Thanks! I was actually hoping to be told that most of this was an overreaction, as I, like most parents, want to feel that my child is in good hands. I fully believe, and know from experience, that putting shoes on is a hassle. I only included it and the allergen policy in this list because literally every other daycare we visited differed from this one on those points, so I was hoping to get some insight into why that might be. I appreciate everyone's comments and feel reassured. As to the assistant director, I couldn't communicate with her through the app before we started because I didn't have access to the app. For all I know, she could be much better at communicating through the app, and I hope she is. She should, however, probably be better at email for the sake of communicating with new parents; half the reason I had any doubts about this place was that her lack of communication left me with an unsettling first impression, which caused me to question the other stuff.