South Shore Children's Center of West Islip, Inc.

RUN away from this place!!!
I registered my daughter with South Shore in late march/early April as a DSS subsidy student. She was supposed to start September 6th for before and after school care. I spoke to numerous employees at South Shore over the months and was told each time that no other information was needed from me and my daughter was all set, ready to go. Then I got an email from Vicki on Wednesday 8/30 at 6pm to let me know that they will no longer accept DSS.
Helene called me at my request and said they can accept her if she has already been registered (which she was, for 5 months) so I got my DSS case worker to call over verbal approval the next day, but they were then told by South Shore already has 2 DSS children and will not accept any more. Nobody at South Shore would return my phone calls. I had to communicate with Helene via Facebook Messenger who would not offer me any assistance because the facility was "closed" but she would call me Saturday 9/2 - Helene did call me on Saturday to let me know that I would have to pay the difference between what DSS covers, and South Shore's fees (I do not even know if this is legal? Do the parents of the other two DSS children have to pay this?)
This is labor day weekend before the start of school, leaving me with zero other options for my daughter's before/after school care since she also would need the transportation to and from school. Helene claims she stopped taking DSS at the end of June, so why was I not informed then? I would have had plenty of time to make other accommodations.
I feel that South Shore purposely waited until the last minute to prey on my desperation and lack of options, and get the extra money from me. Luckily I got a call on Tuesday from another facility that graciously offered my daughter a spot and would accept the DSS without any additional payment.
Then, never a dull moment, the bus accidentally dropped my daughter off at South Shore yesterday (because everything was changed at the last possible minute!!) - I arrived to pick up my daughter and nobody knew where she was. Helene walked me through the whole place, checking in random rooms until we finally found her. She shamelessly said, "we're not usually this disorganized" - I repeat, RUN RUN RUN away from this place! I am truly blessed to have been dropped from the program and I fear for the children who attend.

My youngest son attended South Shore Children's Learning Center when the school opened in 2000. He had the best experience and was readied for kindergarten at the highest level! Now my grandson will be attending the school this year and I can't wait to see how much he loves it! The school has grown so much over the past 17 years because it is that good! I highly recommend the SSCC!