Description: Atlas Immersion Academy - West Linn is a Child Care Center in West Linn OR. This child care center helps with children in the age range of 3 months to 5 years 11 months. The provider does not participate in a subsidized child care program.
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I wouldn't send my kid here if this place were free. We lasted 6 weeks & I regret not pulling him out after the first couple weeks! Learn from my mistake & don't send your kid here. It's chaotic, loud, has major behavioral issues that need to be addressed & felt like management didn't want to be inconvenienced to teach my son. I gave them many chances & tried to make it easier FOR THEM, but they gave up & blamed their failure on being short staffed. A preschool should strive to help kids get ready for a successful transition to kindergarten & Atlas misses the mark on many levels. They raised tuition 40% for the upcoming school year & it's not worth the tuition. We unenrolled after 1 month.
- They provided little to no support at drop off & started calling me to pick him up instead. My son cried at drop off & at first, they told me the director would help by taking him out of the classroom until he settled, & then he would be ok once he was put back into his class. However, after a few weeks, the director told us this transition support shouldn't be the expectation because they were understaffed & when she was able to do so we were "lucky". One day I called 30 mins after drop off & I could hear my son crying for me in the background, without anyone trying to help him calm down. They fail to help kids learn coping techniques & expect them to figure it out themselves. He is 4!
Within a 5-day period, they called me to pick him up 2 days & notified me on a 3rd, that I may have to pick him up if he didn't stop crying. I notified of unenrollment after the 3rd notification (1 month after starting Atlas), because I'd rather keep him home than be called within 15 mins after drop off to pick him up & urgently rearrange my work to go back to pick him up.
I adjusted drop off times to when they said they'd be better staffed, I created transition aids, & I asked for their guidance on how to help him transition & make Atlas successful. But, according to them, it didn't work because they didn't have staff. We felt like an inconvenience to them instead.
One day I was called to pick him up, because they told me he wanted to hold the teacher's hand & be with her all morning. When I arrived, the class was outside & my child was standing next to that teacher, visibly upset. However, the teacher wasn't interacting with him & was just standing watching the other kids playing. I would think holding his hand or playing with him would be an easy solution, especially as they were standing next to each other.
- The school is chaotic & loud. One morning when I was called to pick him up, I walked into a chaotic scene with kids screaming in both main rooms, & kids in his class all over the place, without structure, when it should have been circle time. The teacher in the large class wears a microphone to be heard & that just adds to the noise. We continued to take him, while in our notification period, to try establishing a routine. But we could not establish one because of the chaos & lack of structure. In the end, we decided the best for him was to just pull him out ASAP. We originally toured the facility after-hours due to Covid & didn't see the chaos & high noise level. Ask to tour the facility during normal hours.
- Children at the school have behavioral issues such as hitting, yelling, & general bad behavior. My son was hit by 2 kids on 3 separate occasions. While observing at lunch, I witnessed 2 other children hitting others, all within 5 mins. The teacher stepped in as soon as she saw, but it just seemed like hitting was too prevalent in this class, along with general bad behavior that was not being addressed.
- Food was subpar, or there wasn't enough of it. 2 consecutive days my son came home hungry & I called to voice my concern that the food didn't have a valid protein. I asked the director to look at the protein options because they were lacking on those 2 days. Her reply to me was that they wouldn't change the food selection, but they were working on figuring out quantity so there was enough food. She told me that I should "give him a big breakfast & have a snack ready for him as soon as we got home" & that I couldn't supplement lunch with food from home due to their rules. Telling me to be ok with my son eating little to no food for 6 hours is unacceptable.
- They lack proper safety gates. The first week a teacher told me my son had unlocked their gates & walked back to his class. If he unlocked the gates then I'm sure other children can as well. They need to keep an eye on all kids or update the locks to keep them safe & accounted for.
Atlas lacks more than staff, but if staffing is what's stopping them from being good, then they should add staff to accommodate the children being served or adjust the number of children to better accommodate their needs. Please look for a different school.