La Petite Academy of West Columbia

"My little one has been going here since she was 7Mo. Since we started we have built a beautiful relationship. My daughter loves her Teachers and The Director that's speaks volumes to how well they take care of our children. I highly recommend giving this school a tour if you are in search of child care."

"I have been thoroughly impressed with this daycare since the moment I toured the facility. Looking for a daycare can always be a daunting task, but I was fortunate enough to find a great one. From the moment I dropped my son off on the first day, I knew he was in great hands. The staff love and take care of him as if he was their own. I love the comfort that having cameras in the day care provides me. At any moment I can log on and see my son in action. It never fails that he is interacting and "socializing" with his classmates. Corey, Dominique, Mona and the entire staff have blown me away with their professionalism and their love for the children they care for on a daily basis."

"My children (ages 2y and 6 months) were enrolled in the La Petite Academy West Columbia location from 12/4/23 – 1/12/24. FACILITY: The first thing that you’ll note when you enter the 2yo classroom is the lack of engaging materials. Typically, a facility of this size and cost range will have a bookshelf with ample books, a play kitchen, puzzles, snaps, buttons, and zippers, arts and crafts, puppets, educational charts on the walls. This facility has none of that. There is nothing for active 2yos to do in the room. -The infant room has ample toys for the children to play with. The facility does not have a bottle warmer. Before entering the infant room, parents are required to put on booties to cover their shoes. The facility often goes days without booties available for parents to wear. -There is no office. Any and all discourse with office staff/management is had out in the open. There is no privacy for more delicate conversations. This includes any conversations parents may need to have about their children’s behavior, outstanding balances, medications, complaints about staff etc. POLICY: LPAWC participates in some sort of grant. Staff explains that with this grant, the school provides diapers (and pull ups), wipes, baby food and formula. To ensure that LPAWC is always in compliance with stipulations of the grant, Staff explains that parents are not allowed to bring their own diapers (or pull ups), wipes, baby food, or formula without a prescription from your child’s pediatrician clearly stating that your child must use the item you provide and cannot use the items provided by LPAWC. During the time that my children were enrolled at LPAWC (over a month), LPAWC simply did not have pull ups. 2yos, who were supposed to be potty training, were put in size 6 diapers. It is also important to note that parents are charged an additional $15 per week per child for diapers/pull ups. I am still unclear on why parents are being charged for items the “grant” is supposed to cover. To be clear $15 times 4weeks is $60 a month per child. A case of diapers/pull ups is $45 at Costco. There is also an additional cost added to your WEEKLY bill if your child drinks LPAWC provided formula. My son requires specialty formula, so I am not privy to the cost of LPAWC provided formula. LPAWC policy dictates that they cannot have bottle warmers on site. LPAWC does not have a logical means of heating bottles of children who have to bring their own formula. STAFF: The staff at LPAWC are constantly and critically absent. When there are not enough teachers present to facilitate DSS ratios, the school will stop accepting children until/IF additional staff arrives. In the month that my children were enrolled at LPAWC, this happened several times. Teachers simply don’t come to work at LPAWC. Teachers who are there are overwhelmed, and often visibly and audibly annoyed. Given the lack of engaging materials in the 2yo room, parents lean heavily on the creativity and ingenuity of staff to teach and engage with their children. In a learning environment of this size at this price range, typically, staff will facilitate a routine for the children. Engage them with educational discourse, perhaps staff-led songs with accompanying gestures, story time, arts and crafts time, puppet shows. None of those things were being done in the classroom. Parents are able to log on to LPAWC app (Sprout About) and see what their children are up to. The only structured activities done in the 2yo classroom throughout the day when my children were enrolled were meals and nap time. I’m not sure how many staff are officially assigned to the infant room, but of them, only ONE (1) made an effort to warm my son’s formula before giving it to him. My son does not drink cold formula. One day at pick up, I noted my son’s bottle filled with formula out on the counter and inquired about it. Staff said that they had taken the bottle out of the refrigerator “a while ago” and was waiting for it to get room temp so she could feed it to him."

"Toured facility in November and asked to be placed on the waitlist. It is now January and they haven't returned multiple phone calls and emails to be sure I was put on the waitlist. I shouldn't have to beg... Either you want my money or you don't lol. If they can't even return a phone call about the waitlist, that makes me nervous about them caring for my child and not contacting me for other things concerning them. Saving myself the worry and taking my child elsewhere."

"My 8 Month old son goes here and while it is a little pricey compared to other daycares, they provide diapers, wipes, AND formula! His teachers treat him like he was their own and I love to see my baby loved! I also really appreciate that almost all the people who work there know his name even if they aren’t his main teachers. They are so sweet to my baby and let us know when he is having an off day because they genuinely care about him! Big thank you to Mr. Corey, Ms. Tonya, and Ms. Mo for taking the best care of our boy❤️"