tremendously. We were almost turned away without warning after arriving at 10:05am and told children are not allowed to arrive after 10am. (Note that while the handbook said they had a schedule starting at 9am there wasn’t an explicit rule that kids needed to be there by that time. Also, it was extended to 10am because of Covid.) There were many other instances that upset us, but the deal breaker for us was when our son was stung by a bee on his ear. Our son’s teacher told Ms. Jessica that his ear was very red. Several hours later and a nap in between, Ms. Jessica calls us to say that his ear is very red and swollen, and she meant to call us earlier but forgot. No apologies were made. When I picked our son up, his ear had doubled in size and no apology or explanation was given for the carelessness of not notifying us immediately. Thankfully he had no breathing problems associated with this bee sting, but things could have gone horribly wrong considering my wife is severely allergic to bees. We also didn’t appreciate how they approached us with needing speech therapy. My wife was picking up my son when Ms. Missy brought him out and just abruptly asked her if we had seen a speech therapist. There was no communication beforehand on his speech so we were completely in the dark about this. We were heartbroken to remove our son from this daycare, as they have wonderful teachers and he made many friends over the three years he was enrolled."