The Elevon - Severn MD Licensed Child Care Center

B.L.U.F.: Though it is cheaper upfront, in my opinion this daycare is an atrocious money pit where children are not properly cared for.

The “Care”:
When you first walk in, the rooms seem decent and well organized. This is the only good thing. Though there are some teachers there that genuinely seem to care, most clearly do not. Multiple times I would go to pick up my young toddler just to find a group of tiny children gathered around a tablet watching YouTube videos. If any of these videos were educational AT ALL it could be excused, but not once was it anything I would want my child to stare at for who knows how long. This is not to mention all of the times I walked in to see a teacher off in the corner of a room not even paying attention to the children. I had to tell the kids not to jump on books and throw things around the room. I had to tell the teacher what the kids were doing five feet from her so she would pay attention. There were multiple times when I came in to find that my older toddler was left alone in a room, or left with one other toddler. This is not only an unacceptable, grievous miscarriage of trust, but it is once again multiple events that I chanced to walk in on. I shudder to think about what happened behind closed doors. They send teachers home early and pack large amounts of children into one room with one teacher. There is absolutely no way to care for or even watch all of the children they put in one room with one teacher. All of these problems are exacerbated by, and might even be the reason for, the very quick turnover of teachers.

The Money:
This is a “child care” center where they do everything they can to keep money in their pockets. If you do not get your child in early in the morning they will not allow you to drop your child off even though you have paid in full for a full day of child care. They do not hide why they do this. They say it is so they can send teachers home when they are “not needed.” So they take your money, pay as few teachers as they possibly can, crowd their rooms, and then keep you from dropping your kid off. They will find plenty of ways to nickel and dime you. If you forget, or for whatever reason miss, a payment you will be charged a substantial late fee every single day until you pay. You will not be told or warned that this is happening in any way unless whoever is at the front desk decides to tell you. I say decides because they are who pushes the button to add a late fee every day. They do provide “breakfast” and a “snack” for your child. There would occasionally be some fruit, but for the most part it appeared to be either industrial sized bags of French toast, pop tarts, or something else entirely devoid of nutritional value.

My son was 3 months old when we started at The Elevon and we put in our two weeks notice the day he turned 4 months old. I really struggled with the decision to post this review, but I wish I had known was I was in for when I looked at The Elevon (which used to be called Little Eggs but was bought out).

Positives: The Elevon is one of the most affordable child care centers I've found in the area. They have an app that I love that updates you throughout the day with when your baby got a bottle, took a nap, etc. and they even send a picture. I loved seeing everything in real-time. The center is located right off 97 and is convenient to get to. It's also under new management and the interior was recently redone and looks really nice and clean. The teachers in the infant room are very capable. Everyone at the center was always kind to me.

Negatives: The first day at the center I called several times and they didn't answer the phone or return my calls for 3 hours. Within the 5-6 weeks he was there, they hardly ever answered the phone when I called, which I do believe should be a bare minimum requirement of anywhere watching my baby. When I picked him up, his bottle was propped in his mouth with a burp cloth. Bottle propping isn't allowed because babies can aspirate.

The baby room is often the place the babies and "tots" are combined both in the morning and the afternoon. Not only was I concerned about the germs, but there's no way the teachers can provide the babies loving attention while watching after the tots that are eating and walking. I personally witnessed one of the tots hit my baby in the face one afternoon, which I don't think could be avoided no matter how vigilant the teachers are. Also, infants are very expensive in comparison with other age groups and I don't appreciate paying a higher price than the parents of kids who also spend a portion of the day in the baby room and get more attention during that time.

I've noticed other centers in the area focus on floor time and working on your baby's skills such as trying to do tummy time a lot, teaching them to sit up, roll over, etc. However, here they play, eat and sleep. I'm sure they get loved on, too - the teachers seem to genuinely care about them. I asked about tummy time and was told they don't do it often because it's too crazy in the room. In my opinion, the wide range of ages in the room, from very small babies to "babies" that are walking, makes it very hard on the teachers. They also have exersaucers, bouncy seats, etc in the baby room to "entertain." You will also not see this at most other daycares, as they believe their job is to work on your baby's skills and help them develop, not just keep them from crying.

The center seems frazzled and understaffed. The assistant director cleans the bathrooms, which struck me as incredibly odd. She was hired recently after their other assistant director abruptly left. A couple weeks ago she was on her cell phone at the front desk and said, "I don't know why they keep leaving me alone here, I don't really know what I'm doing." Abbey is supposedly the director of the center, but I haven't seen her in weeks regardless of the times my husband and I drop off and pick up, which can vary drastically. In the month we were there at least 2 of the staff left.

I have personally witnessed the ratios being off several times (one teacher with too many kids) and when I've pointed it out I was told it wasn't a big deal, even though it's a blatant violation of the rules for daycares. My thing about all this is, if this is what I'm seeing during the 10-20 minutes I'm there a day - what am I not seeing?

TL,DR: It's not as expensive as most other places around but your baby probably won't get much individual attention, won't get much floor time, will be combined with toddlers twice a day, they won't answer the phone when you call, and you'll experience a lot of staff turnover. There are multiple issues that need to be addressed before I would ever recommend this place to anyone I knew.

This center used to be an amazing place to bring your children but after the switch of management it has failed miserably. The staff is amazing but management just sucks. The owner is never there and he does not care about making the center great again, he cares about implementing rigorous work and putting in expensive sinks and hardwood floors. The director is also never there and when she comes she is very nasty towards the kids, staff, and families. A lot of families have left because of her and her ways! Also, the place is extremely dirty and filthy. They obviously do not care to keep it sanitized. Please do not bring your children here, it is not the place for them!!