Starting to Research Child Care

Hi H.,

My daughter was at Discovery Point on Lutz Lake Fern Road, and we loved it. The people there are so wonderful. The owners are on site every day and are caring and attentive people. All of the teachers we came into contact with were professional and caring. We also have several friends whose children go there and I have never heard a complaint.

Prior to Discovery Point, we had her in Primrose on Lutz Lake Fern Road, which was a very different experience. The building is nice and gives a great first impression, but the staff and management were awful. The owners are not on site -- they are people who bought a franchise to make money and aren't particularly interested in children. There was an unbelievable rate of staff turnover while we were there. AND it's much more expensive than just about everywhere else.

Our neighbors' children went to Barrington Academy and they were very happy with it.

As for cost, we paid $140/week at Discovery Point vs. $190/week at Primrose. This was when she was four, I'm not sure if younger children cost more.

Best of luck -- you're wise to start thinking about this early.

J.

H.,
I am not familiar with any of the schools, but Ihave worked in several schools. My only suggestion is that you check to see if those schools even accept children under 2 (MANY SCHOOLS DO NOT). When you find one that does, be prepared to pay a higher price. Teachers (in Pinellas- may SLIGHTLY different in Hills) cannot have more than 5 children older than 1 but younger than 2. On the other hand a five year old teacher can have 25! Obviously you can see where the price would jump significantly! Have you considered an in home daycare? Their prices can sometimes be higher than the average daycare price, but lower than the "baby price" as they generally only take 5 regardless of the age. I am not sure of your financial situation, but I hope this helps!!

I do not know anything about those places but whenever I have looked for daycare I have looked up places on myflorida.com. There you can see the health inspections for the past few years. You would be surprised how many of them fail over and over again for the same things.

my daughter attends discovery pointe in New Tampa, and it is wonderful. We love it there. I know ever site is different, but Discovery POinte is good child care at competitive prices.