YMCA Early Learning Center | University Place Campus

"My kid loves going to school all thanks to the friendly staff and teachers at the YMCA ELC. My son’s teachers are amazing and I cannot ask for a better support system. The facilities are clean and safe. We got frequent updates/pictures of our child throughout the day. The director is very proactive at communicating to parents about the center’s events and emergency staffing situations to make sure daycare is open everyday. Thank you everyone at the YMCA ELC UP!"

"The center has gone through an enormous amount of changes we adored the original leadership and were sad to hear her leave and several staff we loved after. The center really struggled after that point and I was terrified for my daughter who would be joining the infant room soon. The new director and assistant director have completely turned the center around! The atmosphere is so much more inviting, they’ve hired so many qualified teachers who seem to truly love their jobs and our kiddos. They’ve extended their hours again and enrollment seems to be up. They’ve even implemented bright wheel so I get pictures of my daughter throughout the day as well as any updates on her or the center right away. You can tell that Ashley and Jen are invested in making the center something they are proud of and care for every kiddo in the center."

"My children attended here since it opened. It was amazing at first but things went downhill after Christmas when upper level staffing changes happened. Communication with parents became nonexistent and the school age program was treated like an optional afterthought that left me, a single mom, often scrambling for alternative care that doesn’t seem to exist. I didn’t know on any given day whether I would have childcare because I was often given little to no warning. In addition, accommodations I had established with the senior director for my child with a physically disability were removed when that director left which created a physical barrier to my child’s interactions with their peers. I simply can no longer recommend this facility to other families. Save yourself the stress."

"I am not one to write poor reviews but we had a series of negative experiences that seemed worth sharing with other families seeking child care. Based on our experience, we do not recommend the YMCA Early Learning Center in University Place Campus as it lacked professionalism, consistency and overall communication. It genuinely seemed like staff members were unhappy to be there - my husband mentioned hearing arguments between staff members in the hallways a number of times, we were rarely greeted or acknowledged when entering the building to drop off or pick up our son and I can’t count the number of changes in staffing (teachers and directors) that we had in about 7 months time. Primarily because there were so many, but also because we would often hear from our 4 year old before we heard from the school, if we heard from them at all. Then, one Saturday morning we received a voicemail from someone we had never met confirming our observations about staffing issues. We were told that care for our son would be unavailable, indefinitely and beginning immediately due to staffing shortage. We were later informed by the director that the school had been operating with a student:teacher ratio exceeding Washington state license requirements for an undetermined amount of time. We had no idea this was the case and were caught completely off guard by the news. There was no transparency regarding the decision-making process at any stage. Several months have now passed without a single word from anyone, aside from an email inviting us to join the pre-K graduation. We were so incredibly lucky that our previous daycare accepted us with open arms, but I can’t stop thinking of how many other families were left scrambling to find safe, quality care for their children on such short notice. Lastly, our son did experience a bullying incident while in the pre-k program and we were not thrilled with the schools response. Several days following the incident, the director decided to share an “observation” that our child was shy and not socializing with other children. She made this observation after several kids had broken his favorite baseball hat. Whether it was her intention or not, it felt like she was justifying what happened based on my child’s personality and not actively acknowledging the shortfalls of her own program (including staffing shortage and inconsistency with teachers). I did, however, want to acknowledge Ms. Autumn Nored and note that we wish to exclude her from this review. She went out of her way to look out for our son and let us know how he was doing in her classroom after the incident. Your thoughtful consideration and hard work did not go unnoticed - thank you. In the end, we were disappointed with the care we received here. While we genuinely wish we could say otherwise, realize our experience with this campus may be unique and that there is a shortage in staffing nearly everywhere right now, we feel it is our responsibility to share our experience so that you can make the best possible decision for your family. I also really hope management will focus on fostering a more positive environment for staff and families. I believe the teachers worked very hard for our children and if they were happy, appreciated and proud of where they work, it will increase the quality of care everyone deserves."

"The center is super clean, staff is great, and they are super cautious with COVID! I'D RECOMMEND THIS CENTER TO ANYONE! The center is new (01/2021). Looks like the pictures on here are not up to date with what the classrooms actually look like. They are so bright and engaging!"