La Petite Academy of Schertz

"My daughters have been enrolled in this childcare for three months (since May 2023). On July 25, 2023, I dropped off my children and overheard excessive and aggressive yelling coming from one of the rooms at approximately 0820 hours. Looking through the windows, I saw a teacher berating a young child, perhaps four years old, in front of the entire class. The teacher then yanked the chair from the girl's grasp, grabbed her right forearm, and forcibly pushed it away before turning around to feed the other children breakfast. I went straight to Lea (who was in charge of the facility at the time). I told her what had happened and that I needed to speak with the director immediately and that I wanted to know how the girl's parents would be notified. She informed me that she does not have the authority to view the footage; only the director does, but she assured me that everything will be fine. After about 5 minutes of sitting in my car, trying to process what I had just witnessed, I went back in and pulled my two kids out of there. I requested Lea to have the director call me again before leaving. No one had contacted me by 1530 hrs on the 25th of July so I called the facility and spoke with Lea. I was told that the teacher had been sent home while the "investigation" was pending, but the girl's parents had not been alerted, and she was unsure why the director hadn't contacted me. I informed her that if I hadn't heard from the director by the end of the workday, I was going to file a police report, call the licensing organization, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, post the incident on social media, and so on. The director (Lisa Rodriguez) did not contact me until July 27, 2023, at 09:51 a.m. Despite her assurances about how they were handling the problem, she had not yet seen the video. She had no idea if the girl's parents had been notified. I believe it is safe to presume that the faculty will not notify parents that their daughter was physically and verbally abused within the facility more than 48 hours ago. Key Take Aways: - During the incident the other teacher in the room did not bat an eye, try to step in, or raise concern. Teachers from the two adjacent rooms (one of which I was in when I heard the abuse) also did nothing when they heard the yelling. This leads me to believe that the behavior I witnessed is common or the teachers are scared to speak up. - It took the District Manager (Lisa Rodriguez) more than 48 hrs to contact me after I witnessed child abuse in her facility that was egregious enough for me to disenroll my two kids with no backup care. As I write this, I am burning my leave/vacation time looking for alternate care. I cannot say this loud enough, FIND A DIFFERENT PLACE TO SEND YOUR KIDS. It may not be your kid coming home with bruises and emotional scars, but I WITNESSED it happening to someone’s child. Our children are the most precious part of our life and absolutely nothing is worth their safety. Do your due diligence and reach out to Texas Health and Human Services for a full report of this and past incidences of misconduct. Please get in touch with me for more information if your daughter's teacher has blonde hair, and tattoos on both forearms (her mother also teaches there). The girl that was the victim of the abuse has blonde hair, was wearing a dress on Tuesday, lives near Lea, and most likely returned home with bruises on her right arm."

"This daycare center took care of my son from the time he was just past 18 months until he started kindergarten this school year. All of his teachers were excellent. As I mentioned our son just began kindergarten and he is way ahead of most of the students in his class after attending this center for Pre K and Pre School. While we did have a concern here and there, that is inevitable and it was always addressed quickly. We will always be grateful to Ms Shelly, Ms Lea, and Ms Sally, as well as the other wonderful teachers, for the great care they took of our son."

"My oldest has been attending La Petit for 3 years now. Lots of changes have been made in the last three years and I can say I’m very happy with the care he has received. The changes they’ve made have been to the benefit of the quality of care. My 5 month old just started there and I’m very happy with how they treat my baby with lots of care. They’ve also updated the app they use so you can watch your child’s class and get consistent updates. As far as the food there. Thanks to La petit my picky eater (now 6 year old) began expanding his willingness to eat food outside of his comfort zone."

"Don't take your children here, the staff is rude and the lunches they feed your children aren't that great, my child got an allergic reaction to something in the food and we took them immediately out. I also heard from other parents that their kids got covid when they were there. I will never be using your daycare service again and will tell my friends not to go here. My children would be safer with their grandparents."

"This place seemed great and I was excited to have my son attend this daycare. On his second day at this daycare I decided to check the camera to see how he was doing. I watched as his teacher forcefully pulled 3 kids (one at a time) by the arm to make them sit. She then grabbed another child and aggressively pulled him to a corner where the camera was not recording. She then proceeded to firmly lift another child from his underarms to put him on the floor. I could not believe what I was watching in a class full of three year olds. I immediately called the school and spoke with the director Blair to inform her of what I seen. I left work right away to pick up my son. When I arrived at the daycare I spoke with the Blair again and explained what I witnessed. I informed her that my son would not be returning. Regardless of that teacher’s clear frustration, no one should EVER touch another child the way she did. It was disgusting and honestly made me feel sick. I hope these incidents were reported to the parents of these children since the director was made aware of the incident immediately. UPDATE: The incident was never reported although the Director was aware of the situation. I called the State to report the daycare. After an investigation the center was cited for violations. Also, I did call the 1-800 listed below to speak with someone and no one ever got back to me."