Footsteps Child Care, Inc

Seemed great at first, but they just strung us along with false hope.
I called the Nesbit location of Footsteps Child Care about daycare for my infant son in February 2014, and we made an appointment to come by for a tour a couple weeks later. On the tour, we seriously liked it, and we filled out the application and wrote a check to reserve our spot right then and there. There weren’t any open spots at the time, but they told us that our son would get in by June or July… ok, fair enough. We could go with our 2^nd-​choice daycare in the meantime.
Fast forward to April 2015 — that’s right, over a *year* later — and we finally get an email update from them, except that it’s just bad news: there are no spots available through Summer and Fall 2015; so our son will definitely be aged-​out of the infant/​toddler room that we signed up for. On principle, I requested our deposit back… of course, they replied that it was non-​refundable.
So I was excited for my son to start here for a number of reasons; close to home and on the way to/​from work, friendly caregivers, reasonable price… but after realizing how little the administration cares, I’m very disappointed in them. If it is so difficult to get in to this daycare, I wish they would have just told us that from the beginning, instead of giving us false hope!
The bottom line: seems to be a great daycare if you can get in … but if you aren’t already in, don’t get your hopes up.

This review is for Footsteps at Shores.
My 10 year old has been going to the Shores for 4 years, and 7 year old is with them for 2 years. I have only good things to say about the aftercare, and my kids LOVE going there. Thank you Christian for making this such a great place for the kids.
Good staff — Staff is very flexible and accommodating. There are a lot of kids attending the after care, and the staff does a wonderful job managing them. Hats off to Christian and Debbie and all the other teachers! They are also good with communication with the parents over email/​phone and I feel my kids are in good hands.
Creative Snacks — they feed their kids well. A lot of times, I have seen them make fresh pancakes, quesadillas etc at the facility. My kids never come back home hungry.
Art projects — They works with the kids on their homework. In addition to that, they also put together really nice projects to work on for the kids. Gabe, one of their staff is a great art instructor. My daughter’s drawings/​paintings are so nice that we have put them up in our house (and the credit goes more to Gabe than her!).
They are good with supporting other activities on campus such as chess, tennis, mad science. They walk kids back and forth from these activities, which is very convenient for the working parents.
So, bottom line, I would highly recommend this center to other parents, I wouldn’t do it any other way!

My review is for Footsteps Cipriani summer camps and Main office staff — Nick Foletta (Office Manager) and Karen:
We moved to Belmont a few months ago and are still trying to get our footing around the activities for our kids. Nick and Karen have been godsend! Very accomodating, helpful and go above and beyond to get the kids situated in the right classes and after school programs.
My son was fortunate to be included in Cipriani Sports Camp with Coach Adrian. He said by far it’s the best camp ever. Coach is very dedicated to his kids and wears them completely out. By the time I was ready to pick up my kid, he was exhausted and very happy!
As a parent, I couldn’t be happier that my child is in a safe, family oriented community where staff care about his development.
Thanks to Nick and Karen for all you do. Coach Adrian — you rock!!!

My kids have been part of the Footsteps @ Shores program for the last 5 years and I couldn’t be happier with the care they receive. It gives me great peace of mind knowing they are being well cared for and active between the time that they get off school and I get off work. They almost always have all of their homework done by the time they get home, which greatly reduces the stress of our time together in the evenings. I also think that their interaction with all of the different ages groups helps them feel more confident on the playground during school hours. The Footsteps kids are like a family, they look out for each other and help each other, be it with school work or conflict resolution. The staff also genuinely cares about the kids. The site director, Christian, is wonderful and is constantly going the extra mile to accommodate individual requests. When I asked him why he does so much he said, «Because they are my kids!» That is how he genuinely feels and he treats all of the kids like his own. How could a parent ask for more?! Most of all, my kids, ages 10 and 8 now, enjoy going there, and that means everything! I would recommend this after care without hesitation!

My daughter has been at Footsteps at Shores for 2 years now, before and after school. Last year in kindergarten I asked what her favorite part of school was and she said Footsteps. I find the teachers (Christina, Debbie, Caroline) that I feel I know pretty well are extremely caring, knowledgeable and great at what they do. I send my daughter to some of their summer camps too … swim camp — she comes home exhausted and happy! When you sign up you fill out a form about help with homework. We didn’t need it last year but this year there were a few days that one of the younger (assistants/​interns/​helpers) girls helped her w/​her homework and also one of the old kids in school helped her. The kids are always doing something with their hands, working their minds or outside working their bodies. They use good conflict management tools and teach the kids to do the same, I’ve seen that first hand. I wish I had a Footsteps to go to after school when I was a kid — it would have been GREAT! They learn songs and put on little shows 2 times a year too. Love, LOVE, love Footsteps. BTW my daughter goes to the Nesbit site for summer camp and they are awesome too!