Big Apple Daycare

"We’ve been at Big Apple for a year now and love it! The teachers are great and I feel my son is well cared for. He’s happy to go to school and doesn’t always want to come home."

"Parents, you should not bring your kids here. I am a teacher and a mama of 3 toddlers and I am so disappointed in Big Apple Day Care. I don't want to see another child go through what my kids have gone through. They do not communicate with parents when things are not going well with your child. They make major changes to your children's classroom teachers and split up twins and siblings without consulting the family, and they chose to send me an email informing me that they were no longer willing to take care of my kids rather than speaking with me in person or seeking solutions. I encourage you to read the rest of this before sending your kids here. My issues are mainly with the owner of the day care (Stephanie Nies) and the directors. My 3 children have attended this daycare from January to June. During this time one of my sons would scream for up to 50 minutes at a time. Their solution was to bring down to the office until he cried himself asleep. I didn't even know it was happening for over month because they never told me it was happening. Even when I would ask the teachers how things were going they would tell me things were going well. Rather than set up a meeting or speak with me about the issue I received a letter from the owner stating that she didn't feel like my family was a good fit for their center because it was taking the teachers too much time to calm my son down. My son has never had more than a 10 minute issue in any other setting, so this news was very upsetting. After I had to be the one initiate a meeting with the owner, she agreed that the communication was lacking on their end and that we were not being informed enough as parents by herself or her staff. I insisted that the daycare fill out a daily behavior sheet for my son so that we were getting accurate information and could help his teachers work through things with him. Once we insisted that they become more accountable with their communication we found that my son was doing much better. He would have 5-10 minute squabbles like many 3 year old do once or twice a week and was having many good days in between. I was my understanding that we had achieved our goal of helping my son avoid extreme melt downs and we had not heard otherwise from Big Apple administration. That was 2 months ago, then today I received an email from the director (Stephanie Nies) stating that they were disenrolling my family (including my other 2 kids) because we were deemed to not be a good fit for their center. They stated that my son needed too much individual time. Is 5-10 minutes to help a 3 year old child work through his emotions "too" much time? If you are a parent I'm sure you would hope that your child would be comforted and give the attention of the staff if they were having a hard time managing their emotions. Apparently the $518 that I pay Big Apple EVERY WEEK is not enough money to cover the teachers needing to help my son calm down through normal 3 year old issues. Even worse, the communication was just so unprofessional. If you are already a paying costumer of this daycare, I encourage you to take a closer look. We trust this people to care for our kids, but this is just a business for them. Ms. Nies may say otherwise, but actions speak louder than the words she types in an email. They would rather give up on a kid than work with families who rely on this care. Ms. Nies literally told me in our meetings that it "looked bad to have my son crying when other parents walked through the building" and "there was a parent who complained that my child was crying and didn't want my child to take away from her child's play time." We can do better than this place for our kids, people. Your kid is the most important thing on the earth to you, so don't settle for this place. Stephanie Nies, I hope you read this. Shame on you. Learn to communicate with parents like an adult rather than hiding behind your computer screen. For the sake of all other kids, learn how to be a professional."

"Our daughter started when she was 9 months old last fall, and so far we love it here. The center is very friendly, reliable, and family oriented. We appreciate their flexibility and caring teachers!"

"My son started there for 4k and he absolutely loved it. After 4k he used to go to a private sitter and he used to come home crying he did not want to go there. He wanted to stay at Big Apple with Mrs Kim, Mrs Andrea and Mrs Connie. We made the switch and it was the best thing for him. He came home so happy every day, he hated to leave every day lol. He wanted to stay and play. He would always ask is it time for school? Do I get to go to my big apple? The best feeling in the world is knowing your child feels safe when you are not with them. And Big Apple is a place where not only did I know he was safe and very well cared for but also a place that makes you feel like family."

"We have been at Big Apple for just a year now. We started with our 3 year old so, now 4, having mild behavior issues (hitting, calling out etc). I thought Big Apple would shy away from us and instead they embraced this issue. Once our boy began, he thrived. There was great structure and they use play based learning. All of the teachers are amazing and we are thrilled to have our one year old join them as well. My 4 year old comes home wanting to go back and asking if it is "school day" on Saturday and Sunday. Big Apple is extremely reliable, open 6-6 Mon-Fri and rates are very competitive to most. We cannot wait to see what else they have in store as our boy begins 4K this Fall there. I highly recommend this facility and family of caregivers to your children."