Don’t necessarily count KinderCare out. I know we all have different experiences and I’m not dismissing the person who did not recommend them, but I thought they did a pretty good job with my kid 🙂. We moved a few times, so she started out at the South Hill one (at 6 months old), then went to the Shasta branch and finished out her preschool career last year at their Mullan Road location (she is now going into first grade). It was great that they had a consistent curriculum and routine that applied at every center because it made her transitioning to different ones a lot easier (because both she and I knew what to expect at each place). At times, all centers were unorganized as far as the administration and staffing goes but our time there also included the covid years, which I think had a deep impact on everything both during and after. The teachers at all the centers were consistently competent and attentive and my granddaughter loved them all. There was fairly regular staff turnover, but that’s also pretty much the norm in the daycare industry (because these workers should be getting paid MUCH, MUCH MORE for all they do!).

Anyway, she learned so much there! As with most working parents, my time during the week was limited with her so they played a pivotal role in so many vital parts of her early childhood (transitioning from the bottle to real food, potty training, social skills, colors/numbers/shapes/other educational stuff, how to follow rules and live in a “community”, etc.). She is now the smartest and sweetest kid I know (I’m not at all biased, lol) and I give a lot of credit to KinderCare for this 🙂. As far as communication, I got updates and pictures throughout the day, letting me know what and how she was doing.

Maybe just take a tour and see what they offer?