Laura B.

“I have actively made the decision to keep my child at Scuttlebugs twice, at the cost of driving an extra hour each day. That is how highly I think of the center. And because I have had kids there pretty much the entire time the center has been open, I have a unique perspective. My oldest started at Scuttlebugs just under a year old, just after the center opened. He has since graduated and just finished kindergarten. We still keep in touch with many families from his class at the center. My youngest is about to enter the Pre-K room at Scuttlebugs, along with his best buddies he has known since he was 4 months old. A few years ago we moved around 10 miles away and twice when my job situation has changed, I have looked for an option closer to our house and both times failed to find something that could live up to Scuttlebugs.
The diversity of staff at Scuttlebugs is amazing. I worked in childcare myself and the industry is largely staffed by young women. One of the things that has always made me love Scuttlebugs is that they have had men teaching across the age groups. The men who are teachers at Scuttlebugs have been some of my sons very most favorite teachers (and mine). It’s important to me that my children have role models and caretakers of different genders. Don’t get me wrong – we love all the wonderful women, young and old, who have been cuddlers, caregivers, and coaches of our kids at Scuttlebugs too!
I am glad that for my sons, it is normal to see faces of different colors and celebrate holidays of different cultures. Muslim women have been trusted role models who kindly answered their questions about their headscarves. My sons have been exposed to Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and probably many more languages through teachers, students, and parents. Parent volunteers occasionally do programs on their culture and language. Pot lucks often feature delicious dishes from all over the world.
Music is a big part of the classroom experience at Scuttlebugs, which is very important to me. Many of the teachers are musicians and play and sing for the kids. The kids learn and sing songs, including to perform at their “graduation”. And plenty of energy is expended in the classroom when teachers put on music and the kids dance. I think this open free form movement is incredibly valuable for kids of all ages. There is an extra curricular dance class, but we are not always there that early in the morning so we have never taken part in it.
We have however, taken part in the extra curricular athletic programs that have been available like Soccershots, Amazing Athletes, and Tuff Tumblers. These programs are fairly priced and I feel it is worth the extra cost to start being exposed to sports. My younger son looks forward to the days when he has these special activities and he comes home talking about power foods and telling me the names of his muscles.
The owners of Scuttlebugs are a working family just like the families of the children who attend Scuttlebugs. They have rules like any business because they have to budget, plan for staffing, and keep their business afloat. We have had overwhelmingly positive experiences in billing and issues related to the running of the center. We have politely and professionally worked out issues that have come up. We asked to have the holidays and in service days, which are very limited, evenly spread across days of the week so parents with kids there only certain days don’t bear the brunt of days that the center is closed. They happily implemented our request. I especially appreciate that the center accepts payment via my credit card, automatically scheduled each month. Many other centers still want me to write a check. I don’t need to worry about that every month!
The owners of Scuttlebugs are very experienced and run a high quality day care staffed by people who love those kids. I know, I see how they treat my children every day and I have for almost 6 years. My kids have experienced many loving relationships with teachers there over the years. Sure, there is turnover in this industry. It’s not a particularly high paying, high esteem job, at any center. But Scuttlebugs does its best to select and retain quality employees. Why would they not? They are running a business. There have been periods when the staff changed more quickly than others. But there are also staff who have stayed for years – a few of the staff who work there now have been there since the center opened. The school has loyalty from many, many wonderful staff. There have been some that did not work out. There have been a few conflicts but over the course of almost 6 years I can count the negative situations I was aware of on one hand. And the owners have handled these issues with honesty and transparency balanced with respect for the privacy of all involved.”