Birch Mountain Day School

My son went here for a year and a half; then graduated to kindergarten.
We live in the area and were looking for childcare since my son's home daycare had closed giving us 3 weeks to find new care. We actually were signed up with another provider, but after touring the other place, decided to switch. BMDS was pretty much our only other option, but ended up being the better choice anyway!
There is a "tot" area for kids under 3, (which my son never spent time in), a pre-k class (mostly 4-5 year olds) and a pre-school class (3-4 year olds).
My only concern was with their summer program. There is an in-ground pool on site, and my son was thrilled to go swimming.... at first.... Aparently, the swim program moves too slow for him. We had recently completed construction on our pool, and my son knew how to swim very quickly. He was frustrated that while at BMDS, he wasn't allowed to "just swim" as much as he wanted. I never confirmed this myself, but I do know they took a very serious/safe approach to swimming, (as should be expected). My s?p?o?i?l?e?d? r?o?t?t?e?n? son just wanted to free-swim and I am assuming there just wasn't enough staff to teach SOME kids AND also have a lifeguard for others. To look at it another way, I just told my son that he was learning to be patient :).
I just read the only other review on this page, and never experienced anything like her description. I never had a problem with the staff, and never felt like my son was in danger. The staff was always very information of anything going on in the building, sending newsletters via email for upcoming "pest prevention applications", and anything that had to do with the property. I even spoke to Jennifer, the owner, about a product I use at my home, (for tick prevention) and she told me that there was a very strict list of methods that are approved by the state, and the state requires childcare providers adhere to the list.
I wouldn't doubt that there were mice in the building though. It is expected! IT IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A RURAL AREA! THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE PAYING FOR, ISN'T IT??? :). On that note, there were many days that there was very pretty wildlife at the location; a family over over 5 deer, turkeys, the strangest (GINORMOUS) moth that I had ever seen, and two cardinals perched right in the tree at the front door. Any time that these creatures were spotted by staff, the children were brought out to see (if safe) and they would make a learning experience out of it. If there were mice in the building, it was only because it was cold outside :), but not because the building was messy or neglected. The only way to keep mice completely out would be with poison, and would you want babies near poison? I've had a mouse bring green blocks of "D-CON" up about 7 feet to his little home in the rafters in our garage, so if they can move it that far, they could move it out into a child play area where a kid could eat it by accident.
Anyhow, I found this place to be a great asset in my child's education as he still brings up songs and stories he learned from over a year ago at BMDS. Jennifer really makes sure that everything is going well with her business and you can tell that she doesn't treat it like a "money making JOB" but rather that BMDS is her "baby" and all the students are her "babies " as well. She keeps track of her students and takes pride in them, and she even has students who come back to work there after they graduate high school/college. P.S. Debbie is awesome!!!!!

I am so glad that my child is out of this center. Just saw channel 3 news last night about lead/copper in the water, morally she should've had to tell every single family. She just let the kids go on drinking this water without a care or worry?! Besides that I know there have been mice found on multiple occasions and when asked about this, its just a funny joke. On top of that the "teacher" in the baby room is a teenager and has been reportedly feeding kids on the floor, out of her hand! Also spends more of the day on her phone then off of it. I've also witnessed 2 year olds put in timeout in a high chair & left there for more then 60 minutes! I would proceed with caution at this daycare center!