Creative Minds Child Development Center

Our son went to this day are for 2 years starting at 5 months old. Up until the recent changes, we couldn’t have been happier with Creative Minds with the quality of care being provided and the staff at the center. The director at that time (Ban Haller, daughter in law of owner Aurora Haller) and the assistant director Miss Pat listened to the feedback parents had, resolved any concerns we had and made the experience very smooth for us and our child. They highly encouraged communication between the daycare and parents stressing that this is a “teamwork”. The arrangement worked well for us till the end of 2015 when the director Ban Haller left (and Miss Pat left shortly afterwards). Things took a turn for the worse from then on with the arrival of new director Miss Marina. Miss Aurora has tried to be more involved with the day to day management but it hasn’t been the same as it was with Miss Ban.

What has been most alarming and concerning is the absolute disrespect shown for the communication and feedback we provided as parents regarding our child’s activities. Instead of listening to the parents and encouraging them to keep the daycare staff in the loop regarding their child, the parents are made to feel as if we are burdening them with information they would rather not have, and it is making their teachers “lose confidence in how they are doing their jobs”. That attitude is completely unacceptable in any child care setting. if the teachers get so insecure and concerned by what the parents say , the management has a bigger issue at hand and needs to train their staff better. Instead of making parents feel comfortable, the new staff at Creative Minds gets combative and actually tries to make the parents feel bad about it. Communication such as “he did well at potty training this weekend” was met with similar inexplicable hostility. This is totally unacceptable. This attitude by the new director that “my staff knows how to do their jobs, you will not find another child care operating the way we are right now” SHOULD NOT go with a child care business. They need to learn that they are dealing with someone’s child and the parents will be cautious about everything and would want to double-check about any special restrictions their kids have. Especially when there has been a history of mistakes, communication lapses and changes in the teachers of their kids’ classroom! If the new staff can’t deal with that, they are in a wrong career. The expectations from the parents to just be a spectator and not have anything to say about the time their kids spend in the center is highly improper.

Every observation/concern we made was met with blatant denial from the new director dismissing any shortcomings or room for improvement which further added to our aggravation.
When we raised concerns about different teachers in the classroom at drop off times, during the course of the day, and pick up times, or when we mention about crowded classrooms during the mornings and evenings; the director is quick to quote the ratio and other guidelines from the day care regulations for the state of Texas. They will never ever accept that there has been a mistake or there is any room of improvement. The least they can do is accept that the parents can have concerns/feedback for them and not give the impression that they think the parents are lying! The owner kept insisting that ham is not served on the menu; while we repeatedly told her that it IS on the menu and is being served. Only when we showed the printed menu to her, she accepted that that there is a mistake and will be rectified. but the initial denial by her was something that any parent would find alarming.



The new director has to realize that a child care business is not one that they can promote and by “we are the best and proud of it” attitude or one that they can flourish by increasing their social media presence. The parents care more about what actually happens at the daycare and not about the flowery emails sent by the director. The parents care more about their own emails being responded to on time without multiple reminders, and not about whether pictures of an event were posted on the Facebook promptly or not.

Disappointed that our child’s stay here had to end this way. Our child had a good experience with all the teachers he spent time with. Miss Beverly has been with the center for long and is very good in her interaction with kids. It’s sad that the new director ruined that experience for us and him. There has been a high turnover of teachers as well; can count 10 teachers who have left in the past 2 years. This place is not worth it; especially after the recent hike in the tuition rates which makes it the most expensive option among all the other nearby centers.