“ScuttleBugs blows their competition out of the water. I don’t even know where to start. I first came to ScuttleBugs a year ago, exasperated and desperate. During the last few months of my pregnancy with my second child, my 2.5 year old son had a trial run at no less than one in home au pair, two home daycares and two facility day cares. At each one the experience was the same: the staff had neither the time nor patience to deal with the severe separation anxiety he was suffering, having stayed at home with me up until then. He went in screaming, refused to eat anything, came out screaming, and often didn’t manage to make it through the day before I was called to pick him up. My daughter was born, and we still hadn’t found a solution and life was getting very difficult. When I first came to Scuttles, Stephanie and Sam were very understanding of my struggle and offered to bend their rules a bit and let my son try out the program without obligations. Meaning, if it didn’t work out, no harm done and a prorated refund would be allowed. Next, they gave me questionnaires to fill out which I think were integral in setting up his (insanely awesome) teacher Ms V to help him cope. So I signed up, we rocked in, and here is what I experienced:
On day one, midday, my phone rang and I thought surely it was ScuttleBugs asking me to pick him up because of his crying. I answer the phone and it’s Ms V, and she says everything’s great, he’s napping now, he ate all his lunch, and detailed the activities he had done so far. I think I was in a mild shock and stupor. At the end of the day, I picked up my (tear-free!) son, and I’ll never forget what he said: “mommy I like school, can I go back to school tomorrow?” ….Look, I have no idea what kind of black magic this is, but my son has not shown a single negative reaction – instead, he looks forward to going to school and is constantly jabbering about his days. Also, I’d like to mention the outstanding work his teachers have done with his speech issues. My son’s speech was mostly indecipherable. He was supposed to enroll in speech therapy, but his teachers memorized my little “translation cheat sheet” and learned “his language”. They then worked with him so that “his language” turned into something more like “the English language”. He’s also learned all his pre-k requirements very early on. I’m quite happy with their balance of play and academics. He comes home singing new songs every week, and we get preschool email updates detailing all the different themes and activities they’ve been exploring.
Fast forward 8 months, a job lands in my lap, and I need to find a daycare solution last minute for my daughter. I did a trial run in the infant room at Scuttles and loved it. The room is bright, full of light, organized, clean, and has lots of developmental and explorational stations.
A couple things I’d like to note:
- When I first looked at their prices, I thought they were on the higher end. Then I toured more facilities, and realized, many places charge just as much, and also nickel and dime you for things that Scuttles includes as a package deal. Diapers, wipes, sunscreen, meals, snacks, etc – other places were either “supply your own” or “we’re going to charge you extra for it”. If I’m going to spend the same amount of money, either up front with the facility or on the back end bringing stuff from home, I’d rather pay up front and not have to worry/hassle with preparing meals and throwing supplies into the car. It’s more seamless this way.
- There are many things about the place that are intangible and in my opinion, very important. Things like bright white walls that are free of clutter, big open windows that send light bouncing in all directions, professional grade architecture leading to sweeping hallways and well designed spaces. I think clutter free, bright spaces lead to higher serotonin levels in kids, resulting in happier moods in the short term and positive, optimistic personalities in the long term.
- They are excellent with documentation and record keeping, and diligent with hands washing and sun screen application. Infants through Jr. Preschool get daily reports and I have found these very helpful in sorting out their pooping / napping / developmental statuses.
- Day time potty training has been a breeze for us and I credit their train-at-your-own-pace system. There’s no rush to push kids off of diapers.
- Events! They have a spring and fall festival, movie nights, silent auctions, photo days and all sorts of stuff in between.
- They are nut free – my son is deathly allergic to cashews and pistachios so my mind is at ease when he is at Scuttles.
- You are able to ask their staff about babysitting – they have a waiver their staff signs. This has been super helpful for date nights.”
