Play And Learn Ardmore

I have been glad to have my child with this facility for the past three years.

TL;DR:
There is a clear love and care for every child at this site
Staff are happy and attentive,
NEW site director is joyful, responsive, and accommodating
The site has worked hard to improve over the past three years for both programming and facility, going from good to great

Full Review:
We placed our daughter at this site on a moment's notice after a major surgery as an infant had been completed and our arranged daycare became untenable. Staff in the infant room were responsive to all of our concerns, worked with my wife and myself to ensure our daughter was taken care of in the most loving and caring way possible, and provided us with a full run down of the day at each pickup. It was very comforting and reassuring for first time parents. At this time, there was some staff discomfort that we did see with the management team that had been in place.

As our daughter progressed through the age groups, we found that all staff had taken the time to learn our daughter's name and greet her by name in the halls on drop off and pickup. The site also experienced a management change which had a significant and noticeable impact on staff morale. The new and current director, Jodie Beth, is joyful, shares information readily, and works tirelessly to address both staff and parent concerns. She also added an assistant (director?), Cassie, who develops programming, serves as an additional source of information, and pushes into classes when needed.

There is a bit of a newer issue for 2-3 year olds as there is not a larger format jungle gym for them to play on due to new regulations and issues with the municipality and property owner (something to do with wood chips), so this age group is relegated to a 1-2 year old play space and a black top with assorted toys. It is a bit difficult to swallow, but there are alot of changes happening, and perhaps they will be able to work this one out.

Even with this issue though, the staff made the best of the situation and worked to keep the kids engage, and introduced additional programming both indoors and outdoors to close the gap left by the loss of the play equipment for this group.

The facility has also worked with the property owner to address notable issues with flooding. Late last year, the entire foundation was excavated and new flood control measures were put into place (looked like sealing of foundation and a french drain). It was a massive project, but introduced minimal disruption to the day to day for the kids (loss of some parking temporarily and some play areas were closed for a couple of days).

The facility's handling of COVID has also been stellar. The parent organization had one or two sites open throughout the beginning stages to service the needs of first responders and they developed strict and encompassing procedures to keep parents, staff, and kids as safe as possible. During the full lockdown, even though no tuition was being paid, staff would hold zoom sessions for the classes to encourage kids to interact with each other and staff as well as provide story time, show and tell and more.

Since this site has reopened, they have been flexible with families on return dates and have worked to communicate what is going on at the facility with great effect.

I am glad that we were able to find a facility and staff that meet and exceed the needs of our family. I am looking forward to my child returning when we are in need of childcare again.